Agenda and minutes
PDF 286 KBVenue: Main Conference Room, Service Headquarters, Fulwood. View directions
Contact: Lynsey Barr, Member Services Officer Tel: 01772 866908 / Email: lynseybarr@lancsfirerescue.org.uk
| No. | Item |
|---|---|
|
Apologies for Absence Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from County Councillor David O’Toole. |
|
|
Disclosure of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests 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. Minutes: None received. |
|
|
Minutes of Previous Meeting Minutes: Resolved: - That the Minutes of the last meeting held on 20 November 2023 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair. |
|
|
Minutes: The Deputy Chief Fire Officer presented the report.
Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) was required to review emergency response arrangements periodically to ensure that provision remained effective and consummate with its dynamic risk profile. This process was a robust assessment of historic data and emergent risk and was delivered in the format of an Emergency Cover Review (ECR).
The changes identified in the ECR 2022 reflected the most effective and efficient use of resources for the whole of Lancashire. The Authority agreed all the proposed changes on 19 December 2022 which would result in LFRS:
An ECR implementation plan was developed with five key workstreams, with updates on the workstreams detailed as follows:
1. Introduce more resilient and flexible crewing arrangements
The Service had hoped to introduce more flexible crewing arrangements if agreement could be reached with trade unions. However, the proposed flexible wholetime duty system was not agreed by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU). The Service subsequently proposed a trial of flexible rota management and leave arrangements; however, an agreement could not be reached. Therefore, changes of duty systems at some stations would still take place but with the re-introduction of the 2-2-4 wholetime duty system as opposed to flexible wholetime.
Engagement sessions had taken place with all the members of staff affected. Implementation of the changes to crewing arrangements were led by people’s preferences in terms of the duty system they wished to work, subject to the skill requirements and the demands of the Service. Members of staff permanently employed on Day Crewing Plus (DCP) stations were offered a role at an alternative DCP station, or a position at their current station depending on their preference with some members of staff securing promotion opportunities. Following engagement with staff affected by the ECR, the Service had collated the preferences of staff who would be displaced and had informed them of their new postings upon implementation of the ECR changes.
A training needs analysis had been completed and training was underway to meet the needs of the Service and staff, although it was anticipated that there would be some short-term challenges around the availability of some of the Service’s special skills until the training was completed. For example, training around bariatric rescues, where, in some circumstances, the next nearest resource would be mobilised and/ or detachments considered.
Property alterations at Morecambe, Fleetwood and Skelmersdale had been agreed which would support and accommodate the increase in staff at those stations. Station engagement sessions had been held with staff at those stations to communicate the changes to them.
Implementation of the change of duty systems and establishment numbers was planned for 1 March 2024. All changes, with the exception of Penwortham, would take place at the same time as follows:
· Morecambe, Fleetwood and Skelmersdale (changing from DCP to 2-2-4 Wholetime) increasing establishment numbers from ... view the full minutes text for item 22/23 |
|
|
Annual Service Plan Additional documents: Minutes: The Deputy Chief Fire Officer presented a report on the Service's Annual Service Plan and Strategic Assessment of Risk for 2024/25.
The Annual Service Plan continued to provide Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) with the platform to highlight the priority activities and projects the Service intended to deliver over the coming year; leading improvements and innovation in the sector with some of the best firefighting equipment and training facilities in the country and a highly skilled and motivated workforce.
The Annual Service Plan was built around the Service’s 5 corporate priorities as detailed in the Community Risk Management Plan. As in previous years, detailed under each corporate priority was a series of priority activities and projects with a brief description of each item to give further clarity and context as now considered by Members, these were: - 1. Valuing our people so they can focus on making Lancashire safer;
2. Preventing fire and other emergencies from happening;
3. Protecting people and property when fires happen;
4. Responding to fire and other emergencies quickly and competently;
5. Delivering value for money in how we use our resources;
In response to a comment from Councillor Hugo regarding counselling services offered by LFRS for staff, and a query in relation to EDI, as to whether there was a system available for staff to report bullying and mental health, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer stated that culture and values within Fire and Rescue Services was a priority for the HMI, and as recommended in the national culture and values report, the Service had introduced an anonymous reporting line. The Service had introduced ‘Safe Call’ which enabled staff to call and anonymously report a complaint, however, it was difficult to further investigate some complaints without contact details, but multiple complaints or patterns could be recognised and acted upon. The Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that the Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) process had been reviewed to ensure it was fit for purpose and the Service ... view the full minutes text for item 23/23 |
|
|
Strategic Assessment of Risk Additional documents:
Minutes: The Deputy Chief Fire Officer presented a report on the Service's Strategic Assessment of Risk for 2023/24.
