Performance Committee
Wednesday, 28 June 2023, at 10.00 amin the Main Conference Room, Service Headquarters, Fulwood.
Minutes
Present: |
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Councillors
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T Hurn (Chair)
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P Rigby (Vice-Chair)
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L Cox
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A Kay
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H Khan
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Z Khan
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J Rigby
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D Smith
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B Yates
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Officers |
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J Charters, Assistant Chief Fire Officer (LFRS) M Hamer, Area Manager, Prevention and Protection (LFRS) J Rossen, Area Manager, Head of Service Delivery (LFRS) N Taylor, Area Manager, Head of Service Delivery (LFRS) D Brooks, Principal Member Services Officer (LFRS) L Barr, Member Services Officer (LFRS)
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In attendance
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K Wilkie, Fire Brigades Union
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1/23 |
Apologies For Absence
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Apologies were received from County Councillor Lorraine Beavers.
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2/23 |
Disclosure of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests
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None received.
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3/23 |
Minutes of Previous Meeting
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Resolved: - That the Minutes of the last meeting held on the 15 March 2023 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
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4/23 |
Performance Management Information - Fourth Quarter 2022/23
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County Councillor Hurn introduced himself as the new Chair of the Performance Committee and welcomed the new Member, Loraine Cox to the meeting.
Councillor Cox advised that she had been involved with the previous year’s Brightsparx Campaign in Accrington and asked if it would run in 2023. The Assistant Chief Fire Officer explained that it would run again as it was an annual campaign which involved a great deal of planning with a multi-agency approach. Agencies worked together to minimise risk around the bonfire period.
The Assistant Chief Fire Officer presented a comprehensive report to the Performance Committee. This was the 4th quarterly report for 2022/23 as detailed in the Community Risk Management Plan 2022-2027.
Members were informed that proposed alterations to some KPIs would be taken to a future Planning Committee meeting, and if approved, the changes would be applied to the report from Quarter 1 of the current year.
This quarter, 3 Performance Indicators (KPIs) were shown in negative exception. These were 1.2.1 Staff Absence Wholetime (WT), 1.2.3 Staff Absence Greenbook, and 3.3.2 Fire Engine Availability On-Call Shift Systems.
Members examined each indicator in turn focusing on those KPIs in exception as follows:
KPI 1 – Valuing our people so that they can focus on making Lancashire safer
1.1 Overall Staff Engagement
Members received an update on how staff were engaged during the period.
From January to March 2023, sixteen station visits were carried out by principal officers and area managers as part of the service-wide station visits programme. Ten station visits involving Corporate Planning and Human Resources (HR) departments were undertaken to engage with members of staff affected by duty system changes as part of the emergency cover review. Eighty-four wellbeing interactions were undertaken ranging from wellbeing sessions with crews to support dog interactions.
The Service engaged staff in several trials relating to the fleet, including helmet communications and firefighting equipment for high-rise buildings. Heads of department were surveyed as part of a review of hybrid working and HR met with two administration teams in relation to changes in rota management.
1.2.1 Staff Absence Wholetime
This indicator measured the cumulative number of shifts (days) lost due to sickness for all wholetime staff divided by the total average strength.
Annual Standard: Not more than 5 shifts lost. Annual Shifts Lost ÷ 4 quarters: 1.25
Cumulative total number of shifts lost: 8.640
The negative exception report was due to the number of shifts lost through absence per employee being above the Service target for quarter 4.
During quarter 4, January to March 2023, absence statistics showed whole-time personnel absence above target for the quarter.
1,156 Wholetime absence shifts lost = 1.86 against a target of 1.25 which was 3.64 shifts over target.
The Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that, as discussed at the previous committee meeting, the data had been split between long-term and short-term absences as long-term absences were more likely to be cases of serious illness which were managed via specialist care. However, short-term absences could be managed and improved by effective application of sickness absence policy and procedures within the Service.
To benchmark Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service’s (LFRS) sickness absence levels and performance, the service had utilised the National Occupational Health data, Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, and Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) data within this Performance Report.
When benchmarking the number of shifts lost for wholetime employees against the performance of other Fire and Rescue Services (FRAs) between the period 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023, the highest number of shifts lost reported was 26 and the lowest was 4.79, with an average of 11.43 wholetime shifts lost nationally. LFRS reported 8.64 wholetime shifts lost due to sickness.
In addition to benchmarking sickness absence rates against other FRAs, it was useful to set it within the context of absence rates across the UK. ONS had reported that the number of days lost due to sickness per employee had increased to 5.7 in 2022, but this had been impacted by furloughed workers. CIPD data reported in June 2022 stated that sickness absence rates had climbed to the equivalent of 7.3 days per employee. Nonetheless, the reliability of the comparison was not absolute given the differing reference periods.
Sickness absence rates for public sector workers had been consistently higher than private sector workers for every year on record. There were several factors which included: the difference in the types of jobs between sectors, some jobs had a higher likelihood of sickness than others and the remuneration arrangements.
There were 2 cases of long-term absence which spanned over the total of the 3 months; the reasons being:
· Cancer and Tumours (1 case) · Musculo Skeletal - Back (1 case)
As a result of the above 2 cases of long-term absences, 91 shifts were lost during Q4.
There were 28 other cases of long-term absence also recorded within the 3 months:
· Mental health (other) – 6 cases · Hospital / post operative – 6 cases · Musculo skeletal (other unable to define) – 4 cases · Musculo skeletal (Lower Limb) – 3 cases · Mental health (stress) – 3 cases · Heart, cardiac and circulatory problems – 2 cases · Other known causes (not specified) – 1 case · Musculo skeletal – shoulder – 1 case · Respiratory (Cold/Cough/Influenza) – 1 case · Cancer and Tumours – 1 case
Coronavirus absence was included in ‘time lost due to respiratory absences’ and an increased number of absences due to respiratory conditions was noted.
The Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised the committee that the Service had a robust Absence Management Policy which detailed the approach to managing periods of workplace absence to ensure that staff time were supported back to work at the appropriate time based upon their individual needs and in a compassionate way.
The Human Resources (HR) system, I-Trent, automatically generated monthly reports to line managers and HR Business Partners in relation to employees and their periods and reasons for absence, and these were closely monitored. Where employees were absent due to mental health, or a stress related condition, they were referred to the Occupational Health Unit (OHU) as early as possible. Employees returning to work had a return-to-work interview and stress risk assessment, or individual health risk assessments were completed where required.
The Service had several support mechanisms available to support individuals to return to work or be exited as appropriate including guidance from Occupational Health, access to an Employee Assistance Programme and the Firefighters Charity.
Where an employee did not return to work in a timely manner, an absence review meeting would take place with the employee, the line manager and a representative from Human Resources. The meetings were aimed at identifying support to return an individual back to work which could include modified duties for a period, redeployment, but ultimately could result in dismissal, or permanent ill health retirement from the Service.
The Absence Management Policy detailed when a formal review of an employee’s performance levels would normally take place. In terms of short-term absence, a formal review would take place where an employee had 3 or more periods of absence in 6 months, or an employee had 14 days absent. In terms of long-term absence, a formal review would normally take place at 3, 6, 9 and 11 months.
