Sharp drop in recruitment of women, ethnic minorities in fire service

THERE was a sharp drop in the recruitment of women and ethnic minorities by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) last year, new data released last Thursday (14) revealed.

In 2023, just 11 per cent of new recruits were female and only 13 per cent from black, Asian and under-represented communities, the data revealed by the Liberal Democrats showed.

This marks a decline compared to 2021, when 31 per cent of recruits were women and 35 percent were from black, Asian, and underrepresented communities.

Regarding female recruits specifically, the percentage is now lower than it was five years ago.

Last year, only 39 people were recruited from minority groups, compared to 212 white recruits.

In 2022, 56 people from minority communities found a job in the service.

In 2020, minority representation was the highest in new recruitment as 31.2 per cent of new employees were from a minority background.

The Liberal Democrats said this decline indicated insufficient efforts were being made to ensure the LFB reflected the diverse city it served. They warned the progress made towards creating a more inclusive workplace could be undone if this downward trend continued unchecked. In 2022, an independent cultural review led by Nazir Afzal revealed the LFB was institutionally misogynist and racist.