Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 January 2016 be signed as a correct record.

In September 2015, a refresh of the strategic plan was endorsed and as a result, ‘Our Plan 2016-2021’ was produced based on the three existing Strategic Priorities of:

· Priority 1: Public Safety

· Priority 2: Staff Safety

· Priority 3: Efficiency and Effectiveness.

To underpin the strategic priorities, 15 outcomes were established and alongside this, a wider review of internal performance measures is underway. These performance measures will be aligned to the Strategic Priorities and Outcomes. The ways in which the performance measures will be derived in future will be presented to the Committee at the meeting by the Area Manager – Analysis and Development - where Members will have an opportunity to feed their views into this process.

The Committee received for information a presentation given by the Area Manager – Analysis and Development – that set out the process that was being followed for the review of the internal performance measures which was underway.

The performance measures were being aligned to the Authority’s strategic priorities, namely:

·        Priority 1 – public safety;

·        Priority 2 – staff safety;

·        Priority 3 – efficiency and effectiveness.

The Committee noted that it was important for the measures to be aligned to the corporate priorities but additionally, at local level this would also align to both departmental and local community plans within areas.  Workshops were being arranged in which Members of the Authority would be invited to participate and engage and further information on the arrangements would be circulated in due course.

Report of the Area Manager – Response (CSCPC/16/2) attached.

The Committee received for information a report of the Area Manager – Response (CSCPC/16/2) that set out the progress made with the pilot undertaken on RIV.

Councillor Ellery enquired as to whether the effectiveness of the vehicle had been measured in both rural and urban areas.  The Area Manager – Response confirmed that this had been undertaken as part of the pilot.  The pilot had been a great success and the Service was now moving forward to the next phase which was the specification of the actual vehicle and the procurement process.

The Acting Assistant Chief Fire Officer made reference to the vehicle that had been left in place at Porlock as a result of staff requests.  Councillor Redman drew attention to the need to consider firefighter safety in the event that the vehicle was mobilised with less than the current standard crewing of 4 people.  The Area Manager – Response referred to new technology that was available to assist staff should a crew of less than 4 be mobilised to an incident.  It was noted that the mobilisation of a smaller crew at an earlier stage could result in a quicker and more effective intervention at an incident involving a fire.  Councillor Redman commented that, whilst this project was supported, the Service had to ensure that staff safety was the primary consideration when mobilising to incidents.

The Assistant Chief Fire Officer encouraged the Committee to visit the station at Porlock to hear the experience of the staff at first hand. The Area Manager – Response – added that the use of the Rapid intervention vehicle was part of a tiered response so it was not envisaged that it would be mobilised on its own on all occasions.

Councillor Ellery referred to the need for these issues to be communicated to the public so that there was an understanding as to why this new approach was being undertaken.  The Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that work was being undertaken with the BBC’s Spotlight team to encourage some positive communication on innovative work being undertaken by the Service into the public arena.  It was noted that such communication needed to be extended into Somerset in addition.

In response to a question in respect of the location of the vehicles, the Committee was advised that there would be 45 of these vehicles in due course but the final locations had not been identified yet.

Report of the Area Manager – Community Safety and Risk Reduction (CSCPC/16/3) attached.

The Committee received for information a report of the Area Manager – Community Safety (CSCPC/16/3) that set out the impact of the implementation of the Service’s call reduction policy.

The Committee commended the approach taken by the Service and expressed thanks to the officers concerned for the good work that had been undertaken in capturing the data required to confirm the tangible benefits seen.  It was suggested that the outcomes should be publicised as widely as possible.

Report of the Area Manager – Community Safety and Risk Reduction (CSCPC/16/4) attached.

The Committee received for information a report of the Area Manager – Community Safety (CSCPC/16/4) that set out details of the partnership that was in place to promote compliance and regulation with businesses within Devon and Somerset. 

It was important for the Service to encourage the Better Business for All partnership to report issues related to fire back and also to promote understanding of the Fire Service’s role.  The Service wished to avoid having to pursue compliance through improved education of the issues and the Better Business for All partnership provided an excellent opportunity for discussions at an earlier stage.

It was suggested that it would be useful for the Chair of Better Business for All to be invited to attend a future Members’ Forum to encourage support for this partnership. 

Councillor Ellery MOVED (seconded by Councillor Leaves):

            “that the recommendation set out within report CSCPC/16/4 be amended to            reflect the suggestion above“.

Upon a vote, this was CARRIED unanimously, whereupon it was

RESOLVED

(a)         That Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service continues to     promote and support the Better Business for All programme:

(b)         That the Chair of the Better Business for All Partnership be invited to           attend a future Members’ Forum to encourage support for the         partnership.

Presentation to be given by the Area Manager – Community Safety and Risk Reduction – at the meeting.

The Committee received for information a presentation given by the Area Manager – Community Safety – that set out the position in respect of enforcement action taken in accordance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the legal action that had been taken during 2015/16 to ensure compliance with this legislation.