Fire service apology made

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service was wrongly 'named and shamed' by an organisation protecting the rights of disabled people, it has been revealed.

The independent Disability Rights Commission had claimed in April that the service had failed to produce a disability equality scheme under new legislation.

The service faced intense criticism, which the DRC has agreed was unfounded. The commission has now admitted that an error was made and has sent a letter of apology to the service.

Robert Nixon, chief executive of the DRC said: "I regret that despite the close care taken at the time, an error was indeed made in transferring the data to our own records from the survey made by the Office for Disability Issues in the Department for Work and Pensions.

"This survey, which covered more than 1,700 public bodies, did find Staffordshire Fire Authority as having a scheme."

Peter Dartford, deputy chief fire officer said: "We are glad that the Disability Rights Commission has now set the record straight, although the length of time it has taken for this error to be corrected is regrettable.

"We pride ourselves as being an organisation that is committed to equality and diversity and have a great deal of evidence to support that position – including our disability equality scheme.

"A lot of time had been spent engaging with more than 180 organisations representing people with disabilities across the county to produce a scheme that reflected their views and addressed their needs.

"The negative publicity we received really undermined the hard work of the staff involved in producing the scheme."

The disability equality scheme can be accessed through the website at: www.staffordshirefire.gov.uk

Hard copies are available on request by calling Sobia Yaqoob on 08451 221155.