Agenda item
Minutes:
The Assistant Chief Fire Officer presented a comprehensive report to the Performance Committee. This was the 3rd quarterly report for 2022/23 as detailed in the Community Risk Management Plan 2022-2027.
This quarter, 3 Performance Indicators (KPIs) were shown in negative exception. These were 1.2.1 Staff Absence Wholetime (WT), 1.2.3 Staff Absence Greenbook, and 3.3.2 Fire Engine Availability On-Call Shift Systems.
Members examined each indicator in turn focusing on those KPIs in exception as follows:
KPI 1 – Valuing our people so that they can focus on making Lancashire safer
1.1 Overall Staff Engagement
Members received an update on how staff were engaged during the period.
From October to December 2022, twenty-two station visits were carried out by principal officers and area managers as part of the service-wide station visits programme. Executive board members held an engagement event at the Service Training Centre for flexi duty officers and seven online question and answer events were held with wholetime and on-call firefighters in relation to winter challenges and the national pay dispute.
Fifty-three wellbeing interactions were undertaken ranging from health and wellbeing workshops to support-dog interactions. The service engaged staff in several trials relating to the fleet including new vehicle Close Circuit Television (CCTV) systems and the latest plug-in and self-charging hybrid car technology. The Service also surveyed on-call (OC) staff to obtain their views and experiences as part of a review of the OC duty system.
The Assistant Chief Fire Officer informed Members that a lot of engagement with staff took place through the threat of Industrial Action and the associated ballot. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) had now accepted the revised pay offer.
1.2.1 Staff Absence Wholetime
This indicator measured the cumulative number of shifts (days) lost due to sickness for all wholetime staff divided by the total average strength.
Annual Standard: Not more than 5 shifts lost.
Annual Shifts Lost ÷ 4 quarters: 1.25
Cumulative total number of shifts lost: 6.710
The negative exception report was due to the number of shifts lost through absence per employee being above the Service target for quarter 3.
During quarter 3, October to December 2022, absence statistics showed whole-time personnel absence above target for the quarter.
1,492 Wholetime absence shifts lost = 2.37 against a target of 1.25.
There were 3 cases of long-term absence which spanned over the total of the 3 months; the reasons being:
· Gastro-intestinal (abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea)
· Cancer and Tumours
· Mental Health (Other)
There were 28 other cases of long-term absence also recorded within the 3 months:
· Hospital / post operative – 7 cases
· Mental health (other) – 4 cases
· Other known causes (not specified) – 3 cases
· Musculo skeletal (other unable to define) – 2 cases
· Musculo skeletal (Back) – 2 cases
· Musculo skeletal (lower limb) – 2 cases
· Mental health (stress) – 2 cases
· Cancer and Tumours – 1 case
· Cause known, but not specified – 1 case
· Covid-19 Coronavirus (Sickness) – 1 case
· Heart, cardiac and circulatory problems – 1 case
· Respiratory (Cold/Cough/Influenza) – 1 case
· Skin Condition – 1 case
To improve performance, the Service aimed to continue with:
· Early intervention by Occupational Health Unit (OHU) doctor / nurse / physiotherapist.
· Human Resources (HR) supporting managers in following the Absence Management Policy managing 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 managers’ understanding and interpretation of the policy.
· Encouraging employees to make use of our Employee Assistance Programme provider Health Assured and The Firefighters Charity.
· HR to be in attendance at Stress Risk Assessment meetings, to support managers and to offer appropriate 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 Assistant Chief Officer advised that it would be beneficial to split the data between long-term and short-term absences as long-term absences were more likely to be cases of serious illness or conditions which were unchangeable. However, he proposed that the emphasis be to reduce short-term absences, as these could be managed and improved with strategies such as access to the Occupational Health Unit, through HR and with effective support from Managers. Members were informed that, due to the higher-than-average sickness levels, the KPI would be in exception in the next quarter. Members agreed that focusing on improving short-term absence would be beneficial and the Assistant Chief Fire Officer informed that the KPI would be reported with a focus on short-term absences in future.
