Agenda item

 

The Chair reminded Members of the importance of political neutrality within the Performance Committee meetings to ensure a cohesive approach for the benefit of the Service and the residents of Lancashire.

 

The Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO) presented a comprehensive report to the Performance Committee. This was the 2^nd quarterly report for 2025/26 as detailed in the Community Risk Management Plan 2022-2027.

 

In quarter 2, three Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), 1.2.3 Staff Absence Greenbook, 2.3.1 ADF – Harm to People: Casualties, and 2.9 Business Fire Safety Checks were shown in positive exception and two KPIs were shown in negative exception. These were 1.2.1 Staff Wholetime Absence Wholetime (WT), and 2.5 ABF (Non-Commercial Premises).

 

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.

 

Between July and September 2025, 33 station visits were carried out by Principal Officers and Area Managers as part of the service-wide engagement programme.

 

Forty-two wellbeing interactions were undertaken ranging from workshops with crews to wellbeing support dog interactions.

 

Staff consultation began in September with wholetime firefighters on efficiency plans to optimise crewing through changes to crewing levels and improved rota management. All wholetime units provided feedback to shape the plans.

 

The Service engaged with staff over several topics relating to fleet and equipment including trials to test several breathing apparatus sets, looking at functionality, communications, and telemetry as part of a regional procurement exercise. Engagement workshops also took place with operational stakeholders relating to the Service’s Masterplan for the Leadership and Development Centre, and a survey was conducted on videos used in internal communications.

 

The latest staff survey was launched on 2 July 2025 and ran for eight and a half weeks until 29 August 2025. An independent research service coordinated the survey. It was delivered online and via paper copies which were sent to all stations.

 

The survey was supported by 51 visits to on-call and wholetime crews on station by the Communications Team. Three focus groups with on-call staff, wholetime supervisory managers, and support staff were also held to gain qualitative feedback to complement the survey data. In total, 511 responses to the survey were received (equating to 44% of staff).

 

The responses reflected good representation across different roles, ranks, and geographical areas of the Service.

 

The engagement index was calculated based on five questions that measured pride, advocacy, attachment, inspiration, and motivation; factors that were understood to be important features shared by staff who were engaged with the organisation.

 

For each respondent, an engagement score was calculated as the average score across the five questions, where strongly disagree was equivalent to 0, disagree was equivalent to 25, neither agree nor disagree was equivalent to 50, agree was equivalent to 75 and strongly agree was equivalent to 100. The engagement index was then calculated as the average engagement score in the organisation. This approach meant that a score of 100 was equivalent to all respondents saying strongly agree to all five engagement questions, while a score of 0 was equivalent to all respondents saying strongly disagree to all five engagement questions.

 

The 2025 index score was 69%, down from 74% in 2023. The score varied significantly by staff group; for wholetime firefighters the score was 53%, and for both on-call firefighters and service support staff, it was 81%.

 

Year	Engagement Index	Response Rate
2025	69%	44%
2023	74%	49%
2020	79%	44%
2018	70%	43%
2016	64%	31%

 

The survey results highlighted areas of success as well as areas for development and the feedback would be considered by the Service and used to inform current and future planning. Feedback would also be provided to staff to demonstrate that views had been listened to in terms of action taken as a result.

 

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 headcount strength. This followed the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) reporting methodology.

 

Annual Standard: Not more than 8 shifts lost.

Annual Shifts Lost ÷ 4 quarters = 2

 

Quarter shifts lost: 2.414

Cumulative total number of shifts lost: 4.396

 

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

 

The element of that section of the report referred to sickness absence rates for the period 01 April 2025 to 30 September 2025.

 

The agreed target performance level was 4 shifts lost per employee per year for wholetime staff, which equated to a target of 4.00 shifts lost per employee per year for quarters 1 and 2. The actual shifts lost for the period for that group of staff was 4.396, which was 0.396 shifts above target. During the same period of the previous year, 4.093 shifts were lost which was an increase of 0.303 shifts lost per wholetime employee compared to the same period of the previous year.

 

A total of 3,960 wholetime absence shifts lost = 4.396 against a target of 4.00.

