Agenda item

The Chairman congratulated the Service on being awarded Emergency Service of the Year at the Excellence in Fire and Emergency Awards 2021.

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer presented a detailed report to the Performance Committee. This was the 2^nd quarterly report for 2021/22 as detailed in the Integrated Risk Management Plan 2017-2022.

 

The Members were informed by the Deputy Chief Fire Officer, that a report on the review of the KPI suite would be presented to them in the meeting. 

 

This quarter, 2 KPIs were shown in red which indicated that they were in negative exception. These were 2.4 Fire Engine Availability – On Call Duty System; and 4.2.1 Staff Absence – Excluding On-Call Duty System.

 

 

Members examined each indicator in turn as follows:

 

KPI 1 – Preventing, fires and other emergencies from happening and Protecting people and property when fires happen

 

1.1       Risk Map

 

This indicator measured the fire risk in each Super Output Area. Risk was determined using fire activity over the previous 3 fiscal years along with a range of demographic data, such as population and deprivation.

 

The standard was to reduce the risk in Lancashire – an annual reduction in the County risk map score.

 

The current score was 31,862 and the previous year’s score was 32,448 meaning that the fire risk continued to reduce.

 

1.2       Overall Activity

 

This indicator measured the number of incidents that the Service attended with one or more pumping appliances.

 

Quarter 2 activity 4,968 previous year quarter 2 activity 4,582 an increase of 8.42% over the same quarter of the previous year.

 

Incidents attended consisted of a myriad of different types. The report presented a chart which represented the count and percentage that each activity had contributed to the overall quarter’s activity; most notably was that 50% were false alarms.

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer stated that the changes to the Automatic Fire Alarm (AFA) attendance policy which would result in activity improvement in this area.

 

 

1.3      Accidental Dwelling Fires

 

This indicator reported the number of primary fires where a dwelling had been affected and the cause of the fire had been recorded as 'Accidental' or 'Not known'.

 

It was noted that quarter 2 activity was 195, the previous year quarter 2 activity was 198, which represented a decrease of 1.52% over the same quarter of the previous year.

 

1.3.1   Accidental Dwelling Fires – Extent of Damage (Fire Severity)

 

This indicator reported the number of primary fires where a dwelling had been affected and the cause of the fire had been recorded as ‘Accidental or Not known’ presented as a percentage extent of fire and heat damage.

 

The extent of fire and heat damage was recorded at the time the ‘stop’ message was sent and included all damage types. The report charted a rolling quarterly severity of accidental dwelling fire over the previous two years with each quarter broken down into high, medium, and low severity. Each quarter included the percentage (out of 100%) that each severity type represented of the total, with an indicator to illustrate the direction against the same quarter of the previous year.

 

The latest quarter recorded a combined ‘low’ and ‘medium’ severity of 93.9% which was a decrease of 2.5% against the 96.4% recorded in the same quarter of the previous year.

 

Members were informed by the Deputy Chief Fire Officer that, pleasingly, Fire Severity continued to be recorded as low or medium. Therefore, although the number of fires was static, damage was limited.

 

Severity (Direction against the same quarter of previous year)		Previous Rolling 4 Quarters				Quarter 2 (2021/22)
		Quarter 2 (20/21)	Quarter 3 (20/21)	Quarter 4 (20/21)	Quarter 1 (20/21)
High	Ç	3.5%	3.9%	7.0%	4.6%	6.2%
Medium	Ç	43.9%	47.8%	55.1%	56.5%	50.3%
Low	ò	52.5%	48.3%	37.9%	38.8%	43.6%

 

 

1.3.2   Accidental Dwelling Fires – Number of Incidents where occupants have received a Home Fire Safety Check

 

This indicator reported the number of primary fires where a dwelling had been affected and the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘Accidental or Not known’ by the extent of the fire and heat damage. The HFSC must be a completed job (i.e., not a refusal) carried out by LFRS personnel or partner agency. The HFSC must have been carried out within 12 months prior to the fire occurring.

 

Over the latest quarter, Accidental Dwelling Fires with a previous HFSC decreased 4% against the total number of ADF’s over the same quarter of the previous year.

