FSMC End of Year Report 2019/20

Purpose of report

For information.

Summary

This report provides an overview of the priorities, work and key achievements the Committee has overseen during the last year.

Recommendations That the Fire Services Management Committee notes the achievements against the 2019/20 priorities. Actions As directed by members.

Contact officer:	Mark Norris

Position:	Principal Policy Adviser

Phone no:	07798534781

Email:	mark.norris@local.gov.uk

FSMC End of Year Report 2019/20

Background

At its meeting on 11 October 2019, Fire Services Management Committee (FSMC) agreed a set of work priorities for the forthcoming LGA meeting cycle 2019/20. This priority setting process was informed both by discussions with FSMC Lead Members and a session at the Fire Commission meeting on 20 September 2019 during which members were asked what they were most concerned about in their area, what their key priorities were and what they felt the LGA should be focussing on.

As a result of these discussions, the following 3 key priorities were identified and agreed by FMSC on 11 October 2019:

HMICFRS State of the Nation Report - including a variety of challenges and recommendations for the FRS around inclusion, diversity, culture, values, risk, protection and talent management and consistency.

Building safety - including the Phase 1 report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, implementation of the recommendations from Dame Judith Hackitt’s review of fire safety and the building regulations, and the work by MHCLG to develop a new regulatory framework.

Inclusion - encompassing a range of issues including diversity, talent management, culture, values as well as strengthening the ability of FRS’s to provide a good service to our communities by reflecting them.

FSMC also agreed to work on other key issues including the Comprehensive Spending Review, transparency and standards, governance, and workforce development through the pay and broadening the role work.

Covid-19

On 23 March 2020 the Prime Minister announced a set of severe lockdown measures in response to the pandemic which affected all aspects of society. As a result of these restrictions, the LGA has had to refocus its work onto supporting councils and their residents through the crisis. This in turn has impacted upon the LGA being able to pursue some of the priorities outlined in paragraphs 2-3 above. As lockdown measures have subsequently been eased, the LGA has started to focus on recovery work and returning to some aspects of ‘business as usual’.

Shortly after the lockdown, the National Fire Chiefs Council, the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services and the Fire Brigades Union signed a tripartite agreement which expanded the range of activities that firefighters could carry out during the crisis. More details of this work can be found in the Update and Workforce papers elsewhere on this agenda.

FSMC achievements against priorities

HMICFRS State of Fire Report

On 15 January 2020, HMICFRS published the State of Fire and Rescue: The Annual Assessment of Fire and Rescue Services in England 2019. The report contained 4 key recommendations:

Recommendation 1: The Home Office, in consultation with the fire and rescue sector, should review and with precision determine the roles of: (a) fire and rescue services; and (b) those who work in them.

Recommendation 2: The Home Office, the Local Government Association, the National Fire Chiefs Council and trade unions should consider whether the current pay negotiation machinery requires fundamental reform.

Recommendation 3: The Home Office should consider the case for legislating to give chief fire officers operational independence.

Recommendation 4: The National Fire Chiefs Council, with the Local Government Association, should produce a code of ethics for fire and rescue services.

HMICFRS discussed the draft recommendations with the Chair of FSMC ahead of publication and a number of comments were feedback to HMICFRS, which resulted in some changes to the wording of the recommendations.

Since publication of the report FSMC Lead Members have been in discussion with the NFCC on how best to take forward the recommendations in the report, including taking forward work around the code of ethics.

The wider views of the sector were sought through two interactive sessions at the Annual Fire Conference in Blackpool on 10-11 March. The workshops where led by FSMC members and covered all four of the recommendations. However, Covid-19 has impacted on both the LGA’s and NFCC’s capacity to work on the response to the recommendations and HMICFRS has since indicated that the deadlines set out in the State of Fire & Rescue report are under review as a result of the pandemic.

On 14 May 2020, the new Minister of State for Building Safety, Fire and Communities formally wrote to key stakeholders, including the FSMC Chair, asking for views on the HMICFRS recommendations by the end of June. The response to the Minister is the subject of a separate paper on the current agenda.

Building Safety

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 report was published on 30 October 2019 and on 24 January 2020 a special Fire Commission meeting was held to discuss the findings and implications of the report. Speakers at the event were Andy Roe, the new London Fire Brigade Commissioner, Andy Bell – Assistant Commissioner and Leader of the Grenfell Tower Investigation and Review Team, Dr Fiona Twycross AM – Deputy Mayor for Fire & Resilience at the London Assembly and Roy Wilsher – Chair of the National Fire Chiefs’ Council.

During 2019/20 the LGA has been working closely with Government and other stakeholders to help shape the establishment of a new building safety regulator through MHCLG’s Joint Regulators Group, and at the Fire Commission meeting on 15 May 2020, Peter Baker, Director of Building Safety and Construction at the Health & Safety Executive, gave a presentation on how the new building safety regime will work.

The LGA is also represented on the new Fire Protection Board whose initial priority has been to provide assurance around the interim fire safety measures in place in buildings with dangerous ACM cladding. Work has been going on throughout the year to remediate both social and private sector blocks with combinations of ACM cladding and insulation that have been found not to meet the building regulation standards.