 

The number of cases of long-term absence which spanned over the total of the 3 months remained at 4 cases in Q2. The absence reasons were:

 

• Mental Health                                               3 cases
• Other absence types                                   1 case

 

One Hundred and ninety-two shifts were lost during quarter 2 as a result of the above four cases of long-term absence. This was in comparison to 204 shifts which were lost during the same quarter of 2024-25. Those cases accounted for 0.26 shifts lost per person over the quarter.

 

There were 34 cases of long-term absence which were recorded within the 3 months:

 

• Musculo Skeletal                                         12 cases
• Mental Health                                               9 cases
• Hospital/Post Operative Procedure          7 cases
• Gastro-Intestinal (abdominal pain,            2 cases

vomiting, diarrhoea)

• Other absence types                                   1 case

 

There were 125 shifts lost which related to Respiratory related absences including Coronavirus absence. This was compared to 6 shifts lost in the same quarter of 2024-25.

 

The Service had an Absence Management Policy which detailed its approach to how it would manage absence to ensure that staff time was managed effectively, but also members of staff were supported back to work or exited from the Service in a compassionate way.

 

The Human Resources (HR) system ITrent automatically generated monthly reports to line managers and HR Business Partners in relation to employees and the periods and reasons for absence, which were closely monitored. Where employees were absent due to a mental health or stress related condition, they were referred to the Occupational Health Unit (OHU) as early as possible. Employees returning to work had a return-to-work interview and stress risk assessment, or individual health risk assessments were completed where required.

 

The Service had several support mechanisms available to support individuals to return to work or be exited as appropriate which included guidance from Occupational Health, access to Trauma Risk Management (TRiM), access to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), and the Firefighters Charity.

 

Where an employee did not return to work in a timely manner, an absence review meeting would take place with the employee, the line manager, and a representative from Human Resources. The meetings were aimed at identifying support to return an individual back to work which could include modified duties for a period, redeployment, but ultimately could result in dismissal, or permanent ill health retirement from the Service.

 

The Absence Management Policy detailed when a formal review of an employee’s performance levels would normally take place. In terms of short-term absence, a formal review would take place where an employee had 3 or more periods of absence in 6 months, or an employee had 14 days absent. In terms of long-term absence, a formal review would normally take place at 3, 6, 9 and 11 months.

 

A key challenge for supporting operational staff return to work was that the threshold for fitness and return to work for operational firefighters was higher than in other occupations due to their hazardous working conditions.

 

In response to a question from the Chair regarding any correlation between mental health absences and trauma from attending operational incidents, the ACFO explained that mental health illnesses could be for work-related or external reasons, however, all employees could receive psychological support from Occupational Health. A proactive approach was used to support operational employees back to work such as modified duties or redeployment. The DCFO advised that there was a programme to support those with PTSD with their mental health, such as Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) and International Search and Rescue (ISAR), who dealt with devastating and traumatic incidents at home and overseas.

 

County Councillor A Riggott stated that a breakdown of the mental health illnesses into external and work-related would be useful to enable Members to scrutinise them from a different viewpoint. The DoPD advised that she could look into how the cases were recorded to provide some further information. The DCFO added that the Service differentiated between work-related and external pressures in mental health cases as discussed in the Health and Safety Committee.

 

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, 1.41%.

 

1.2.3   Staff Absence Greenbook

 

The ACFO explained that Grey book referred to operational staff and Green book referred to support staff who were generally non-operational. There were some dual contract green book staff who provided on-call cover whilst fulfilling their green book role.

 

This 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 8 shifts lost.

Annual Shifts Lost ÷ 4 quarters: 2

 

Quarter shifts lost: 1.276

Cumulative shifts lost: 3.124

 

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

 

The agreed target performance level was 8 shifts lost per employee per year for Green Book staff, which equated to a target of 4.00 shifts lost per employee per year for quarters 1 and 2. The actual shifts lost for the period for this group was 3.12, which was 0.88 below target. During the same period of the previous year, 2.93 shifts were lost which was an increase of 0.19 shifts lost per green book employee compared to the same period last year.

 

During the period, April – September 2025, absence statistics showed non-uniformed personnel absence above target for the quarter with 1.28 shifts lost in the quarter against a target of 2.00 shifts lost.

 

806 non-uniformed absence shifts lost = 3.12 against a target of 4.00 during quarters 1 and 2. There were no cases of long-term absence which spanned over the total of the 3 months.

