REPORT REFERENCE NO.	CSCPC/17/3
MEETING	COMMUNITY SAFETY & CORPORATE PLANNING COMMITTEE
DATE OF MEETING	21 APRIL 2017
SUBJECT OF REPORT	INTEGRATED RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN (IRMP)
LEAD OFFICER	ASSISTANT CHIEF FIRE OFFICER – SERVICE IMPROVEMENT
RECOMMENDATIONS	That the report be noted.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY	Production of the Service’s Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) has been underway since the beginning of the year with multiple staff and Member briefings and engagements. This paper provides an update on progress and presents the outcomes of the risk analysis exercise in order to support the continued development of the IRMP.
RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS	None apparent at this stage.
EQUALITY RISKS AND BENEFITS ANALYSIS (ERBA)	This will be undertaken as further work to evaluate any options available to the Service is undertaken.
APPENDICES	Appendix A - CSCPC IRMP Workshop Risk Analysis Information
LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS	N/a

1.	INTRODUCTION

1.1	Production of the new Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (‘the Service’) began in January 2017.

1.2	Previous papers, presentations and briefings have described the statutory requirement for the production of the IRMP and the process the Service has adopted in delivering it.

2.	BACKGROUND

2.1	The IRMP working group is chaired by the Area Manager for Strategy and Business Change. The Strategy and Business Change Team has been tasked with:

Conducting research to establish an accurate and updated appraisal as to risks faced by the communities across Devon and Somerset that are related to the work of the service;

Quantifying data into a risk rating for measurement enabling improvement and understanding how our activities affect risk;

Re-evaluating the Service’s Business Safety (Protection), Community Safety Preventative activity (Prevention) and our Operational Response (Response) arrangements against actual risk;

Producing options for consideration.

3.	PROGRESS UPDATE

3.1	In addition to the significant reduction in the Government Grant, the IRMP team has identified the following significant areas of concern that will need to be addressed through the new Integrated Risk Management Plan. These are:

An increasingly ageing population;

Wider partner risks of the 7 risk factors that correlate with fatal fires i.e.:

Mental Health

Poor Housekeeping

Alcohol

Smoking

Drugs (prescription or illegal)

Limited Mobility

Living Alone

Availability of on call appliances;

Historical distribution of Service Delivery resources – people; appliances and estates not supporting the changing demographic;

Increasing demand for Emergency Medical Response;

Increasing number of serious fires in commercial premises.

3.2	At the previous meeting of the Committee held on 13 February 2017, Members asked to be consulted during the process of developing the new IRMP. As a result, a workshop was instigated at Service Headquarters on Monday 4 April 2017 to seek feedback on the initial proposals. The workshop was attended by Councillor Vic Ellery and Councillor Leigh Redman.

3.3	At Appendix A of this report is a copy of the document taken to the Community Safety and Corporate Planning Committee (CSCPC) Worksop on 4 April 2017 which provides more detail on the risks identified. The Members who attended gave valuable feedback on the identified risks and supported the initial work that had been undertaken in developing the new IRMP. Members were clear that any proposals must be evidence based and support the Service priorities.

3.4	In terms of communications, further updates have been provided to staff through the internal Focus Point meetings.

4.	OPTIONS

4.1	Existing mitigating activities for the Service in terms of Prevention, Protection and Response have been evaluated against the current identified risk profile. Further work is being undertaken to fully consider the options available to the service in order to ensure that we reduce community risk to the lowest possible level. When these options have been fully evaluated by Officers, a draft IRMP will be presented to Members detailing the options available and any recommendations.

5.	NEXT STEPS

5.1	Further staff engagement will be undertaken and Corporate Communications will be supporting this. A draft Integrated Risk Management Plan will be produced for the Fire and Rescue Authority to consider in June/July 2017.

5.2	Dependent upon the agreed options for future risk mitigation, there may be a requirement for public consultation of the Integrated Risk Management Plan to take place in the summer of 2017.

7.	CONCLUSION

7.1	The creation of the new Integrated Risk Management Plan for Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service is progressing well and will deliver a final document in summer 2017.

