Agenda item

Dave Curry, Chief Fire Officer of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Fire Service, introduced the report and explained that CFOA had commissioned him to lead work on the development of a coherent and comprehensive set of professional standards for the Fire sector.

As part of his presentation, the Chief Fire Officer raised the following points:

·         An important part of the work was to re-write the National Framework document. There should be a requirement to have due regard to a national standards framework, whereas currently some Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) had bespoke local arrangements. The work on the National Framework was being undertaken jointly with Daniel Greaves, Director of Fire and Resilience at the Home Office.

·         A National Framework of professional standards would link with the work of the Fire Inspectorate when it was established, in order for the Inspectorate to judge what was good and what required improvement.

·         CFOA were working jointly with a range of partners, including those with experience of other professional bodies, to strengthen the core of the profession and ensure that standards were consistently applied. There should be reasonable expectation of consistency guaranteed across the country through the use of professional frameworks and occupational standards.

·         There was an ongoing dialogue through an Independent Standards Body working group on how Independent Standards should be governed, and the LGA, the Home Office and devolved administrations would have key roles in establishing individual and occupational standards.

·         The working group was looking to create a set of benchmarking standards which could be adapted and added to over time. Certain standards, such as response times, would not be amended and others, such as the number of pumps which were dispatched to a call, would remain as local decisions. The group were currently exploring different models.

·         Regarding timescales, it was anticipated that the standards body would be in place to pilot arrangements by April 2017, with full implementation by April 2018.

In the discussion which followed Members raised the following points:

·         In response to a question on leadership programmes, the Chief Fire Officer confirmed that all prospective Chief Fire Officers would have to complete a leadership course prior to taking command. The Police and Fire leadership programmes would connect for the first time in 2017.

·         Members supported the view that training should be consistent across all FRAs in the country. Training was delivered in different ways across the service, but the National Framework should ensure that there was a set standard of training.

·         Members agreed that the implementation of an Independent Standards body was vital for the service. It was suggested that the LGA, through the FSMC, be represented on the standards governance group.

·         In response to a question the Chief Fire Officer confirmed that there should be entrance assessment standards for full time and retained firefighters. This would then link into improvement standards and career progression to make sure the service had the best personnel at every level.

·         It was suggested that the governance group could start to look at standards for Fire Authority Members as part of their work.

Decision

The Committee:

1.            Noted the commitment to develop ‘Professional Standards’ from the Home Secretary in the Fire Reform Programme;

2.            Noted the developments made by the working group to inform the future direction on the establishment of a professional standards body; and

3.            Requested that the FSMC be represented on the standards governance group.