Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jane Hugo and Tony Williams.

Members are asked to consider any pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the agenda.

None received.

RESOLVED: - That the Minutes of the last meeting held on 8 February 2021 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Ben Norman presented the report.  He advised that the National Framework issued by central government required the Combined Fire Authority (CFA) to create an Integrated Risk Management Plan.  The Framework provided specific guidance on several salient areas such as prevention and protection delivery and response arrangements. Furthermore, it detailed the requirement for Fire Authorities to draft, consult upon and publish their strategic intent in the format of an Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) which must span at least 3 years.

It was noted that Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service’s (LFRS) IRMP was last published in April 2017 and covered the period of 5 years, hence it would end in March 2022. Members considered how the new IRMP had been drafted including the introduction of further best practice with regards to a Strategic Assessment of Risk (SAoR) and the proposals for consultation and further approvals by the Fire Authority.    

It was also noted that the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) in June 2021 issued an IRMP best practice guidance document in the format of a Fire Standards Board publication. Therefore, the proposed LFRS IRMP document for the period 2022?27 had been developed to be fully compliant with this guidance; which included using the title of Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) as a replacement for IRMP to cascade a strategy that was more engaging and identifiable to the people of Lancashire.

The CRMP 2022-2027: -

·         Highlighted Lancashire’s risks;

·         Explained how LFRS would manage and reduce fire and rescue related risk in Lancashire;

·         Set out priorities and values;

·         Set out ambitions against each priority and stated how we aimed to deliver these;

·         Illustrated how we will measure and assure performance; and

·         Identified key strategies.

The Assistant Chief Fire Officer confirmed that core deliverables would be scrutinised by the Performance Committee and the Planning Committee would receive an Annual Service Report at its next meeting.  This report provided Members with an overview of progress against work detailed in the Annual Service Plan 2020/21.

Key changes within the Community Risk Management Plan 2022-2027 were:

·         This iteration of the 5-year risk management plan was called the ‘Community Risk Management Plan’ as opposed to the previous ‘Integrated Risk Management Plan’ which brought the Service in line with other Fire and Rescue Service’s (FRS’s) and national terminology;

·         The CRMP aligned to new NFCC best practice guidance within its methodology;

·         The CRMP was also underpinned by a newly developed data driven SAoR utilising data from our Incident Recording System which had helped identify the highest risk activities/incidents;

·         Three of the key Service strategies, Prevention, Protection and Response had been refreshed to align to national change and guidance were also included with key deliverables to be included within the CRMP consultation;

·         The CRMP did not incorporate the Emergency Cover Review.  This would be conducted and consulted upon separately during 2021/22;

·         The CRMP highlighted a potential change to the way in which calls originating from Automatic Fire Alarms in non-sleeping risk premises would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4-20/21

Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Ben Norman presented the report.  Members noted that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services’ (HMICFRS) inspection of Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) was due to be conducted in April/May 2020 however, this was suspended due to the recall of staff within HMICFRS returning to their own Services to plan and manage the implications of the Covid-19 outbreak.

During this period, LFRS Service Liaison Officer had maintained contact with HMICFRS Service Liaison Lead, Jo Hayden by having bi-weekly conversations.  Engagement activities were now expected to begin in August 2021 to include station and department visits and meet senior management to review the work undertaken since the previous report in 2018.

Furthermore, it was now known that the inspection would start from week commencing 22 November 2021. The inspection would take place physically, but some elements would be digital depending on the progress of measures that monitored the infection rates. The inspection would conclude on 21 January 2022 which included a three-week break between 20 December 2021 and 14 January 2022, after which there would be a debrief between HMICFRS and the Chief Fire Officer. The resulting report would be expected in the latter months of 2022.

Currently, engagement had continued with Jo Hayden and learning from the 2020 Pandemic Thematic Inspection had been used alongside various reports such as “State of Fire Rescue 2020” to refresh preparation work that begun early 2020 before the pandemic interrupted progress. Going forward this would inform the next stage of preparation. The planned work included:

1.    Planning and Implementing reality testing across all departments and Fire Stations;

2.    The writing of a strategic brief and presentation to be delivered to HMICFRS in week 1;

3.    An additional Document request and data return planned for in October.

4.    A revised internal communications strategy;

5.    Identification of areas most at risk of receiving a ‘requires improvement’ grade;

6.    Identification of areas of best practice.

In response to questions raised by County Councillor Hennessy in relation to the planned work, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that the writing of the strategic brief was the responsibility of the Chief Fire Officer who would share the content with the Chairman of the CFA.  The CFA Chairman would also be involved with the inspection teams and involved in the debrief process.  In addition, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that the last inspection did not identify any formal areas that ‘required improvement’ but that the Service consider how it:

·         better identified leadership potential;

·         had sufficient resources to prioritise a risk-based inspection programme; and

·         had greater clarity around blue light collaboration opportunities.

He advised that there were other areas where the Service could demonstrate improvements including ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion in recruitment and the current proposal to change the unwanted fire signals policy in line with other North West Fire and Rescue Services.

In response to a question raised by County Councillor Hennessy regarding the planning and implementing of reality testing,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5-20/21

Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Ben Norman presented the report.  It was noted that on 13 July 2020 the Planning Committee approved a paper entitled ‘Implementing Regulatory Change and Transforming Fire Protection Service’. The paper explained that the Grenfell tragedy of June 2017 had highlighted fundamental inadequacies in the way the built environment had been constructed and regulated over the past two decades and the increasingly rigorous planning and building control regulatory frameworks, standards and testing regimes that would now be introduced. The report updated Members on the changes to legislation that had already occurred and those which were upcoming. The update also included the amendments to Protection workforce planning which had been required to keep pace with the change.

