Memorandum by the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister (FRS 31)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. The fire and rescue service (FRS) has
made major progress and delivered significant improvements since
the Select Committee's last Inquiry, through the modernisation
programme implemented in partnership with the ODPM.
2. The Independent Review of the Fire
Service in 2002[3]
stated that "The fire service needs to be changed from top
to bottom and every aspect of its work reformed to bring it into
line with best practice at the start of the twenty-first century".[4]
3. The White Paper—Our Fire and
Rescue Service[5]—was
published in response to this and set out a vision of a modern,
effective and efficient service for the twenty-first century.
It signalled the importance of a shift towards preventing fires,
and acknowledged the wider role of the service.
4. The vision of the White Paper was of
a reformed FRS which:
— Placed the wider rescue and
community role of the service on a statutory footing;
— Moved from a prescriptive set
of national standards of fire cover to the more flexible system
of integrated risk management plans (IRMPs) where decisions about
fire cover are made within a strategic framework set by locally
elected members;
— Overhauled fire institutions
and the pay negotiating bodies;
— Looked at improving working
conditions; and
— Moved towards a culture which
promoted diversity.
5. The modernisation agenda is now underpinned
by the legislative framework provided by the Fire and Rescue Services
Act 2004. The Act represents a comprehensive reform of the statutory
framework. In particular, it places the prevention of fires at
the heart of legislation, for example with the creation of new
duties to promote fire safety; and gives fire and rescue authorities
(FRAs) powers to work with other partners in the community to
deliver this duty. The Act gives statutory effect to other roles
FRAs already undertake, such as attending road traffic accidents
and, by Order, their new responsibilities in relation to terrorist
threats and other activities, such as responding to serious flooding
(subject to stakeholder consultation and Parliamentary scrutiny).
The Act also gives FRAs wide discretion to plan, equip and take
action to meet local risks and priorities.
6. The ODPM works in partnership with the
FRS to implement the modernisation and resilience agenda, taking
advice from key stakeholders including the Chief Fire Officers'
Association (CFOA) and the Local Government Association (LGA).
7. Since 2003, some significant changes
have been made, both at the front line and at the centre, in order
to deliver modernisation. For example:
— Since April 2003 every FRA has
been required to produce an Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP).
They are now consulting on their Year 3 plans covering 2006-07;
— The Home Fire Risk Check Initiative,
which the Government will fund to the sum of £25 million
by 2008, has led to some 278,000 home fire safety checks being
carried out and 330,000 smoke alarms being installed. This supports,
in particular, our target to reduce accidental fire-related deaths;
and
— The three major resilience programmes
of the FRS are now being rolled out and are helping raise the
capability of the service.
At the centre, ODPM has recently combined its
work on fire and civil resilience into one directorate—the
Fire and Resilience Directorate (FRD). This will ensure that FRS
modernisation and resilience go hand-in-hand as we move to implementation
of key projects and the move towards including them in core business.
The department will therefore present a single face to the wider
stakeholder community.
8. This memorandum outlines the progress
that has been made in implementing the vision of a modern service.
OUR AIMS,
OBJECTIVES AND
TARGETS
9. The overarching aims of the department
in relation to fire modernisation and civil resilience are as
follows:
— To help transform the way the
FRS works;
— To develop a more flexible response
focused on high risk areas so as to save more lives;
— To respond better to future
issues such as demographic shifts, global threats and climate
change;
— To build capacity at a regional
and local level by engaging better with our partners;
— To strengthen the country's
resilience in partnership with others, in particular by enhancing
the capability of the FRS to respond to major incidents through
our fire resilience programme (Firelink, FiReControl and New Dimension).
10. The Directorate also contributes to
wider ODPM and cross government priorities, including:
— Acting in support of the Government's
wider agenda of social inclusion, neighbourhood renewal, crime
reduction and respect;
— Helping to develop planning,
and adapting to changing circumstances, including the threat of
terrorism and environmental disaster; and
— Supporting relevant workstreams
as part of the Government's overall capabilities programme, led
by the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS).
OBJECTIVES AND
PRIORITIES FOR
THE FIRE
AND RESCUE
SERVICE
11. The fire Public Service Agreement (PSA)
target for England, which came into effect on 1 April 2005 is:
— By 2010, to reduce the number
of accidental fire-related deaths in the home by 20% and the number
of deliberate fires by 10%.
This includes a floor target:
— That no local fire and rescue
authority has a fatality rate, from accidental fires in the home,
more than 1.25 times the national average by 2010.