In response to a question from County Councillor O’Toole regarding the definition of a long-term absence, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that long-term absence was determined as an absence that exceeded 28 days. It was acknowledged that some treatable illnesses could last 28 days and were therefore classed as long term, nevertheless, HR followed industry and government guidelines where 28 days was used as the benchmark.
1.2.2 Staff Absence On-Call (OC)
This indicator measured the percentage of contracted hours lost due to sickness for all on-call contracted staff.
Annual Standard: No more than 2.5% lost as a % of available hours of cover.
Cumulative on-call absence (as a % of available hours cover) at the end of the quarter, 1.58%.
1.2.3 Staff Absence Greenbook
This new indicator measured the cumulative number of shifts (days) lost due to sickness for all green book support staff divided by the average strength.
Annual Standard: Not more than 5 shifts lost.
Annual Shifts Lost ÷ 4 quarters: 1.25
Cumulative shifts lost: 5.427
The negative exception report was due to the number of shifts lost through absence per employee being above the Service target for quarter 3.
During quarter 3, October to December 2022, absence statistics showed non-uniformed personnel above target for the quarter.
507 non-uniformed absence shifts lost = 2.40 against a target of 1.25
There were 3 cases of long-term absence which spanned over the total of the 3 months; the reasons being:
· Cardiovascular
· Heart, cardiac and circulatory problems
· Hospital/post operative
There was one other case of long-term absence which was also recorded within the 3 months:
· Hospital / post operative – 1 case
To improve performance, the Service aimed to continue with:
· Early intervention by Occupational Health Unit (OHU) doctor / nurse / physiotherapist.
· Human Resources (HR) supporting managers in following the Absence Management Policy managing 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 managers’ understanding and interpretation of the policy.
· Encouraging employees to make use of our Employee Assistance Programme provider, Health Assured, and the Fire Fighters Charity.
· HR to be in attendance at Stress Risk Assessment meetings, to support managers and to offer appropriate support to the employee along with signposting.
· OHU to organise health checks for individuals on a voluntary basis.
· Promotion of health, fitness and wellbeing via the routine bulletin and Employee Assistance programme.
The Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that many of the short-term illnesses were respiratory infections over autumn/winter.
In response to a question raised by County Councillor Hurn regarding the number of staff that take up the offer of a flu vaccine, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer stated that the number was low. He explained that some staff may have received the vaccine externally or from their GP, however, he would bring to the next meeting the numbers of staff who had taken up the offer of a flu jab paid for by the Service.
1.3.1 Workforce Diversity
This new indicator measured diversity as a percentage.
Combined diversity percentage of grey book (operational) and green book (support) staff:
Gender: Female 20% Male 80%
Ethnicity: BME 3% Not stated 3% White 94%
Sexual Orientation: LGBT 4% Heterosexual 51% Not stated 45%
Disability: Disability 3% No disability 94% Not stated 3%
Separate diversity percentage of grey book (operational) and green book (support) staff:
Gender: Female Grey book 9% Green book 60%
Male Grey book 91% Green book 40%
Ethnicity: BME Grey book 3% Green book 6%
White Grey book 95% Green book 89%
Not stated Grey book 2% Green book 5%
Sexual Orientation: LGBT Grey book 4% Green book 3%
HeterosexualGrey book 51% Green book 53%
Not stated Grey book 45% Green book 44%
Disability: Disability Grey book 3% Green book 3%
No disability Grey book 95% Green book 90%
Not stated Grey book 2% Green book 7%
1.3.2 Workforce Diversity Recruited
This new indicator measured workforce diversity recruited as a percentage.
Combined diversity percentage of grey book (operational) and green book (support) staff:
Gender: Female 26% Male 74%
Ethnicity: BME 2% White 94% Not Stated 4%
Sexual Orientation: LGBT 11% Heterosexual 82% Not stated 7%
Disability: Disability 2% No disability 97% Not stated 1%
During quarter 3, there were a total of 138 new recruits. It was noted that a further breakdown of the data would not be provided as it may enable the identification of individuals, due to the small numbers of recruits during certain periods.
