Agenda item

Ian Curry, Home Office adviser to CFOA on delivering greater efficiencies through improved collaboration around procurement, research and development, addressed the Fire Commission on reforms and commercial transformation work which was ongoing.

The following points were raised as part of the presentation:

·         Factors which prompted the reform programme included the previous Home Secretary’s reform speech, lessons which had been learnt from successful police commercial reform, and a greater need for sector ownership and leadership.

·         The reform programme sought to reduce procurement costs in order to reinvest in the fire service and protect the front line.

·         Officers had  looked at the costs of a variety of items used by FRAs across the country to include in a ‘basket of goods’ of 25 goods. It had been identified that the costs of products greatly varied across the country with no valid reason, but where items were bought in bulk the unit price reduced. A similar exercise with a different basket of goods would be undertaken in the coming months, which would include building costs and the cost of facilities management.

·         CFOA were forming a commercial strategic approach of standardisation, aggregation and strategic supplier management. A Chief Fire Officer would lead a team to look at opportunities to standardise goods and to join up buying power where there was a common need.

·         The reforms would be sector-owned and led, with support from the Home Office. Work with FRAs had already begun to review core data to see spending patterns.

·         The programme would be split into categories and would look for quick wins, but also to implement strategic supplier management across the service. Regular communications to the sector would be essential.

·         A Research and Development Hub would be created to undertake research, development and evaluation once, remove duplication and share results to the sector.

·         Members were encouraged to ask their Chief Fire Officers how they intended to support the programme and what resources they were using.

In the discussion which followed, Members raised the following points:

·         Some equipment used by particular FRAs was specialist depending on the areas they covered, and therefore there should still be flexibility to accommodate those needs. It was highlighted that each category would have conditions and look at the competitiveness of the market to get the best price.

·         Members raised caution that it was difficult to get an average cost of building a fire station as there were great regional differences in the costs of labour and land, as well as differences in the particular sizes and uses of the station.

·         It was highlighted that quality of equipment and clothing was vitally important, and quality should not be compromised for price or quantity. Each category group would look at what was fit for purpose and quality would be an integral part of this assessment.

Decision

The Fire Commission:

1.    Noted the work being undertaken by CFOA to improve procurement and research and development practice across the sector and the creation of a commercial transformation programme; and

2.    Agreed that the Fire Commission should support CFOA and promote the initiatives outlined in the report.