 

	2021/22		2020/21
	ADF’s with previous HFSC	% of ADF’s with previous HFSC	ADF’s with previous HFSC	% of ADF’s with previous HFSC
Q1*	19	8%	26	12%
Q2	14	7%	21	11%
Q3			32	14%
Q4			14	7%

 

*Quarter 1 and 2. The impact of COVID19 working guidelines during the previous 18 months had led to a reduction in the number of Home Fire Safety Checks (HFSC’s) delivered – KPI 1.7 page 21. Although these were now increasing, this had led to a decrease in the percentage of ADF’s with a recorded HFSC within the previous rolling 12-month period.

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that where the number of reported dwellings fires was high, it could suggest that the fire alarms were functioning and effective or, conversely, it could suggest that people were having fires despite the prevention activity. In the Review of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) report to the Planning Committee (for consideration later on the agenda), Members would decide whether to recommend the continuation of this KPI.

 

1.4 Accidental Dwelling Fire Casualties

 

This indicator reported the number of fire related fatalities, slight and serious injuries at primary fires where a dwelling had been affected and the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘Accidental or Not known’. A slight injury was defined as; a person attending hospital as an outpatient (not precautionary check). A serious injury was defined as; at least an overnight stay in hospital as an in-patient.

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer reported that sadly, there was 1 dwelling fire fatality in the last quarterly period. Two casualties were recorded as serious and 12 slight. The same quarter of the previous year recorded no fatalities, 1 serious and 3 slight.

 

Casualty Status	2021/22 Quarter 2	2020/21 Quarter 2
Fatal	1	0
Victim went to hospital visit, injuries appeared Serious	2	1
Victim went to hospital visit, injuries appeared Slight	12	3
TOTAL	15	4

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer explained that, although the fire detector had activated and there was a quick response time, sadly, there had been a fatality of a 75-year-old male in the Blackpool area who had died before the Service arrived.

 

1.5 (a) Accidental Building Fires (Commercial Premises)

 

This indicator reported the number of primary fires where the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘Accidental’ or ‘unknown’ and included property types which were regulated under the fire safety order such as: offices, retail, and hotel accommodation. Due to the nature of the construction of private garages and private sheds, there were recorded separately in KPI 1.5(b).

 

Quarterly activity increased 36.0% over the same quarter of the previous year.

 

Total number of incidents	2021/22 Quarter 2	2020/21 Quarter 2
	68	50

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer highlighted that the current mean average for the number of Accidental Building Fires was 24 with a three year mean average of 21 so the difference was only 3. He also noted that there was a direct correlation between low levels of accidental fires during the lockdown periods and the rise of incidents when the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted and businesses began operating again.

 

1.5 (b) Accidental Building Fires (Non-Commercial Premises: Private Garages and Private Sheds)

 

This indicator reported the number of primary fires where the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘Accidental’ or ‘unknown’ and included non-commercial building types: private garage, private shed, private greenhouse, and private summerhouse.

 

Quarterly activity remained static over the same quarter of the previous year.

 

Total number of incidents	2021/22 Quarter 2	2020/21 Quarter 2
	23	23

 

As in the previous meeting, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer informed that statistics for accidental building fires in non-commercial premises such as private garages and private sheds had been presented separately. This provided a more accurate performance indicator as these types of accidental building fires were often recorded as high severity due to the loss of a building, often before the Fire Service had arrived on scene.

 

1.5.1 (a) Accidental Building Fires (Commercial Premises) – Extent of Damage (Fire Severity)

 

This indicator reported the number of primary fires where the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘Accidental’ or ‘unknown’ and included property types which were regulated under the fire safety order such as: offices, retail, and hotel accommodation. Due to the nature of the construction of private garages and private sheds, there were recorded separately in KPI 1.5.1 (b).

 

The extent of fire and heat damage was recorded at the time the ‘stop’ message was sent and included all damage types. The report charted a rolling quarterly severity of accidental building fires over the previous two years with each quarter broken down into high, medium, and low severity. Each quarter included the percentage (out of 100%) that each severity type represented of the total, with an indicator to illustrate the direction against the same quarter of the previous year.

 

The latest quarter recorded a combined ‘low’ and ‘medium’ severity of 82.3%. This was an increase of 10.3% against a combined severity of 72.0% in the same quarter of the previous year.