Members discussed the need to consider people’s family life, cultural needs and language skills during recruitment to attract a more diverse workforce. The Assistant Chief Fire Officer explained that there was a requirement for the recruitment strategy to be explored and revised in consultation with the engagement and employee voice groups. He added that there were organisational benefits for workforces to be reflective of their communities.
In response to a question from County Councillor Hurn as to whether gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability had any bearing on the success of a candidate applying for a job, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that the Service adhered to strict recruitment policies and procedures to ensure that the best candidate for a job was recruited and that the Service was careful to avoid any form of positive discrimination.
Members congratulated the Service on winning Fire Brigade of the Year at the GG2 Leadership and Diversity awards. The Service was nominated in 2 categories and won the award for ‘Outstanding work in championing diversity, making demonstrable progress in diversifying the talent pool and creating an inclusive working environment.’
1.4 Staff Accidents
This indicator measured the number of accidents which occurred to staff members at work within the quarter: Wholetime, On-Call and Greenbook.
Total number of staff accidents, 11 for quarter 3; year to date 44; previous year to date 61. Quarterly activity decreased 35.29% over the same quarter of the previous year.
KPI 2 - Preventing, fires and other emergencies from happening and Protecting people and property when fires happen
2.1 Risk Map Score
This indicator measured the fire risk in each Super Output Area, of which there were 942. 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 County risk map score was updated annually and presented to the Performance Committee in the quarter 1 reporting period.
Annual Standard: To reduce the risk in Lancashire – an annual reduction in the County risk map score.
(Dwelling Fires ÷ Total Dwellings) + (Dwelling Fire Casualties ÷ Resident Population x 4) + Building Fire + (IMD x 2) = Risk Score.
The current score was 31,576 and the previous year’s score was 31,862 which meant that the fire risk continued to reduce.
2.2 Overall Activity
This indicator measured the number of incidents that LFRS attended with one or more pumping appliances. Incidents attended included fires, special service calls, false alarms and collaborative work undertaken with other emergency services i.e.: missing person searches on behalf of the Police and gaining entry incidents at the request of the Ambulance Service.
Incidents attended, year to date 14,979; previous year to date 14,454. Quarterly activity increased 1.60% over the same quarter of the previous year.
In quarter 3, the Service attended 4,693 incidents. The report presented a chart which represented the count and percentage that each activity had contributed to the overall quarter’s activity:
· Total False Alarm Calls (due to apparatus, good intent and malicious) – 2273, 49%
· Total Primary Fire Calls (accidental dwelling / building and deliberate dwelling / commercial fires and other primary fires) – 438, 9%
· Total Secondary Fire Calls (deliberate and accidental fires) – 590, 13%
· Total Special Service Calls (critical incidents, gaining entry, RTCs, Flooding and other critical incidents) – 1365, 29%
2.3 Accidental Dwelling Fires (ADF)
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'.
Members noted that a primary fire was one involving property (excluding derelict property) or any fires involving casualties, rescues or any fire attended by 5 or more pumping appliances.
Accidental Dwelling Fires, 200 in quarter 3; year to date 605; previous year to date 642. Quarterly activity decreased 4.76% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.3.1 ADF – Harm to people: 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.
Fatal, 1 in quarter 3; year to date 5; previous year to date 4
Injuries appear Serious, 4 in quarter 3; year to date 10; previous year to date 9
Injuries appear Slight 11 in quarter 3; year to date 17; previous year to date 34
Quarterly activity increased 45.45% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.3.2 ADF – Harm to property: Extent of damage (fire severity)
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'.
Extent of fire, heat and smoke damage was recorded at the time the ‘stop’ message was sent and included all damage types.
The table in the report showed a breakdown of fire severity with a directional indicator that compared:
· current quarter, combined percentage of 83% against
· same quarter of the previous year, combined percentage of 87%.
Combined quarterly percentage had therefore decreased 4% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.4 Accidental Building Fires (ABF) (Commercial Premises)
This indicator reported the number of primary fires where a building had been affected (which was other than a dwelling or a private building associated with a dwelling), and the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘'Accidental' or 'Not known'.
