Turnover & Forecasts - Next 2 Years To April 2027
Wholetime
Forecasts indicate that we could lose approximately 25-30 operational employees due to retirement or for other reasons before April 2027 (it should be noted this is a worst-case scenario). A further recruitment campaign is planned for 2025-26 as result of projected turnover and to manage the wholetime establishment. One-year funding announcements, and projected deficits in the medium-term financial plan for the Service, have meant that the wholetime establishment has had to be closely managed, and vacancies held, to support longer-term planning. It is hoped that a longer-term financial settlement in 2025/26 will aid longer-term workforce planning for the wholetime establishment.
On-Call
Previous turnover suggests that approximately 25 on-call employees per year leave the Service, meaning that recruitment and retention of on-call staff remains a strategic priority for us. However, it may be that the new on-call contracts aid retention during 2025 and beyond. A recruitment campaign commenced in March 2025 for a trainee course in January 2026. Further recruitment campaigns will be factored in by the On-call Support Team to provide for this potential level of turnover. There will be an ongoing focus on increasing the On-Call establishment, targeting those stations where appliance availability is limited through the lack of available personnel and ensuring workforce planning enables a consistency of availability; planning for retirements, leavers and loss of key skills.
Support Roles
Turnover has levelled out during the last two years following the peak experienced during 2021-2023, which was attributed to changes to the job market post-Covid and our move to Joint Headquarters. There is no reason to expect any significant fluctuations in turnover rates over the next two years. Risks and issues across departments have been identified alongside department heads. These may include fixed term contracts requiring renewal to support completion of key projects or succession planning for key posts where we know that individuals may be planning to retire.