Fire Services Management Committee Update paper

Purpose of report

For information.

Summary

The report outlines issues of interest to the Fire Services Management Committee not covered under other items on the agenda, including the LGA member improvement offer.

Recommendation That members of the Committee note the report. Action Officers to continue to provide updates to members.

Contact officer:	Jessica Norman

Position:	Policy Adviser

Phone no:	0207 664 3221

Email:	Jessica.norman@local.gov.uk

Fire Services Management Committee Update paper

Response to HMICFRS consultation on Cycle 2 of inspections

In November we submitted a response to HMICFRS’ consultation on the second round of inspections. The consultation sought views on the proposed approach and methodology of the inspections; how the inspectorate could report on progress, on emerging problems for the sector; and how the inspectorate could better gather information in the future.

The LGA responded to these key points supporting the idea of a consistency across Cycle 1 and 2 in terms of approach in order to allow proper benchmarking. However, we suggested amendments around the range of partners the inspectorate interviews, for example the omission of Local Resilience Forums, and the issue of open-access staff surveys.

We suggested areas of new or emerging concern including changing requirements and legislation coming out of the Grenfell Inquiry and the implementation of the Hackitt recommendations, standards coming out of the new Fire Standards Board, climate change generally, the impacts of Brexit, and the financial environment following the 2020 spending review.

We highlighted specific concerns around the Inspectorate’s decision to make recommendations in the second national report around operational independence for chief fire officers, despite the clear delineation of powers in current legislation and in the National Framework, where it is clear that the FRA has democratic responsibility. We encouraged the inspectorate to continue to focus on the performance of fire and rescue services, as in Cycle 1, and to not attempt to comment on fire and rescue authorities, specific governance models, or the balance of powers as they currently stand.

Fire Statistics

New fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics were published in October 2019; the new statistics covers the period from April 2018 to March 2019. Details of significant statistics are below:

Staff numbers:

Staff group	At 31 March 2019	2014 (Percentage change from 2019)	2009 (Percentage change from 2019)
All full time staff	40,427	45,577 (-11%)	51,719 (-22%)
Full time firefighters	32,233	37,170 (-13%)	41,953 (-23%)
Fire control staff	1,064	1,232 (-14%)	1,543 (-31%)
Support staff	7,130	7,175 (-1%)	8,224 (-13%)

6.4 per cent of firefighters were women, an increased on previous proportions. This is the first time that the increase in proportion of women is not primary due to the reduction in the number of men leaving the service.

4.3 per cent of firefighters were from an ethnic minority, an increase on previous proportions, but still below the 14.6 per cent of the general population which identify as an ethnic minority in the 2011 Census data. Again this is the first time that the increase in proportion of ethnic minority firefighter is not due to the reduction on firefighter numbers from a white background.

However, data on sexuality and religion remain as ‘experimental’ data as the response rate from services is still too low. This is due to some services not collecting this data and a high proportion (40-44 per cent) of non-responding to questions on sexuality and religion. There are also low rates of responses on ethnicity (9.5 per cent non-responding) and response rates are so low for disability that the results are not published.

Collecting diversity data on new joiners has now been mandatory for two years. This year there was a high proportion of women (12.6 per cent) and a similar proportion from an ethnic minority (5.3 per cent) compared to the previous year. The proportion of new joiner wholetime firefighter apprentices included 14.7 per cent women and 8.1 per cent from an ethnic minority group.

New fire incident statistics were published in mid-November; the new statistics covered incidents attended by fire and rescue services in England in the year up to the end of June 2019. The statistic shows a six per cent increase in general fire fatalities over the last year and a 19 per cent increase in dwelling fire fatalities. Other significant statistics showed a 14 per cent increase in the number of fires, which may have been driven by a hot and dry summer in 2018; a two per cent increase in incidents overall; and a 16 per cent increase in deliberate fire setting. Of total incidents 32 per cent were due to fires, 40 per cent were due to fire false alarms and 28 per cent were due to non-fire incidents, which is similar to the previous year.