ABF (Commercial Premises), 54 in quarter 3; year to date 195; previous year to date 210. Quarterly activity decreased 20.59% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.4.1 ABF (Commercial Premises) – Harm to property: Extent of damage (fire severity)
This indicator reported the number of primary fires where a building had been affected (which was other than a dwelling or a private building associated with a dwelling), and the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘'Accidental' or 'Not known'.
Extent of fire, heat and smoke damage was recorded at the time the ‘stop’ message was sent and included all damage types.
The table in the report showed a breakdown of fire severity with a directional indicator that compared:
· current quarter, combined percentage of 70% against
· same quarter of the previous year, combined percentage of 72%.
Combined quarterly percentage had therefore decreased 2% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.5 Accidental Building Fires (Non-Commercial Premises)
This indicator reported the number of primary fires where a private garage, private shed, private greenhouse, private summerhouse, or other private non-residential building had been affected and the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘Accidental’ or ‘Not known’.
ABF (Non-Commercial Premises), 16 in quarter 3; year to date 68; previous year to date 65. Quarterly activity increased 23.08% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.5.1 ABF (Non-Commercial premises: Private garages and sheds) – Harm to property: Extent of damage (fire severity)
This indicator reported the number of primary fires where a private garage, private shed, private greenhouse, private summerhouse, or other private non-residential building had been affected and the cause of fire had been recorded as ‘Accidental’ or ‘Not known’.
Extent of fire, heat and smoke damage was recorded at the time the ‘stop’ message was sent and included all damage types.
The table in the report showed a breakdown of fire severity with a directional indicator that compared:
· current quarter, combined percentage of 19% against
· same quarter of the previous year, combined percentage of 23%.
Combined quarterly activity had therefore decreased 4.3% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.6 Deliberate Fires Total: Specific performance measure of deliberate fires
This new indicator provided an overall measure of primary and secondary fires where the cause of fire had been recorded as deliberate.
Deliberate Fires – 421 in quarter 3; year to date 1,892; previous year to date 1,526. Quarterly activity increased 19.60% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.6.1 Deliberate Fires – Dwellings
This indicator reported the number of primary fires where a dwelling had been affected and the cause of fire had been recorded as deliberate.
Deliberate Fires – Dwellings, 22 in quarter 3, year to date 57; previous year to date 86. Quarterly activity decreased 24.14% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.6.2 Deliberate Fires - Commercial Premises
This indicator reported the number of primary fires where the property type was a building, other than a dwelling or a private building associated with a dwelling, and the cause of fire had been recorded as deliberate.
Deliberate Fires – Commercial Premises, 32 in quarter 3; year to date 88; previous year to date 97.
Quarterly activity increased 68.42% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.6.3 Deliberate Fires – Other (rubbish, grassland, vehicles etc).
This indicator reported the number of primary and secondary fires where the property type was other than a building, except where the building was recorded as derelict, and the cause of fire had been recorded as deliberate.
The majority of deliberate fires were outdoor secondary fires and included grassland and refuse fires. Derelict vehicle fires were also included under secondary fires.
Deliberate Fires – Other, 367 in quarter 3; year to date 1,747; previous year to date 1,343. Quarterly activity increased 20.72% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.7 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:
· the total number of HFSC’s completed was greater than the comparable quarter of the previous year; and
· the percentage of high HFSC outcomes was greater than the comparable quarter of the previous year.
HFSCs completed, 5,800 in quarter 3; year to date 16,256; previous year to date 12,605. Quarterly activity increased 15.7% over the same quarter of the previous year.
HFSCs with high-risk outcomes, year to date 55%; previous year to date 62%.
Quarterly activity decreased 7.0% over the same quarter of the previous year.
2.8 Numbers of prevention activities such as Childsafe, wasted lives etc
Members received an update on the number of sessions delivered against the following prevention activities during the quarter:
ChildSafe, 241 sessions delivered to 8,274 attendees;
RoadSense, 172 sessions delivered to 5,640 attendees;
SENDSafe, 6 sessions delivered;
Wasted Lives, 9 sessions delivered to 1,146 pupils;
Biker Down, 5 sessions delivered to 75 attendees;
FIRES, 29 completed referrals;
Partner Training, 34 organisations/agencies – 195 people.