A key challenge for supporting operational staff returning to work was that the threshold for fitness and returning to work for operational firefighters was higher than in other occupations due to their hazardous working conditions.
In response to a question from County Councillor Kay regarding employees not returning to work due to no improvement in their mental health, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer stated that those cases were rare. The Service had invested into mental health resources and policies and procedures were in place for those employees who were ill with close contact being maintained. Employees could be referred to the Occupational Health Unit (OHU) and could also access the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). Individual stress or health risk assessments were completed where required as well as absence review meetings and plans were tailored to the individual. Members were informed that ambassadors for mental health had helped to remove the stigma which had created an environment within the Service for individuals to be open and honest about their mental health challenges.
1.2.2 Staff Absence On-Call (OC)
This indicator measured the percentage of contracted hours lost due to sickness for all on-call contracted staff.
Annual Standard: No more than 2.5% lost as a % of available hours of cover.
Cumulative on-call absence (as a % of available hours cover) at the end of the quarter, 1.46%.
1.2.3 Staff Absence Greenbook
This new indicator measured the cumulative number of shifts (days) lost due to sickness for all green book support staff divided by the average strength.
Annual Standard: Not more than 5 shifts lost. Annual Shifts Lost ÷ 4 quarters: 1.25
Cumulative shifts lost: 7.265
The negative exception report was due to the number of shifts lost through absence per employee being above the Service target for quarter 4.
For the benefit of newer Members, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised Members that Wholetime Staff were those in a firefighter, uniformed, grey book role. Green book staff were typically those in non-uniformed, support roles such as Human Resources and Health and Safety etc.
The agreed target performance level was 5 shifts lost per employee per year for green book staff. The actual shifts lost for the period for this group of staff was 7.265 which was 2.265 above target.
To benchmark LFRS’s sickness absence levels and performance, the Service utilised the National Occupational Health data, ONS and CIPD data in this report.
When benchmarking the number of shifts for Greenbook employees against the performance of other FRAs between the period 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023, the highest shifts lost reported was 18.71 and the lowest was 2.93, with an average of 9.56 Green Book shifts lost nationally. LFRS reported 7.265 green book shifts lost due to sickness.
In addition to benchmarking sickness absence rates against other FRAs it was useful to set it within the context of absence rates across the UK. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported the number of working days lost due to sickness per employee had increased to 5.7 in 2022, but this had been impacted by furloughed workers. The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) data reported in June 2022 that sickness absence rates had climbed to the equivalent of 7.3 days per employee. Sickness absence rates for public sector workers had been consistently higher than those working in the private sector for every year on record. There were several factors including: the difference in the types of jobs between sectors, some jobs have higher likelihood of sickness than others and the remuneration arrangements.
During quarter 4, January to March 2023, absence statistics showed non-uniformed personnel above target for the quarter.
417 non-uniformed absence shifts lost = 1.94 against a target of 1.25
During the quarter there were no cases of long-term absence which spanned over the total of the 3 months. There were seven cases of long-term absence which were recorded within the 3 months:
· Mental health (other) – 2 cases · Cancer and tumours – 1 case · Musculo skeletal (other/unable to define) – 1 case · Musculo skeletal (lower limb) – 1 case · Mental health (stress) – 1 case · Heart, cardiac and circulatory problems – 1 case
Coronavirus absence was included in the time lost due to respiratory absences which indicated an increase in the number of absences due to respiratory conditions.
The Service had an Absence Management Policy which detailed its approach to how it would manage absence ensuring that staff time was managed effectively, but also members of staff were supported back to work or exited from the Service in a compassionate way.
The Human Resources (HR) system, ITrent, automatically generated monthly reports to line managers and HR Business Partners in relation to employees, with the periods and reasons for absence, and those were closely monitored. Where Employees were absent due to a mental health, or stress related conditions, those employees were referred to the Occupational Health Unit (OHU) as early as possible. Employees returning to work had a return-to-work interview and stress risk assessment, or individual health risk assessments were completed where required.
Where an employee did not return to work in a timely manner, an absence review meeting would take place with the employee, the line manager, and a representative from Human Resources. The meetings were aimed at identifying support to return an individual back to work which could include modified duties for a period, redeployment, but ultimately could result in dismissal, or permanent ill health retirement from the Service.
The Absence Management Policy detailed when a formal review of an employee’s performance levels would normally take place. In terms of short-term absence, a formal review would take place where an employee had 3 or more periods of absence in 6 months, or an employee had 14 days absent. In terms of long-term absence, a formal review would normally take place at 3,6,9 and 11 months.
The Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that the policies and procedures relating to absences were consistent for both green book and grey book staff.
1.3.1 Workforce Diversity
This new indicator measured diversity as a percentage.
Combined diversity percentage of grey book (operational) and green book (support) staff:
Gender: Female 20% Male 80% Ethnicity: BME 3% Not stated 3% White 94% Sexual Orientation: LGBT 4% Heterosexual 53% Not stated 43% Disability: Disability 3% No disability 95% Not stated 2%
Separate diversity percentage of grey book (operational) and green book (support) staff:
Gender: Female Grey book 9% Green book 60% Male Grey book 91% Green book 40%
Ethnicity: BME Grey book 3% Green book 5% White Grey book 95% Green book 89% Not stated Grey book 2% Green book 6%
Sexual Orientation: LGBT Grey book 4% Green book 3% Heterosexual Grey book 52% Green book 54% Not stated Grey book 44% Green book 43%
Disability: Disability Grey book 3% Green book 3% No disability Grey book 95% Green book 90% Not stated Grey book 2% Green book 7%
1.3.2 Workforce Diversity Recruited
This new indicator measured workforce diversity recruited as a percentage.
Combined diversity percentage of grey book (operational) and green book (support) staff:
Gender: Female 11% Male 89% Ethnicity: BME 7% White 90% Not Stated 3% Sexual Orientation: LGBT 3% Heterosexual 92% Not stated 5% Disability: Disability 3% No disability 94% Not stated 3%
During quarter 4, there were a total of 72 new recruits. It was noted that a further breakdown of the data would not be provided as it may enable the identification of individuals, due to the small numbers of recruits during certain periods.
1.4 Staff Accidents
This indicator measured the number of accidents which occurred to staff members at work within the quarter: Wholetime, On-Call and Greenbook.
Total number of staff accidents, 17 for quarter 4; year to date 61; previous year to date 75. Quarterly activity increased 21.43% over the same quarter of the previous year.
KPI 2 - Preventing, fires and other emergencies from happening and Protecting people and property when fires happen
2.1 Risk Map Score
This indicator measured the fire risk in each Super Output Area, of which there were 942. Risk was determined using fire activity over the previous 3 fiscal years along with a range of demographic data, such as population and deprivation. The County risk map score was updated annually and presented to the Performance Committee in the quarter 1 reporting period.
Annual Standard: To reduce the risk in Lancashire – an annual reduction in the County risk map score.
(Dwelling Fires ÷ Total Dwellings) + (Dwelling Fire Casualties ÷ Resident Population x 4) + Building Fire + (IMD x 2) = Risk Score.
