Lancashire Combined Fire Authority
Meeting to be held on 19 September 2022
Member Champion Activity Report
Contact for further information:
DCFO Steve Healey – Tel No: 01772 866801
Executive Summary
This paper provides a report on the work of the Member Champions for the period up to 30 November 2022.
Recommendation
The Authority is requested to note and endorse the report and acknowledge the work of the respective Champions. |
Information
The concept of Member Champions was introduced in December 2007 with a review of the roles in 2017.
The Authority appoints its Member Champions at its Annual Meeting in June, and the current Member Champions are:
· Community Safety – Councillor Jean Rigby
· Equality, Diversity and Inclusion – Councillor Zamir Khan
· Health and Wellbeing – County Councillor Andrea Kay
· Road Safety – County Councillor Ron Woollam
Reports relating to the activity of the Member Champions are provided on a regular basis to the Authority. During this period, all have undertaken their respective role in accordance with the defined terms of reference. Their activity to date is as follows:
Community Safety – Councillor Jean Rigby
In October, Older Persons’ Day was celebrated across the county. In Northern, an event was held at the Trimpell Club in Morecambe. This event was led by a Northern Community Safety Adviser who worked in partnership with Age UK and The Dementia Hub. Approximately 95 people attended the event, and they were served afternoon tea by the Fire Cadets from that area. The event also gave the opportunity to those who attended to talk to other agencies who could offer advice and support, along with raising awareness of both the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) Winter Safety and Safe and Save campaigns.
This reporting period has seen considerable work around the BrightSparx campaign. The BrightSparx campaign is a multi-agency, multi-faceted and coordinated approach to mitigate the risks associated with Bonfire night and the surrounding celebratory period. A video was released this year, in partnership with both Lancashire Constabulary and North West Ambulance Service about the attacks faced by emergency services personnel last year. This was used alongside educational sessions and other campaign material to raise awareness of the impact of this behaviour. Work is now ongoing to evaluate the campaign which will feed into the planning for next year’s campaign.
Student Safe was also a focus during this reporting period, as students started at universities across the county alongside returning students. For many young people this is their first experience of living away from home, so prevention teams and operational crews link in to provide advice and education about living safely in student accommodation. One such example of this is in Southern who support the West Lancashire Community Safety Partnerships ‘Welcome Week’ campaign, providing new and existing students at Edge Hill university with fire safety advice. All new students are required to watch a fire safety video as part of their induction. Third year ‘campus connectors’ who live in Halls are single points of contact for first years and they receive fire safety training so they can provide brief interventions and answer questions. Any bigger issues were answered during three pop up sessions that LFRS attended.
Finally, LFRS Community Safety will be represented at the Excellence in Fire Awards 2022 with shortlisted entries in two categories. A longstanding Prince’s Trust Team Leader has been shortlisted in the Young People’s Supporter of the Year category in recognition of her amazing work, transforming the lives and opportunities of countless young people. The 999 Reunite scheme has also been shortlisted in the Collaboration of the Year. This scheme joins Police, Fire and Health colleagues in supporting those with dementia.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion – Councillor Zamir Khan
The Equality Impact Assessment/Analysis process is one of the ways we can systematically assess the effects that a policy, project or decision is likely to have on different communities. We have refreshed our equality impact assessment/analysis process to build within it more robust governance going forward.
We recognise that some individuals are at greater risk of fire or are potentially not accessing services, those include those living with dementia, mobility issues and mental health issues. There are other people and communities who aren’t necessarily categorised as being at higher risk of a fire, but they may not be accessing our services because of other barriers which may be language, perceived prejudice, and other societal factors/historical discrimination. The NFCC have developed a range of Equality of Access to Services and Employment documents; equality of access means actively seeking to engage people who may be unaware. These documents have been promulgated across the Service, so officers have evidence and information which they can use to be able to undertake analysis and develop interventions to provide fully inclusive and accessible services through our Prevention Strategy.
We continue to engage, support, and contribute to organisations such as the Asian Fire Services Association.
Health and Wellbeing & Climate Change Update – County Councillor Andrea Kay
Climate Change and Environment
We continue to deliver against the Environment and Sustainability Promotional Calendar with promotions such as ‘Second-hand September’. This is a campaign run by Oxfam to encourage people to only buy second hand items for the whole of September. An intranet article was shared, and people encouraged to visit a Repair Café in their local area to promote reuse/recycle/repurpose.
An awareness article has been posted on the intranet and to all Environmental Champions about the COP27 conference in November 2022, with a focus on the difference between climate mitigation and climate adaptation – with the message of the more we reduce emissions right now, the easier it will be to adapt to the changes we can no longer avoid.