In addition the LGA has been working with the Home Office around the development of the Fire Safety Bill, which is now before Parliament, and amends the Fire Safety Order. The separate paper on the agenda updates members’ further on continuing work around building and fire safety.

Inclusion and Diversity

Challenges around inclusion and diversity in FRS’s was a key issue identified by HMICFRS in their inspection work and addressing this has been a priority for FSMC for some time.

To support this priority area, the LGA established the Diversity and Inclusion Champions Network in late 2019. The Network has met twice and allows members to gather and share best practice, engage with the work of others in the sector and develop necessary skills to challenge their local services. The LGA also ran a Diversity and Inclusion Masterclass on the 30 January 2020 which was hosted by Dorset and Wiltshire FRA and included speakers from HMICFRS, Avon FRS, Hampshire FRS and Women in Fire.

At its meeting on 20 September 2019, the Fire Commission heard from Ann Millington, NFCC People Lead, about the NFCC’s People Programme Inclusion Strategy and the wider work being carried out by the NFCC to try and address some of the criticisms from the HMICFRS inspections. The LGA continues to engage with the NFCC’s work in this area.

The LGA workforce team has continued to support the work of the NJC-lead Inclusive Fire Service Group. Following the issue of a number of well supported, evidence-based improvement strategies, the group, which is unique in that it has employer, employee and senior management representation, has undertaken a monitoring exercise to evaluate the current position in relation to the strategies. That has included a survey of fire service managers; focus groups with BAME, female and LGBT employees and workshops with local equality and diversity officers and union representatives. The outcomes will be considered by the group shortly, a full report issued to FRAs and FRSs together with strategies going forward.

Finance

From January through to the summer of 2019 the LGA and National Fire Chiefs Council worked closely with the Home Office through the Senior Sector Group to develop a fire and rescue service funding submission from the department ahead of the anticipated Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR).

In September 2019, the Government announced that instead of a 3-year CSR settlement there would be a one-year Spending Round, the outcome of which was an inflationary increase in FRS budgets along with the ability to raise precepts by two per cent.

In December 2019 a letter was sent out to Chairs and Chief Fire Officers/Chief Executives asking them to contribute towards the provision of a central team to provide the fire and rescue service’s response to a CSR now expected to take place in Summer 2020. This team would work with the Home Office and be overseen by the LGA and NFCC.

The request received a positive response from all Fire & Rescue Services and in March 2020 a team leader was appointed. However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Government’s decision to postpone the CSR, recruitment of the wider team has also been postponed.

Governance

In November 2019, the LGA published a new guide Oversight of fire and rescue service performance which outlines the roles and responsibilities of fire and rescue members and how members can secure assurance through effective scrutiny. The guide has been uniquely downloaded 190 times. Alongside the guide, we delivered two workshops on oversight of performance in Durham and in Hampshire and a taster workshop at LGA Conference, all of which were well attended.

Workforce development

The LGA Workforce team has continued to provide the secretariat to the employers’ side of both fire service National Joint Councils. In both cases the pay award was settled by agreement within the financial expectations of FRAs as identified through consultation. Work on ‘broadening the role’ within the NJC for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services was paused to allow both employer and employee parties to take stock. While negotiation around additional activities was constructive in nature, it was clear that agreement could not be reached at that time on an accompanying level of pay award which would be affordable to FRAs, and the provision of additional funding was beyond the control of the NJC.

Transparency and Standards

The FSMC continues to engage with the fire standards programme and is represented on the Fire Standards Board by Cllr Nick Chard. The Board has focused on creating an evidence-based process for the development of standards going forward and prioritising standards in tranches depending on need and feasibility.

Climate Emergency

At the LGA’s General Assembly in July 2019 a motion was passed in support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and for the LGA to declare a climate emergency. FSMC Lead Members therefore asked officers to update them on the LGA’s activity on the climate crisis, and to bring forward proposals for further work.

As a result of this request, a new report was produced and launched at the Fire Conference in March 2020. The report looks at the role of the Fire and Rescue Service nationally in both helping tackle the effects of a changing climate, such as increased wild fires and floods, and in reducing its own carbon footprint. It provides a basis for having local conversations about adaptation and mitigation, as well as providing a range of case studies on the issue.

LGA Fire Conference

In March, the 2020 Annual Fire Conference and Exhibition was held over two days in Blackpool. Delegates heard from experts on issues affecting the sector like climate change, inclusive leadership, finance and funding, standards and building safety. They also heard from the Director of Fire and Resilience at the Home Office, Luke Edwards, and took the opportunity to discuss the recommendations made by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate in the State of Fire and Rescue report.

There is anecdotal evidence that turnout was affected by COVID-19 concerns and, although there was a slight drop in sponsorship and exhibition income, the Conference remains profitable. The user feedback survey showed an increase in satisfaction from the previous year to almost 90 per cent satisfied. However, once again, very few attendees responded to the survey.

Implications for Wales

There are no implications for Wales from this report.

Financial Implications

There are no financial implications from this report.

Next steps

Priorities for FSMC for the year ahead are set out in a separate report on this agenda.