Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Rooms A & B in Somerset House, Service Headquarters

Contact: Sam Sharman 01392 872393  Email: ssharman@dsfire.gov.uk

Items
Note No. Item

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CSCPC/1

Minutes pdf icon PDF 70 KB

of the previous meeting held on 3 December 2019 attached.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 3 December 2018 be signed as a correct record.

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CSCPC/2

Safer Together Programme Service Delivery Operating Model Phase 1 - New Duty Systems and Contracts for Operational Staff pdf icon PDF 92 KB

Report of the Director of Service Improvement (CSCPC/19/1) attached.

Minutes:

The Committee received for information a report of the Director of Service Improvement (CSCPC/19/1) on discussions, information sharing and formal negotiations with relevant trades unions on options for new duty systems for the Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service (the Service).  At its meeting on 3 December 2018, the Committee had endorsed the Service approach to developing this work to enable the Service to deploy a variety of duty systems from an agreed suite of solutions (recognising that “one size does not fit all”) tailored to the risk of the area served (Minute *CSCPC/8 refers).  This could include a hybrid of wholetime and on-call systems to allow greater flexibility and adaptability, taking a holistic systems approach to tackling risk.

Members sought clarity on:

·        the operation of duty system 5 (on-call availability);

·        the achievability and indicative timescales for introducing any new systems.

The Director of Service Improvement responded that, under duty system 5, the station was effectively responsible for ensuring that it had minimum crewing.  This system had been trialled over the last eighteen months and had been well received by staff.  Implementation of any new duty systems that fell outside existing nationally negotiated terms and conditions (the “Grey Book”) would require a local collective agreement.  It was hoped, though, to conclude engagement and negotiation as necessary to enable new duty systems to be implemented from the start of the 2020-21 financial year.

CSCPC/3

Safer Together Programme Service Delivery Operating Model Phase 2 - Reallocation of Resources pdf icon PDF 2 MB

Report of the Director of Service Improvement (CSCPC/19/2) attached.

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Service Improvement (CSCPC/19/2) on options for a new Service Delivery Operating Model (SDOM).  The Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service (“the Service”) had undertaken a comprehensive strategic risk analysis of the fire and rescue related risks faced by its communities through the Integrated Risk Management Planning (IRMP) process.  This had been supported by an organisational risk analysis detailed in the Fire & Rescue Plan.  The two analyses had identified that changes to the current Service Delivery Operating Model were required to deliver against the Service objectives of:

·         prioritising and increasing its capacity to deliver prevention and protection activities, targeted and focused to secure a reduction in known risks in each area;

·         securing the best response possible in meeting statutory duties and by effectively matching existing resources to known risks; and

·         utilising resources efficiently to ensure the right response is made at the right time.

The Integrated Risk Management Plan approved by the Authority in 2018 identified the following community risks:

·         an increasingly ageing population;

·         common health and well-being risks;

·         the unavailability of on-call appliances;

·         the historical distribution of service delivery resources;

·         an increasing demand for emergency medical responses; and

·         an increase in the number of serious fires affecting commercial premises.

The development of the Service Delivery Operating Model was aimed at reshaping service delivery provision to provide an efficient response to risk, meeting statutory dwelling fire and road traffic collision duties, addressing over and under capacity, updating duty systems to better match both response requirements and staff needs and releasing resources to support further investment in prevention and protection activities to reduce future risk.  Consequently, the proposals encompassed stations, appliances, operational duty systems and staffing levels.

The detailed risk modelling process had identified an over-provision of resource to the extent that 17 appliances could be removed from the existing fleet of 121 and 8 stations closed without any significant impact on the risks faced by the community.  Three stations could change status from having whole-time staff on duty both day and night to crewing with whole-time staff during the day and on-call staff at night.  Another 14 appliances could have availability varied to more effectively align to risk, again all without significant impact.  Additionally, analysis of the changing risk across Devon and Somerset highlighted a need for a more flexible response to changes to risk that could occur daily and seasonally.  To address this, it was proposed to introduce day-duty “roving” appliances that could be deployed dynamically and targeted at known risk “hot spots”.

The Committee sought and received clarification on a range of issues including the assessment of potential savings/reinvestment flowing from the options, the risk modelling undertaken to inform development of the options and flexibility in terms of responding to the options.  The Committee acknowledged that the ultimately some difficult decisions may need to be taken in terms of modernisation of the Service and that commencing consultation on the options marked a start in this process.

In debating the issue, Members  ...  view the full minutes text for item CSCPC/3

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CSCPC/4

Safer Together Programme Service Delivery Operating Model Phase 2 - Consultation Process pdf icon PDF 94 KB

Report of the Director of Service Improvement (CSCPC/19/3) attached.

Minutes:

The Committee received for information a report of the Director of Service Improvement (CSCPC/19/3) setting out the intended approach and associated communications with a consultation on the options for a new Service Delivery Operating Model.

The Service had used a robust methodology to develop the proposed consultation approach, including pre-engagement with staff and the public, impact assessments and independent verification through a not-for-profit organisation (the Consultation Institute).

The outcomes of this pre-engagement had informed development of the final options proposed for full public consultation.  The report detailed that the final consultation questionnaire would be available both on-line and hard-copy, with the consultation also supported by staff engagement events and public drop-in exhibitions designed to encourage maximum participation and feedback. 

(SEE ALSO MINUTE CSCPC/3 ABOVE)