Agenda and minutes

of the previous meeting held on 22 October 2018 attached.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 22 October 2018 be signed as a correct record.

Report of the Director of Service Improvement (CSCPC/18/7) attached.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Service Improvement (CSCPC/18/7) on the first phase of the Service Delivery Operating Model workstream of the Change & Improvement Programme.  The Service Delivery Operating Model would develop a new model for service delivery, driven by the Integrated Risk Management Plan to most effectively match Prevention, Protection and Response resources to identified risk.  The Service Delivery Operating Model workstream involved a number of complex interdependencies and would be addressed in several phases, the first of which dealt with whether current duty systems enabled the Service to achieve its desired goal of increasing its capacity for prevention and protection activities; increase its ability to match response to risk; and deliver an effective Service with a shrinking budget.

The report identified extensive engagement with staff and representative bodies in developing the following four options in relation to duty systems:

Option 1 – do nothing.  Continue with the current wholetime and on-call contracts the Service currently deploys;

Option 2 – enable the Service to deploy a variety of duty systems from an agreed suite of options, tailored to the risk of the particular area served.  This might include a hybrid of wholetime and on-call systems to allow greater flexibility and adaptability, taking a holistic systems approach;

Option 3 – retain the “2-2-4” wholetime system (fixed watches of two day duties from 09:00 to 18:00hours, two night duties from 18:00hours to 09:00hours followed by a period of 96 hours off) but offer more flexible on-call duty systems to encourage greater availability; and

Option 4 – keep the current on-call duty system but alter the 2-2-4 shift start and end times.

The report identified the high level benefits and disadvantages for each option.  The Service Executive Board had approved Option 2 as being the only option that recognised the diversity between different communities served and provided the flexibility to adapt to differing risks in the future while recognising the Service workforce, holistically, as two complementary parts of the same dynamic system.

In relation to Option 2, the report detailed a suite of 9 duty solutions from which the Service could select and match to individual stations based on the key principles of increasing prevention and protection activities, increasing crew availability and matching resources to risk effectively and efficiently.

It was recognised that approval of Option 2 at this stage would then entail further work, including staff and representative body engagement, to fully develop the suite of viable options.  This could also require consultation and negotiation to secure collective agreements.

The Committee also recognised that whilst it was within the remit of the Service to explore alternative crewing options that might secure improvements in prevention, protection and response activities, better matching resources to risks, other means of securing improvements (e.g. funding) were outside of the direct control of the Service and Authority and may require lobbying to the relevant bodies. 

RESOLVED

(a).      that the Service approach of progressing Option 2, namely

Recognising that one size does not fit all,  ...  view the full minutes text for item CSCPC/8