Leadership changes at Cumbria fire - Emergency Services Times

After 18 months in the role, Paul Hancock has stepped down as Chief Fire Officer for Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service with the assistant chief stepping up into the role until a permanent appointment is made.

ACFO Ben Ryder will become temporary Chief Fire Officer after being in Cumbria for less than a year. He started his career in Merseyside in 2001 and in recent years lead the project to create the training and development centre and the home of National Resilience in the Aintree area of Liverpool.

Paul Hancock leaves after a short stint in Cumbria having returned from retirement to take on the role on an interim basis. The service said that his tenure was intended to focus on bringing stability, clarity and direction to the service while progressing improvements following its recent HMICFRS inspection.

During his time with the service, Hancock completed a county-wide operational fire cover review and started preparations for the transfer of the service’s governance to the Mayor of the newly-created Cumbria Combined Authority in May 2027.

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Catherine Levin

Catherine writes and commissions content from across the emergency services as well as interviewing senior leaders. She also hosts our webinar series exploring timely topics with a range of speakers.

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