GLENN ASKEW

Assistant Chief Fire Officer - Service Improvement

APPENDIX A TO REPORT CSCPC/17/3

IRMP WORKSHOP RISK ANALYSIS INFORMATION

WHAT IS AN INTEGRATED RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN (IRMP)?

An Integrated Risk Management Plan is the means by which the Fire and Rescue Authority assesses and analyses the risks faced by the communities served. The Plan then presents an integrated approach to mitigating and reducing those risks through the Prevention, Protection and Response activities of the Service.

Integrated – use of all activity in a complimentary manner

Risk – the potential to cause harm

Management – organisation of activities to achieve outcomes

Plan – a detailed proposal to achieve outcomes

AIMS OF AN IRMP

To improve community safety and make a more effective use of FRS resources

Reducing the incidence of fires; reducing loss of life in fires and accidents; reducing the number and severity of injuries

Safeguarding the environment and protecting the National Heritage

Providing communities with value for money.

This plan brings with it a personal responsibility on every member of society to make themselves safer.

PROCESS OF DELIVERING AN IRMP

Identify the risks faced by the community

Evaluate current prevention, protection and response arrangements to mitigate the risk

Produce options to fill any gaps identified and/or improve the Service

IDENTIFIED RISK 1 – AN INCREASINGLY AGEING POPULATION

Current mitigation activity includes:

Targeted Home Fire Safety Visits

Educating elderly care partners on fire risks

Targeted Fire Safety Audits of Care Homes

Historical provision of fire appliances, stations and crews

IDENTIFIED RISK 2 – COMMON HEALTH AND WELLBEING RISKS

There are seven identified factors that put people at risk of fatal fire:

1. Mental Health

2. Poor Housekeeping

3. Alcohol

4. Smoking

5. Drugs (prescription or illegal)

6. Limited Mobility

7. Living Alone

These are all common factors of risk for our partners especially the Police, NHS and Local Authorities.

All agencies are spending large amounts of public money on preventative and reactive services targeted at the same people at risk in our communities.

Current mitigation activity includes:

:

Targeted Home Fire Safety Visits

Education of Service Users in partners support groups

Targeted Fire Safety Audits of multiple occupancy low grade housing (HIMO’s)

Historical provision of fire appliances, stations and crews

IDENTIFIED RISK 3 – AVAILABILITY OF ON CALL APPLIANCES

Current fleet of 121 fire engines of which 12 are crewed 24 hours per day by wholetime fire fighters.

90% of response capability is reliant upon on-call firefighters.

For the 12 months to the end of February 2017 there was an average 13.94% unavailability of on call appliances.

The issues causing this problem include:

Our reliance on people living and working within a 5 minute response time of the fire station

Our requirement for people to maintain a set number of hour’s availability each week

Our training design – particularly for new recruits

A decrease in the number of incidents

Our requirement to provide a minimum crew of 4 an appliance – preferably 5

Current mitigation activity:

Limited flexibility in the use of contracts allowing people to vary their weekly hours

Training for Competence – a project that will deliver local training relevant to the stations

IDENTIFIED RISK 4 – HISTORICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SERVICE DELIVERY RESOURCES

The current distribution of response resources in Devon is set out below:

The current distribution of response resources in Somerset is set out below:

Current mitigation activity: Tiered Response – MRP’s, LRP’s and RIV’s

IDENTIFIED RISK 5 – INCREASING DEMAND FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESPONSE (CO-RESPONDING)

Current mitigation activity: Stations willing to be co-responders identified National pilots being run and recent reports from the NJC secretaries indicate emergency medical response possibly becoming a core activity for firefighters Co-responding is currently a voluntary activity carried out on 20 on call fire stations across DSFRS It is the single incident type that has grown in demand over the last 10 years There are more co responding calls attended by 20 stations than primary fire calls attended by 85 fire stations

IDENTIFIED RISK 6 – INCREASING NUMBER OF SERIOUS FIRES IN COMMERCIAL PREMISES

Devon and Somerset has seen a number of major commercial fires in recent times which have had a serious impact on the businesses effect and the communities in which they are based.

Current mitigation activity: Established number of Business Fire Safety Officers in Group Support teams Wholetime firefighters trained to carry out Fire Safety Checks Robust enforcement policy resulting in high profile prosecutions