The current score was 31,576 and the previous year’s score was 31,862 which meant that the fire risk continued to reduce.
2.2 Overall Activity
This indicator measured the number of incidents that LFRS attended with one or more pumping appliances. Incidents attended included fires, special service calls, false alarms and collaborative work undertaken with other emergency services i.e.: missing person searches on behalf of the Police and gaining entry incidents at the request of the Ambulance Service.
Incidents attended, year to date 18,841; previous year to date 18,940. Quarterly activity decreased 13.87% over the same quarter of the previous year.
In quarter 4, the Service attended 3,864 incidents. The report presented a chart which represented the count and percentage that each activity had contributed to the overall quarter’s activity:
· Total False Alarm Calls (due to apparatus, good intent and malicious) – 1815, 47% · Total Primary Fire Calls (accidental dwelling / building and deliberate dwelling / commercial fires and other primary fires) – 414, 11% · Total Secondary Fire Calls (deliberate and accidental fires) – 553, 14% · Total Special Service Calls (critical incidents, gaining entry, RTCs, Flooding and other critical incidents) – 1055, 28%
2.3 Accidental Dwelling Fires (ADF)
This indicator reported the number of primary fires where a dwelling had been affected and the cause of the fire had been recorded as 'Accidental' or 'Not known'.
Members noted that a primary fire was one involving property (excluding derelict property) or any fires involving casualties, rescues or any fire attended by 5 or more pumping appliances.
Accidental Dwelling Fires, 168 in quarter 4; year to date 772; previous year to date 846. Quarterly activity decreased 17.65% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.3.1 ADF – Harm to people: Casualties
This indicator reported the number of fire related fatalities, slight and serious injuries at primary fires where a dwelling had been affected and the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘Accidental or Not known’.
A slight injury was defined as; a person attending hospital as an outpatient (not precautionary check). A serious injury was defined as; at least an overnight stay in hospital as an in-patient.
Fatal, 3 in quarter 4; year to date 8; previous year to date 6 Injuries appear Serious 6 in quarter 4; year to date 16; previous year to date 13 Injuries appear Slight 3 in quarter 4; year to date 21; previous year to date 24
Quarterly activity increased 33.33% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.3.2 ADF – Harm to property: Extent of damage (fire severity)
This indicator reported the number of primary fires where a dwelling had been affected and the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘'Accidental' or 'Not known'.
Extent of fire, heat and smoke damage was recorded at the time the ‘stop’ message was sent and included all damage types.
The table in the report showed a breakdown of fire severity with a directional indicator that compared:
Current quarter, combined percentage of 87% against same quarter of the previous year, combined percentage of 90%.
Combined quarterly percentage had therefore decreased 3% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.4 Accidental Building Fires (ABF) (Commercial Premises) This indicator reported the number of primary fires where a building had been affected (which was other than a dwelling or a private building associated with a dwelling), and the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘'Accidental' or 'Not known'.
ABF (Commercial Premises), 54 in quarter 4; year to date 250; previous year to date 281. Quarterly activity decreased 23.94% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.4.1 ABF (Commercial Premises) – Harm to property: Extent of damage (fire severity)
This indicator reported the number of primary fires where a building had been affected (which was other than a dwelling or a private building associated with a dwelling), and the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘'Accidental' or 'Not known'.
Extent of fire, heat and smoke damage was recorded at the time the ‘stop’ message was sent and included all damage types.
The table in the report showed a breakdown of fire severity with a directional indicator that compared:
· current quarter, combined percentage of 81% against · same quarter of the previous year, combined percentage of 75%.
Combined quarterly percentage had therefore increased 6% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.5 Accidental Building Fires (Non-Commercial Premises) This indicator reported the number of primary fires where a private garage, private shed, private greenhouse, private summerhouse, or other private non-residential building had been affected and the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘Accidental’ or ‘Not known’.
ABF (Non-Commercial Premises), 17 in quarter 4; year to date 85; previous year to date 77. Quarterly activity increased 41.67% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.5.1 ABF (Non-Commercial premises: Private garages and sheds) – Harm to property: Extent of damage (fire severity)
This indicator reported the number of primary fires where a private garage, private shed, private greenhouse, private summerhouse, or other private non-residential building had been affected and the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘Accidental’ or ‘Not known’.
Extent of fire, heat and smoke damage was recorded at the time the ‘stop’ message was sent and included all damage types.
The table in the report showed a breakdown of fire severity with a directional indicator that compared:
· current quarter, combined percentage of 6% against · same quarter of the previous year, combined percentage of 25%.
Combined quarterly activity had therefore decreased 19% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.6 Deliberate Fires Total: Specific performance measure of deliberate fires
This new indicator provided an overall measure of primary and secondary fires where the cause of fire had been recorded as deliberate.
Deliberate Fires – 400 in quarter 4; year to date 2,293; previous year to date 1,939. Quarterly activity decreased 2.91% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.6.1 Deliberate Fires – Dwellings
This indicator reported the number of primary fires where a dwelling had been affected and the cause of fire had been recorded as deliberate.
Deliberate Fires – Dwellings, 21 in quarter 4, year to date 79; previous year to date 99. Quarterly activity increased 61.54% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.6.2 Deliberate Fires - Commercial Premises
This indicator reported the number of primary fires where the property type was a building, other than a dwelling or a private building associated with a dwelling, and the cause of fire had been recorded as deliberate.
Deliberate Fires – Commercial Premises, 30 in quarter 4; year to date 119; previous year to date 128.
Quarterly activity decreased 3.23% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.6.3 Deliberate Fires – Other (rubbish, grassland, vehicles etc).
This indicator reported the number of primary and secondary fires where the property type was other than a building, except where the building was recorded as derelict, and the cause of fire had been recorded as deliberate.
The majority of deliberate fires were outdoor secondary fires and included grassland and refuse fires. Derelict vehicle fires were also included under secondary fires.
Deliberate Fires – Other, 350 in quarter 4; year to date 2,096; previous year to date 1,711. Quarterly activity decreased 4.56% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.7 Home Fire Safety Checks
This indicator reported the percentage of completed Home Fire Safety Checks (HFSC), excluding refusals, carried out where the risk score had been determined to be high.
An improvement was shown if:
· the total number of HFSC’s completed was greater than the comparable quarter of the previous year; and · the percentage of high HFSC outcomes was greater than the comparable quarter of the previous year.
HFSCs completed, 5,850 in quarter 4; year to date 22,210; previous year to date 17,638. Quarterly activity increased 16.1% over the same quarter of the previous year.
HFSCs with high-risk outcomes, Quarter 4, 57%; previous year Quarter 4, 60%. Quarterly activity decreased 3.0% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.8 Numbers of prevention activities such as Childsafe, wasted lives etc
Members received an update on the number of sessions delivered against the following prevention activities during the quarter:
ChildSafe, 203 sessions delivered to 6,410 attendees; RoadSense, 189 sessions delivered to 5,947 attendees; SENDSafe, 4 sessions delivered to 152 attendees; Wasted Lives, 10 sessions delivered to 613 pupils; Biker Down, 7 sessions delivered to 124 attendees; FIRES, 33 completed referrals; Partner Training, 23 organisations/agencies – 132 people.