 

The number of long-term absence cases recorded in the quarter increased from 8 in Q1 to 10 in Q2:

 

• Mental Health (Stress – 1 case,                            4 cases

Other – 1 case)                                                        

• Hospital/Post Operative Procedure                      3 cases
• Other absence types                                               3 cases

 

During the quarter, 230 shifts were lost as a result of the 10 cases of long-term absences, this was in comparison to 185 shifts lost during the same quarter of 2024-25. These cases accounted for 0.60 shifts lost per person over the quarter.

 

Respiratory related absences accounted for 21 lost shifts, which included Coronavirus absence. This was compared to 27 shifts lost in the same quarter of 2024-25.

 

The Service had an Absence Management Policy which detailed its approach to how it would manage absence to ensure that staff time was managed effectively, but also members of staff were supported back to work or exited from the Service in a compassionate way.

 

The Human Resources (HR) system ITrent automatically generated monthly reports to line managers and HR Business Partners in relation to employees and the periods and reasons for absence which were closely monitored. Where employees were absent due to a mental health or stress related condition, they were referred to the Occupational Health Unit (OHU) as early as possible. Employees that returned to work had a return-to-work interview and stress risk assessment, or individual health risk assessments were completed where required.

 

The Service had several support mechanisms available to support individuals to return to work or be exited as appropriate which included guidance from Occupational Health, access to Trauma Risk Management (TRiM), access to an Employee Assistance Programme and the Firefighters Charity.

 

Where an employee did not return to work in a timely manner, an absence review meeting would take place with the employee, the line manager, and a representative from Human Resources. The meetings were aimed at identifying support to return an individual back to work which could include modified duties for a period, redeployment, but ultimately could result in dismissal or permanent ill health retirement from the Service.

 

The Absence Management Policy details when a formal review of an employee’s performance levels would normally take place. In terms of short-term absence, a formal review would take place where an employee had 3 or more periods of absence in 6 months, or an employee had 14 days absent. In terms of long-term absence, a formal review would normally take place at 3, 6, 9, and 11 months.

 

1.3.1   Workforce Diversity

 

This indicator measured diversity as a percentage.

 

Combined diversity percentage of grey book (operational) and green book (support) staff. The percentages outside of the brackets represented the current quarter, with the percentage within the brackets illustrating the same quarter of the previous year:

 

Gender:                      Female 22%(23%)  Male 78%(77%)

Ethnicity:                   BME 4%(4%)            White 91%(91%)                  Not stated 5%(5%)

Sexual Orientation:  LGBT 5%(5%)          Heterosexual 61%(61%)     Not stated 34%(34%)

Disability:                   Disability 3%(3%)     No disability 94%(94%)       Not stated 3%(3%)

 

Diversity percentage by Grey Book Staff and Green Book Staff. Counts included double counts if the member of staff was dual contracted between Grey and Green Book.

 

Separate diversity percentage of grey book (operational) and green book (support) staff:

 

Gender:                      Female           Grey book 11%         Green book 61%     

                                    Male               Grey book 89%         Green book 39%     

 

Ethnicity:                   BME               Grey book 3%           Green book 6%       

                                    White              Grey book 92%         Green book 85%     

                                    Not stated      Grey book 5%           Green book 9%       

 

Sexual Orientation:  LGBT              Grey book 5%           Green book 3%       

                                    Heterosexual Grey book 60%         Green book 67%     

                                    Not stated      Grey book 35%         Green book 30%     

 

Disability:                   Disability        Grey book 3%           Green book 5%       

                                    No disability  Grey book 94%         Green book 89%     

                                    Not stated      Grey book 3%           Green book 6%       

 

 

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. The percentages outside of the brackets represented the current quarter, with the percentage within the brackets illustrating the same quarter of the previous year:

 

Gender:                      Female 31%(59%)   Male 69%(41%)

Ethnicity:                   BME 0%(6%)            White 83%(68%)         Not Stated 17%(26%)

Sexual Orientation:  LGBT 3%(6%)           Heterosexual 80%(79%)     Not stated 17%(15%)

Disability:                   Disability 0%(6%)     No disability 89%(91%)       Not stated 11%(3%)

 

During quarter 2, there were a total of 7 new entrants.

 

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 persons recruited during certain periods.