 

1.5.1 (a) Severity (Direction against the same quarter of previous year)		Previous Rolling 4 Quarters				Quarter 2 (2021/22)
		Quarter 2 (20/21)	Quarter 3 (20/21)	Quarter 4 (20/21)	Quarter 1 (21/22)
High	ò	28.0%	16.9%	20.9%	18.9%	17.6%
Medium	Ç	48.0%	67.8%	69.8%	67.6%	67.6%
Low	ò	24.0%	15.3%	9.3%	13.5%	14.7%

 

 

1.5.1 (b) ABF (Non-Commercial Premises: Private Garages and Private Sheds) – Extent of Damage (Fire Severity)

 

This indicator reported number of primary fires where the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘Accidental’ or ‘unknown’ and included non-commercial building types: private garage, private shed, private greenhouse, and private summerhouse. Due to their single room construction, any damage was often classified as ‘whole building’ which had the effect of increasing their severity category outcome.

 

The extent of fire and heat damage was recorded at the time the ‘stop’ message was sent and included all damage types. The report charted a rolling quarterly severity of accidental building fires over the previous two years with each quarter broken down into high, medium, and low severity. Each quarter included the percentage (out of 100%) that each severity type represented of the total, with an indicator to illustrate the direction against the same quarter of the previous year.

 

The latest quarter recorded a combined ‘low’ and ‘medium’ severity of 65.2%. This was an increase of 30.4% against a combined severity of 34.8% in the same quarter of the previous year.

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer explained that the severity of most fires had reduced which was due to the quick action of the Service. 

 

1.5.1 (b) Severity (Direction against the same quarter of previous year)		Previous Rolling 4 Quarters				Quarter 2 (2021/22)
		Quarter 2 (20/21)	Quarter 3 (20/21)	Quarter 4 (20/21)	Quarter 1 (21/22)
High	ò	65.2%	45.5%	33.3%	51.7%	34.8%
Medium	Ç	34.8%	54.5%	53.3%	48.3%	60.9%
Low	Ç	0.0%	0.0%	13.3%	0.0%	4.3%

 

 

1.6 Deliberate Fires

 

This indicator reported the number of primary and secondary fires where the cause of fire had been recorded as 'Deliberate'. Secondary fires were the majority of outdoor fires including grassland and refuse fires unless they involved casualties or rescues, property loss or 5 or more appliances attended. They included fires in single derelict buildings.

 

Deliberate Fire Type	2021/22 Quarter 2	2020/21 Quarter 2
1.6.1 Deliberate Fires – Anti-Social Behaviour	395	366
1.6.2 Deliberate Fires – Dwellings	30	36
1.6.3 Deliberate Fires – Commercial Premises	36	31

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer highlighted that 6 of the incidents for quarter 2 in commercial premises were deliberate fire setting in prisons within two prisons across the county.

 

It was brought to the Members’ attention by the Deputy Chief Fire Officer that the number of deliberate anti-social fires followed a trend where there were less in the winter months and they increased in the spring and summer months as young people were outside more.

 

1.7      Home Fire Safety Checks

 

This indicator reported the percentage of completed Home Fire Safety Checks (HFSC), excluding refusals, carried out where the risk score had been determined to be high.

 

An improvement was shown if: i) the total number of HFSC’s completed was greater than the comparable quarter of the previous year; and ii) the percentage of high HFSC outcomes was greater than the comparable quarter of the previous year.

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer stated that it was pleasing that, since moving out of lockdown, the number of completed HFSC’s had increased 18% over the same quarter as the previous year, with the cumulative year to date HFSC’s increasing by 36% against the same period of 2020/21. The Deputy Chief Fire Officer explained that the significant increase, compared to the same period of 2020/21, was due to more HFSCs being carried out following the removal of lockdown measures, whereas those restrictions were in place during the same period of the previous year.

 

	2021/22	2020/21
	% of High HFSC outcomes	% of High HFSC outcomes
Q1	66%	71%
Q2	68%	72%
Q3
Q4

 

To help illustrate the importance of the Home Fire Safety Check service; properties that had not accepted the offer of a HFSC, but subsequently suffered an Accidental Dwelling Fire, were monitored. During this quarter 7 properties recorded an ADF after not accepting a HFSC during the previous rolling 12-month period.  

 

1.8      Road Safety Education Evaluation

 

This indicator reported the percentage of participants of the Wasted Lives and Road Sense education packages that showed a positive change to less risky behaviour following the programme; based on comparing the overall responses to an evaluation question before and after the course.

 

Total participants were a combination of those engaged with at Wasted Lives and Road Sense events.