Specific Education packages – delivered Water Safety, ASB, Deliberate Fire Setting etc (Covers key stages 2, 3 and 4), across 9 sessions, delivered to 633 attendees.
Arson Threat Referrals - 181.
2.9 Fire Safety Activity (including Business Fire Safety Checks)
This indicator reported the number of Fire Safety Enforcement inspections carried out within the period which resulted in supporting businesses to improve and become compliant with fire safety regulations or where formal action of enforcement and prosecution had been taken for those that failed to comply.
An improvement was shown if the percentage of audits that required formal activity was greater than the comparable quarter of the previous year.
Total Fire Safety Enforcement Inspections, Quarter 4,550; Formal Activity in Quarter 4, 5%, same quarter of the previous year 7%. Quarterly activity decreased 2% over the same quarter of the previous year.
Members noted the cumulative number of Business Fire Safety Checks undertaken for 2022/23 was 2,564.
2.10 Building Regulation Consultations (BRC) (number and completed on time)
Where the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applied to premises (or would apply following building work) the building control body must consult with LFRS for comments / advice regarding fire safety. LFRS should make any comments in writing within 15 working days from receiving a BRC.
This new indicator provided Members with information on the number of building regulations consultations received during the period together with improvement actions.
In Quarter 4 Building Regulation Consultations received 261, of which 244 were completed within timeframe (LFRS should make comments in writing within 15 working days of receiving a BRC).
Improvement Actions were noted as follows:
To comply with the NFCC Competency Framework for Fire Safety Regulators, consultations must be completed by Level 4 qualified Fire Safety Inspectors. It was the same inspectors who were required to complete the more complex audits required by the risk-based inspection program, consequently use of finite resources must be fully co-ordinated and balanced. To achieve this and ensure consultation timelines were achieved: · Development work continued to qualify more of the existing staff to L4 standard. · Recruitment undertaken in Q4 had increased establishment in the function. · Improved administration and consultation monitoring arrangements would be implemented. · The newly formed Built Environment and Ops Liaison team would take an increasing role in co-ordinating the receipt and completion of consultations within timescales.
KPI 3 - Responding to fire and other emergencies quickly
3.1 Critical Fire Response – 1st Fire Engine Attendance
This indicator reported the ‘Time of Call’ (TOC) and ‘Time in Attendance’ (TIA) of the first fire engine arriving at the incident in less than the relevant response standard.
The response standards included call handling and fire engine response time for the first fire engine attending a critical fire, as follows: -
· Very high-risk area = 6 minutes · High risk area = 8 minutes · Medium risk area = 10 minutes · Low risk area = 12 minutes
The response standards were determined by the risk map score and subsequent risk grade for the location of the fire.
Annual Standard: to be in attendance within response standard target on 90% of occasions.
Critical Fire Response – 1st Fire Engine Attendance, 88.07% in quarter 4; year to date 85.71%; previous year to date 86.82%.
Quarterly response increased 2.49% over the same quarter of the previous year.
3.2 Critical Special Service Response – 1st Fire Engine Attendance
This indicator reported the ‘Time of Call’ (TOC) and ‘Time in Attendance’ (TIA) of the first fire engine arriving at the incident in less than the relevant response standard.
The response standard included how long it took the first fire engine to respond to critical special service (non-fire) incidents where there was a risk to life such as road traffic collisions, rescues, and hazardous materials incidents. For these critical special service call incidents there was a single response standard of 13 minutes (which measured call handling time and fire engine response time).
Annual Standard: to be in attendance within response standard target on 90% of occasions.
Critical Special Service Response – 1st Fire Engine Attendance, 89.30% in quarter 4; year to date 89.62%; previous year to date 89.98%.
Quarterly response decreased 3.12% over the same quarter of the previous year.
3.3 Total Fire Engine Availability
This indicator measured the availability of fire engines by all crewing types. It was measured as the percentage of time a fire engine was available to respond compared to the total time in the period.
Total Fire Engine Availability, 85.35% in quarter 4; year to date 84.82%; previous year to date 88.16%.
Quarterly availability decreased 2.51% over the same quarter of the previous year.
It was noted that the key periods of Covid-19 restrictions/lockdowns were: · 23rd March to 10th May 2020. The first national lockdown was announced. · 22nd September 2020. New restrictions announced, including working from home. · 5th November 2020 to 2nd December 2020. Second lockdown in England. · 6th January 2021 to 29th March 2021. Third national lockdown / stay at home order.
3.3.1 Fire Engine Availability – Wholetime Shift System
This indicator measured the availability of fire engines that were crewed by wholetime, day crewing and day crewing plus shifts. It was measured as the percentage of time a fire engine was available to respond compared to the total time in the period.
Fire engines were designated as unavailable for the following reasons:
* Mechanical * Lack of equipment * Appliance change over * Crew deficient * Miscellaneous * Debrief * Engineer working on station * Unavailable * Welfare
Annual Standard: 99.5%
Fire Engine Availability – Wholetime Shift System, 99.44% in quarter 4; year to date 99.31%; previous year to date 99.26%.
Quarterly response increased 0.10% over the same quarter of the previous year.
3.3.2 Fire Engine Availability – On-Call Shift System
This indicator measured the availability of fire engines that were crewed by the on-call duty system. It was measured as the percentage of time a fire engine was available to respond compared to the total time in the period.
Fire engines were designated as unavailable (off the run) for the following reasons which include the percentage of off the run hours that each reason contributed to the total. Members noted that fire engines can be off the run for more than one reason; hence the percentages were interpreted individually (rather than as a proportion of the total):
· Manager deficient 60% · Crew deficient 78% · Not enough BA wearers 67% · No driver 41%
Annual Aspirational Standard: 95%
Fire Engine Availability – On-Call Shift System, 73.91% in quarter 4; year to date 73.05%; previous year to date 79.14%.
Quarterly availability decreased 4.62% over the same quarter of the previous year.
The negative exception report was due to the percentage of On-Call (OC) pumps available to respond to emergencies being below the lower control limit during quarter 4.
Availability of On-Call pumps during the quarter was recorded at 73.91%, with each month being below the 79.43% control limit, and below the Service’s 95% aspirational standard.
The service appointed 42 new recruits from the October 2022 recruitment campaign. However, there had been some staff resignations from that course. The positive effect of the new recruits on availability would be felt when they qualified as Breathing Apparatus (BA) wearers.
Due to a deficiency of Officer in Charge (OIC) and Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) drivers across on-call units in LFRS, On-Call Support Officers (OCSOs) were working to assist potential drivers who were in development to ensure those who were becoming LGV qualified did not fall behind with their portfolio work.
In quarter 4, there were successful transferees from other services into the On-Call duty system. This followed a successful skills gap analysis that identified whether a full initial, upskill course or BA course was required.
OCSOs had been working with unit managers to identify and develop potential OICs on their respective units.
