Agenda item

Report of the Deputy Chief Fire Officer (PC/21/6) attached.

The Committee received for information a report of the Deputy Chief Fire Officer (PC/21/6) on progress to date in implementing the approved People Strategy 2019-2022.

In summary, of the 53 initial areas of focus identified in the strategy, all but six were now operating and progressing. The implementation of Pay for Availability (P4A) had secured greater flexibility for on-call contracts. Flexible wholetime contracts had not progressed for several reasons as outlined in the report including:

o   limited capacity of the project team;

o   the establishment of a National Fire Chiefs’ Council (NFCC) “Working Patterns” project to look at, amongst other things, whole-time duty systems. This would, in turn, potentially impact on any Service initiative around, for example, direct entry to support greater diversity in leadership roles;

o   the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on cross-sector secondments.

The Service’s ambition to address direct entry to support greater diversity in leadership roles had not progressed as this area of work had subsequently emerged as an NFCC initiative. Consequently, the Service would take its lead from that work when complete. In addition, the Service needed to focus on supporting established career pathways rather than introducing alternative career pathways.

Due to the impact of Covid-19, the Service ambition to support a range of cross-sector secondments to improve learning and development had not progressed, with the exception of secondments to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary & Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) and support for the South West Ambulance Services Trust (SWAST).

The Service ambition for braver, positive action practices was equally impacted by Covid-19.  Plans for a refreshed approach, featuring the use of an outreach practical assessment vehicle, were currently being revived.

A ‘Connecting to Communities’ project planned before Covid-19 had been paused but was now being revisited, in particular linking with the renewed approach to prevention work being undertaken by wholetime crews.

These areas would remain an area of focus in the longer term (including the successor People Strategy to be implemented from 2022) and would be informed by the outcomes of the current inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) and a workplace review (to include a comprehensive staff survey) to commence in the first quarter of 2022-23.

The Committee received further information on the following areas that had progressed since the previous report:

·         Leadership: a number of face-to-face, “Leading Conversations” had been held for middle managers across operational and support teams. The sessions featured, amongst other things, discussions on strategic priorities and psychological safety.

·         Inclusion: work was in progress to integrate the NFCC Core Code of Ethics into the communication and learning strategy. A Fairness and Respect toolkit had been launched, as part of the Fairness and Respect policy, to support staff who may experience, witness or manage bullying and harassment and to provide more data on informal or previously unreported incidents. The “Safe to…” initiative, a multi-layered intervention to support inclusive leadership, positive behaviours and effective teams, continued to be progressed. An Aging Workforce Group had been established to inform actions needed to support retention, succession planning and sustainability in service delivery as part of the next iteration (2022-26) of the People Strategy.

·         Ways of Working: in addition to the introduction of flexible on-call contracts, a new Workforce Planning Board had been established to review, monitor and plan appropriate actions across stakeholders to forecast and address vacancies and emerging needs in recruitment in support of succession planning and sustainability of service delivery.

·         Learning and Development: Leadership and Management apprenticeships were underway and a wider Apprenticeship strategy developed to support a cohesive and sustainable approach to utilising levy spend in developing both new starters and existing staff.

·         Health, Safety and Wellbeing: In addition to the “Safe to…” initiative, a “Just Culture” had been embedded in the Service Health & Safety policy. Foundational learning and engagement with operational management teams was complete and engagement with operational crews was underway. The Service assessment against the National Police Wellbeing Service (Oscar Kilo), a framework of clear statements to ensure has robust and proactive wellbeing provision for employees, had been completed and was awaiting peer review. Additionally, a mental health and well-being intervention framework had been developed to support managers and staff.