 

An improvement was shown if the percentage of positive influenceon participant’s behaviour was greater than the comparable quarter of the previous year.

 

To align with the start of the academic year, LFRS staff had been delivering Road Sense events in schools across Lancashire. Feedback had been requested from teachers to enable the Service to evaluate how effective the package and delivery was. Teachers were asked whether they thought that the session would have positively influenced the behaviour of children regarding road safety. From the feedback received, 77% of teachers recorded that they felt the package and delivery was outstanding in achieving this, with the remaining 23% recording good. Monitoring and evaluation would continue throughout the academic year.

 

During quarter 2, to ensure road safety messages continued to be available, the service had undertaken 5 Wasted Lives sessions involving 224 attendees and Biker Down was delivered to 11 attendees in 1 session.

 

The Service also continued to engage with people via social media platforms with road safety videos on the ‘Biker down’ page and engagement via Twitter and Facebook.

 

A new virtual delivery pack had been updated and trialled and would be offered to schools into the new academic year.

 

1.9       Fire Safety Enforcement

 

This indicator reported the number of Fire Safety Enforcement inspections carried out within the period resulting in supporting businesses to improve and become compliant with fire safety regulations or to take formal action of enforcement and prosecution of those that failed to comply.

 

Formal activity was defined as one or more of the following: enforcement notice or an action plan, alterations notice or prohibition notice.

 

An improvement was shown if the percentage of adults ‘requiring formal activity’ was greater than the comparable quarter of the previous year. This helped inform that the correct businesses were being identified.

 

*The ‘number of inspections’ count included business safety advice and advice to other enforcement authorities not captured within the formal/informal or satisfactory counts.

 

Quarter 2 recorded an increase of 56% on the previous quarter’s inspections.

 

	2021/22					2020/21
	*No. of Inspections	Requiring		Satisfactory Audit	% requiring Formal Activity	% requiring Formal Activity
		Formal Activity	Informal Activity
Q1	344	25	211	69	8%	4%
Q2	538	28	336	109	5%	7%
Q3
Q4

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer was pleased to report that crews and Inspectors had increased the number of Fire Safety Enforcement inspections they carried out following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. Members were informed that a pilot had been launched in the northern and western areas where operational firefighters, as well as carrying out HFSCs, were undertaking training to deliver low level business fire safety checks in commercial buildings. A specialist team of highly qualified inspectors checked the higher risk buildings such as high-rise buildings, hospitals, and care homes with the number of inspections increasing.

 

 

KPI 2 – Responding to fire and other emergencies quickly and competently

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer wanted to reiterate the response standard set in Lancashire was one of the quickest, outside metropolitan districts, that were seen anywhere in the country. The Service set a 6-minute attendance standard which included 1 minute for call handling at North West Fire Control.

 

2.1.1   Emergency Response Standards - Critical Fires – 1st Fire Engine Attendance

 

This indicator reported the ‘Time of Call’ (TOC) and ‘Time in Attendance’ (TIA) of the first fire engine arriving at the incident in less than the relevant response standard.

 

The response standards included call handling and fire engine response time for the first fire engine attending a critical fire, these were as follows: -

 

·         Very high-risk area = 6 minutes

·         High risk area = 8 minutes

·         Medium risk area = 10 minutes

·         Low risk area = 12 minutes

 

The response standards were determined by the risk map score and subsequent risk grade for the location of the fire.

 

Standard: to be in attendance within response standard target on 90% of occasions.

 

Quarter 2 – 1st pump response decreased 0.92% of total first fire engine attendances over the same quarter of the previous year.

 

Year to Date	2021/22 Quarter 2	Previous year to Date	2020/21 Quarter 2
88.36%	87.39%	88.41%	88.31%

 

2.1.2   Emergency Response Standards - Critical Fires – 2nd Fire Engine Attendance

 

This indicator reported the time taken for the second fire engine to attend a critical fire incident measured from the time between the second fire engine arriving and the time of call. The target is determined by the risk map score and subsequent risk grade for the location of the fire.

 

The response standards included call handling and fire engine response time for the second fire engine attending a critical fire, these were as follows: -

 

·         Very high-risk area = 9 minutes

·         High risk area = 11 minutes

·         Medium risk area = 13 minutes

·         Low risk area = 15 minutes

 

Standard: to be in attendance within response standard target on 85% of occasions.

