Agenda item

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer presented the report.  The Annual Service Report was produced annually by the Service as part of its accountability to measure progress against the items set out as deliverables as part of the Annual Service Plan.  These actions were derived from the medium-term strategic goals highlighted in the Community Risk Management Plan.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that the report included a summary table of the Service’s performance:

The Annual Service Report as now considered by Members highlighted a number of key deliverables against the priority areas of: i) people, ii) prevention, iii) protection, iv) response and v) value for money related work streams:

i) Valuing our people so they can focus on making Lancashire safer

·         Embed the Core Code of Ethics alongside our STRIVE values.  These provide guidance on the professional behaviours expected of all our staff to ensure our workplace was one where everyone felt valued, included, and able to reach their full potential;

·         Focused on developing the capability and resilience of leaders to support their staff in achieving their full potential through talent management, promotion pathways, and continuous improvement;

·         Recruiting, training, and developing people who could meet the diverse needs of the residents of Lancashire and bring diversity of thought and talent into our Service was a priority;

·         Delivering firefighter pension changes;

·         Upgrade fire station facilities;

·         A celebration of our people through award ceremonies, Chief Fire Officer personal commendations and from individual and organisational recognition at national level.

ii) Preventing fires and other emergencies from happening

·         Reduce fires and other emergencies in Lancashire’s diverse communities;

·         Improve our Home Fire Safety Check (HFSC) service;

·         Develop prevention services for homes equipped with assistive technology.

iii) Protecting people and property when fires happen

·         Transform fire protection and business safety;

·         Introduce Business Fire Safety Checks;

·         Strengthen our fire safety inspection programme to meet evolving standards;

·         Introduce a new automatic fire alarm attendance policy.

iv) Responding to fires and other emergencies quickly and competently

·         Review emergency cover incorporating the replacement of the day crewing plus duty system;

·         Review special fire appliances and resource provision;

·         Invest in our fleet;

·         Respond to the impacts of climate change;

·         Implement operational learning in response to national events;

·         Optimise emergency cover through improved data including dynamic mobilising software.

v) Delivering value for money in how we use our resources

·         Implement the first stages of our digital strategy;

·         Create digitally enabled fire engines;

·         Install CCTV on fire engines;

·         Replace a number of drill towers.

It was noted that during the previous year the Service set out to strengthen community safety in respect of emerging risks affecting Lancashire. 

Climate change in particular was having a significant impact on homes, businesses and environments, and the risk of flooding and wildfires had increased.  In response, the Service had invested in wildfire personal protective equipment (PPE) for every firefighter plus additional equipment for specialist wildfire units and 2 new all-terrain vehicles were added to the fleet to make it easier to access rural areas during extreme weather events.

In addition, collaboration with other emergency services continued to deliver improved public services. The Service had attended more incidents than the previous year to gain entry to homes where there was a medical emergency and had assisted in searching for missing people.  A new collaboration with North West Ambulance Service on their community first responder initiative had already seen a Lancashire resident benefit from life-saving first aid from a member of LFRS staff responding from the workplace. 

Business Fire Safety Checks was a new service delivered by operational crews to help small and lower risk businesses comply with fire safety laws, following significant changes to legislation. This meant dedicated fire safety inspection teams could focus on premises where occupants were at a higher risk of harm.

Through consultation, the emergency cover review of fire engines and crewing arrangements alongside community risks had identified improvements to reflect the most effective and efficient use of resources for the whole of Lancashire. All 39 fire stations and 58 fire appliances had been maintained and the number of firefighters employed was increasing.  An innovation that was already benefitting Lancashire as part of the review was the introduction of dynamic cover software to deploy resources. This provided visual data on community risks and emergency cover in real-time to inform decision-making.

During the year the Service was proud to offer critical support to people outside of Lancashire, as it responded to international emergency events.

It was recognised that behind all the achievements were dedicated people with the highest levels of skills and expertise united in a determination to make Lancashire safer.

CC O’Toole thought the report to be excellent, covering so many aspects of the work undertaken by the Service including international assistance and support.  The emergency cover review changes (detailed on page 33 of the agenda pack) which maintained all 39 fire stations and 58 fire appliances was to be commended as this was not the case in other Fire Authorities in the North West.  He commented (in relation to pages 25 and 31 of the agenda pack) that he was pleased with the improved relationship with North West Ambulance Service (NWAS).  This excellent collaboration was demonstrated by the first LFRS volunteer First Responder who had provided lifesaving care.

CC Shedwick commented that the year in numbers information (on p 26 of the agenda pack) demonstrated the breadth of work undertaken.

CC Hennessy thanked officers for the detailed report.  She was pleased that the 360º appraisal process now included the core code of ethics and a programme of staff events related to the code had been so far delivered to 281 members of staff.  She was proud that the Service had recently received a Silver Award for the Armed Forces Covenant.

CC Singleton commented that further to the upgrade to fire station facilities in year (page 28 of the agenda pack) he had attended an open day event over the weekend at Preston Fire Station.  This was a very well-run event however; the building was in need of the forthcoming review. 

Resolved: That the Planning Committee noted and endorsed the Annual Service Report.