Specific Education packages – delivered Water Safety, ASB, Deliberate Fire Setting etc (Covers key stages 2, 3 and 4), across 157 sessions, delivered to 24,849 attendees. These mainly consisted of BrightSparx ASB in quarter 3.
Arson Threat Referrals - 166.
2.9 Fire Safety Activity (including Business Fire Safety Checks)
This indicator reported the number of Fire Safety Enforcement inspections carried out within the period which resulted in supporting businesses to improve and become compliant with fire safety regulations or where formal action of enforcement and prosecution had been taken for those that failed to comply.
An improvement was shown if the percentage of audits that required formal activity was greater than the comparable quarter of the previous year.
Total Fire Safety Enforcement Inspections, Quarter 3, 360;
Formal Activity in Quarter 3, 9%, same quarter of the previous year 6%.
Quarterly activity increased 3% over the same quarter of the previous year.
Members noted the cumulative number of Business Fire Safety Checks undertaken for 2022/23 was 1,615.
2.10 Building Regulation Consultations (BRC) (number and completed on time)
Where the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applied to premises (or would apply following building work) the building control body must consult with LFRS for comments / advice regarding fire safety. LFRS should make any comments in writing within 15 working days from receiving a BRC.
This new indicator provided Members with information on the number of building regulations consultations received during the period together with improvement actions.
Building Regulation Consultations received 285, of which 244 were completed within timeframe (LFRS should make comments in writing within 15 working days of receiving a BRC).
Improvement Actions were noted as follows:
To comply with the NFCC Competency Framework for Fire Safety Regulators, consultations must be completed by Level 4 qualified Fire Safety Inspectors. It was the same inspectors who were required to complete the more complex audits required by the risk-based inspection program, consequently use of finite resources must be fully co-ordinated and balanced. To achieve this and ensure consultation timelines were achieved:
· Development work continued to qualify more of the existing staff to L4 standard.
· Recruitment undertaken in Q3 had increased establishment in the function.
· Improved administration and consultation monitoring arrangements would be implemented.
· The newly formed Built Environment and Ops Liaison team would take an increasing role in co-ordinating the receipt and completion of consultations within timescales.
KPI 3 - Responding to fire and other emergencies quickly
3.1 Critical Fire Response – 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, 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.
Annual Standard: to be in attendance within response standard target on 90% of occasions.
Critical Fire Response – 1st Fire Engine Attendance, 85.48% in quarter 3; year to date 84.90%; previous year to date 87.18%.
Quarterly response increased 0.93% over the same quarter of the previous year.
3.2 Critical Special Service Response – 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 standard included how long it took the first fire engine to respond to critical special service (non-fire) incidents where there was a risk to life such as road traffic collisions, rescues, and hazardous materials incidents. For these critical special service call incidents there was a single response standard of 13 minutes (which measured call handling time and fire engine response time).
Annual Standard: to be in attendance within response standard target on 90% of occasions.
Critical Special Service Response – 1st Fire Engine Attendance, 88.90% in quarter 3; year to date 89.71%; previous year to date 89.23%.
Quarterly response increased 0.53% over the same quarter of the previous year.
3.3 Total Fire Engine Availability
This indicator measured the availability of fire engines by all crewing types. It was measured as the percentage of time a fire engine was available to respond compared to the total time in the period.
Total Fire Engine Availability, 85.32% in quarter 3; year to date 84.65%; previous year to date 88.26%.
Quarterly availability decreased 1.95% over the same quarter of the previous year.
It was noted that the key periods of Covid-19 restrictions/lockdowns were:
· 23rd March to 10th May 2020. The first national lockdown was announced.
· 22nd September 2020. New restrictions announced, including working from home.
· 5th November 2020 to 2nd December 2020. Second lockdown in England.
· 6th January 2021 to 29th March 2021. Third national lockdown / stay at home order.
3.3.1 Fire Engine Availability – Wholetime Shift System
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 * Appliance change
over
* Crew deficient * Miscellaneous * Debrief
* Engineer working on station * Unavailable * Welfare
Annual Standard: 99.5%
Fire Engine Availability – Wholetime Shift System, 99.46% in quarter 3; year to date 99.27%; previous year to date 99.23%.
