Agenda item

The Assistant Chief Fire Officer presented the report and introduced Tom Cousins, Head of Fleet and Engineering who was in attendance. 

The Fleet Asset Management Plan (FAMP) had been refreshed.  It continued to build on a structured approach to the management of operational vehicles, equipment, breathing apparatus and hydrant assets and was designed to support the delivery of the Authority’s Community Risk Management Plan and associated strategies, predominantly the response strategy.  Therefore, the FAMP was key in determining strategic decisions regarding assets and defining how resources were efficiently and effectively utilised. This would ensure that Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) vehicles and equipment provided a resilient service to meet the changing needs of a modern Fire and Rescue Service and the communities it served.

Running a modern Fleet was a safety critical operation which must ensure employee and public safety. This was achieved through best practice in vehicle inspection, maintenance, operation and procurement. LFRS also ensured compliance to Department of Transport and Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency regulations on construction, use and roadworthiness.

Whilst the FAMP projected asset replacement over the next eight years, the Plan sets out capital investment requirements over the next four years and would be refreshed over that period in line with risk, to ensure it continued to accurately reflect the operating environment. This approach secured stability in capital and revenue budgets and facilitated the introduction of new technologies through a staged approach. 

The FAMP also covered short to medium term business planning improvement objectives. The Service’s Fleet and Engineering Services department would continue to strive for improvement by maintaining a strong focus on customer care.

Key projects in the 2023-27 FAMP were:

·         Body worn and vehicle CCTV;

·         Battery Road Traffic Collision Tools;

·         Aerial Appliance provision;

·         Replacing Command Support Units;

·         Breathing Apparatus and Telemetry Equipment;

·         A Greener, more environmentally sustainable fleet;

·         Suitable vehicles and equipment to meet the changing risk, in particular that resulting from climate change;

·         Investment in modern firefighting technology, including introducing flow meters and larger diameter hose reels on our Fire Engine fleet;

·         To continue our journey towards being the most innovative Fire and Rescue Service in the country by investing in technology, including drones and the potential for robotics to improve firefighter safety.

CC O’Toole queried whether the larger diameter hose reels meant all connections would need to be changed.  The Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that the larger diameter hose reels would only require changes on the lockers of fire appliances.  He added that the changes followed the science in firefighting compartment fires, which continued to essentially centre around high pressure / low quantity of water, had proven very successful for fighting fires in domestic premises.

Running alongside the FAMP, the Fleet and Engineering Services department also held an improvement plan, which focused on four key performance areas:

·         Customer – building stronger working relations and meeting requirements;

·         Financial – achieve efficiency savings and maintain a healthy replacement plan;

·         Systems – continued development of asset management systems;

·         Development / Growth – invest in staff training and development.

The above, in conjunction with the FAMP ensured that Fleet and Engineering Services continued to provide the best possible support to Service Delivery.

The current spend was approximately £1.5m on vehicles and £0.5m on equipment and breathing apparatus assets per annum.  Within the current revenue and capital budgets, the plan was affordable and ensured value for money. However, both revenue and capital budgets were subject to approval by the Authority at its budget setting meeting in February.  Should the Authority approve the plan it would set the strategic direction for the Service and allow for longer term planning.

The Assistant Chief Fire Officer drew Members attention to the following from the plan: 

Life Expectancy and Efficiency

To improve efficiency, the current nominal lifecycle for an operational fire appliance would increase from 12 to 13 years, followed by 2 further years at Training Centre, achieving a total life of 15 years. The 15-year cycle equated to a fleet turnover of circa five appliances per annum. The lifecycles for special appliances range from 8 to 15 years. Their economic life was determined on whole life costs generated through operational use. To achieve a smoother asset replacement programme some flexibility regarding replacement was required to even out costs. However, equipment such as Breathing Apparatus needed to be replaced en-bloc due to the complexities of training introduced through having a wide product range.

The FAMP aimed to smooth out vehicle purchases over the period to ease pressures on capital and maintenance costs. However, extended lead-times over the past 2 years inevitably meant annual capital replacement costs were often carried over. To address this, 3-year contracts were normally awarded, which would address such slippages more effectively.

Capital Replacement Programme

The capital replacement programme for vehicles and major operational equipment were set out as appendices to the Plan (as now considered by Members).   Each year the plan would be reviewed against the specific needs of the Service and the ever-changing fire and rescue service landscape.  Smoothing the replacement plan was fundamental in providing equipment and vehicle assets when required, enabling capital profiling which was more predictable and aligned with the Service’s procurement function. 

Fleet and Engineering Services Procurement

The department continued to work closely with procurement colleagues in all capital replacement purchases, using mainly framework agreements to reduce the procurement timeline, while ensuring compliance. In addition, regional and national procurement partnerships were actively sought to improve economies of scale, at the same time offering value for money across the fire and rescue community. 