New statistics on response times were published in January 2020. The new statistics covered the period from April 2018 to March 2019. They found that the average response time to primary fires was 8 minutes and 49 seconds, this was up by 11 seconds since 2017/18 and 33 second since 2013/14. As expected response times in rural areas were slower than in urban ones and also had the higher increases in response time since the previous year. The average response times for secondary fires also increased to 9 minutes 42 seconds, an increase of 32 seconds since 2017/18 and 59 seconds since 2013/14.

Fire Kills Campaign

The Home Office is refreshing the Fire Kills campaign and will be preparing a partnership pack aimed at amplifying the campaign at a local level. General information on the campaign can be accessed here; information about the partnership pack will be disseminated when it has been made available.

Latest Firefighters’ Pension Scheme bulletin

FPS bulletin 27 contains an update on transitional protections remedy including a Home Office factsheet on the background and FAQs.

Events

LGA Annual Fire Conference and Exhibition 2020, Blackpool, 10-11 March 2020

LGA Fire Pensions Annual Conference, London, 22-23 September 2020 (details to follow)

Local Government Association member development offer

LGA Leadership Essentials for Fire and Rescue: The LGA has programmed two fire and rescue leadership essentials programmes for 2019/20. The first was held on 26-27 September 2019 and the second will take place on 12-13 February 2020 at Warwick Conferences. By the end of each course, delegates have had the opportunity to:

Develop a comprehensive understanding of the fire sector, including clarity on duties and responsibilities and on key partners like the Fire Services Management Committee, National Fire Chiefs Council, Home Office and fire unions.

Develop skills around collective leadership in fire and rescue authorities (FRAs).

Gain a thorough understanding of good governance in fire and rescue authorities and practical skills to apply that understanding.

Improve knowledge of the key strategic issues facing the sector, including building safety, the fire inspections regime and the emerging issue of culture, inclusion and diversity in the fire sector.

Share ideas and network with leading members from a variety of FRAs.

Leading the fire sector – member development resources and events:

‘Leading the fire sector: Oversight of performance and engaging with inspection’ guide. This is designed to help members to effectively hold senior officers to account in the context of a broad assurance landscape and inspection. The guide was published in November and is accessible via this link.

Following five successful regional events earlier this year, a further ‘Leading the fire sector: Culture, diversity and inclusion’ event will take place in the 30 January. The event will include speakers from key partners like HMICFRS, Women in Fire, the Asian Fire Services Association and the Fire Brigades Union. Members can book on to the session via this link.

Distance learning resources: The LGA has produced a series of distance learning materials for councillors, covering a number of topics, in the form of workbooks and e-learning modules. For more information see this webpage and for access to the e-learning platform please email elearning@local.gov.uk. Particularly useful courses include:

Equality, Diversity and Unconscious Bias

Community engagement and leadership

Scrutiny for Councillors.

Outside Bodies

NFCC Strategic Engagement Forum

The Forum met in December and was attended by LGA Officers. A range of issues were discussed as a part of the agenda, including an update from the CPO programmes, a presentation from an academic on the work of universities on fire and rescue issues, as well as an update on the Fire Standards Board.

HMICFS External Reference Group

The ERG met in November and was attended by Cllr Ian Stephens. The meeting primarily focussed on the proposed judgement criteria for cycle 2. Following discussions with members, officers provided feedback following the meeting and raised issues around operational independence.

Strategic Resilience Board

On 15 October Cllr Ian Stephens and Cllr Les Byrom attended the Strategic Resilience Board. A range of topics were discussed including business continuity and industrial action and Brexit.

NFCC People Engagement Forum

The Forum met in November and was attended by Cllr Roger Price. The meeting focused on three main programmes relevant to the Forum (1) Tools and Guidance on risk, (2) Digital Tools and Change, and (3) the People programme. The NFCC Inclusion Strategy and Succession-planning toolkit were also discussed.

Fire Standards Board

The Board met in November and was attended by Cllr Nick Chard. The meeting mainly considered the work plan for the Central Programme Office around delivering the first set of standards and for the continuing activities framework and timetable.