 

Quarter 2 – 2nd pump response decreased 5.62% of total second pump attendances over the same quarter of the previous year.

 

Year to Date	2021/22 Quarter 2	Previous year to Date	2020/21 Quarter 2
82.99%	82.35%	85.64%	87.97%

 

 

2.2.1   Emergency Response Standards - Critical Special Service – 1st Fire Engine Attendance

 

This indicator measured how long it took the first fire engine to respond to critical non-fire incidents such as road traffic collisions, rescues, and hazardous materials incidents. For those incidents there was a single response standard which measured call handling time and fire engine response time. The response standard for the first fire engine attending a critical special call was 13 minutes.

 

Standard: to be in attendance within response standard target on 90% of occasions.

 

The latest quarter 1st pump response increased 0.66% over the same quarter of the previous year.

 

Year to Date	2021/22 Quarter 2	Previous year to Date	2020/21 Quarter 2
89.58%	87.82%	89.24%	87.16%

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that a report would be presented to the Planning Committee in February to determine whether to consider refining Service response standards. He explained that the risk with setting such high response standards was that the public expected the Service to achieve those 90% of the time and when they failed to meet them, it had to be justified, adding that LFRS response standards were currently one of the highest (quickest) across the country.

2.3      Fire Engine Availability – Wholetime, Day Crewing and Day Crewing Plus

 

This indicator measured the availability of fire engines that were crewed by wholetime, day crewing and day crewing plus shifts. It was measured as the percentage of time a fire engine was available to respond compared to the total time in the period.

 

Fire engines were designated as unavailable for the following reasons:

 

•      Mechanical	•      Lack of equipment
•      Crew deficient	•      Miscellaneous
•      Engineer working on station	•      Unavailable
•      Appliance change over	•      Welfare
•      Debrief

 

Recovery times for crews following a significant incident was also highlighted as a reason for fire engines being unavailable.

 

Standard: 99.5%

 

Year to date availability of 99.26% was a decrease of 0.10% over the same period of the previous year.

 

Year to Date	2021/22 Quarter 2	Previous year to Date	2020/21 Quarter 2
99.26%	99.34%	99.36%	99.43%

 

 

2.4      Fire Engine Availability – On-Call Duty System

 

This indicator measured the availability of fire engines that were crewed by the on-call duty system. It was measured as the percentage of time a fire engine was available to respond compared to the total time in the period.

 

Fire engines were designated as unavailable (off the run) for the following reasons which include the percentage of off the run hours that each reason contributed to the total. Members noted that fire engines can be off the run for more than one reason; hence the percentages were interpreted individually (rather than as a proportion of the total):

 

·         Manager deficient                      57%

·         Crew deficient                            81%

·         Not enough BA wearers           69%

·         No driver                                      38 %

 

Standard: Aspirational Standard 95%

 

Year to date availability 80.38%, an 11.37% decrease against the previous year to date total availability of 91.75%.

 

Year to Date	2021/22 Quarter 2	Previous year to Date	2020/21 Quarter 2
80.38%	75.74%	91.75%	87.30%

 

The negative exception report was due to the percentage of On-Call (OC) pumps available to respond to emergencies being below the lower control limit during the 3 months of quarter 2.

 

The availability of OC pumps during the quarter was recorded at 75.74% with each month being outside the 83.38% control limit and below the Service’s 95% aspirational standard.

 

The primary contributing factor was the loss of staff; recording 35 fewer staff in quarter 2 compared with the previous quarter. This equated to 2,328 fewer hours, meaning On-Call establishment was running below its optimal hours.

 

There were a variety of different reasons cited to account for the On-Call leavers: moving out of area, pursuing other career options, family commitments, retirements and commitments becoming too demanding. Staffing was predicted to improve over the next 12 months as On-Call recruit’s courses had now returned to pre-pandemic numbers of 24 recruits per course. At the peak of the pandemic, there were 12 recruits per course. A lack of officers and drivers on certain stations were still a contributing factor, along with sickness and isolation periods on stations due to the continuing Covid-19 pandemic.

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer explained that the drop in response standards could correlate to the availability of on-call fire fighters in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic. If the on-call firefighters were furloughed from their primary employer, they could respond more quickly. However, once they returned to their primary employment, their availability declined, and back-up appliances support would have to travel from further afield.

 

Actions being taken to improve performance were:

 

·           Continue with a driven recruitment strategy, utilising a targeted approach to stations that were in exception.

