Memorandum by Humberside Fire Authority
(FRS 29)
INTRODUCTION
1. This submission is made by the Humberside
Fire Authority in response to a request for written evidence from
interested organisations from the Select Committee on the Office
of the Deputy Prime Minister.
2. The Authority welcomes this opportunity
to comment on the progress on modernisation within the Service
and in particular the specific issues surrounding Regional Fire
Controls and Firelink.
3. The following comments are made whilst
acknowledging the significant progress towards the objective of
safer communities that has been achieved by the strong leadership
of professional fire officers and elected members supported by
other partners and stakeholders.
4. The areas that the Authority feel compelled
to comment on relate to Regional Control Centres and Firelink;
the fire prevention agenda; institutional arrangements and reform;
and finance and resources.
Terms of Reference—Questions 1a and 1b
REGIONAL CONTROL
CENTRES AND
FIRELINK
5. Humberside Fire Authority has previously
stated its provisional support for a regional control centre project
that would deliver enhanced resilience, improved interoperability
between Fire and Rescue Services and other Emergency Services,
and more effective operational focus. However, as the project
has developed the members of the Authority have become increasingly
concerned with regard to the robustness of the business case.
Indeed, the lack of detail provided to date makes it impossible
for members to commit positive support whilst doubts remain about
its future impact on our finances and statutory responsibilities.
6. Without having access to detailed financial
information, and with some lack of clarity over the extent to
which New Burdens will influence the outcomes, the Authority has
serious concerns as to the potential revenue costs that may fall
on local tax payers. Coupled with this is the potential impact
of the proposed new governance arrangements under which there
may not be the opportunity for elected members from within the
region to mitigate against any adverse impact. These concerns
are shared by the members of all of the constituent authorities
in the Humberside area with each of them (East Riding of Yorkshire,
Kingston upon Hull, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire)
passing motions in council against the movement to a Regional
Control Centre. Concerns at Fire Authority level are also shared
by the members of the Regional Management Board which recently
wrote to the minister to ask for more detailed information on
the Business Case and the proposed governance arrangements.
7. This Fire Authority is not opposed to
a reduction in the number of existing Fire Controls, however as
we have previously stated, prior to embarking on a project of
this importance, a full and comprehensive Business Case that includes
details of revenue and capital costs and apportionment of those
responsibilities should have been made available for all stakeholders
to consider. We have been given to understand that a seminar is
to be held within the Region in the early part of 2006 in order
to address some of the above concerns but this does appear to
be too little too late.
FIRELINK
8. Humberside Fire Authority fully support
the introduction of Firelink to replace the existing main scheme
radio system and recognises the ODPM's resource and funding support
in moving the project forward. It is felt that the introduction
of the scheme will make a significant difference to the way in
which fire appliances and emergency controls communicate. However,
developments since the initial conception of the system make it
necessary to reconsider certain elements of the project.
9. At the time of the initial specification
the issue of hand-held communication on incident grounds fell
outside of the scope and remit of the project, as did the alerting
of Retained Duty System Stations. We believe that in light of
the evolving role of Fire Authorities in supporting the civil
resilience agenda, as well as the increasing role the Service
now plays in responding to a wider range of civil emergencies,
it would be prudent to revisit the initial specification with
a view to including hand-held incident ground communication facilities.
It would also be opportune to consider extending the functionality
of the system to enable Retained Station Alerting to be included.
10. It is fair to say that Humberside Fire
Authority also has some concerns regarding the impact of the system
on subsequent revenue costs due to the lack of firm information
on what charges will be made by the service providers to individual
Fire Services. Discussions with our colleagues in the Police have
revealed a wide disparity in charges for a similar commercial
system making long term financial planning virtually impossible.
It is strongly recommended therefore that a detailed business
case for post installation functions and charges be produced at
the earliest opportunity in order that the impact upon local tax
payers may be determined.
Terms of Reference—Question 2a
THE FIRE
PREVENTION AGENDA
11. The remit of the Select Committee is
to determine whether "prevention is better than cure"
and to what extent the message has been embedded into the culture
of the service. In this case the results speak for themselves
with a continuing reduction in calls to the service and a significant
reduction in fire deaths and fire related injuries.
12. There is, however, some serious concern
over the capacity of the Authority to effectively deliver the
Community Safety message in the following areas:
— The more rural areas of the
Service utilising the Retained Duty System personnel—it
must be acknowledged that demands placed upon our employees on
the Retained Duty System are becoming unsustainable. These demands,
which include initiatives such as the Integrated Personal Development
System, make other "optional" initiatives difficult
to deliver. Whilst the implementation of the Integrated Risk Management
Plans are generally leading to reduced calls within rural communities
it is proving extremely problematic to accommodate the workload
of RDS personnel within the time that they have available.
— The delivery of a balanced approach
between Community Safety and intervention by all Operational Personnel—again
this is a question of capacity. Recent events have demonstrated
that it is essential that all Operational Personnel maintain their
competence and preparedness for intervention by both training
and planning. The delivery of the Community Safety message must
not be at the cost of losing Operational Assurance, even if this
means the use of extra resources.
— The ability of the Authority
to influence the provision of life saving sprinkler installations
in schools and domestic premises—The likelihood of fires
in schools remains high due to a number of social factors and
the potential effects of such fires are damaging to the fabric
of our communities.
— Whilst, in the main, Local Authorities
are acknowledging our message in respect of the fitting of sprinkler
systems in new build schools it is our unequivocal opinion that
such installations should become a statutory requirement.
— Furthermore, we believe that
the case for considering the mandatory installation of sprinklers
into new build domestic premises has been adequately evidenced
by examples from countries such as Canada, New Zealand and USA.
Terms of Reference—Question 2b
INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
AND REFORM
13. Almost every aspect of the Service is
now in the process of change and that change is either refocusing
resources to better address risk in our communities, be that risk
from the traditional adversary of fire, or dealing with the impact/potential
of other incidents involving hazardous materials, terrorist activities
or climate change. Most of the current elements of modernisation
assist the Authority to use resources more effectively and to
utilise a more flexible approach to protecting local communities.
14. Unfortunately, there is one area that
modernisation has failed to impact upon and despite numerous assurances
that change is imminent the National Joint Council has steadfastly
remained in a format that existed prior to the last national industrial
action. The overwhelming evidence is that the change agenda will
not be delivered in an effective way whilst these institutional
arrangements remain in place because they do not serve the best
interests of the service. It is essential that the NJC arrangements
are reformed in a way that gives representation to all stakeholders
whilst removing the mechanisms that allows the status quo to be
implemented.
FINANCE AND
RESOURCES
15. Whilst committed to providing Best Value
and also acknowledging our responsibilities under "the efficiency
savings regime" we are concerned that the envisaged programme
of change cannot be provided through these means alone. Both capital
and revenue resources are needed to support the new and expanded
functions in areas such as New Dimensions, Community Fire Safety
and Community Safety and developing the broader based Rescue Role.
16. The recent grant settlement has demonstrated
that those authorities that are prudent and produce efficiency
savings are penalised through the realignment of a formula that
favours other authorities more than them.
K L Marshall
Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive
19 December 2005
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