An Environmental awareness noticeboard has been created at Service Headquarters (SHQ), with links to the materials for Environmental Champions to recreate their own noticeboard on stations. Feedback as to the effectiveness of this in increasing awareness will be provided in next quarter’s update to the Authority.
During Quarter 2 we promoted a smoke detector amnesty, following feedback from Environmental Champions that there were redundant smoke detectors across the Service that could be recycled with the supplier. This was promoted across Service to encourage any station or Community Fire Safety Team that had redundant / broken / returned smoke detectors on station, to return them to Stores so they could be sent back to the supplier for recycling.
Health and Wellbeing
The cost-of-living crisis continues to be a subject we are supporting with health and wellbeing information, trying to provide helpful tips at key periods such as during school holidays. Some cafes/restaurants/supermarkets promote ‘kids eat free’ during school holidays, so throughout July and August we shared a list of discounted offers for “kids’ meals” or even “kids eat free with an adult’s meal”.
As part of the ‘Tea & Table’ idea, monthly recipes have been shared on the intranet’s Nutrition and Hydration page that get families cooking together as well as hopefully being cost effective e.g. Creative salads, Fakeaway ‘Big Mac’ and zero waste veg curry.
In September, with the sad passing of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, we shared information about dealing with grief to coincide with World Suicide Prevention Day. We held a ‘Coffee and Chat’ session at SHQ, which was supported by Holly one of our Wellbeing Support Dogs, to provide colleagues with a morale boost and opportunity to reflect on the recent events should they wish to.
Also, during Quarter 2 (July – Sept) we have updated the trauma support resource to include Traumatic Incident Briefings in response to feedback received from crews that group Trauma Incident Management (TRiM) sessions are beneficial from a general wellbeing point of view and may encourage more people to reach out for 1-2-1 support when required.
Coming into winter promotions are underway to encourage staff to get a flu vaccination, with posters and leaflets being distributed to all stations and regular internal bulletins reminding staff that a flu vaccination can be reimbursed up to £17.
County Councillor Kay would like to thank Bekki Ford, the team of Wellbeing Support Dog Handlers, the team of TRiM Practitioners and all those that support the wellbeing work across the Service who are doing an excellent job through all kinds of conditions to support the health and wellbeing of their colleagues and she is proud to be a member of the Fire Authority.
County Councillor Kay would also like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Road Safety – County Councillor Ron Woollam
Wasted Lives is a Road Safety package aimed at pre – drivers in Years 10 and 11. The updated packages have been well received and the assembly format is proving to be the most popular by far; we now have 3 different assembly versions to better fit the school timetable. Prevention personnel are continuing to run the virtual delivery as an option. Since September 600 pupils have received the package and staff have been receiving refresher training so that we can increase delivery on area aligned to risk.
Road Sense is a Year 6 Road Safety Education Package delivered by LFRS. Delivery since September reached nearly 4000 pupils. Feedback from teachers is very favourable. An evaluation tool has been trialled and its use has now been extended, this makes the process of evaluation easier for the teachers and results in better data to evaluate effectiveness. The LFRS Road Sense package has also been uploaded to a National Fire Chiefs Council resource portal to be used nationally by other Fire and Rescue Services.
Biker Down continues to be very popular with nearly 100 attendees since the summer break. The Biker Down team have revised all 3 modules to keep the content current and fresh. The Road Safety Champion budget has been used to purchase more First Aid kits as these prove to be a very popular (and useful!) for attendees. Course dates for January to March are already fully booked despite the number of tickets available being increased. Positive feedback is regularly received.
LFRS continues to work as a partner within the Lancashire Road Safety Partnership (LRSP). LFRS continue to lead on the ‘Young Driver’ theme. LFRS was heavily involved in the partnership contribution to Project Edward – Every Day Without a Road Death. A Road Traffic Collision demo was filmed at Leyland Fire Station alongside North West Ambulance Service colleagues and LFRS also attended a large community awareness event at Preston Bus Station. This was a part of the nationally released footage in support of the campaign.
Photograph showing Road Traffic Collision Demonstration
Financial Implications
Activities are within budget.
Business Risk Implications
Whilst no formal obligation is placed on the Authority to have Champions, effective utilisation of such roles offers a number of benefits.
Environmental Impact
The Member Champion role provides leadership on environmental issues and assists in engaging Authority members in strategic objectives relating to protecting the environment.
Equality and Diversity Implications
The Member Champion role provides leadership on equality and diversity issues and assists in engaging Authority members in strategic objectives relating to equality and diversity.
Human Resource Implications
Some Member and Officer time commitments.
Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985
List of background papers
Paper:
Date:
Contact: DCFO, Steve Healey
Reason for inclusion in Part 2 if appropriate: N/A