·           A focused look at existing contract alignment whilst ensuring staff were fulfilling existing contracts when under contracted hours.

·           Balancing availability of Light Goods Vehicle (LGV) and Officers in Charge (OIC) qualifications to meet station requirements.

·           On-Call Support Officer’s (OCSOs) and unit managers to support Firefighter development to assist with future OIC/LGV development.

·           Support national On-Call campaigns and utilise their recruitment literature and designs.

·           Invest in On-Call through recruitment material and resources.

·           Fill OCSO Team vacancies to ensure all units received the support required.

 

Local action plans for stations with availability of less than 85% would continue to be produced in conjunction with Station District Managers, Unit Managers and OCSOs to tailor the support required to each unit.

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that staff views were being sought on how to improve the availability of fire engines in the rural areas. It was a national challenge to keep on-call fire engines on the run.

 

It was suggested to the Chairman by the Deputy Chief Fire Officer that the Committee consider appointing a Task & Finish Group to contemplate options to improve on-call fire engine availability. 

 

2.4.1   Fire Engine Availability – On-Call Duty System (without wholetime detachments)

 

Subset of KP1 2.4 and provided for information only

 

This indicator measured the availability of fire engines that were crewed by the on-call duty system (OC) when wholetime detachments were not used to support availability. It was measured by calculating the percentage of time a fire engine was available to respond compared to the total time in the period.

 

Fire engines were designated as unavailable (off-the-run) for the following reasons:

 

·         Manager deficient         

·         Crew deficient               

·         Not enough BA wearers

·         No driver                         

 

Standard: As a subset of KPI 2.4 there was no standard attributable to this KPI.

 

The percentage of time that On-Call crewed engines were available for quarter 2 was 73.55%. This excluded the wholetime detachments shown in KPI 2.4. The cost of detaching wholetime firefighters to on-call stations was significant.

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that the Service was seeking to procure software available (dynamic cover tool), which could actively identify any gaps in emergency cover which it would display on a map and pumps would be sent to the area requiring cover.

 

2.5      Staff Accidents

 

This indicator measured the number of staff accidents.

The number of staff accidents during the latest quarter increased by 5 incidents against the same quarter of the previous year.

 

Year to Date	2021/22 Quarter 2	Previous year to Date	2020/21 Quarter 2
44	23	35	18

 

 

KPI 3 – Delivering, value for money in how we use our resources

 

3.1      Progress against Savings Programme

 

The annual budget for 2021/22 was set at £58.2m with a budget to 30 September of £28.7 million. The spend for the same period was £28.5m giving an underspend for the period of £0.2m. the current anticipated year end outturn was an underspend of £0.3m, however, this would be updated over the coming months and would be reported to Resources Committee.

 

3.2      Overall User Satisfaction

 

Since April 2012, 2,824 people had been surveyed and the number satisfied with the service was 2,696%; satisfied was 98.87% against a standard of 97.50%; a variance of 1.4%.

 

During the latest quarter, 98 people were surveyed and 96 responded that they were ‘very satisfied’ or ‘fairly satisfied’ with the service they received.

 

 

KPI 4 – Valuing, our people so that they can focus on making Lancashire safer

 

4.2.1 Staff Absence – Excluding on-Call Duty System

 

This indicator measured the cumulative number of shifts (days) lost due to sickness for all wholetime, day crewing plus, day crewing and support staff divided by the total number of staff.

 

Annual Standard: Not more than 5 shifts lost.

Cumulative total number of monthly shifts lost 4.068.

 

The negative exception report was due to the number of shifts lost through absence per employee being above the Service target for quarter 2.

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer presented Members with the analysis, that during quarter 2, July 2021 – September 2021, absence statistics showed above target for the quarter.

 

Whole-time personnel and Non-uniformed personnel were both above the target. 

 

Non-uniform – 467 shifts lost = 2.31

Wholetime – 1,384 shifts lost = 2.23

 

There were 4 cases of long-term absence which spanned over the total of the 3 months with the reasons being:

 

Grey Book
Reason	Case/s
Covid	1
Mental Health	1

Green Book
Reason	Case/s
Mental Health	1
Neurological	1

 

 

There were 36 further cases of long-term absence which were also recorded within the 3 months:

 

Grey Book – 32 cases

Green Book – 4 cases

 

Overall (including the 4 cases of long-term absence which span over the total of the 3 months):

 

Reason	Case/s
Covid	10
Mental Health (other)	10
Musculo skeletal	7
Hospital operation	5
Neurological	2
Injury – non work related	2
Back and spinal disorder	1
Cancer	1
Gastrointestinal	1
Mental health (work)	1

 

 

During the quarter, 28 of the 40 employees returned to duty. 