Innovation

Climate change presented considerable challenges for the UK fire sector and remained a significant risk in Lancashire.  The Service had invested in specialist all-terrain vehicles, fully equipped to address wildfire and flooding in the county.  These vehicles had been developed by LFRS to meet the climate change conditions experienced locally, the first in the UK to do so.  The units and specialist wildfire response teams were strategically placed to provide an efficient and effective response. 

Wide area and localised flooding could devastate local communities, leaving lasting effects well beyond the event, and causing considerable financial loss. With the potential for flooding at any time of the year, there was a need to provide LFRS with an effective an appropriate equipment asset to address these challenges.

The Service had strategically positioned water rescue appliances and water incident units in preparation for flooding events. LFRS was a host service for a high-volume pump (HVP), as part of the national response capability. The HVP’s were embedded into core business, with the capability of moving large volumes of water quickly. In addition, the Service continued to invest in staff training and development around flooding, including the use of climate change all-terrain vehicles to enhance the flood response.

The Service had continued to build on the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) technology, introducing enhanced models to further improve their capability. Now, LFRS hosted some of the most sophisticated UAV operations within the sector, which included an underwater Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) capability. The ROV, which was a UK first within the Fire and Rescue Service sector, was capable not only of detection using the latest sonar capabilities, but could also offer a grip and retrieval facility, which was of major benefit to the Service during waterborne search and rescue operations.  The Assistant Chief Fire Officer added that the Service would continue to support this development including extending the scope to include research into potential use of robotics in firefighting and rescue response scenarios.

Two of the new pumping appliances would undergo conversion into Technical Rescue Units providing a dual role of pumping appliance and enhanced rescue capability, thus removing the need to have both in the  Service. As part of this project, the Service would reduce its pod capacity, ensuring a more efficient and effective deployment of heavy rescue assets when the need arose.

CC Woollam was pleased that the Service was a sector leader for innovation particularly the remote operated vehicles.

Carbon Footprint and Environmental Impact

While the Service continued to reduce its carbon footprint by implementing electric vehicles, switching from diesel-powered light vehicles to hybrid technology to eliminate nitrogen oxide emissions, the environmental changes continued to affect LFRS operational demands.

Over the lifespan of this FAMP, the existing Carbon Management Plan would be replaced with a revised Environmental Sustainability Plan.  The new plan would set out environmental aspirations to move forward to a net zero carbon emissions position.

Vehicle related emissions were a significant contributor to carbon emissions within the Service, and as part of ongoing commitments, reducing emissions from vehicles and improving the environmental performance of fleet vehicles remained a key aspect of revised aspirations. 

In response to a question from CC O’Toole, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that the new appliances which were currently at Service Training Centre would replace vehicles across the fleet in line with the replacement programme after final refinements had been completed.

CC O’Toole queried whether there was a policy of buying locally to support the local economy.  In response, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that detailed specifications were produced and the Service went out to the market in a transparent manner to procure the best product however, sometimes the best technology was found outside UK borders.  He confirmed that the procurement team ensured the Service was compliant with regulations.  CC Mein agreed with a policy of local procurement and queried whether that could be built into the contract as a weighted part of the assessment criteria.  In response the Head of Fleet and Engineering Services reassured Members that social value was included in the procurement process and there were a lot of local suppliers however, the UK fire and rescue vehicle market was limited.

In response to Member requests for information on what was procured locally, the Director of Corporate Services agreed to bring details to the next meeting which was timely as there had been a change in public sector procurement regulations.

In response to a request from CC Woollam for information regarding the use of body armour, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that this was something that the Service had been looking at for a while in response to risk in the community which had shifted over time.  It was not uncommon to attend an incident where the address had a Police marker (for knife crime, alcohol or substance misuse etc) and attacks on firefighters had seen an increase nationally; quite often on bonfire night.  He advised that suitable personal protective equipment (PPE) had been identified (similar to that used in other counties) for a proposed pilot in the Blackpool area.  The PPE would be available for the crew to wear if they chose to do so during a heightened risk or to an incident at a flagged address.  The pilot would be evaluated before making any commitment to a sizeable spend.  In response to a question from Cllr Baker the Assistant Chief Fire Officer added that wearing the PPE would not increase the time of response or impede firefighter capabilities.  The proposed PPE was a vest, secured by Velcro (similar to those worn by the Police over the top of their uniform).  It would largely be down to the officer in charge to make the decision as to whether the PPE should be worn and it would not necessarily be needed to be worn by all staff; this would a dynamic judgement based on the situation.

In response to a question from CC Woollam regarding whether there was any risk in extending the life of the vehicles the Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that vehicle technology had moved on considerably over the last 10?20 years with vehicles now cleaner, more efficient, reliable and greener.  He confirmed that vehicles were rotated around the fleet to balance usage and wear, to increase their longevity.  The Service did benefit from a new fleet and had very reliable and well-maintained vehicles.  He was confident therefore that by extending the nominal vehicle lifecycle by one year would not cause any significant risks.

Resolved: that the Committee recommend to the Authority that the Fleet Asset Management Plan 2023-2027 be endorsed (subject to budget considerations) as part of the Budget approval process in February 2024.