Agenda item

The Assistant Chief Fire Officer presented a report on the Service's Annual Service Plan and Strategic Assessment of Risk for 2020/21. 

This year’s Annual Service Plan, as now considered by Members continued to provide 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 year ahead would build on achievements by staying focused on continuous improvement to make the people of Lancashire safer, particularly the most vulnerable members of our communities. Many priorities were initiatives that would transform the way we work and bring lasting benefits.

This year’s Annual Service Plan as now presented would be published alongside the Strategic Assessment of Risk. First published in 2016, this document had been refreshed for the 2020/21 year and captured the dynamic picture of changing risk in Lancashire.

Annual Service Plan

The Annual Service Plan was a core part of the planning framework which set out the activities intended for delivery during the next 12 months.  It was built around the Service’s four corporate priorities as detailed in the Integrated Risk Management Plan which were: -

1.   Preventing fire and other emergencies from happening and Protecting people and property when fires happen;

2.   Responding to fire and other emergencies quickly and competently;

3.   Valuing our people so they can focus on making Lancashire safer;

4.   Delivering value for money in how we use our resources.

The Annual Service Plan sat at the heart of the framework and informed activity that would be led across the Service as well as locally within district plans. Activities that were planned for delivery also informed staff performance appraisal process so that all staff understood the plans and were involved in helping to deliver key activities.

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. This ensured that all staff and the public were informed of the changes and activities the Service aimed to progress and how these items fitted within our priorities. This provided the opportunity for the Service to ensure that it continued to provide transparency and visibility of plans in a clear concise format. The governance arrangements for delivery of the Annual Service Plan items would continue to be monitored through the Service's Corporate Programme Board and Service Management Team.

As always, the aim was to continually improve and refine the planning process and this year’s document aimed to add focus on achievable progress within the year, acknowledging that a significant proportion of items were continued from the 2019/20 Plan, reflecting the commitment to a number of long-term projects.  Its style remained consistent with previous Annual Service Plans produced under the current IRMP period 2017 - 2022.

Strategic Assessment of Risk

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 which was refreshed annually and was also informed by the Lancashire Resilience Forum Community Risk Register. Through our risk management framework, we continually assessed changing risk and prioritised our response framework.  A wider consultation had also taken place, involving District Councils, Lancashire County Council and Lancashire Constabulary, in order to gain a more complete collaborative picture of the perceived risk from the viewpoint of all organisations.

This year’s document was again built on previous iterations as we seek to continually improve our processes and risk management processes. This year we had sought to identify more clearly how LFRS responded to a number of the strategic risks identified. 

The Strategic Assessment of Risk reflected the knowledge and experience of a variety of specialist departments and was consolidated each summer to allow for departmental plans to be produced and for our Service’s annual planning day. It was subsequently published as a stand-alone document to the LFRS website. This year, the document had been held back for publication alongside the Service’s Annual Service Plan due to the relationship between the two documents. Our Annual Service Plan reflected our response to identified risk and our activities this year clearly reflected a targeted approach to many items identified within the Strategic Assessment of Risk. It was intended to continue this dual approval and publication approach in future years.

Members welcomed the detail set out in this year’s plan and questions with regards to the Strategic Assessment of risk followed:

County Councillor Kay asked who ensured the facilities for those with disabilities in high risk premises, particularly those above first floor lever were correct.  If stay put advice was given, what would happen if individuals then needed to evacuate.  In response to the question raised, the ACFO stated that any premises, regardless of number of floors, had to be managed by the responsible person.  There was a multiple approach to managing the building through various acts such as the Fire Safety Order and Housing Act.  A Joint Competent Authority would be the overall inspector and have responsibility in the future following the Grenfell recommendations.  ACFO stated that if Councillor Kay had concerns regarding a specific building within her area she should contact the Service Delivery Manager.  The DCFO added that there had been a national de-regulation of the system and the impact of austerity on many services had resulted in resource reductions in a number of areas.

County Councillor Shedwick commented that it was pleasing to see the number of prosecutions LFRS had brought as highlighted at CFA meetings.  Councillor Shedwick also commented that the high-risk premises not performing as they should was covered in the corporate risk register and that the strategic assessment of risk had a great deal of detail which must be kept up-to-date and accurate.

RESOLVED: - That the Planning Committee noted the Annual Service Plan and Strategic Assessment of Risk 2020/21 and endorsed both for publication.