12. The National Framework for the FRS supports
the delivery of this target by setting out:
— The Government's expectations
for the FRS;
— What FRAs are expected to do;
and
— What support the Government
will provide.
13. The National Framework is a statutory
document which, in effect, acts as a "contract" between
the ODPM and the FRS. The Framework sets out both a broad context
for the work of the service, which is flexible and can be adapted
to suit local circumstances, and specific aims and requirements
which each FRA must deliver. This facilitates both local flexibility
to meet local circumstances and clear, transparent communications
between central government and the FRS on critical issues.
14. The approach set out in the Framework
has been delivering results. It is estimated that the FRS currently
saves some 1,650 lives per year from dwelling fires alone. The
latest provisional figures show that there were 16% fewer accidental
fire deaths in 2004-05 than a year earlier. Deliberate primary
fires have also fallen to 23% below the 2010 PSA target. It is
critical that momentum is now maintained to consolidate these
indicative figures into sustainable trends, particularly as fire
incident reports confirm that around 80% of victims can be classified
as "hard-to-reach" groups.
15. The FRS also contributes to the ODPM
efficiency target to deliver £105 million gross cashable
efficiency savings in 2007-08. FRAs' first Annual Efficiency Statements
confirm that they are well on track to meet their efficiency target,
predicting that they will have delivered efficiencies of more
than three times the predicted trajectory by the end of 2005-06.
The challenge now will be to continue to make savings.
16. The benefits of resilience projects
are clear, with New Dimension equipment being deployed in response
to the flooding at Carlisle and the fire at Hemel Hempstead, and
to assist with urban search and rescue in the aftermath of the
Pakistan earthquake.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Resilience
17. The fire resilience programme aims to
enhance the capability of the FRS to respond to major incidents.
It comprises three main projects:
— Firelink—which will deliver
a wide area radio network enabling FRAs to communicate with each
other and the other emergency services;
— FiReControl—which will
deliver a modern, cost effective and resilience command and control
network to ensure the efficient and effective deployment of FRS
capabilities; and
— New Dimension—which will
deliver enhanced capabilities to respond to incidents requiring
the mass decontamination of the public, the rescue of the public
from collapsed structures and flooding.
18. Together, these projects are delivering
major change in the FRS as part of its modernisation and will
lead to the integration of resilience into core business. New
Dimension has already delivered much of the equipment that FRSs
use to respond to major incidents. Government is investing over
£200 million[6]
in this part of the resilience programme alone. The Firelink and
FiReControl projects are already reaching major procurement milestones
to achieve the goal of regional control centres from which FRSs
will be able to work more flexibly across borders and communicate
with the other emergency services using the same radio system.
19. This investment also brings substantial
benefits for the local tax payer where regional control functions
and equipment deployment result in efficiencies without compromising
local autonomy. This complements the regional and local approach
to resilience through inter-agency forums, which provide a vital
voice for the FRS to contribute to effective multi-agency planning
and response. We are ensuring that change is fully embedded in
the service through our collaboration with FRSs, through the secondment
of officers from the service to the projects and through the wider
involvement and commitment of CFOA. On the ground firefighter
roles are changing, providing a receptive environment for the
development of new skills to use New Dimension equipment, modern
call handling technology and digital radio systems—all of
which attract new recruits and provide improved career paths for
those already in the service. In all, the FRS is benefiting from
major investment in its future.
FIRE PREVENTION
AND RISK
MANAGEMENT
20. The White Paper[7]
signalled the importance of a shift towards preventing fires,
rather than simply responding to them. This culture is now embedded
in the FRS, and has been supported by a number of initiatives,
implemented in partnership with the FRS and other stakeholders.
— IRMPs are entering their third
year, and a strategic steering group has been established to ensure
that stakeholders are content that correct processes have been
followed, and that a robust risk analysis has taken place. The
Government is committed to providing ongoing support for the implementation
of IRMPs.
— Community Fire Safety is an
important tool in our drive for fire prevention. Government has
invested heavily in initiatives such as the provision of £4.5
million (funding until March 2006) under the Community Fire Safety
Innovation Fund. This is in addition to the £11.3 million
we have made available over the same period as part of the Arson
Control Forum's Implementation Fund to support local arson prevention
projects.
— Initiatives supported by the
Arson Control Forum have had positive results. In the year ending
March 2005, deliberate primary fires in England fell by 23% to
72,700, a figure which included a decrease of 25% in the number
of deliberate vehicle fires to 46,400. This is 30% below our baseline
target.