Risk in Lancashire would always remain dynamic: it changed over time, differed by area and demographic, and needed different interventions to reduce the likelihood of the risk occurring or to lessen its consequences. These risks were identified in the Strategic Assessment of Risk (SAoR) which was refreshed annually and was also informed by the Lancashire Resilience Forum Community Risk Register. Through its risk management framework, the Service continually assessed changing risk and prioritised its response framework.
The Strategic Assessment of Risk reflected the knowledge and experience of a variety of specialist departments and utilised Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) Incident Recording System (IRS) data to derive a data driven methodology that highlighted the incident types that posed the greatest risk to the county of Lancashire and the individuals who lived and worked within it. The SAoR drove both Service and district level response to risk and enabled LFRS to tailor the Service’s prevention, protection and response activities to the identified risks.
This year’s document built on previous iterations as LFRS sought to continually improve its risk management processes. Revisions had been made to the Service’s local Risk Assessment, resulting in some movement in the ranking of its highest risk incident types. The Service had also sought to identify more clearly how it responded to the strategic risks identified, e.g., the Service’s response to the emerging threat of climate change and advances in technology.
The Deputy Chief Fire Officer explained to Members that the report was split into the demographics of Lancashire, the high-level summary of emerging risks, and the individual risk assessment process for each of the incident categories. The Risk Methodology was used to help NFCC develop a product for national Community Risk Management Plans. He drew Members attention to Page 47 Built Environment and the emergence of composite fencing where lessons taken from local incidents had been shared with NFCC to inform national learning. The report also detailed risks relating to: Emerging Technology (including electric vehicles and energy storage systems), and Hydrogen as an alternative fuel; and Climate Change (wildfires, flooding, and health). It was noted that the health section would be moved to follow the demographics section. Pages 53 – 55 of the agenda pack presented data analysis that fed into the risk methodology used and how the Service resourced to risk. From page 57 – 59 the report covered local and national risks that informed the National Risk Register (NRR), with regional identified risks delivered through the Lancashire Resilience Forum (LRF) of which the Deputy Chief Fire Officer was temporary Chair. Page 62 of the report onwards detailed the risk assessment methodology used and the risk associated against the 32 incident types calculated against likelihood and consequence. Members noted that in the trend column of the table on Page 66, the arrows were pointing in the wrong direction which could be amended in the final version of the ... view the full minutes text for item 24/23 |
|
|
Consultation Strategy - Annual Review Additional documents:
Minutes: The Deputy Chief Fire Officer presented the Consultation Strategy report. The Authority had a consultation strategy which provided a framework through which it could seek public opinion on major change issues.
Each year the Planning Committee reviewed the strategy, as now considered by Members, to assure continued compliance with guidance or legislation and to incorporate learning from any public consultation exercises undertaken.
The review concluded that the strategy continued to be legally compliant and in line with good practice.
The strategy was also implemented to good effect during the public consultation on the Community Risk Management Plan in 2021 and the Emergency Cover Review proposals in 2022.
It was noted that the alterations had been made to legal implications in the report which amended the wording on pages 97-98 of the agenda pack to avoid confusion post Brexit.
In response to a query from County Councillor Hennessy regarding online involvement in consultations, the Deputy Chef Fire Officer believed that social media and online engagement had made a big impact with a marked increase in the number of responses received and quality of feedback.
