Lancashire Combined Fire Authority
Meeting to be held on 20 February 2023
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 31 January 2023.
Recommendation
The Authority is requested to note and endorse the report and acknowledge the work of the respective Champions. |
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
Within this reporting period the Pennine Prevention team and Operational crews hosted a joint event with NHS England at Nelson Fire Station. The aim of the event was to encourage uptake of the NHS Health Check within communities that evidentially have low uptake. The event was supported by other partners including Lancashire Red Rose Hub, Inspire, Quit Smoking Squad and Up & Active Fitness. The NHS Health Check is a health check-up for adults in England aged 40 to 74. It is designed to spot early signs of stroke, kidney disease, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and dementia and is also something that is encouraged during a LFRS Home Fire Safety Check through the Safe and Well elements. Data demonstrates that health inequalities are closely linked to a poor outcome in a fire. The event was a success with plans to recreate at other locations.
The Central Prevention team has been looking at different demographics to target that may not have had much input before. The team have successfully engaged with:
· All mosques within their area
· Engagement in Sikh temples
· Created British Sign Language translation clips for easy access in occupiers first preferred language
· Inspire (drug and alcohol), including people in homeless recovery, Mental Health accommodations and rough sleepers outreach
· A hospice within Central – attending support groups for carers and bereavement
· Madrassas (Muslim night schools) to provide all areas of safety
Following Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) signing the Armed Forces Covenant in October, Northern Prevention team has been linking in with the First Light Trust to deliver joint HFSC visits to high-risk veterans. Within this reporting period the Prevention team have also been involved with food banks across the area aligned to the Cost-of-Living campaign and resources. The team has also built a partnership with MenShed to provide the offer of a HFSC and support to their service users. Working with partners is key to targeting prevention activities in the most effective and efficient way and work is constantly ongoing to maintain partnerships and generate new ones that align to identified risk, improving community safety.
The LFRS team of Incident Intelligence Officers represent LFRS at Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) and the impact that the Northern and Western area Incident Intelligence Officer has done through this been recognised with a Lancashire Strategic Management Board Public Protection Award.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion – Councillor Zamir Khan
The Service has several employee voice groups comprising members of staff from underrepresented groups who undertake activity to make LFRS a better place to work for all.
The LGBT+ Group have supported several Pride events across the County using this as an opportunity to promote fire safety advice and promote LFRS as an employer of choice. The Women and Families Group are leading the development of an internal mentoring programme and are currently in the process of planning for an event in March which will promote the role of a firefighter. The Race and Religion Group are contributing to the review of catering arrangements where members of staff attend operational incidents ensuring that the dietary requirements of all members of staff are met and are planning the Service’s contribution to the Preston Carnival and the Windrush Festival. The newly established neurodiversity group are exploring how training can be made more accessible and members of the group are trialling different products which can assist people with dyslexia.
Further to several reports in relation to other Services where unacceptable behaviour has taken place, we are reviewing the reports of any cultural reviews to identify any learning or good practice. We have written to all our new firefighters in development advising them of how they can seek support. We have updated our Internet, social media and Acceptable Use Policy and communicated our expectations to members of staff on the use of social media via a range of different communication mechanisms and we continue to take a robust approach to any issues raised through investigation and taking action where required.
Health and Wellbeing & Climate Change Update – County Councillor Andrea Kay
Climate Change and Environment
Each year the Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Department review waste in April and highlight any stations that need further attention. We work with these over the year to see if waste can be reduced and whether there is more that can be recycled. Waste figures for the last three calendar years has seen a reduction in waste overall. Between 2020 and 2021 there was a reduction of 6%, followed by a 9% reduction between 2021 and 2022. The percentage of waste that was collected as recyclable was 34% this year. LFRS has a zero to landfill contract, so even general waste is utilised for energy from waste, despite not being recyclable in the traditional way.
LFRS currently has 18 recycling banks across the county. In agreement with LFRS’ SHE Department, the Fire Fighters Charity has re-surveyed 14 stations for suitability to place a clothes recycling bank. It is possible to place banks at up to half of these, but they need to be reviewed first. The Fire Fighters Charity raise over £500,000 every year from their recycling scheme. With the help of donations, they can continue to increase this figure. Not only does it reduce waste that might otherwise end up in the bin, but it also raises much needed funds. The donated clothing, shoes, handbags and textiles are collected, and wearable clothing is re-used, usually sold in under-developed countries. Any textiles that are unwearable are recycled into such items as industrial wipers and car upholstery and also re-used in the production of many other items.
Health and Wellbeing
A Health, Safety and Wellbeing Plan (2021-2024) was developed in September 2021 to reflect the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) People Strategy. New emerging health, safety and wellbeing risks have been identified in light of the consequences of the COVID pandemic and more recently the cost of living/economic crisis/potential for industrial action; resulting in the Plan being updated for the period 2022 – 2027.
The Health, Safety and Wellbeing Plan details the Health, Safety and Wellbeing risks and priorities within LFRS. The Plan outlines aspirations for the Service to show continuous improvement across all elements of Health and Safety including making mental health a priority in the workplace, to support the integration of the Mind Mental Health at Work Commitment and ISO 45003 (Psychological health and safety at work — Guidelines for managing psychosocial risks).
In December, members of the Trauma Riask Management (TRiM) and Wellbeing Support Dogs (WSD) teams along with Councillor Kay held a Planning Day to develop a draft Wellness Events Calendar to promote wellness across LFRS. Each wellness event will have a TRiM/WSD dedicated lead supported by the SHE Department and other members of the TRiM/WSD teams. The draft calendar will be agreed at HSEAG and formally launched in April 2023. This collaborative approach with LFRS peer supporters will serve to raise awareness of the members of the TRiM and WSD teams as well as promoting engagement with wellbeing activities across the Service in different areas
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, LFRS 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 nearly 2000 pupils have received the package and staff have been receiving refresher training so that delivery has been increased on area, aligned to risk.
Road Sense is a Year 6 Road Safety Education Package delivered by LFRS. Delivery since September reached nearly 7400 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 and is now being used nationally by other Fire and Rescue Services.
Biker Down continues to be very popular with nearly 165 attendees since September. The Biker Down team have just delivered 2 sessions for HMRC fraud investigators who ride motorcycles. An official letter of thanks was received for this, praising the high quality of delivery. The First Aid kits that were purchased with the CFA Champion budget continue to be a very popular (and useful!) for attendees. The Biker Down team have this week received feedback of one being used following an incident. Course dates for January to March are already fully booked despite the number of tickets available being increased. Planning is underway for ‘2 Wheels Month’ in April where the aim is to deliver 4 courses and increase social media activity. The Facebook followers has increased to over 800 and posts often reach over 1900 people.
LFRS continues to work with partners. Last month joint work was undertaken with Child and Youth Justice Service to deliver a Wasted Lives session to Young People who have been involved in car related crime across the county. As well as a workshop style session the crashed car (a car from a fatal collision) was utilised to confirm the key messages. This proved very successful so future sessions are being planned, with the intention of delivering 3 per year as a rolling programme.
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