— The FRS has also been undertaking
work with children and young people, and a strategy for progressing
this work has recently been released for consultation by the ODPM.
— The Regulatory Reform (Fire
Safety) Order 2005[8]
will come into force on 1 April 2006. This will underpin the fire
prevention agenda by providing guidance to the public.
— The e-Fire national project
(an internet "portal" for the FRSs in England) will
carry safety information and interactive content to assist members
of the public and premises operators in improving their own safety
as well as in requesting the delivery of services locally. It
will also help FRAs to engage with communities. The launch is
planned for April 2006.
— We are looking closely at the
fitting of sprinklers in new and altered premises where occupants
are vulnerable to fire, including schools, residential care homes
and houses of multiple occupation.
WORKING TOGETHER
21. Regional management boards (RMBs) were
set up in each English region outside London by 1 April 2004 and
have taken responsibility for the six workstreams[9]
set out in the 2003 White Paper. The Government has, however,
continued to make clear that it has no plans to regionalise the
service.
22. The National Procurement Strategy for
the FRS 2005-08 sets out the ODPM's strategy for FRS procurement.
FiReBuy Ltd has been established to drive this strategy forward.
23. The principle of working together is
also being related to other issues. For example, the FRS IT infrastructures
have been reviewed. A Communications Technology "roadmap"
has been produced for implementation in partnership with CFOA
and the LGA. This should facilitate the sharing of information
between FRAs, other agencies and central government.
INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
24. The following institutional arrangements
are now in place and provide advice to the Government:
— the Practitioners' Forum, Business
and Community Safety Forum, Central Local Partnership Fire sub-group
and Ministerial Sounding Board continue to provide advice to officials,
complementing input from FRS personnel and professional bodies;
— A review of the service's main
negotiating body, the National Joint Council (NJC), has been undertaken
and we have seen limited improvements. We continue to press for
further reform, such as the inclusion of smaller unions (eg the
Retained Firefighters' Union) on the Council; and
— HM Fire Service Inspectorate
(HMFSI) will be replaced in March 2007 by a core team of professional
FRS advisors, supported by FRS secondees. This team will provide
professional advice to ministers and officials, advice to the
Secretary of State in respect of powers of operational direction
and intervention, operational assurance, and guidance to the FRS
in support of government initiatives.
FIRE AND
RESCUE STAFF
25. The Government recognises the need,
highlighted by Professor Sir George Bain in his review, for FRSs
to have an effective professional human resource function. The
2005-06 National Framework states that the Government will work
with FRAs, CFOA and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
to stimulate the development of a skilled, professional and strategic
HR function by developing the workforce, and encouraging networking
and the sharing of best practice.
26. Through RMBs, FRAs are required to take
responsibility for the development and welfare of their staff
and to plan for this. There is also support from the centre, including
initiatives such as:
— the Diversity Happens programme,
providing the service with strategic focus and guidance;
— new firefighter selection tests to
tackle direct and indirect discrimination; and
— literature encouraging under-represented
groups to consider a career with the FRS
27. A number of tasks still need further
work. For example, FRAs have been asked to develop and implement
new disciplinary procedures. Sickness levels are also a cause
for concern and remain relatively high. The ODPM is working with
the Health and Safety Executive to address this, and a report
is due in spring 2007.
28. Government is working with unions with
the aim of bringing a new pension scheme into operation for new
entrants to the FRS from April 2006[10].
One of the benefits of this new scheme is that FRS staff on role-related
duties rather than firefighting, who were formerly eligible for
ill health retirement, will be able to remain in employment. Early
indications are that this is helping FRAs to reduce the level
of ill-health retirements from 62% of all retirements in 2002-03
to 25% (provisional) in 2004-05.
29. The report by the Retained Review Team
was published by the ODPM in February 2005. A stakeholder task
group is taking forward the recommendations from the report and
FRAs will self audit and take necessary steps to bring themselves
in line with central guidance. Government is committed to the
promotion of the role of retained firefighters, and a press and
regional workshop campaign is planned for 2006 to publicise this.
CENTRE OF
EXCELLENCE
30. As set out in the White Paper, we believe
there is a strong case for developing a Centre of Excellence for
the fire and rescue service. This would build on the strength
of the Fire Service College but also expand its current role to
encompass good practice, promoting excellence and distance learning.
We expect to make an announcement early in the new year.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
31. The Integrated Personal Development
System (IPDS) provides a competency-based approach to workforce
development. Central work on the implementation of IPDS is largely
complete. This will now be incorporated in core business under
the leadership of the Fire Service College. In the longer term,
we expect that this will become a function of the proposed Centre
of Excellence.