Resolved: That the Planning Committee noted and endorsed the consultation strategy.
|
|
|
Blue Light Collaboration Update Minutes: The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that the report updated on progress of the Blue Light Collaboration Board (BLCB). He attended the Strategic Board and Area Manager, John Rossen who attended was involved at tactical level.
The Deputy Chief Fire Officer updated Members on the progress against the five key workstreams, which were effectively managed through the Strategic and Tactical Collaboration Boards, as follows: -
1. Missing Persons (missing from home)
On average, per year, the Service received around 200 drone requests from LanCon which were mostly for Missing Person searches. The Deputy Chief Fire Officer had conversed with the Assistant Chief Constable and discussions had commenced with LanCon in relation to LFRS recharging for some services, given the on-call nature of its drone team and each deployment having a budgetary impact for the Service. It was noted that LanCon did not have a 24-hour drone team in operation. Nationally, an MoU was being developed between the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and EA to better co-ordinate future drone activity.
Additionally, the Service provided an underwater search capability with assistance recently requested by HM Coastguard. LFRS had responded and the underwater deployment immediately de-escalated the incident, which had significantly reduced the number of resources required from several agencies, for what would normally be a protracted incident.
2. Estates and Co-location
This was a long-term workstream which might deliver significant efficiencies and effectiveness where co-location sites were identified.
A set of principles were being developed to identify high level areas of opportunities. Blue Light partners were currently reviewing their strategic property asset plans to identify areas for co-ordinating future development plans over the next 5-10 years.
All Blue Light partners were included in the discussions and options in relation to Preston area provision.
3. Community First Responder
A trial had commenced in 2023 that involved LFRS staff volunteering as Community First Responders (CFR) to support North West Ambulance Service (NWAS). LFRS staff volunteers would undertake an initial CFR training programme at LFRS Training Centra and once qualified, they could shadow existing CFR practitioners to develop their clinical abilities and build confidence in their newly acquired skills.
Five LFRS staff volunteers were now responding to life threatening emergencies in their communities from the workplace and administering first aid in the initial vital minutes before NWAS colleagues arrived. During 2023, the Service responded to more than 80 CFR incidents including unresponsive/ collapsed, not breathing, cardiac arrests, seizures, strokes, and choking. It was noted that a member of staff from the Community Fire Safety Team, when acting as a CFR, performed first aid when he responded to a case of cardiac arrest which kept the woman alive until an ambulance arrived, saving her life.
The Service was expanding its support to NWAS on this successful, ... view the full minutes text for item 26/23 |
|
|
Minutes: The Deputy Chief Fire Officer provided an update on His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) activity.
HMICFRS had commenced Round 3 inspections in early 2023. The three pillars of effectiveness, efficiency and people remained the same as Round 2 as did the 11 diagnostics under each pillar which the inspectorate graded judgements against.
Early engagement with the Service’s liaison lead, Dominic Mika had taken place with Chief Fire Officer, Justin Johnston and Area Manager, Tom Powell (Service Liaison Officer). Dominic would start to be introduced into the Service over the coming months in the build up to LFRS’ inspection which was anticipated would take place around late spring / early summer 2024.
HMI Michelle Skeer, recently retired Chief Constable of Cumbria Constabulary, held meetings with the Chair of the Authority, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Trade Union officials, and staff from Employee Voice Groups on the 4 December 2023. In addition, further meetings were due to take place in 2024 with the inspection estimated to take place in spring/summer.
The Organisational Assurance Team within the Service Improvement Department continued to track progress against the Service’s previous inspection, monitor national themes and prepare LFRS for its Round 3 inspection. The Organisational Assurance Team were undertaking reality testing with departments and had installed station-based reality testing aligned to HMICFRS inspection framework. Fourteen station-based audits had taken place and there was growing interest from other fire and rescue services as to how the Service carried out these preparedness visits.
HMICFRS had published twelve Round 3 inspection reports on fire and rescue services (FRS), with three more due to be published in Spring. HMIC Andy Cooke’s 2023 State of Fire and Rescue report would be published in Spring and would cover findings so far and wider impacts on FRSs.