 

Members also considered the actions undertaken to improve performance which included that the Service aimed to continue with:

 

·         Early intervention by Occupational Health Unit (OHU) doctor / nurse / physiotherapist;

·         Human Resources supported managers in following the Absence Management Policy, ensuring the appropriate management of individual long-term cases, addressing review periods/triggers in a timely manner and dealing with capability of staff due to health issues;

·         To be included again within the leadership conference to assist future manager’s understanding and interpretation of the policy;

·         Encouraging employees to make use of the Employee Assistance Programme provider Health Assured and The Firefighter’s Charity;

·         HR to be in attendance at Stress Risk Assessment meetings to support managers and to offer support to the employee along with signposting;

·         OHU to organise health checks for individuals on a voluntary basis;

·         Support from Service Fitness Advisor/Personal Training Instructors (PTIs);

·         Promotion of health, fitness and wellbeing via the routine bulletin and Employee Assistance programme.

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer informed Members that in the Review of KPIs ahead of the report to Planning Committee later on the agenda, it would be proposed to split the statistics for staff into operational staff and support staff. The Service was also considering reporting the staff sickness statistics in a different format with clear indicators in line with other Fire Services, which would allow for comparison.

 

4.2.2   Staff Absence – On-Call Duty System

 

This indicator measured the percentage of contracted hours lost due to sickness for all on-call contracted staff.

 

Annual Standard: Not more than 2.5% lost as % of available hours of cover.

 

Cumulative on-call absence (as % of available hours cover) at the end of the quarter, 0.90%.

 

The Chairman thanked the Deputy Fire Officer for a comprehensive report.

 

In response to Councillor Smith’s question regarding the national difficulties in recruiting to some posts, and if the Fire Service had found it difficult to recruit drivers and also to others posts, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that one of the reasons for fire engines being off the run was crew deficiency. A crew of 4 was needed to respond to fire incidents, whereas some other authorities would respond with a crew of 3, therefore, crew numbers was something the Fire Service would consider, as the nearest resource was not always responding to incidents. He added that, due to the lack of a driver for some incidents, resources had been directed to driver training and also recruiting an additional driving instructor. Another strategy being considered, by the On-Call Improvement Group, was recruiting to driver-only roles which could be filled by firefighters approaching retirement.

 

In response to a query from County Councillor Woollam regarding the ability to increase the attendance of road safety education sessions through the involvement of parish councils to raise awareness, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer confirmed that the Service did engage with parish councils and acknowledged the significant role Members had in engaging communities.

 

In response to a further question from County Councillor Woollam regarding the ability to raise awareness of the issues and problems of deliberate fire setting, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer explained that there had been a recent rise with prisoners setting fires which was a challenging problem to resolve. The Service worked with the Police and other bodies to tackle deliberate fires with a group of officers, (SIAG – Service Intelligence and Analysis Group), who met every quarter to investigate trends.

 

Councillor Beavers queried the feasibility of recruiting on-call firefighters along the same lines as the Territorial Army. The Chairman stated that the Committee could take the decision to establish a Task & Finish Group relating to on-call firefighters as suggested by the Deputy Chief Fire Officer. The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that support through a Task & Finish Group would be welcome and added that research was being undertaken by the National Fire Chief’s Council (NFCC) to look at the sustainability of on-call and how it could be improved.

 

In response to a comment from County Councillor Hennessy regarding deliberate fire setting, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer explained that, given a lot of deliberate fires were started by young adults, the Service carried out a lot of educational work and delivered skills packages in schools. There was also a successful fire cadet scheme, and the Prince’s Trust also worked with children experiencing difficult circumstances. Specialist advice was given to those individuals who had been identified as having started a fire and the Service also worked with the police. Following a deliberate fire incident, the Incident Intelligence Officer would investigate, the Service would work alongside the police and individuals would be prosecuted through the criminal justice system.