 

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, 14 for quarter 2; year to date 23; previous year to date 29. Quarterly activity increased 75.00% (6 incidents) over the same quarter of the previous year. Year to date activity decreased 20.69% (6 incidents over the same period 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 (SOA), of which there were 941. 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 30,532 and the previous year’s score was 30,750 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 Lancashire Constabulary (LanCon) and gaining entry incidents at the request of the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS).

 

Incidents attended, year to date 9,696; previous year to date 8,669. Quarterly activity increased 5.12% over the same quarter of the previous year.

 

In quarter 2, the Service attended 4,621 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) – 1275, 28%
• Total Primary Fire Calls (accidental dwelling / building and deliberate dwelling / commercial fires and other primary fires) – 484, 11%
• Total Secondary Fire Calls (deliberate and accidental fires) – 937, 20%
• Total Special Service Calls (critical incidents, gaining entry, RTCs, Flooding and other critical incidents) – 1170, 25%

 

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, 169 in quarter 2; year to date 364; previous year to date 329. Quarterly activity increased 3.68% 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                                  0 in quarter 2; year to date 1; previous year to date 5

Injuries appear Serious   2 in quarter 2; year to date 3; previous year to date 15

Injuries appear Slight      3 in quarter 2; year to date 11; previous year to date 2

 

The positive exception report was due to the number of Accidental Dwelling Fire casualties meeting the lower control limit during the month of August.

 

During the month of August 2025, there were no recorded ADF casualties, and the overall quarter recorded just five casualties. Whilst the Accidental Dwelling Fire KPI 1.3 showed similar activity levels to quarter 2 of the previous year, the resultant casualties were half of those recorded during the same quarter.

 

The actions taken to reduce Accidental Dwelling Fires naturally affected the likelihood of a casualty arising, as such, the activities undertaken to reduce KPI 2.3 were applicable to this KPI also.

 

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 85% against same quarter of the previous year, combined percentage of 85%.

 

Combined quarterly percentage remained static compared to 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), 58 in quarter 2; year to date 115; previous year to date 131. Quarterly activity decreased 1.69% 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 76% against
• same quarter of the previous year, combined percentage of 81%.

 

Combined quarterly percentage had therefore decreased 5.49% 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), 39 in quarter 2; year to date 78; previous year to date 42. Quarterly activity increased 85.71% over the same quarter of the previous year.

 

The negative exception report was due to the number of accidental non-commercial building fires being above the upper control limit during August of quarter 2.

 

A high number of accidental fires involving private garden sheds were responsible for breaching the upper control limits in August. Of the 20 incidents, there were 11 garden shed fires, 4 private garages, and 5 other private non-residential buildings.

 

Fires involving garden sheds had since reduced, with only 2 fires recorded in the following month of September. Due to the nature of the construction, the majority of the sheds resulted in the extent of damage affecting the whole building. The most common causes of ignition were spread from a secondary fire due to the burning of garden or household waste, and discarded cigarettes.

 

Activity levels in September had now returned to below the previous three-year average.

 

Above average temperatures in August coincided with the school holidays and there had been a large increase in domestic accidental building fires, primarily garden sheds.

 

The main reason for this was the lifestyle changes during periods of hot weather, school holidays, and spending more time outdoors, with activities using hot processes, such as barbeques, along with burning away of weeds and having fires to discard of garden waste and other waste.

 

The Key actions taken across all districts that saw an increase were:

• Utilising the virtual library to provide leaflets for Home Fire Safety Checks (HFSCs), warning of the dangers of garden fires and barbeques.
• Social Media posts by the Service and individual Service accounts.
• Post fire activity and leaflet drops in areas of accidental building fire activity.

 

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 21% against
• same quarter of the previous year, combined percentage of 10%.

 

Combined quarterly activity had therefore increased 10.99% over the same quarter of the previous year.

 

2.6      Deliberate Fires Total: Specific performance measure of deliberate fires

 

This indicator provided an overall measure of primary and secondary fires where the cause of fire had been recorded as deliberate.

 

Deliberate Fires – 542 in quarter 2; year to date 1,406; previous year to date 1,033. Quarterly activity remained static against 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, 16 in quarter 2, year to date 35; previous year to date 42. Quarterly activity decreased 5.88% 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, 39 in quarter 2; year to date 79; previous year to date 71.