Quarterly response increased 0.30% over the same quarter of the previous year.
3.3.2 Fire Engine Availability – On-Call Shift 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 60%
· Crew deficient 78%
· Not enough BA wearers 67%
· No driver 41%
Annual Aspirational Standard: 95%
Fire Engine Availability – On-Call Shift System, 73.83% in quarter 3; year to date 72.76%; previous year to date 78.43%.
Quarterly availability decreased 3.77% over the same quarter of the previous year.
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 quarter 3.
Availability of On-Call pumps during the quarter was recorded at 73.83%, with each month being below the 79.43% control limit, and below the Service’s 95% aspirational standard.
An On-Call review would be undertaken in the current year to look at fundamental elements of the on-call system with the desired outcome of improving appliance availability. The Service had also invested in the creation of additional On-Call Support Officer (OCSO) posts to further strengthen the support to on-call and help implement changes arising from the review. Five additional OCSOs were appointed in September 2022, increasing the total to 8.
Actions being taken to improve performance:
· The Service appointed 42 new recruits from the October 2022 recruitment campaign.
· The Service would continue to deliver a recruitment strategy, which incorporated a targeted approach to stations that were in exception, whilst utilising data to identify the specific contractual/availability needs of those stations.
· A retention study undertaken by station managers and OCSO team leaders would commence.
· The Service would continue to review on-call contracts to ensure they were effective in improving appliance availability, whilst also ensuring contractual performance of staff was maintained.
· Challenges around Light Goods Vehicle (LGV) and Officer in Charge (OIC) skills continued to be an issue across the Service. To remedy this, Firefighters in development could be nominated for LGV courses, following discussion with Station and Group Managers.
· OCSOs were working with the Incident Command team in workshops to support and develop OICs with their command skills.
· Support national on-call campaigns and utilise their recruitment literature and designs. Align recruitment campaigns with NFCC On-Call Firefighter Days and raise the profile of the occasion during national volunteers’ week.
· Invest in on-call using relevant recruitment material and effective allocation of internal resources. Additional resources for the recruitment vehicle had been identified and requested which included new banners, QR code cards for each station, and new on-call staff for advertisement.
The Assistant Chief Fire Officer explained that work during 2022 to deliver improvements via the on-call recruit programme, combined with the retention of staff, and post summer leave period had contributed to the improvement of on-call fire engine availability in quarter 3. The Service was currently working to finalise a programme of works for 2023/24 to improve performance with a focus on the areas identified in the report, namely: manager deficient, not enough BA wearers, crew deficient and no driver. This included:
· Whether the method of training staff could be accelerated to improve performance. The current process for new staff was they would undertake 2 weeks basic skills training which once embedded staff would commence BA training which could be 6 months later;
· The need to determine whether staff were deterred from incident command competency training because the expectations were too high;
· Looking at contract options to be more flexible (in consultation with representative bodies) for wholetime firefighters to cover on-call in their free time and to include 3-person crews to respond to incidents rather than the appliance be off the run due to the lack of the availability of a full crew of 4.
In response to Member queries, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that the proposed piece of work to review initial on-call training would include a fundamental shift from how training was currently delivered, however, radical steps were required to support a performance improvement in on-call availability.
The 3-person crewing model on on-call appliances was presently in use to attend lower risk/less significant incidents, though the challenge was to create safe systems of work for those 3 people to respond and fulfil a broader operational response role in addition to the normal mobilisations taking place. Key to delivering this work was for staff to have robust knowledge, skills and decision-making to make the right decisions in the right circumstances and delivering further training around this aspect would be a priority. If the Service did move to this model, the intention would be to also deploy the usual resources to incidents. The Assistant Chief Fire Officer stated that he believed that this ambition was in line with public expectations of a modern fire and rescue service, and would result in more fire engines being available for more of the time; providing early intervention and greater visibility particularly in more rural areas where travel time for the next closest resource would usually be longer.
