Agenda item

Ged Basson, Senior Operations Manager, North West Fire Control (NWFC), provided the Committee with a report detailing the performance of NWFC during quarter 2 (July – September 2021-2022).

Within quarter 2, a total of 6116 admin calls were received for Lancashire Fire and Rescue (LFRS). This was a 2.8% reduction compared to quarter 2 of the previous year (6296 calls), and 1.5% reduction compared to quarter 1 of this year (6203). In total, of 29,432 admin calls were received by NWFC in quarter 2, of which, LFRS represented 20.7% of those calls. Members were advised that a total of 12,319 admin calls were received for LFRS for the year which showed a downward trend. Admin calls included crews and officers contacting NWFC for either guidance, or to offer advice such as notification of missing equipment, defective resources, liaising with control regarding exercises or resources availability. 

A total of 10,414 emergency calls were received in quarter 2 for LFRS, which was a 21.6% increase compared to quarter 2 of the previous year (8,164 calls), and 0% difference compared to quarter 1 of the current year (10,431). In total, NWFC received 43,583 emergency calls for quarter 2, of which, LFRS represented 23.9% of these calls. It was noted that 20,845 emergency calls were received for LFRS for the year, displaying a downward trend.

It was noted that 42% of calls were not mobilised in quarter 2, following call challenging. Lancashire was currently unaligned to other NWFC partners and therefore would mobilise resources to Automatic Fire Alarms (AFAs) on a more frequent basis. For NWFC, mobilising performance times for fires in quarter 2, was 79 seconds which compared to 78 seconds for the previous quarter. LFRS mobilising times for fires in quarter 2 continued to be under the 90 second target. An upward trend for mobilising times was indicated, however it was due to a spike of 85 seconds in June.

Mobilising performance times for all NWFC in quarter 2 for special service calls was 124 seconds compared to 125 seconds for the previous quarter. LFRS mobilising times for special service calls in quarter 2 were slightly above the average due to relatively low mobilising times in April and May, with the spike in June. It was explained that several incidents were excluded from the data where there was not an automatic response from NWFC but when Lancashire had asked that further clarification was sought from a specialist officer, e.g. NILO, prior to mobilisation due to the type of incident, such as suspect packages, and missing persons. Other incidents excluded were, when crews had proceeded to fix a defective smoke alarm several hours after being notified or where incidents had to be queued due to a depletion of FRS resources in a location. The NWFC board of directors had asked that NWFC not report a target of 90 seconds for special service calls, but to investigate improving the average mobilising times for special service calls, due to the complexity of the call challenge process when dealing with that type of incident compared to fires. 

Members were informed that, over the previous 18-month period, the call handling time for fires, for LFRS continued to be relatively favourable compared to Cumbria, Cheshire and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Services.

In August 2021, NWFC assisted LFRS in managing an incident which involved petrol inside a building on Walton Summit Industrial Estate, Bamber Bridge. Resources attending included 10 pumps, 2 Aerial Ladder Platforms, 1 Stinger and 1 Hose Laying Lorry. It was deemed a Significant Incident for Fire Safety (SIFS).

In addition, NWFC dealt with other large-scale incidents in other fire services they partnered with. They also assisted with 118 and 115 calls respectively for London Fire Brigade for two large scale flooding incidents in July. The calls were received as part of the buddy arrangements they provide for London.

RESOLVED :- That the Performance Committee endorsed the Quarter 2 NWFC Performance report.