 

Quarterly activity increased 77.27% over the same quarter of the previous year.

 

A second incident activity line was shown on the graph which excluded Crown premises which fell outside of the Service’s legislative jurisdiction.

 

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, 487 in quarter 2; year to date 1,292; previous year to date 920. Quarterly activity decreased 3.18% 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, 6,171 in quarter 2; year to date 12,137; previous year to date 12,233. Quarterly activity decreased 2.9% against the same quarter of the previous year.

 

HFSCs with high-risk outcomes, Quarter 2, 52%; previous year Quarter 2, 52%.

 

High risk outcomes remained static against the same quarter of the previous year.

 

Members noted that the slight decrease in the number of HFSCs completed correlated with the busy period for firefighters during July and August which decreased prevention activities.

 

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,     55 sessions delivered to 1,468 students;

RoadSense, 50 sessions delivered to 1,449 students;

SENDSafe,   6 sessions delivered to 144 students;                 

Wasted Lives,     9 sessions delivered to 2,148 students;

Biker Down,   5 sessions delivered to 96 attendees;

FIRES,           79 referrals opened prior to Q2 and carried over. 42 referrals received in Q2. 75 referrals closed in Q2. 46 referrals carried to 2025-26, Q3;

Partner Training (including care providers), 28 sessions delivered to 243 delegates;

 

Specific Education packages – delivered Water Safety, BrightSparx, ASB, Deliberate Fire Setting etc (Covers key stages 2, 3 and 4).

 

Arson Threat Referrals – 218.

 

2.9       Business Fire Safety Checks

 

This indicator reported the number of Business Fire Safety Check (BFSC’s) completed and whether the result was satisfactory or unsatisfactory. If the result of a BFSC was unsatisfactory, fire safety advice would be provided to help the business comply with The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. If critical fire safety issues were identified, then a business safety advisor would conduct a follow-up intervention.

 

• The pro rata BFSC target was delivered through each quarter.

 

A +/-10% tolerance was applied to the completed BFSCs and the year to date (YTD) BFSCs, against both the quarterly and YTD targets. When both counts were outside of the 10% tolerance, they would be deemed in exception which enabled local delivery to flex with the needs of their district plan over the quarters.

 

BFSCs completed, 753 in quarter 2; Cumulative 1,522; YTD target, 1,250; previous YTD 943.

 

Cumulative YTD BFSCs being satisfactory, 1,368. Top 5 completed satisfactory premise types (Shops 472, Offices 217, Factories/Warehouses 199, Other Workplaces 166, Other Public Premises 97).

 

Cumulative YTD BFSCs being unsatisfactory, 154. Top 5 completed unsatisfactory premise types (Shops 61, Other Workplaces 25, Factories/Warehouses 18, Flats = <3 10, Licensed Premises 8).

 

The positive exception report was due to the number of completed Business Fire Safety Checks (BFSCs) being greater than 10% of the quarterly target, and the cumulative year to date target.

 

Service delivery personnel had carried out BFSCs in their respective districts over the last 2 years, and BFSC work was now embedded into business-as-usual activity. The KPI dashboard and District Intel Profiles were used to identify and target both the business types and business locations for that activity.

 

The ACFO highlighted that the Service undertook proactive prevention work given that if a business ceased trading due to a fire, resuming business was difficult which affected local economy and employment.

 

County Councillor G Mirfin queried whether Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) were classed as a business, and the difference between HFSCs and BFSCs in rented accommodation. Area Manager, Matt Hamer explained that HFSCs were conducted in flats and BFSCs were undertaken in communal areas of HMOs. Community Fire Safety Practitioners were trained to conduct HFSCs whilst also identifying any fire safety non-compliance issues in communal areas. Members were advised that Local Authorities also had responsibility in joint legislative spaces and the Service worked closely with housing teams to receive referrals to ensure fire safety. Staff were trained to deal with opportunistic landlords/residents and use enforcement action as needed or transfer the issue to the Local Authority.

 

In response to a request from County Councillor G Mirfin to include safety checks in HMOs within the report, Area Manager Matt Hamer advised that some properties that would classify as a HMO were not registered as such with the Local Authority who were custodians of that data. However, information for safety checks in known HMOs could be brought to a future meeting for that premises type. The current data would be included in the ‘flats’ premises types.