The Deputy Chief Fire Officer highlighted to Members that, on Page 104 of the agenda pack, only 11 FRSs inspected were included in the report in error, instead of the 12 inspected. A summary of the gradings for eleven FRSs inspected so far in Round 3 was detailed in the report.
Misconduct within fire and rescue services HMICFRS thematic inspection of the handling of misconduct in fire and rescue services was continuing at pace with seven in-depth service inspections completed and three more ongoing and due to be completed by the end of January 2024. HMICFRS were combining this detailed evidence with the data provided by all English services in the autumn data return; the staff survey they conducted in all services in November via their research partners, Crest Advisory; and the survey and interviews that Crest were conducting with people that had left fire and rescue services. HMICFRS would be combining and triangulating all the evidence to identify key findings and any recommendations to the sector, with the report to be published in June 2024.
Values and culture in fire and rescue services Values and culture in fire and rescue services remained a focus for HMICFRS and LFRS had already ... view the full minutes text for item 27/23 |
|
|
Sickness Absence KPIs Minutes: The Assistant Chief Fire Officer presented the report. He advised that further to performance information being shared with Members at the quarterly CFA Performance Committee, Members had requested that the Service conduct a review of the Staff Absence Key Performance Indicator (KPI) suite to provide options for change given a notable shift in absence levels in the post Covid era. The aim was to ensure that Service KPIs remained fit-for-purpose, appropriate to the operating environment and continued to provide effective methods by which Service performance was reported.
Recent reports to Members had provided both local and national context which drew comparative data from within the sector and from other external data organisations to inform discussions on the matter.
The Measuring Progress report incorporated three measurements for Staff Absence KPIs:
i) KPI 1.2.1 Staff Absence Wholetime ii) KPI 1.2.2 Staff Absence On-Call iii) KPI 1.2.3 Staff Absence Greenbook
Calculations to inform KPI 1.2.1 and 1.2.3 were based around the cumulative number of shifts lost due to sickness divided by the total average workforce strength for that staff, commonly termed the number of days lost per shift/day per full-time equivalent (FTE)/employee.
The calculation for KPI 1.2.2 differed slightly due to the nature of the On Call duty system and measured the percentage of contracted hours lost due to sickness for all on-call contracted staff.
The Wholetime and Greenbook KPIs had both been ‘in exception’ (beyond the standard set) every quarter since quarter 1, 2022/23, so six reported quarters thus far. Prior to quarter 1, 2022/23, the KPI combined Grey Book and Green Book absences (formerly as KPI 4.2.1), and the only time it was not in exception was during June and July 2020, which was within the Covid Period, where different reporting conditions existed. Conversely, the On-Call KPI had not been in exception at any point over the same period and there were no proposed changes to this KPI.
The current standard for both the Wholetime and Greenbook KPI was 5 days/shifts lost per Full Time Employee (FTE). Pre-Covid, the Service reported meeting the target, however, since Covid, there had been a significant rise in absence levels.
An XpertHR report published in 2022 identified that, despite many organisations had introduced and updated hybrid working policies; 50% of organisations reported an increase in total absence rates.
An XpertHR report published in May 2023, reported that whilst there was a decrease in absence rates as the effects of Covid subsided, rates remained high. The same report also identified that whilst many respondents mentioned a lesser impact from Covid on sickness rates, they also noted that the return to work seemed to have brought new challenges – from lower immunity to general sickness such as cold and flu, and an increasingly stressed workforce. Responses to the research were received from 172 organisations, with a combined workforce of 220,204 employees.
The Service had experienced similar issues with an increased number of staff being absent due to respiratory infections than was previously seen, as well as high ... view the full minutes text for item 28/23 |
|
|
Date of Next Meeting The next scheduled meeting of the Committee has been agreed for 10:00 hours on 15 July 2024 in the Main Conference Room, at Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Fulwood.
Further meetings are: scheduled for 18 November 2024 proposed for 03 February 2025 Minutes: The next meeting of the Committee would be held on 15 July 2024 at 10:00 hours in the main Conference Room at Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Fulwood.
Further meeting dates were noted for 18 November 2024 and agreed for 03 February 2025. |