Report of the Chief Fire Officer.

The Fire Authority considered the report of the Chief Fire Officer which presented the results of the public consultation on the proposals laid out in the Fire Authority’s draft Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) 2020-2025.  The first part of the report presented the views of staff, stakeholders and communities.  The second part of the report presented a modified set of proposals based on the feedback from the consultation exercise and engagement with staff and representative bodies.  The report sought the agreement of the Fire Authority on the revised proposals in order to allow a final IRMP, covering the period 2020-2025 to be published.

 

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer introduced the report to those present and reminded the Fire Authority that they had a statutory duty to have an IRMP and that the existing one expired this year.  Formal public consultation on the Fire Authority’s draft Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) 2020-2025 ‘Planning for a Safer Future’ commenced on 24 April 2020, having been agreed by the Fire Authority on 23 April 2020, and ran for an 8-week period.  The views expressed throughout the consultation were subjected to thorough analysis and used to further shape the development of the modified proposals presented to this meeting.

 

The consultation and engagement process included the collection of opinions from staff, partners, stakeholders and the public using a variety of methods including:

 

·        Publication of the review and supporting documents on the website,

·        An online questionnaire hosted by Opinion Research Services (ORS)

·        Internal publications inviting staff to consult on the review

·        Emails/letters to over 650 local councillors, businesses, stakeholders and community groups inviting them to take part in the consultation online and/or to attend a stakeholder webinar

·        Fire Authority Member engagement

·        briefing sessions undertaken by local station managers

·        Station Manager engagement with local organisations

·        6 online public focus groups facilitated by ORS

·        1 online stakeholder webinar facilitated by ORS

·        A representative telephone survey to 600 residents

·        10,000 letters sent to targeted households where there was a higher likelihood of residents not having access to the internet/email/social media.

·        An additional 10,000 letters sent in the latter half of the consultation period targeting specific areas and towns.

 

The Fire Authority were reassured that the public consultation process had been extremely comprehensive with valuable contributions received from partners, members of the public, and other organisations.  In addition, significant feedback had been received from staff and representative bodies.  In parallel to the public consultation, senior officers engaged in meaningful and constructive dialogue with staff representative groups and trade unions, specifically with senior officials of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU).

 

The DCFO took those present through the final proposals for change contained within in the report including:

 

·        Operational Resilience Plan;

·        Changes to duty systems and staffing across day crewed stations;

·        Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the operational fleet;

·        Changing the way stations in Hastings were crewed, and introducing an additional fire appliance at Bohemia Road;

·        Aerial appliances and other specialist capabilities; managing demand; and

·        The introduction of group crewing across the three City stations.

 

The DCFO closed by informing the Fire Authority that this updated set of proposals delivered the original objectives and outcomes by better matching resources to risk.  The revised IRMP provided more prevention and protection activity, and better operational coverage across the service and particularly in Hastings.  The Fire Authority were reassured that the plan enabled improvements to our overall effectiveness and efficiency including better availability and increased resilience at core on-call stations.  The plan also supported delivery of the HMICFRS improvement areas and the Fire Authority’s purpose and commitments.

 

A lengthy discussion followed during which Members took the opportunity to thank all officers, representative bodies and other interested parties for their exceptionally hard work and responses to the consultation.  It was agreed that whilst some Members had originally very strong doubts regarding the timing of the consultation process, everyone involved did their utmost to ensure it was a success.  Members were particularly impressed at the scale of the public response to the consultation which had been the largest of any previously undertaken by the Service. 

 

There were still some concerns amongst Members about particular details within the proposals and that there would be challenges with implementation, but there was a consensus that the Authority was very aware of its statutory duty to have in place an IRMP and felt that this amended set of proposals was a considerable improvement. 

 

Members were pleased to hear that there would be a separate debrief process on the consultation.  Whilst it was generally agreed that the response rate was exceptional, there were some amongst the Authority who felt that the survey questions in particular were totally satisfactory. 

 

The Green Group had submitted a proposed amendment to two of the recommendations within the report, proposed by Cllr Powell and seconded by Cllr West.  Members discussed this proposal and agreed that it should be voted on at the end of the discussion on this item. 

 

The amendment (Amendment 1) updated recommendations f (2) and (3) to read as follows:

 

2.     The Service will continue its attendance at lift releases. Confinement in a lift is traumatic for anyone, but even more so for those with a disability or a severe health condition, those who are elderly, or for those with young children.  A swift response by the ESFRS is the right one, given the training of the firefighters and the equipment that they have to hand.  This service should continue.

 

3.     The Service will continue to attend calls to birds trapped in netting.  If birds are not rescued by the ESFRS, then there is the potential for greater risk to members of the public in attempting to rescue trapped or dying birds themselves.  It also places the burden back onto animal charities who are suffering huge financial consequences because of the pandemic.  It is also a humanitarian gesture, and this service should continue. 