Actions being taken to improve performance:
· The Service would continue to deliver a recruitment strategy, which incorporated a targeted approach to stations that were in exception, whilst utilising data to identify the specific contractual/availability needs of those stations. · A retention study undertaken by station managers and OCSO team leaders would commence. · The Service would continue to review on-call contracts to ensure they were effective in improving appliance availability, whilst also ensuring contractual performance of staff was maintained. · Challenges around Light Goods Vehicle (LGV) and Officer in Charge (OIC) skills continued to be an issue across the Service. To remedy this, Firefighters in development could be nominated for LGV courses, following discussion with Station and Group Managers. · OCSOs were working with the Incident Command team in workshops to support and develop OICs with their command skills. · Invest in on-call using relevant recruitment material and effective allocation of internal resources. Additional resources for the recruitment vehicle had been identified and requested which included new banners, QR code cards for each station, and new on-call staff for advertisement. · Liaise with key persons on identifying a way that Whole Time (WT) staff living in On-Call areas could book on-call flexibility without being tied to a 60-hour contract.
The Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that Steve Healey, Deputy Chief Fire Officer was the NFCC Lead Officer for On-Call. In this role, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer was involved with national and local projects and would seek to initiate policy change at a national level to support delivery of national on-call ambitions.
The Service had recently appointed a dedicated On-Call Station Manager whose sole focus would be to deliver project work and ultimately improve performance.
The Assistant Chief Fire Officer explained that key areas of focus for the project would drive improvements in performance in the highlighted areas of shortfalls (manager deficient, not enough BA wearers, crew deficient and no driver). How entrants were recruited and inducted would be explored with an emphasis on accelerating admission into the Service. Entry requirements had been reviewed for firefighters transferring from other fire and rescue services into the on-call system, as existing skills and competency were considered, making the process simpler. In addition, Members were informed that the Service was in the process of modifying a vehicle which would be dedicated to supporting recruitment for both wholetime and on-call positions.
In response to a query from County Councillor Kay regarding the opportunity to highlight recruitment during ‘Wasted Lives’ events, and other community safety events, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer highlighted that the Service viewed recruitment as being part of everyone’s role. Recruitment and improving workforce diversity was no longer solely the role of the Human Resources department, all staff were ambassadors of the Service and were expected to take all opportunities to promote the Service as a prospective employer.
Discussions were also taking place with the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) around the potential for new, more flexible contract options which would include wholetime firefighters being able to offer adhoc on-call cover in their off-duty periods, to assist in improving fire engine availability.
Councillor Smith asked whether benchmarking against national statistics could be used against this KPI. The Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that some fire and rescue services did not publish their data, therefore it was not available for benchmarking purpose, however the DCFO was endeavouring to gather this via his national lead role.
KPI 4 - Delivering value for money in how we use our resources
4.1 Progress Against Allocated Budget
Members received an update on spend against the approved budget for the year.
The figure was not available, presently, due to the move to the new Finance System. An updated figure would be presented to a future meeting of the Resources Committee.
4.2 Partnership Collaboration
Under the Policing and Crime Act 2017, blue light services were under a formal duty to collaborate to improve efficiency, effectiveness and deliver improved outcomes.
LFRS, Lancashire Constabulary and North West Ambulance Service had met at both tactical and strategic levels and had agreed and signed a strategic statement of intent which contained the following aims:
• Improved Outcomes – The collaboration maintains or improves the service we provide to local people and local communities; • Reduce Demand – The collaboration should contribute towards our longer-term strategic objective of decreasing risk in communities and reducing demand on services; • Better Value for Money – The collaboration produces quantifiable efficiencies either on implementation or in the longer term; • Reduced inequalities within our communities – The collaboration contributes towards reducing inequalities wherever possible.
This new indicator provided Members with an update on partnership collaboration during the period.
Update At a meeting of the Blue Light Collaboration board, an update on the ongoing projects was presented to the strategic leads. An agreement was also made in terms on ensuring that a suitable evaluation process was implemented for each project. This would provide evidence in terms of outputs and outcomes, additionally, it would enable learning to be identified.
Missing Persons (MisPer) It had been identified that LFRS mobilisations had reduced. Therefore, the main project objective was to improve the existing collaborative approach to identification of the location of missing persons. Learning had been identified from the original process and improvements had been made. LFRS was reviewing the mobilisation of specialist assets and the memorandum of understanding would be updated.
In terms of practical items, the Missing from Home Manager training for specific LFRS staff was being planned. This training would develop knowledge and understanding regarding aspects of planning and undertaking a search.
Furthermore, Lancashire Constabulary had provided training to Control staff to raise awareness. There had already been an increase in the number of LFRS mobilisations.
Estates and Co-location This project was a longer-term work stream with interdependencies, as there were several internal projects within Lancashire Constabulary to review current building stock. This included Lancashire Constabulary headquarters, and various police stations. Property Leads from all three agencies had been in regular contact and there were now a series of meetings scheduled to look at opportunities moving forward.
Community First Responder A phased approach had been agreed in terms of volunteers signing up to the scheme. Phase 1 was being rolled out to non-operational LFRS staff, such as Community Fire Safety. Subsequently, phase 2 would consider the roll out to Flexi Duty Officers (FDOs) and On-Call staff.
Progress on phase 1 had resulted in the successful onboarding of one non-operational member of LFRS. Four other staff who volunteered for the project had completed the recruitment and selection process. The training was being planned and it was anticipated that they would be ‘on the run’ within the next two months. The NWAS reporting system had been modified to include LFRS staff to enable the Service to analyse data and monitor the mobilisations.
In terms of technology, the NWAS application that was used to mobilise First Responders had been updated, which had significantly improved effectiveness. Staff using the system had an option to accept or decline the request forwarded to them which offered some flexibility.
Further discussion would take place with Lancashire Constabulary to review if there were any suitable non-operational roles that could be added as First Responders. It was noted that operational staff, including Armed Response units did attend cardiac arrests alongside NWAS and that collaboration to this effect was already in place.
Leadership Development Initial scoping had been completed, in terms of what each organisation currently delivered for leadership development. The project was being delivered in two phases. Phase 1 covered some short-term objectives, seeking to maximise existing courses and events, and provide opportunities for staff from all three organisations to utilise places on these courses. Staff from Lancashire Constabulary’s organisational development team attended LFRS values and behaviours module that new firefighter apprentices complete, to observe the content and how it is delivered.
Another example was opening up places on the ‘Inside Out’ programme which was offered by Lancashire Constabulary. A benefit would be improved efficiency, through utilisation of unfilled places. Additionally, it would provide a platform for discussing ideas and sharing learning, as many of the leadership challenges are cross cutting in all three organisations.
Phase 2 would scope opportunities to collaborate on specific elements of supervisory and middle manager leadership programmes. This would lead to some efficiencies, as well as a platform to share ideas.
Command Units The aim of this project was to establish and deliver additional collaborative uses of the command units in LFRS in line with Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Programme (JESIP) principles. The key objectives were to improve operational effectiveness and in line with the LFRS mission; ‘Making Lancashire Safer’.
