Fire Services Review
- Unified fire services organisation to be set up
- Read the submissions on the Fire Services Review
- Discussion Document and supporting information
- What led to the Fire Services Review?
- Who and what was involved?
- Further background
Unified fire services organisation to be set up
The Minister announced on 13 November 2015 that as a result of the Fire Services Review the government would bring urban and rural fire services together into one unified fire services organisation.
Here’s some background information on
- New Zealand’s fire services (.pdf 208kb)
- New Zealand’s fire services (.docx 311kb)
- The fire services review (.pdf 245kb)
- The fire services review (.docx 311kb)
Read the Cabinet decision (.pdf 2mb) and the full Cabinet paper (.pdf 2.6mb)
Further announcements about funding for the new organisation, to be called Fire and Emergency New Zealand, are here: Fire Services Transition
Read the submissions on the Fire Services Review
Read the Executive Summary:
- Executive Summary of the Submissions Summary – HTML
- Executive Summary of the Submissions Summary – PDF (.pdf) 444k
- Executive Summary of the Submissions Summary – Word (.docx) 754k
Read the full Submissions Summary report:
- Submissions Summary (full report) – PDF (.pdf) 2.1MB
- Submissions Summary (full report) – WORD (.docx) 3.1MB
Here is a list of all submitters:
- Read the individual submissions (in numerical order).
Discussion Document and supporting information
Read the full document or a summary:
- Fire Services Review Discussion Document -PDF (.pdf) 1MB
- Fire Services Review Discussion Document -WORD (.docx) 3MB
- Discussion Document summary - PDF (.pdf) 271k
- Discussion Document summary - WORD (.docx) 515k
On 24 June, a supplementary paper to the Discussion Document was released to discuss the importance of community engagement for our fire services.
- Supplementary paper - feedback from stakeholders - PDF (.pdf) 185k
- Supplementary paper - feedback from stakeholders - WORD (.docx) 131k
More information
Minister's media release (7 August 2015): Broad support for changes to our fire services (Beehive website)
Minister's media release (27 Mayt 2015): Submissions called for on Fire Services Review (Beehive website)
Background papers
- Background paper 1: Rural fire options - PDF (.pdf) 817k
- Background paper 1: Rural fire options - WORD (.docx) 1.1MB
- Background paper 2: Insurance funding options - PDF (.pdf) 274k
- Background paper 2: Insurance funding options - WORD (.docx) 181k
- Background paper 3: Summary of Swain Report recommendations - PDF (.pdf) 191k
- Background paper 3: Summary of Swain Report recommendations - WORD (.docx)
Other reports
- ERFDs: Developing a best practice model (MartinJenkins) (.pdf) 782k
- Picture of Investment in Enlarged Rural Fire Districts (draft) (MartinJenkins) (.pdf) 1.5MB
- Review of Efficiency and Effectiveness: Report to the New Zealand Fire Service Commission (draft) (MartinJenkins) (.pdf) 785k
- New Zealand Fire Service – report on Expenditure and Service Delivery (MartinJenkins) (.pdf) 1.09MB
- Fire and Emergency Services - International Best Practice (.pdf) 1.7MB
What led to the Fire Services Review?
The independent Fire Review Panel in 2012, led by Paul Swain, made a number of recommendations to Cabinet. (See: Report of the Fire Review Panel, December 2012)
In September 2013, Cabinet agreed next steps based on the recommendations in that report and the Fire Services Review in 2015 was the next stage of that process. (See: Cabinet Decisions on Fire Service Review, September 2013)
Who and what was involved?
The Department of Internal Affairs and the New Zealand Fire Service Commission worked together on the review on the Minister’s behalf.
The scope of the review included mandate and governance, legislation modernisation, funding, rural and urban fire services structures, coordination with other emergency services, and volunteer and workforce engagement and support.
- Speech to the United Fire Brigades’ Association 2014 Annual General Meeting and Conference (Beehive website)
- Cabinet agreed next steps for the review on 2 September 2013 (.pdf, 1.46MB)
- New Zealand Fire Service – report on Expenditure and Service Delivery (MartinJenkins) (.pdf, 1.09MB)