 

County Councillor G Mirfin commented that rigorous regulatory regime was important and that, due to costs, it was dissuading some landlords from continuing with HMOs and they were converting their properties back to residential or Bed & Breakfast accommodation. Area Manager, Matt Hamer stated that the Service worked closely with Local Authorities and Housing Authorities and was aware that some hotels and Air B&Bs could inadvertently become HMOs through the process of long term lets, however, in regulatory terms, it could be difficult to categorise. Some Local Authorities and Housing Authorities were taking the route of selective licensing for HMOs and were supported by Fire Inspectors and Prevention staff from the Service.

 

County Councillor A Riggott requested that a presentation be given to a future Committee meeting regarding HMOs and the work of the Service in that area as it would be useful for Members.

 

In response to a question by the Chair, Area Manager, Matt Hamer explained that social housing came under the remit of Local Authority housing. Under the smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm regulations, the responsibility to have those fitted was incumbent upon the landlord, and under legislation, it was the Local Authority’s responsibility to enforce it. When the Service entered a rented property, staff would ensure alarms were fitted so as not to leave residents at risk and would seek to refer to the Local Authority. In most social housing, alarms were mains powered, however in battery powered alarms, the responsibility for changing batteries rested with the tenant

 

2.9.1   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 2, 442;

Formal Activity in Quarter 2, 7%, same quarter of the previous year 6%.

Quarterly activity increased 1% against the same quarter of the previous year.

 

Members noted the cumulative number of Fire Safety inspections undertaken for 2025/26 was 844.

 

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 indicator provided Members with information on the number of building regulations consultations received during the period together with improvement actions.

 

In Quarter 2, Building Regulation Consultations received 289, of which 275 were completed within the timeframe (LFRS should make comments in writing within 15 working days of receiving a BRC).

 

 

KPI 3 - Responding to fire and other emergencies quickly

 

3.1      Critical Fire Response – 1^st 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.

 

Standards were achieved when the time between the ‘Time of Call’ (TOC) and ‘Time in Attendance’ (TIA) of the first fire engine arriving at the incident, averaged over the quarter, was less than the relevant response standard. Expressed in minutes & seconds.

 

Critical Fire Response – 1^st Fire Engine Attendance, Quarter 2, Very High 05:00 min; High 06:38 min, Medium 07:07 min, Low 09:21 min.

 

Q2 overall 08:02 min. Year to date overall 07:49 min. Previous year to date overall 07:41 min.

 

The ACFO asked Members to note that the Service had maintained its critical fire response through a quarterly rise in incidents of 5.12% in the long period of hot weather as this related to the Dynamic Resource Management report in the agenda pack.

 

County Councillor G Mirfin queried how the winter weather affected response times in respect of snow and ice etc, and asked if the data could be broken down into months. The DCFO advised that the data could be subdivided into months as that data set was available and was provided to the government. Drivers of appliances would always travel to incidents as safely as possible and any difference in times for months was very slight. LFRS was still one of the best Services in the country for overall response times and standards.

 

In response to a question from County Councillor J Tetlow regarding the Service’s ability to grit in icy conditions, Area Manager, Phil Jones stated that bags of grit were carried on some appliances, some had 4x4 capabilities, winter tyres were used and there was grit available on stations, however, the Highways Department were usually called to assist with winter conditions.

 

3.2       Critical Special Service Response – 1^st 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).

 

Critical Special Service Response – 1^st Fire Engine Attendance, 08:47 min in quarter 2; year to date 08:42 min; previous year to date 08:29 min.

 

3.3       Total Fire Engine Availability

 

This indicator measured the availability of the 1^st fire engine at each of the 39 fire stations. It was measured as the percentage of time the 1^st fire engine was available to respond compared to the total time in the period.

 

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

 

Total Fire Engine Availability, 88.58% in quarter 2; year to date 88.95%; previous year to date 86.52%.

 

Quarterly availability increased 2.44% over the same quarter of the previous year.

 

 

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 annual budget for 2025/26 was set at £77.5 million. The spend of £37.6 million was broadly in line with allocated budget at the end of quarter 2 with a small overspend of £0.2 million; £0.1 million on each pay and non-pay. In the main, the pay overspend reflected the higher than budgeted pay awards of 3.2% for all staff compared to the 3% budgeted and the non-pay overspend was the result of inflationary pressure.