LFRS were currently progressing the implementation of new command units. This would also include the introduction of new command software, which would enhance the capture of information and provide better shared awareness across blue light organisations at incidents. Once this work was complete, there would be some joint training events planned, so commanders from each organisation would gain a better understanding of the capabilities. Mobilisation criteria would be reviewed to ensure that the command units were utilised in the most effective way.
4.3 Overall User Satisfaction
People surveyed included those who had experienced an accidental dwelling fire, a commercial fire, or a special service incident that the Service attended. The standard was achieved if the percentage of satisfied responses was greater than the standard.
Annual Standard: 97.5%
In quarter 4, 80 people had been surveyed and the number satisfied with the service was 78. The running number of people surveyed for the year was 3,266 with 3,226 of those people being satisfied with the Service; 98.78% against a standard of 97.50%; a variance of 1.31%.
The Chair thanked the Assistant Fire Officer for his comprehensive report.
Resolved: - That the Performance Committee noted and endorsed the Quarter 4 Measuring Progress report, including the three negative exceptions.
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5/23 |
NWFC Quarter 4 Performance Report for LFRS
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The Committee were provided with a report detailing the performance of NWFC during quarter 4 (January – March 2023).
Negative Exceptions
There was one negative exception which was for the KPI for Emergency Calls with the reason being missing data. An investigation by NWFC and system contractors had found that due a connection failure, the data on a number of calls was not retrievable. This had no impact on service delivery during the period. The connection failure had now been resolved and NWFC were working with system contractors to ensure that resilience was in place to prevent a reoccurrence.
Emergency Calls in to NWFC
NWFC received 26,849 in quarter 4 compared to 37,462 for the same quarter of 2021/22. For the year to date, NWFC had received 135,455 emergency calls compared to 162,590 for the same period of the previous year. Emergency calls included 999 calls from members of the public and emergency calls from Lancashire Constabulary and North West Ambulance Service.
Upon investigating possible reasons for a fall in emergency call numbers, NWFC had established that for quarter 4, there was some missing data for the period which data extraction software was unable to retrieve. This had been reported to system contractors, who had now fixed the issue and were looking at further resilience measures. This had not affected transferring NWFC data to FRS IRS software. There was missing data from 17th – 29th January 2023 and from other dates in January and February for several hours at a time during specific days. Not all emergency calls and administrative calls data was missing during these periods, but these had been identified as to when there were connection failures.
Emergency Calls for LFRS
A total of 6,036 emergency calls were received in quarter 4 for LFRS, compared to 9,179 for the same quarter of the previous year. For the year to date, NWFC had received 33,446 emergency calls for LFRS, compared to 39,258 for the same period of the previous year.
Admin Calls in to NWFC
NWFC had received a total of 25,917 admin calls in quarter 4, compared to 29,507 in quarter 4 of the previous year. The number of calls for the year to date was 115,296, compared to 117,377 for the same period of the previous year. Similar to emergency calls, there was missing data that was not retrievable for administrative calls for quarter 4.
Admin calls included crews and officers contacting NWFC for either guidance, or to offer advice such as notification of missing equipment, defective resources, liaising with control regarding exercises or resources availability.
Admin Calls for LFRS
Within quarter 4, a total of 5,873 admin calls were received for Lancashire Fire and Rescue (LFRS), compared to 6,772 in quarter 4 of the previous year. For the year to date, NWFC had received 26,385 admin calls for LFRS compared to 25,222 calls for the same period of the previous year.
Calls Challenged Resulting in No Mobilisation
In quarter 4, the percentage of calls challenged and not mobilised to was 42%, compared to 42% for the same quarter of 2021/22.
These were any calls where Control Room Operators asked additional questions provided by Fire and Rescue Services in order to determine if a response was required. Examples of these incident types were automatic fire alarms, animal rescues, bonfires and NWAS gaining entry.
NWFC continued to support Fire & Rescue Services with call challenge questions, which determined whether there were resources mobilised to incidents such as automatic fire alarms. In supporting these initiatives, 42% of calls challenged were not required to be mobilised to, and therefore these resources were available for other emergencies. NWFC had recently supported both Lancashire Constabulary and Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service in updating their call challenge questions for automatic fire alarms.
Call Answering Times
The average answer time for all Emergency calls for quarter 4 2022/23 was 5.1 seconds. This was an improvement of 0.9 seconds when compared to the same period in 2021/2022. In quarter 4, 89.68% of all incoming Emergency calls were answered within 10 seconds. The average call duration for answered calls and total count had not been completed due to missing data.
Fires: Average Response to Mobilise First Resource
For NWFC, mobilising performance times for fires in quarter 4 was 79 seconds which was under the 90 second target. This compared to 76 for the same quarter in 2021/2022. NWFC had continued to mobilise resources to fires under the 90 second target for the year to date.
All FRS Response Times – Fires
The call handling times for fires continued to be relatively favourable compared to other fire and rescue services (Cumbria, Cheshire, and Manchester). During quarter 4, the average time to mobilise the first response to fire related incidents was 81 seconds. This compared to 78 for the same quarter in 2021/22. The call handling time remained within the 90 second target.
Special Service Calls – Average Response to Mobilise First Resource
Mobilising performance times for LFRS in quarter 4 for special service calls was 119 seconds compared to 114 seconds for quarter 4 of the previous year. LFRS mobilising times for special service calls for the year to date was 122 seconds which had been maintained for the same period of the previous year.
It was noted that several incidents were exempted from the data which included those incidents where there was not an automatic response from NWFC, but when Lancashire FRS had asked that further clarification was sought from a specialist officer, e.g., NILO, prior to mobilisation due to the type of incident, such as suspect packages, and missing persons. Other incidents excluded were, when crews had proceeded to fix a defective smoke alarm several hours after being notified or where incidents had to be queued due to a depletion of FRS resources in a location.
All FRS Response Times – Special Service Calls
The average response times for all FRS Special Service Calls was similar to the other Fire and Rescue Services (Cumbria, Cheshire, and Manchester).
In response to a question raised by County Councillor Rigby in relation to how it was decided where to mobile appliances from, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer explained that it was an automated decision by the computer system. When a call was received, the call handler would enter the address details into the system which were then checked against a database and the system would identify which area and appliances were available to attend.
Councillor Smith asked if fire and rescue services from other countries were linked into mobilisation systems. Area Manager, Matt Hamer, informed that every fire and rescue service had an agreement for cross-border mobilisation. Where appliances were mobilised from depended on the incident type i.e., a small bin fire would not require cross-border mobilisation, whereas a domestic fire would attract cross-border mobilising to get the quickest available resources on scene, where fire stations from adjacent countries were located very close to borders. Members also noted that control rooms could mobilise and share information between them quickly as they were well connected.
Resolved: - That Members noted the content of the report.
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6/23 |
Annual Report on Road Safety Intervention Activity 2022/23
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Area Manager, Matt Hamer, provided the meeting with an annual report regarding Road Safety Intervention Activity which explained the Service’s core prevention offer and also the challenges on Lancashire’s roads.