In response to a question raised by County Councillor Woollam, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that there were 4 on-call recruits’ courses per annum; 2 ran back-to-back in the spring and 2 ran back-to-back in the autumn with a maximum capacity of 96. The Service had improved on it’s ability to fully populate the courses over the last 2 or 3 years, however the Assistant Chief Fire Officer went on to explain that in on-call, the impact of a leaver was felt immediately due to loss of skills, (as highlighted in the report), whereas it could take up to 2 years for a new on-call firefighter to positively impact on that pump’s availability (including as BA wearer and driver) due to limited training time for on-call of 2 hours per week.
In response to a question posed by County Councillor O’Toole regarding candidates struggling with wearing breathing apparatus masks, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that part of the Practical Assessment Day (PAD) included the practical opportunities of wearing a BA mask and working in a confined space. In terms of delivering training, the Service aimed to strike a balance between what worked for staff and the needs of the Service. It was acknowledged that on call staff generally had primary employers and may be required to use their annual leave to attend firefighting training and that the Service needed to be cognisant of this when designing training for on-call staff.
In response to a question raised by County Councillor Singleton regarding contacting the Government to request making allowances for leave from primary employment for training purposes, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that the Deputy Chief Fire Officer was the national lead for on-call, and he had high-level strategic objectives to progress which included matters such as this.
The Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that further to Members concerns previously raised at this Committee in relation to the 95% aspirational target for On-Call Fire Engine Availability, work had been undertaken with the data/intelligence team on how best this could be reported. Currently, (as set out on pages 65-67), there was a KPI (3.3) for Total Fire Engine Availability which was broken down into (3.3.1) Wholetime availability and (3.3.2) On-Call availability. Given the wholetime availability was generally stable, the proposal, (which would be taken to the next Planning Committee meeting), would be to continue to report Fire Engine Availability but at first pump level on each of the 39 fire station locations. This would: i) reassure the public that the Service’s response and comprehensive across the country and ii) demonstrate that the Service was making the best use of its resources and that it could be flexible and provide operational response in relation to risk.
Currently the Service tried to maintain the availability of its 58 pumps which often required the need for overtime. Going forwards, the efficiency pillar under HMICFRS would likely consider the use of operational resources in terms of value for money and availability with the preference of the Service being to shift towards a response model which allowed the Service, the ability to flex and scale in relation to prevailing risk, such as during spate periods involving wildfires. For this reason, it was appropriate to future-proof the relevant KPIs (1st Pump Response and Overall Pump Availability) to ensure that they did not conflict with such an agile service approach.
In response to a question raised by County Councillor Woollam, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that under the national framework, the Service was required to produce a Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP), and then determine its response standards in line with local risks. The Service response standards, (as detailed on page 63 of the report), were: 6, 8, 10 and 12 minutes dependent on the level of risk. Comparison with other Fire and Rescue Services illustrated how fast these times were, particularly given they included call handling times. No changes to the 6, 8, 10 and 12 minute times would be proposed within the paper being developed for Planning Committee.
KPI 4 - Delivering value for money in how we use our resources
4.1 Progress Against Allocated Budget
Members received an update on spend against the approved budget for the year.
The figure was not available, presently, due to the move to the new Finance System. An updated figure would be presented to a future meeting of the Resources Committee.
4.2 Partnership Collaboration
Under the Policing and Crime Act 2017, blue light services were under a formal duty to collaborate to improve efficiency, effectiveness and deliver improved outcomes.
LFRS, Lancashire Constabulary and North West Ambulance Service had met at both tactical and strategic levels and had agreed and signed a strategic statement of intent which contained the following aims:
• Improved Outcomes – The collaboration maintains or improves the service we provide to local people and local communities;
• Reduce Demand – The collaboration should contribute towards our longer-term strategic objective of decreasing risk in communities and reducing demand on services;
• Better Value for Money – The collaboration produces quantifiable efficiencies either on implementation or in the longer term;
• Reduced inequalities within our communities – The collaboration contributes towards reducing inequalities wherever possible.
This new indicator provided Members with an update on partnership collaboration during the period.
