Agenda item

The Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer presented the report.  At the previous meeting Members discussed a high level of detail with regards to the Fire Safety Bill (due Royal Assent in January 2021) and Building Safety Bill (due Royal Assent in 2021/22) and endorsed the proposed internal restructuring necessary to underpin the transformation plan to ensure that Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) was well positioned to deliver Fire Protection duties in accordance with the new legislation and associated best practice (resolution 31/19 refers). 

This included the introduction of a strategic lead at Head of Department level for Prevention and Protection. It was noted that following an internal and external recruitment and selection process, Group Manager Mark Hutton was successfully appointed to the Area Manager level post and he would commence in role from 1 December 2020. This change enabled the Head of Prevention and Protection sufficient capacity to lead the Prevention and Protection functions in a manner commensurate with the expectations of the Building a Safer Future Report, which would place LFRS in a strong position to deliver the National Fire Chief Council Competency Framework and successfully implement requirements under the new Fire Safety Bill and Building Safety Bill.  The Protection Reform related changes provided an opportunity to review the areas of responsibility and associated resources within the Director of Service Delivery and Director of Strategy and Planning portfolios. 

It was proposed that the new Area Manager Prevention and Protection would operate within the Director of Service Delivery portfolio which would result in all aspects of Prevention and Protection policy and delivery sitting within the same functional area. This was a change from the current position whereby Protection and Prevention policy was shaped within the Strategy and Planning team and subsequent prevention delivery operated from Service Delivery.

To further strengthen capacity within the Prevention and Protection area it was proposed that LFRS established a new dedicated Group Manager for Protection (with a temporary Protection transformation team) and a repurposing of the Group Manager (GM) (Central Area) to become the GM Prevention, to continue to lead Fire Investigation, Road Safety, Prevention policy plus all Youth Engagement activities.

It was further proposed that the Area Manager, Head of Training and Operational Review be re-aligned to the Director of Strategy and Planning portfolio in order to bring closer alignment between the key areas of training specification, operational learning and competence, to the operational policy elements delivered by the Response and Emergency Planning team.

The Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that, subject to Committee approval, it was proposed to move to the new structure with effect from 1 January 2021 which would align with the arrival of the new Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Steve Healey who would have responsibility for this work as Director of Service Delivery.  Members considered the diagrams on page 17 and 18 which set out the proposed structure changes and a number of councillors commented that it would have been helpful to have a key to the acronyms used. 

In response to a number of queries raised regarding the business risk implications outlined, the Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised:

·         Although there had been a number of changes and innovations to try and recruit colleagues into working in the fire safety environment over a number of years, and there had been significant progress, this had been challenging given it took between 18 months and 2 years for an experienced fire officer to become a competent inspector.  This work was now being extended to deal with the wider risk in Lancashire, as detailed in the report at the last meeting and given that work would then be intensified through the new responsibilities under the joint regulation alongside local authority building regulations and the health and safety regulations therefore, the task had become more difficult and the levels of competence and experience had increased hence the challenge was greater. 

·         There was an increasing demand across the sector for competent fire sector workers (experienced inspectors and support staff) however, most staff (approximately 90% of 44 staff) were in post although the majority were still in development (ie: those who had newly entered or were newly appointed leaders).  There were small numbers of transfers across local fire and rescue services with only one in the last 12 months that had left to work in the commercial sector.

·         The Service had undertaken a lot of work and created a 3-year plan to respond to the risks posed to the Service from Dame Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety and the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Report.  Work included the anticipation of impacts from the new 2 pieces of legislation and the determination of required structural changes to provide more scrutiny and focus for this work. For example, consideration had been given to the competency framework and workforce development which included work required by staff on wholetime stations to check business premises; increasing the numbers of degree qualified engineers and inspecting officers.  Staff had also been signed up to formal qualifications at levels 3, 4 and 5 as appropriate.  In its entirety over the time required to fully implement the new framework, and if all the aspects were delivered, all the risks identified would have been addressed to as low a risk as possible.

The Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer agreed that an update on staff competence would be reported at the July meeting next year and it was noted that should the risk remain it would feature on the corporate risk register.

In response to a question from County Councillor Shedwick, the Chief Fire Officer advised that Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) would be looking to see the Service was adjusting the way it staffed, considered and delivered against the changing landscape.  It was expected that when HMICFRS undertook the inspection the following year they would be able to see the preparatory work done to ensure that by the time the significant legislative changes were enacted that the Service had already adjusted itself to be able to deliver against it.

RESOLVED: - that the Planning Committee noted and endorsed the internal restructuring plan.