Members noted that, through the previous Integrated Risk Management Plan 2017-2022 (IRMP), prevention and protection services and the structure for delivery were reviewed to ensure that the Service was delivering appropriate services in line with the changing operating environment. As a result, working practices had changed with a strategic focus on the quality of the services that continued to be delivered. The services were delivered around key themes: helping people to start safe, live safe, age safe and be safe on our roads with a focus on working collaboratively with other organisations. To ensure constant improvement in all parts of prevention delivery, the Service had dedicated thematic groups whose priorities aligned to the more recent Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) 2022-2027 and the Prevention Strategy.
Road Safe Thematic Group
The Thematic Road Safety Group continued to meet every quarter during 2022-2023 with an option of in-person and virtual meetings. Membership of the group came from all areas of the county and was a mix of Community Safety and Operational Staff. Road Safety Champion, County Councillor Ron Woollam, had close links with the group and was in regular communication with Clare Burscough, the Prevention Support Officer for Road Safety.
An annual plan aligned to the terms of reference had been developed alongside a priority work programme which supported the Lancashire Road Safety Partnership (LRSP) ‘Towards Zero’ strategy. An ambition of the group was to improve communication between strategic and practitioner levels and also to send clear messages out to Service Areas with key road safety priorities. The Service sought to deliver focused activities in areas identified as having issues and evaluate effectiveness.
Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, the Service had developed new ways of working and some of those working practices had been adopted as business as usual and offered a greater choice of delivery methods for the community, improving the Service’s reach and efficacy. The offer of virtual delivery remained part of the service’s plan and continued to be selected by schools as a delivery method across the country.
Lancashire Road Safety Partnership (LRSP)
Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service continued to be a proactive member of LRSP and had representatives at both Strategic and Operational group level. Area Manager, Matt Hamer, was the Vice-Chair of the partnership. The partners worked closely with each other and delivered the partnership strategy ‘Towards Zero’ Lancashire: Road Safety Strategy for Lancashire 2016 – 2026’, in an attempt to reduce those killed or seriously injured on Lancashire’s roads.
LFRS lead on the Children and Young People workstream which brought partners together to look at what was currently delivered, what worked well and where the gaps where so that resources could be pooled to work efficiently and without duplication. The LRSP continued to work through the action plan following the review of the partnership completed in 2022.
The LFRS Road Safety Thematic Group Priorities 2022-2023
1. Road Sense – Evaluate the new package & deliver to all primary schools in Lancashire. 2. Wasted Lives - Develop a suite of assembly sessions, update the existing workshop session, and promote delivery of Wasted Lives for year 11/10. 3. Safe Drive Stay Alive – Support events. 4. Biker Down – Grow delivery of courses, expanding to new locations.
1. Road Sense
Road Sense was the name given to the road safety education programme delivered to Year 6 pupils. The session was mixed and started with a 20-minute fire safety recap followed by 40 minutes of road safety input. It provided the opportunity to draw on a previous session the pupils would have received in Year 2 and explored the consequences of hoax calls and deliberate fires.
The Package focused on five key road safety themes which were selected to reflect Lancashire’s issues with young people:
- In Car Safety; - Pedestrian Safety; - Cycle Safety; - Be Safe Be Seen; - Bus Safety.
Staywise had now adopted the package. Staywise was an online resource website for Fire and Rescue Services across the country.
The inclusion of a ‘Road Sense Fact Sheet’, using the CFA Road Safety Champion budget, was a very welcome addition to the session and teachers commented on the usefulness of information for pupils to take home for further discussion with their families. Evaluation of the package provided positive feedback from schools with 76% of teachers selecting that they ‘strongly agreed’ the session would have a positive impact on the student’s road user behaviour. The remaining 24% ‘agreed’ with this. The Service had not received any negative feedback. Utilising the QR code allowed the teachers to give more honest feedback and improved the efficiency of the process.
The following feedback had been received from teachers following a Road Sense delivery:
“Great mix of humour and serious information. Allowed children to ask questions which were answered effectively. Use of videos helped to reinforce the information shared. Hard-hitting videos but age appropriate”.
“Good points made. Verbal and visual stimulus which kept the children engaged and informed. Handout is useful to recap the given messages”.
During the current academic year, LFRS had embedded an Education Tracker. It allowed the monitoring of all delivery in schools, from the initial contact stage through to the submission of all paperwork following the session taking place. To date, the delivery figures were looking higher than ever before. During the reporting period, 15,603 Year 6 pupils received the input.
2. ‘Wasted Lives’ Young Driver Road Safety Education Programme
LFRS was now the only delivery partner for Wasted Lives following changes at Lancashire County Council. The programme was aimed at young people and pre-drivers which aimed to influence behaviour and change attitudes either as a driver or a passenger, thereby reducing risk to that specific group and to other road users.
By actively engaging with the age group of 15 - 20-year-olds, Wasted Lives aimed to maximise the opportunities for people to evaluate and reflect on their own attitudes and behaviour behind the wheel and as a passenger. Extensive evaluation had demonstrated how the package promoted real and lasting changes in how each participant behaved in a car. Since the introduction of Wasted Lives in 2010, LFRS had delivered road safety education to over 120,000 young people throughout Lancashire, including Blackpool, and Blackburn with Darwen. For the period 2022-2023, LFRS had delivered the programme to 2,806 young people using Microsoft Teams and face-to face delivery.
The Service would continue the delivery of Wasted Lives to Years 10 and 11 students as pre-drivers and those employed as apprentices. Throughout the last 12 months, due to recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic, the number of schools contacting the Service for a session, had reduced. A suite of assembly session had been developed which could be adapted in length to fit in with schools’ timetables. The pandemic had provided the opportunity to develop different ways of working and the Service was now offering an MS Teams version of Wasted Lives and accompanying resource pack. Schools now had 3 delivery options and by being more flexible in what could be delivered and how, more young people had been reached. As part of the district planning process 2022/23 each of the areas utilised ‘heat’ maps to identify areas of risk which allowed targeted delivery of ‘Wasted Lives’.
The Wasted Lives package also had the option of being complemented by a ‘crashed car’, which was a vehicle from a real incident where, tragically, there had been a fatality. Alternatively, the car could be used as a standalone resource at a community event. The Service now had a new vehicle where the circumstances of the collision were solely speed related. It was hoped that it would resonate with more of the community as there was no alcohol or drugs involved in the crash.
3. Safe Drive Stay Alive
Safe Drive Stay Alive was a road safety initiative where the audience heard real life stories from the emergency services and families who had all been affected by road traffic collisions in an auditorium setting. The delivery was aimed at college aged students.
The speakers came forward to share their emotional experiences in a bid to reduce the number of young people killed or seriously injured on Lancashire’s roads. Throughout the session, the young people heard from a Fire Fighter, Police Officer, Paramedic and a bereaved family member.
Safe Drive Stay Alive was emotional and encouraged reflection. The sessions aimed to encourage students to improve their attitudes towards risk taking behaviour on the roads. Considerable work had been carried out nationally to compare a number of packages aimed at that age group and LFRS had been involved, alongside LRSP members, in evaluating the best fit for Lancashire. Whilst this had been ongoing LFRS had facilitated a video version on behalf of the partnership, however, had found that colleges preferred face to face delivery and also had challenges in fitting sessions into their timetable.
