Agenda item

Report of the Director of Service Improvement (CSC/22/1) attached.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Service Improvement (CSC/22/1) recommending to the Fire & Rescue Authority the approval of the draft Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) for 2022 to 2027 following incorporation of feedback received during the public consultation exercise which closed on 14 January 2022.

The Director of Service Improvement advised the Committee that the public consultation had been extensive, with 250 individual responses received in addition to the 1700 responses to the pre-consultation exercise undertaken in 2021, the result of which had been fed into the draft CRMP prior to the public consultation exercise.  He added that the CRMP was an iterative document and that an annual review would be undertaken to ensure that the Service could address any emerging risks in future years.

Reference was made to a change in appliance type at certain stations and an explanation was requested of the Service’s reasoning behind this.  The Director of Service Delivery advised that the Service had undertaken a review of its vehicles and their location under its Fleet Replacement Plan to ensure that it had matched its resources to risk appropriately which accorded with its Community Risk Management Plan.  This process had been undertaken with staff and stakeholder engagement and an explanation had been given to each station as to why each vehicle was being placed in its location.  The Committee requested that all Members of the Authority be kept apprised of such matters or any other contentious information in future to assist them in responding to queries from the public.  The Chief Fire Officer responded that more clarity may be needed in terms of the type and means of providing this information whereupon it was suggested that this matter be discussed at a future Members’ Forum.

The Committee also referred to the Emergency Response Standards for fires and Road Traffic Collisions (RTCs) and asked if the target set was realistic for urban areas bearing in mind the delays that could occur at key, busy times in the day.  The Director of Service Delivery confirmed that the target had been set following extensive research into the survivability of a person some years back and was:

·       10 minute response for primary fires (75%); and

·       15 minutes for RTCs.

It was acknowledged that the impact of changes in fire safety such as the increased use of smoke alarms, more modern appliances, less chip pan fires and so on may have impacted on the survivability of a person in recent years.  There may be a piece of work that could be undertaken in the future to look into this.

RESOLVED that the Authority be recommended to approve the draft Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) for 2022 to 2027 as set out at Appendix A of report CSC/22/1.