 

Looking ahead to the latter half of the year, inflationary pressures were likely to continue and the budgeted savings of £0.5 million from the new Dynamic Resource Management Policy were on target to be delivered.

 

The annual revised capital budget for 2025/26 was £12.7 million and spend at the end of September was £2.3 million. Slippage of £0.1 million had been identified.

 

Quarter 2 variance 0.26% (Revenue budget variance).

 

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.

 

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (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.

 

The chair of both the Strategic and Tactical Blue Light Collaboration Boards had transferred to Lancashire Constabulary until 2026. Several workstreams were ongoing with subgroups for Leadership Development, Health & Wellbeing, Estates and Co-location, and Community First Responder.

 

Leadership Development

Lancashire Fire and Rescue service (LFRS), Lancashire Police (LanCon), and North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) continued to seek efficiencies and foster professional relationships across Blue Light Services.

 

Over the last 12 months, each Service had hosted a Leadership Event, which covered 3 shared themes identified using insights from each organisation. The first session, hosted by LFRS, saw 60 attendees from all three Services, including Area Managers, Group Managers, Heads of Service, and aspiring leaders. The session titled “Nourish to Flourish”, focused on self-care for effective leadership. The second session addressed media handling for Blue Light leaders. The final leadership event was held by LanCon and focussed on generational differences.

 

The group was exploring an ‘Outside-In’ Leadership program and the creation of a cross-coaching network for shared learning, potentially including a coaching exchange initiative.

 

Health and Wellbeing

A new collaborative group was formed earlier this year, bring together Health and Wellbeing leads from all 3 Services. The group’s goal was to understand and align the health and wellbeing offerings across Blue Light’s organisations, exploring joint opportunities to support staff.

 

The group’s initial step was to share policies and procedures for best practice and learning. NWAS had delivered menopause awareness sessions, and LFRS had developed a workshop to raise awareness of suicide from a responder’s perspective, elements of which could be shared across all Services.

 

Estates and Co-location

The estates and co-location initiative between LFRS, NWAS, and LanCon aimed to identify opportunities for shared sites enhancing collaboration and value for money. Successful co-location at Lancaster, St Annes, Darwen, Preston, and other Fire Stations had improved operational efficiency and fostered stronger inter-service relationships, ultimately benefiting Lancashire communities.

 

An updated Blue Light Collaboration Project Initiation Document had provided direction for the Estates and Co-location sub- group, which was exploring further collaboration. Quarterly meetings between Heads of Estates from LFRS, NWAS, and LanCon had shown that benefits extended beyond site sharing. The project’s objectives, principles, and expected benefits had been updated. The group was also considering system knowledge exchange, shared procurement specifications, and joint supplier frameworks.

 

Community First Responder

A cost-benefit analysis by the New Economy showed that Emergency Medical Response (EMR) yielded a return of £4.41 for every £1 invested. In areas with EMR co-responding, firefighters were dispatched alongside ambulance services for suspected cardiac arrests, with the first to arrive providing life-saving care. This parallel response increased the likelihood of timely intervention and supported ambulance crews in advanced clinical work.

 

While this model had been successful in parts of the UK. The South Western Ambulance Service Foundation Trust was phasing out fire EMR in favour of strengthening its volunteer CFR scheme, a decision met with disappointment by FRS’ involved in EMR.

 

In Lancashire, the CFR workstream enabled LFRS staff volunteers to respond to life-threatening emergencies from their workplace. Since 2023, over 200 incidents had been attended, with LFRS staff providing life-saving interventions before ambulance arrival.

 

The operational model had three phases:

·         Phase 1: Green book staff respond voluntarily while on duty.

·         Phase 2: Flexi Duty Officers (FDOs) respond while on duty.

·         Phase 3: On Call staff respond within their communities. This phase was being developed with NWAS, and stations had been identified in the communities where NWAS required most support.

 

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: 97.50%

 

In quarter 2, 52 people had been surveyed and the number satisfied with the service was 50. The running total number of people surveyed was 3,998 with 3,943 of those people being satisfied with the Service; 98.62% against a standard of 97.50%; a variance of 1.12%.

 

Resolved: - That the Performance Committee noted and endorsed the Quarter 2 Measuring Progress report, including three positive and two negative exceptions.