4. Biker Down
Biker Down was a course that was aimed at motorcyclists and pillions of all ages and experience. The free 3-hour course offered members of the public a chance to learn practical skills which could be put into practice anywhere at any time.
The 3 modules covered were:
- Incident Management; - First Aid; - The Science of Being Seen.
The initiative started in Kent and LFRS had signed a memorandum of understanding with Kent Fire and Rescue Service to allow the Service to use the logo and delivery material.
LFRS had worked with LRSP to ensure that delivery was complementary to Bike Safe, which was a Police-led initiative. Anyone who attended Biker Down was encouraged to book onto Bike Safe which was seen as the next step in training as it involved a ride out with an Advanced Police Motorcyclist. Biker Down was seen as the start of a motorcyclists ‘learning journey’.
During the reporting period, there had been a 5% increase in motorcycle casualties, totalling 145. Lancashire’s statistics showed that someone was 72 times more likely to die on a motorcycle than in a car on the road, higher than the national average.
There had been 346 attendees in the last 12 months and the appetite for the courses had grown significantly over recent months with the Facebook page reaching over 900 likes and the reach of posts sometimes exceeding 1500 people. All attendees took part in a practical element of the course which included helmet removal and CPR. There were really important skills which might be needed should they be faced with a road traffic collision involving a motorcyclist. Feedback from attendees mirrored how important this part of the course was and how valuable they felt it was.
Feedback included:
“A really useful session. A great deal learnt. Hopefully I’ll not need to put into practice but I feel confident that I could now”.
“Wonderful course. Great presentation. I will be recommending. Thank you very much”.
With support from County Councillor Ron Woollam, a portion of the CFA Road Safety Champion budget was utilised to provide all attendees with a First Aid kit that complemented the skills they were taught and a bike puc (stand), which incorporated the safety message ‘Dress for the slide, not the ride’.
The delivery model was flexible so courses could be hosted for individual motorcycle clubs or advertised using an online booking platform for members of the public to book on independently. The Biker Down team aimed to run 12 courses per year but were exceeding that aspiration due to such a high demand for courses.
Summary
The 12-month period had presented challenges for the delivery of Road Safety Education and the Service’s ability to engage with the communities of Lancashire, many schools were in a ‘recovery’ period which resulted in very tight constraints on their timetables. The Service had continued to adapt offerings and, with increased use of technology and innovative ideas by members of the Road Safety Thematic Group which meant that the education package had been delivered to over 18,500 people.
The Service continued to be an active member of the LRSP and, building on the review, looked forward to continuing to be involved in a collaborative approach. This would have an emphasis on the strengths that the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service brand could bring to the partnership working to deliver the collaborative ambition of a safer road system.
Focusing on the Service’s priorities for 2022/23, some notable progression and successful outcomes had been achieved, from getting back into primary schools, post pandemic, to engage with pupils and deliver the improved Road Sense package to re-launching Wasted Lives and Biker Down. The Service’s action plan for the forthcoming year would build on that.
Over the next 12 months, the Service would be focusing on further evaluation of Road Safety initiatives, campaigns and educational packages. The evaluation would look at 4 distinct areas; Is our targeting correct and appropriate, are we delivering according to end user expectations, are we influencing a positive behaviour change, and are we delivering value for money (i.e. for every £1 spent on prevention, what does that save in terms of prevention of an incident).
In response to a question from County Councillor Andrea Kay in relation to a package targeting the over 80-year-old population, Area Manager, Matt Hamer, explained that the LRSP had an Older Road Users Group. This group analysed data for the older population and were looking for a location to hold an event. He highlighted that the emphasis was to increase people’s safety awareness and help maintain their independence as many older drivers relied on their vehicle for transport.
County Councillor Kay commented on the danger to motorcyclists on the road. Area Manager, Matt Hamer, stated that the Biker Down package was delivered to motorcycle users which had been delivered to 346 people over the previous 12 months with future sessions already at full capacity. Car drivers also needed to be educated on road safety around motorcycles and it was anticipated that educating young drivers would embed and normalise the existing safety messages.
County Councillor Kay asked if new drivers could be encouraged to participate in a road safety package once they had passed their driving test. It was explained by Area Manager, Matt Hamer, that the LRSP worked with the Driver Standards Agency and Driving Instructors to embed safety messages and the importance of carrying out vehicle checks. In addition, new drivers could take part in an advanced driving course, although it was not compulsory.
In response to a suggestion from County Councillor Yates for the road safety training to be delivered to officers in Lancashire County Council Highways and Planning Departments in Local Councils, Area Manager, Matt Hamer informed that engineering solutions were discussed within the LRSP with data passed on to the Planning Department in Lancashire County Council.
A discussion took place with Members and officers regarding the dangers related to e-bikes and scooters. The main points raised were: - Deaths related to e-bikes and e-scooters and the lack of safety equipment worn by riders. - The dangers of riding the devices on roads were discussed at the LRSP. - Relatives buying e-bikes and the need to educate parents about the speeds that these products can reach and the safety implications for young people. - E-bikes and e-scooters being used for criminal activity. - The devices being ridden on roads with a lack of knowledge of the highway code. - E-scooters being used as a mode of transport in dedicated cycle lanes in larger cities but Lancashire not having the infrastructure for this. - E-bikes and e-scooters being unregulated when parts were added which were bought through the black market. - Road and fire safety of the devices. - LFRS were pushing the fire safety aspect with the charging of lithium batteries, especially on escape routes. Material promoting lithium ion battery safety would be sent through to Members.
Resolved: - That the Committee endorsed the Annual Road Safety Intervention report.
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7/23 |
Update on progression of national review of comparative data
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The Assistant Chief Fire Officer provided the meeting with an interim update on work being progressed via the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), in relation to Family Groups and the potential for those groups to deliver comparative performance data at a future point in time.
The Service was engaged in building an understanding of the work being progressed by NFCC on the formation of new Family Groupings. Family Groupings had been used over recent years as a means of providing comparative performance data across services.
Over the last 6 months, the Corporate Programme and Intelligence (CP&I) team had participated in several NFCC workshops across the country. The workshops had provided the Service with an understanding of the methodology that was being developed, and which supported the proposed clustering of certain fire and rescue services.
The work completed to date was the first part of a wider project that aimed not only to group fire and rescue services using a data led approach, but also to provide the means by which services could access a broad range of data sets, which allowed for those comparisons to be made.
The CP&I team would continue to contribute to the national project through a collaborative, supportive approach, and make recommendations on how to achieve the greatest benefit from the data which could be made available.
Work by the NFCC project team and key stakeholders continued, and it was expected that at future point, the revised groupings and data would provide the basis for refreshed comparative data to be brought to the Committee.
The Chair thanked the Assistant Chief Fire Officer and Area Manager, Matt Hamer, for their input into the meeting.
Resolved: - That the Committee noted the content of the report.
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8/23 |
Date of Next Meeting
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The next meeting of the Committee would be held on 13 September 2023 at 10:00 hours in the Main Conference Room at Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Fulwood.
Further meeting dates were noted for 13 December 2023 and 6 March 2024 and agreed for 26 June 2024.
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