Agenda item

The Chair asked Phil Loach, vice-chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and West Midlands Chief Fire Officer, to update the Committee on progress with the NFCC’s Community Risk Programme (CRP).

Phil explained the rationale behind, and the aims of, the CRP. He said that these were:

·         Fulfilling the NFCC’s commitment to improving community risk management;

·         Providing a community risk management toolkit that is accessible, quality assured and maintained;

·         Providing a standardised approach to community risk management across the UK;

·         Developing tools to enable consistent identification, assessment and mitigation strategies for community risks; and

·         Developing data and digital solutions.

Phil went on to talk about the NFCC commissioned research by Nottingham Trent University on the approach to risk management by Fire & Rescue Services (FRS). He said that 43 FRSs took part in the research as well as 30 international organisations. He added that the final report made 8 recommendations on what was required for UK FRSs to move towards a more consistent risk assessment, planning and evaluation process. Phil then spoke about the findings on risk assessment from the first two tranches of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspections. These found significant variation in definitions and standards of risk assessment across FRSs and that greater consistency would bring immediate benefits to the public.

Phil talked about some of the CRP projects that had been put in place to address the issues around lack of consistency, and the governance structures and organisations that had been helping to shape the programme. These included the Technical Working Group, the devolved administrations, the FRSs, the Strategic Engagement Forum, NFCC Committees, HMICFRS and the independent Fire Standards Board.

Phil then went on to explain how the NFCC would work with and engage its various stakeholders over the further development and implementation of the CRP including through the internet and social media, briefings, publications and the Strategic Engagement Forum.

Phil then concluded his presentation by outlining the next steps in the process and said that the first projects started in September. He said that he was happy to come back to the FSMC and update members at a future meeting.

In the discussion that ensued, the following comments and questions were raised by members:

·         Managing risk effectively should be central to the work of all FRSs and so getting uniformity across the country was very important. It was suggested that a briefing and/or training on the CRP be provided at the LGA Fire Conference next March. Phil said consideration would be given to whether the timetable meant there was a session that could be delivered.

·         It would be very helpful to have a tool that set out a picture of what risk looked like locally for FRAs, but given HMICFRS’s questioning of how services identify risks there might be value in a technical discussion with HMICFRS so they could understand the standards being used.

·         What was the timetable for programme implementation? Phil said that outputs from the final four projects should be on the shelf from April 2020.

·         Were elected members involved in the international symposium in September? Phil said that they weren’t as it was more of an expert technical event. Members expressed an interest in attending future symposiums and engaged in the CRP work programme.

The Chair thanked Phil for his update.

Decision

FSMC noted the report and presentation.