 

In response to County Councillor Hennessy’s question regarding the number of Fire Inspectors in the Service, and whether existing firefighters were being trained as Inspectors and the mentoring of staff, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer informed that Area Manager, Mark Hutton was in the process of engaging staff in the Prevention and Protection Team in further reshaping, as there had been a drive from government in fire prevention following the Grenfell tragedy. The Service had received a £350,000 grant from the government over the last 12 months which would hopefully form part of the base budget to add additional Inspectors to the team. The challenge the Service faced was that it took approximately 2-3 years to fully train an Inspector with a number of staff currently going through that process. The Deputy Chief Fire Officer explained that consultations were ongoing with trade unions and staff to increase the level of remuneration to attract and retain staff. Regarding mentoring staff, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that the Service had a programme of training frontline crews to give them knowledge and understanding of fire protection to enable them to carry out low level Fire Safety Checks which would hopefully encourage some to become Inspectors to ensure sustainability of the team.

 

In response to a question raised by County Councillor Hennessy regarding emergency response standards and information about any delayed responses, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer stated that every incident was tracked and a full debrief carried out subsequently. He advised that the response standard targets were very stretching and included a call handling time of 1 minute with the general national standard being 90 seconds.

 

County Councillor Kay was concerned that the possible return of the Covid-19 Pandemic could result in excess waste from shops presenting an opportunity for deliberate fires. She asked whether business owners would be given advice over the Christmas period in relation to Fire Safety Enforcement. The Deputy Chief Fire Officer explained that the Business Fire Safety Checks did include that element. He advised that although there were highly qualified Inspectors who primarily focused on high-risk premises such as high-rise buildings, care home and hospitals, crews would carry out Home Fire Safety Checks and Business Fire Checks over the Christmas period on lower risk premises. Additionally, some proactive communication would be issued and spot check sampling would be carried out. The Deputy Director for Operational Response added that the role of local Managers at fire stations was to manage risk in their areas to which they had a great deal of local knowledge, knew where those risks existed and which premises were vulnerable. Arson vulnerability assessments were also undertaken and business owners at high risk were educated about how they could more effectively manage and reduce the risk of arson fire to their premises.

 

In response to a question from County Councillor Kay in relation to the policy for staff sick pay and if there was any provision for private medical care, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer stated that the standard terms and conditions for firefighters was 6 months at full pay and a further 6 months at half pay, however, if it was work related absence then it could be extended to 12 months. He advised that there were many systems in place to support staff with their wellbeing and occupational health. The Service supported staff to help them back to work. For those who were absent long-term, they received support from their line manager and would have an additional manager assigned to support them. Mental Health Stress Assessments were also carried out with HR when needed with any necessary adjustments put in place and phased returns were also offered.

 

In response to a question asked by Councillor Rigby in relation to there being value in sending a secondary crew of 3 out to incidents when the first crew were already in attendance, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer said that the Service would allow a crew of 3 to respond to low level incidents when the first crew was already in attendance, however, they would not be dispatched to property fires. Lancashire Fire and Rescue maybe the only emergency service that did not send the nearest resource and sending smaller crews would be discussed with staff and trade unions as all Incident Commanders were trained to make risk assessments and risk informed decisions.

 

In response to a question by County Councillor Britcliffe regarding deliberate fires in residential properties, the Deputy Director for Operational Response advised that sometimes there were determined arsonists, and there were many societal factors, some of which resulted in people electing to use fire as a weapon. The role of the Service was to ensure that the Incident Officers and Operational Crews, were adequately equipped with the knowledge and skills to fully investigate those incidents. The Service also worked with the police and partner agencies to establish cause, bring perpetrators to justice, and reduce the risk of further arson incidents in the future.

 

County Councillor Singleton raised the issue of the Service assisting with booster injections due to the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 and asked how this would affect the performance of the Service. The Deputy Chief Fire Officer assured that performance would not be affected. Many staff supported the roll out of the booster in their days off and some administrative staff were seconded from their roles. He confirmed that the Service was committed to keeping all 58 fire engines on the run. Resources would be directed to support the roll out and the Service would adapt which demonstrated the flexibility of the organisation.  

 

All Members agreed to the establishment of a Task & Finish Group for the improvement of on-call fire engine availability.

 

RESOLVED :- That the Performance Committee endorsed the Quarter 2 Measuring Progress report and noted the contents of the 2 negative exceptions. The Committee would establish a Task & Finish Group to investigate improving on-call fire engine availability.