Building Regulations

In December 2018 Building Regulations were amended to ban the use of combustible materials in the external walls of new buildings over 18 metres high. The ban meant combustible materials were not permitted on the external walls of new buildings over 18 metres and those currently under construction. The new building regulations applied to all new residential housing, hospitals, residential care premises, boarding school dormitories and student accommodation as long as they were over 18 metres high. The ban also applied to balconies, which were often made from combustible materials and had helped spread fires across walls in the past.

Building Regulations were not retrospective. Approved documents relating to fire safety in Building Regulations were also updated on 26th November 2020 with some new requirements. A key part of those changes was the trigger height to fit sprinklers in tall buildings which had been reduced to 11m (typically four floors), from 30m (typically 10 floors). The changes also included signage for the fire service for floor identification and flat indication signage within blocks of flats with storeys over 11m.

Fire Safety Act

The Fire Safety Act that covered England and Wales received Royal Assent on 29 April 2021.  The Act would come into force over the summer when the Government has provided a risk prioritisation tool for social landlords. Its prime purpose was to address a potential legal ambiguity in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the Fire Safety Order).

The Fire Safety Order imposed duties on “Responsible Persons” to take appropriate fire safety measures for premises other than private domestic premises. The Order did not cover individual flats in apartment blocks, but it did cover the common parts. The new Act amended the Fire Safety Order to make it clear that Responsible Persons for multi-occupied residential buildings, which were likely to be building owners, freeholders and managers, would be under a duty to risk assess the structure and external walls (including windows, doors and balconies) of buildings and entrance doors and take general fire precautions to ensure those areas were safe.

The new Act did not deal with the question of who paid for the costs of making residential buildings fire safe. In February, the Government announced a levy for England on developers to fund cladding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6-20/21

Other Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Ben Norman presented the report.  It was noted that the collaborative efforts of Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) personnel remained focussed upon the ongoing efforts to reduce the impact of the Covid19 pandemic. As previously reported the secondment of emergency planning expertise from LFRS into the Lancashire Resilience Forum had ceased. The ongoing response and recovery interactions were being delivered by core staff within the Response and Emergency Planning team and other key functions such as Fire Safety Enforcement working in close collaboration with Local Authority teams. 

One notable exception was the vast presence of LFRS colleagues operating in the five mass vaccination centres (Lancaster, Preston, Blackpool, Blackburn, and Burnley). Since the opening of the first vaccination sites in Lancashire over the Christmas 2020 period volunteer staff members had been at each site every day. The dedication and passion demonstrated by the collective team of over 300 volunteers was hugely profound; with over 410,000 vaccinations supported by LFRS personnel and some 45,000 vaccines had been injected by those who volunteered to partake in this role.

It was noted that the Chief Fire Officer welcomed the Fire Minister, Lord Greenhalgh to the county on Friday 25 June 2021 as it gave LFRS the opportunity to show him how the Service had contributed to making Lancashire safer during the coronavirus pandemic.  At the Preston vaccination site, Lord Greenhalgh met volunteers who had helped deliver and administer vaccinations across Lancashire since December 2020.  Lord Greenhalgh heard from the volunteers about the reasons why they had volunteered and how they had helped keep patients safe and warm when they have been arriving at vaccination clinics.

Lord Greenhalgh said:

“Firefighters and fire staff across the country have worked incredibly hard to support the response to coronavirus and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service is an exceptional example.

“The team in Lancashire have led the way, becoming the first fire service in the country to assist the NHS with the distribution of the vaccine and also to fully train their staff as vaccinators.

“By doing so, they have shown that those in fire services are ready, willing and able to go above and beyond to keep the British public safe, once again demonstrating they truly are the very best of us.

“It was an honour to meet with the team in Lancashire and I am immensely proud of their efforts and all the work they doing to keep us safe.”

In addition to the Covid19 deliverables the Blue Light Collaboration Board commissioned a summary review of the innovative project work delivered prior to the pandemic. This review was carried out by Shared Service Architecture consultants who were recognised by both the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) as sector leads.  Their phase 1 benefits realisation report concluded that cashable and non-cashable savings of over £1.246 million were identified. The report author went on to describe that “we can confidently report that cashable, non-cashable and demonstrable improvements  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7-20/21

In response to a query from Members and staff the Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service had 2 Private Finance Initiative Schemes (PFI) which included one at Chorley Fire Station based at the Service Training Centre and also included stations at Burnley, Blackburn and Fleetwood.  The PFI owner was choosing to sell their interest in the PFI contract to another investment company.  The Assistant Chief Fire Officer reassured Members that LFRS did not expect to see any difference to the premises or costs.

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee has been agreed for 10:00 hours on 15 November 2021 in Washington Hall, at Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service Training Centre, Euxton.

Further meetings are:          scheduled for 7 February 2022

                                                proposed for 18 July 2022

The next meeting of the Committee would be held on Monday, 15 November 2021 at 1000 hours in Washington Hall, Service Training Centre, Euxton.

Further meeting dates were noted for 7 February 2022 and agreed for 18 July 2022.