Update
The Blue Light Collaboration board met on the 30th of September 2022, where a presentation on the initial five projects was delivered to the strategic leads. This presentation incorporated the Project Initiation Documents (PID) and Highlight Reports for each project. Progress for the planning of each project was as follows:
Missing Persons (MisPer)
Following a review of the mobilisation data, it was identified that the opportunities to provide LFRS support to missing persons incidents had reduced. Therefore, the main project objective was to improve the existing collaborative approach to identification of the location of missing persons. Learning had been identified from the original process and improvements had been made. LFRS support for the Missing from Home Manager training for Lancashire Constabulary staff would be continued in terms of LFRS assets available. Furthermore, Lancashire Constabulary had provided training to Control staff to raise awareness.
Initially, a small number of the LFRS personnel from the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team and Drone team were to undertake the Missing From Home manager course. Additional crews in LFRS had been identified as specialist teams and would receive a bespoke training programme which was currently being mapped out. These teams would develop an increased knowledge of managing a missing person within the context of potential crime scene management. All LFRS assets would remain available regardless of the additional skills imparted to the specialist teams.
Estates and Co-location
This project was a longer-term work stream with interdependencies, as there were several internal projects within Lancashire Constabulary to review current building stock. This included Lancashire Constabulary headquarters, and various police stations. Property Leads from all three agencies were in contact with each other, and plans were being developed to organise a monthly catch-up meeting. This would ensure that each Blue Light Service was sighted to internal findings and provided with awareness in terms of future opportunities.
First Responder
A phased approach was agreed in terms of volunteers signing up to the scheme. Phase 1 was being rolled out to non-operational LFRS staff, such as Community Fire Safety. Subsequently, phase 2 would consider the roll out to operational staff.
Progress on phase 1 had resulted in the successful onboarding of one non-operational member of LFRS, who was responding to category 1 incidents. The NWAS reporting system had been modified to include LFRS staff enabling the Service to analyse data and monitor the mobilisations. There were 4 additional volunteers identified, and they would shortly undertake training. Once the 5 initial volunteers had been operation for 3 months, the data would be analysed, and regular welfare checks would be completed. The findings would be used to inform plans for phase 2.
In terms of technology, an NWAS application was used to mobilise First Responders and there was an option for them to accept or decline the request forwarded to them. This data would also be used to report on the overall number of calls and responses received.
Further discussion would take place with Lancashire Constabulary to review if there were any suitable non-operational roles that could be added as First Responders. It was noted that operational staff did attend cardiac arrests alongside NWAS and that collaboration to this effect was already in place.
Leadership Development
Initial scoping had been completed, in terms of what each organisation currently delivered for leadership development. The project was being delivered in two phases. Phase 1 covered some short-term objectives, seeking to maximise existing courses and events, and provide opportunities for staff from all three organisations to utilise places on these courses. An example of this was the ‘Inside Out’ programme, which was offered by Lancashire Constabulary. A benefit would be improved efficiency, through utilisation of unfilled places. Additionally, it would provide a platform for discussing ideas and sharing learning, as many of the leadership challenges were cross cutting in all three organisations.
Phase 2 would scope opportunities to collaborate on specific elements of supervisory and middle managers leadership programmes. This would lead to some efficiencies, as well as a platform to share ideas.
Command Units
The aim of this project was to establish and deliver additional collaborative uses of the command units in LFRS in line with Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Programme (JESIP) principles. The key objectives were to improve operational effectiveness and in line with the LFRS mission; ‘Making Lancashire Safer’.
4.3 Overall User Satisfaction
People surveyed included those who had experienced an accidental dwelling fire, a commercial fire, or a special service incident that the Service attended.
The standard was achieved if the percentage of satisfied responses was greater than the standard.
Annual Standard: 97.5%
Since October, 99 people had been surveyed and the number satisfied with the service was 97; 98.81% against a standard of 97.5%; a variance of 1.34%.
The Chair thanked the Assistant Fire Officer for his update report.
RESOLVED: - That the Performance Committee:
i) noted and endorsed the Quarter 3 Measuring Progress report, including the three negative exceptions; and
ii) that the Committee recommend the proposal to review the relevant KPIs and that they be presented to the next Planning Committee for further discussion.
Supporting documents:
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