 

The CFO provided Members with professional advice on both these proposals. With regards to Lift rescues, ESFRS had the highest incidences in its family group, in part due to the number of high-rise buildings.  The CFO agreed with member statements that being trapped in a lift could be a traumatic experience and that it had never been the professional view that the Service should stop attending these. The main issue was those callouts that were to maintenance issue, in particular this was a concern with properties owned by BHCC, and the support of Councillors would be welcomed to ensure that maintenance of these lifts was improved.

 

The CFO then addressed the proposed amendment relating to bird rescues, explaining that it was certainly not the intention of the Service to put any member of the public at risk by not attending these call-outs.  The Fire Authority was informed that the majority of these rescues were already attended by charities rather than ESFRS, especially the Wildlife Rescue Ambulance Service (WRAS) and RSPCA. 

 

Wider discussions continued including the voicing of a concern by some members that the public may have been distracted by some claims in the public domain that there was more significant funding available to the Fire Authority than was currently the case.  It was suggested that an additional recommendation be added stating that the IRMP could be revisited if there was an increase in Government funding.  In consultation with the Monitoring Officer the following additional recommendation (Amendment 2) was proposed by Cllr Lambert and seconded by Cllr Osborne:

 

vii)             In the event that there is an increase in government funding to Fire Service, the authority agrees to review the IRMP to reflect the changed position.

 

Some of the Members representing the City had concerns about staffing changes and wished for the following amendment to be considered:

 

“For any of the staffing actions it is suggested that the matter be revisited and reported to the Fire Authority for approval prior to implementation.”

 

The CFO reassured the Authority that every effort had been made to minimise the impact on staff.  There were no compulsory redundancies associated with this IRMP.  The staffing changes in the amended proposals equated to a very small number of posts and limited movement available to deliver enhancements.  Members were reminded that the IRMP would be a “living document” and if external factors changed, then it would be revisited.  For example there were two new pieces of legislation making their way through parliament at the current time regarding building safety.  This legislation would have particular relevance to the City.  The CFO asked Members to give the Service the legitimacy of the IRMP to enable them to rebalance the resources available in the City, enabling the use of agreed resources to address risk issues in the City.

 

The Authority took advice from the Monitoring Officer that this amendment was not “standalone” as the others were and therefore would cause fundamental issues to the rest of the recommendations and the IRMP as a whole rendering the plan incoherent.  Therefore it was deemed that this proposed amendment was not acceptable.  Cllr Peltzer Dunn agreed to withdraw this proposed amendment.

 

The Fire Authority concluded is discussions with the Chairman reminding all those present that they had a statutory duty to agree an IRMP ( as set out in the National Framework) and that this should be achievable at this meeting and if not they there was a high risk that they Authority would run out of time.  The CFO confirmed that current IRMP would end in December 2020, if not agreed today then the Authority would need to be recalled in October, as the scheduled meeting in December would be too late.  The CFO closed by reminding those present of the tireless work by officers and representative bodies that had been undertaken to acknowledge all concerns, and suggestions and create the updated proposals presented here.

 

The closing discussions amongst Members demonstrated a general support for the proposed amendments and then the IRMP as a whole based on those being agreed.  There was a general agreement that Authority Members should lobby government on funding matters and, as a result of comments during the consultation process, contact Local MPs and request that they too support the Authority and lobby on their behalf.

 

Members then agreed to take a recorded vote on the two proposed amendments and then the final recommendations in full. The votes were as follows:

 

Amendment 1

FOR: 13          (Cllrs Barnes, Dowling, Evans, Galley, Grimshaw, Osborne, Peltzer Dunn, Powell, Pragnell, Scott, Smith, Theobald and Tutt)

AGAINST: 1    (Taylor)

ABSTAIN: 2     (Lambert and Sheppard)

 

Amendment 2

FOR: 15          (Cllrs Barnes, Dowling, Evans, Galley, Grimshaw, Lambert, Osborne, Peltzer Dunn, Powell, Pragnell, Scott, Sheppard, Smith, Theobald and Tutt)

AGAINST: 1    (Taylor)

ABSTAIN: 0

 

Recommendations as amended

FOR: 14          (Cllrs Barnes, Dowling, Evans, Galley, Grimshaw, Lambert, Osborne, Powell, Pragnell, Scott, Sheppard, Smith, Taylor and Tutt)

AGAINST: 0

ABSTAIN: 2     (Cllrs Peltzer Dunn and Theobald)

 

RESOLVED - That the Fire Authority:

 

i)            considered the results of the public consultation exercise and the views raised by staff, public and stakeholders for each of the original proposed changes in the draft Integrated Risk Management Plan 2020-2025;

 

ii)               noted the modified set of proposals that are detailed in section 11 of this report which were developed based on ongoing consultation and engagement with staff groups and union representatives throughout the process; and

 

iii)              agreed the final IRMP proposal for change as follows:

 

(a)         agreed to the introduction of Proposal 1 - the Operational Resilience Plan (ORP) – which will enhance our operational resilience by increasing our core number of fire appliances available at the start of the day from 15 to 18.  Agree the associated staffing and contractual arrangements to facilitate the ORP including the introduction of a flexible crewing pool and enhancements to on-call contracts to improve appliance availability – as outlined in paragraph 11.2 onwards. 

 

(b)         agreed to the modified Proposal 2 changes to day crewed stations – To introduce a one-watch duty system at Bexhill, Crowborough, Lewes, Newhaven and Uckfield to work over 7 days with an establishment of 9 and; introduce a one-watch duty system at Battle Fire Station to work over 5 days with an establishment of 7 - as outlined in paragraph 11.11 onwards.

 

(c)         agreed to the modified Proposal 3 removal of second fire appliances – The second appliances at Bexhill, Crowborough, Uckfield, Newhaven, Lewes, Battle and Rye will be removed and these stations will be formally designated as single appliance stations. In addition, Heathfield, Seaford and Wadhurst (former maxi-cab stations) will be designated as single appliance stations.  However, through an overall redistribution of operational vehicles, Bexhill, Crowborough, Uckfield and Newhaven will be designated 1 pump resilience stations and will therefore have access to an additional fire appliance located at the stations.  These will be utilised as flexible Service-wide assets providing part of the Service’s spare appliance fleet, as well as being operationally available at the stations for response to incidents, if required.  Lewes, Battle, Rye, Heathfield, Seaford and Wadhurst will also have access to specialist operational vehicles to maintain at least two operational vehicles at the station, and these vehicles will also be operationally available at the stations for response to incidents, if required. As outlined in paragraph 11.19 onwards.

 

(d)         agreed to the modified Proposal 4 changes to the appliance and staffing arrangements in Hastings – A second full-time fire appliance will be introduced at Bohemia Road Station, increasing the staffing levels at that station. The Ridge fire station will change to a 7 day a week “day crewed” system with a 1 watch staffing level of 9.  The dedicated crewing for the Bohemia Road Aerial Ladder Platform will be maintained to provide immediate high-reach cover to the eastern part of our county area.  To facilitate this the overall number of operational staff across both Hastings stations will be increased by 1.  As outlined in paragraph 11.28

 

(e)         agreed to the modified proposal 5 – aerial appliances and other specialist vehicles - to maintain three aerial ladder platforms (ALPs) two as primary crewed in Brighton and Hastings, and place a dedicated ALP at Eastbourne with a shared crewed and second fire appliance; and noting that further work on the provision and disposition of specialist capabilities is underway and will report to SLT in September.

 

(f)          agreed to proposal 6 previous IRMP decisions– smaller appliances will not be progressed.  Also, in relation to the following demand management arrangements, agree the following:

 

1.           The Service will no longer automatically attend fire alarms operating in low risk commercial premises.  Plans will be developed to work with businesses in order to reduce thenumbers of unwanted fire signals (AFAs) attended through a range of measures.

 

2.           The Service will continue its attendance at lift releases Confinement in a lift is traumatic for anyone, but even more so for those with a disability or a severe health condition, those who are elderly, or for those with young children.  A swift response by the ESFRS is the right one, given the training of the firefighters and the equipment that they have to hand.  This service should continue.

 

3.           The Service will continue to attend calls to birds trapped in netting.  If birds are not rescued by the ESFRS, then there is the potential for greater risk to members of the public in attempting to rescue trapped or dying birds themselves.  It also places the burden back onto animal charities who are suffering huge financial consequences because of the pandemic.  It is also a humanitarian gesture, and this service should continue. 

 

(g)         agreed to modified proposal 7 – changes to wholetime duty systems –noting the proposal to introduce option B, group crewing in the City, only.  However, we will reinvest 2 of these posts back into the City Business Safety hub, to enhance our overall business safety capacity in the City.

 

iv)              Noted that, subject to agreement, the above recommendations will replace the draft proposals contained within the draft IRMP and this will be updated prior to publication; and

 

v)               Noted the revised Equality and Finance Impact Assessments for the IRMP attached as Appendix I.

 

vi)              Agreed to the required changes to the revenue budget and capital programme as a result of the implementation of the final proposals; and

 

vii)            In the event that there is an increase in government funding to Fire Service, the authority agrees to review the IRMP to reflect the changed position.