Agenda item

In December 2007, the Authority introduced the “Champion” role. These positions were currently filled by:-

·        Equality and Diversity – County Councillor Terry Aldridge

·        Older People - County Councillor Mark Perks

·        Environment - County Councillor Ken Brown

·        Road Safety – Councillor Fred Jackson

Reports relating to the activity of the member champions were provided on a regular basis to the Authority.  This report related to activity for the period up to November 2016.

Equality and Diversity

County Councillor Aldridge reported that he had met with the Director of People and Development and would be meeting again in the New Year.

He was pleased to report that the Equality and Diversity Policy had now been adopted and was live on the website.  The 2016/2017 Equality and Diversity Action Plan was being updated as progress was made and would be available at the end of the year to demonstrate Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service’s progress in compliance with its Public Sector Equality Duty.

Equality Objectives had now been agreed for 2017/2022 and were out for consultation as part of the development of the Integrated Risk Management Plan as follows:

·        Support local business to reduce the risk of fire and remain compliant within fire safety legislation;

·        Reduce the number and impact of fire and other emergencies to our diverse communities across Lancashire;

·        Develop and deliver a Prevention Service targeting our most vulnerable communities;

·        Promote equality in our workforce policies and workforce practices;

·        Develop our staff to ensure they can respond competently, meeting the different needs of our diverse communities.

As part of creating a more diverse workforce, a project had been established to look at positive action which would commence January 2017.  An overarching approach to organisational development was in the process of being developed which looked at how the promotion of equality and diversity, including the prevention of unconscious bias was embedded into existing and proposed development programmes including a new Corporate Induction process. 

Older People

It was noted that County Councillor Perks continued to support the work that the Service had been actively involved with during the period which included:-

·        The Service continued to develop Dementia activities across the County.  The Prevention Support Manager was leading on Dementia with support from a Task Group made up of representation from each area. The group was meeting in December to agree their Terms of Reference and Membership.

·        Northern Area had been working closely with Lancashire Constabulary on the Guardian Angels scheme who provided devices to people living with dementia so that they could be quickly identified and helped if found wandering. A Dementia Event was held for Partners on 28th October with a further event held for the Public on 18th November. The task group would consider this as a larger roll out and would carry out a review of the scheme.

·        Eastern Area also held an Older People’s Open Day on 24th November which included talks from the Fall Prevention Team, Fire Safety talks and a demonstration of the Tunstall Alarms that were available.

·        Western Area had developed and produced a number of stickers which could be provided to people living with Dementia as a reminder about fire safety and security. One of the actions of the Dementia Group would be to distribute these county wide with guidance and support offered to staff.

·        Dementia Friends Awareness sessions continued to be provided to LFRS staff and local community groups and a document confirming the number of Dementia Friends and the number of Dementia Champions in LFRS was currently being developed. This would then be shared across the organisation and used as a tool to allocate dementia friends session requests.

·        The Age Safe Task Group had recently formed to review and develop further our older person’s prevention strategies.

Road Safety

Cllr Jackson felt that it was important the those who participated and attended road safety events knew these were backed by the Authority and thanked Members for their continued support.  Although difficult to prove there was a clear understanding that the work done on road safety was reducing the number of accidents and deaths.

It was noted thatCllr Jackson continued to support the Wasted Lives programme which included: -

Safe Drive Stay Alive multi-agency presentations had been held at the following locations: -

·        Blackpool Winter Gardens Tuesday 27^th September

      Delivered to 856 students from Rossall School, Kirkham Grammar, Myerscough College, Training 2000, Baines School and St Marys.

·        Lancaster and Morecambe College  4^th and 5^th October

Delivered to 414 students from Lancaster and Morecambe College, Heysham High School and Morecambe High Schools sixth forms.

·        Park Hall Wednesday 9^th and Thursday 10^th November

Delivered to 1156 students from Runshaw College, West Lancs College, Hutton Grammar, Lytham 6^th Form and Fulwood Academy.

·        Burnley Mechanics Tuesday 22^nd November and Thursday 24^th November

Delivered to 1980 students from Burnley College, Training 2000, Myerscough at Witton Park, Todmorden High and Alder Grange sixth form.

The event at Burnley Mechanics on Tuesday was a milestone for Safe Drive Stay Alive, where it was delivered to over 10,000 students. The event was attended by the local media with Lancashire TV producing a film which can be viewed by following the link below.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=_0eR0SfiMu0

LFRS signed a brake road safety pledge in support of the national road safety week which took place during 21-25 November 2016.  LFRS personnel across the region delivered various road safety themed events each day. These included both crashed cars being located at strategic sites which enabled crews to engage with the public; focusing on the Fatal Four: Speed, Drink, Drugs and Distractions. Events were held in the following town centres: Preston, Lancaster, Accrington, Nelson and Blackburn.

The first Road Safety Thematic group meeting was held on 19/10/2016 where terms of reference, a group plan and work programme were agreed.

Environment

County Councillor Ken Brown reported that in mid-November external auditors carried out the annual surveillance audit to maintain certification to the environmental standard ISO 14001:2004. Continued certification was granted subject to one condition, the successful closure of one minor non-conformance relating to operational controls of other parties that use LFRS premises. A number of positive comments were received from the auditors. The auditors issued three opportunities for improvement which together with observations made by the Safety, Health and Environment staff would be developed into an improvement action plan to ensure continuous improvement was made.

RESOLVED: - That the Authority noted the report and acknowledged the work of the respective Champions.