32. The National FRS Learning and Development
Strategy for England was published in November 2005 and sets out
a framework for the next ten years which will ensure that staff
and elected members have the opportunity to gain the skills and
competencies they need at the heart of FRS modernisation. It is
important to improve access to learning, particularly amongst
retained duty system and non-firefighting staff. Another key issue
for staff development is leadership. The ODPM will shortly go
out to consultation on the introduction of a programme of leadership
initiatives applicable to all FRS staff developed by task groups
involving key stakeholders.
FINANCE
33. The Government recognises that the modernisation
and resilience programmes and the associated agreement on pay
and terms and conditions has, and will continue to have, significant
financial ramifications. There are increased costs to fund the
pay award and potentially some aspects of the modernisation agenda,
such as the increased emphasis on prevention[11].
However, the Government also believes it is right that FRAs continue
to support the service in its modernisation programme. Government
has made significant investment in the FRS:
— At the LGA's request, we paid £30
million transitional funding to English and Welsh FRAs in 2004-05.
Half of this funding will be recouped in 2006-07 and half in 2007-08.
FRAs, through the LGA, have reassured us that this is achievable;
— The first two-year provisional local
government finance settlement for 2006-07 and 2007-08 was announced
on 5 December 2005. This will maximise the benefits of three year
spending plans for central government departments by cascading
them down to the maximum extent possible;
— Over the past seven years nearly
£325 million has been invested in the FRS under the PFI programme.
We also recently announced that five authorities are to take forward
new PFI schemes worth around £125 million;
— We have made £25 million available
to FRAs in England up to March 2008 to enable home fire risk checks
to be undertaken and to provide free smoke alarm installation
for vulnerable, high risk households;
— Over £200 million has been invested
in equipment, training and crewing for the New Dimension programme;
and
— The ODPM will fund up to £1.8
million in 2006-07 and 2007-08 for running FiReBuy Ltd.
34. Significant savings are also available,
for example, through better targeting of resources to match risks,
regional collaboration and more efficient working practices. The
Independent Review of the Fire and Rescue Service said "we
are confident that, within the foreseeable future, benefits will
more than exceed additional costs, including those of the pay
increases we propose."
35. Current figures show encouraging trends.
For example:
— Initial analysis of the annual efficiency
statements submitted by FRAs on 17 November suggests that FRAs
made £38 million cashable efficiency savings in 2004-05 and
that they expect to make cumulative cashable efficiency savings
of £90 million in 2005-06[12].
This is significantly ahead of the expected trajectory;
— Changes to the pension scheme will
counter the yearly volatility in pensions expenditure which has
influenced council tax precept increases, and increases transparency
in authorities' budgets.
— The use of capping powers means that
we expect to see average council tax increases in each of the
next two years of less than 5%[13].
36. There is still work to be done in the
coming years. For example, in spring 2006 we will revisit the
potential for charging for false alarms in light of work which
has been undertaken since the Inquiry of 2003. We will also start
a review of charging for Road Traffic Accidents in spring 2006,
as suggested by the Select Committee, drawing on the experience
of the NHS.
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
37. Comprehensive Performance Assessments
of all English FRAs were carried out during 2005. The ODPM has
put a support team in place to work with those authorities assessed
as "weak" or "poor" to advise and support
them through the improvement planning and recovery processes.
The Audit Commission will be taking this work forward and will,
in due course, measure movement against the CPA baseline.
38. A suite of best value indicators has
been developed, in consultation with a stakeholder working group,
to reflect the performance expectations of the National Framework
and the White Paper and underpin performance assessment in the
FRS.
39. Local area agreements enable the FRS
to tap into a much wider range of partnerships, and possibly funding,
to support work on key priorities and outcomes[14]
through their participation.
RESEARCH
40. The ODPM commissions a wide range of
research to underpin all aspects of fire and civil resilience
policy. Recent projects include the development and implementation
of the fire service emergency cover (FSEC) toolkit to support
IRMP and the evaluation of arson and community fire safety projects.
Scientific research projects include the evaluation of suitable
personal protective equipment and detection equipment to improve
the FRS capability to respond effectively to a chemical, biological,
radiological and nuclear incident.
41. Current research priorities include
the development of lower cost domestic sprinkler systems in support
of our PSA target, and the creation of a national FRS strategy
and academy to ensure greater collaboration and communication
between the whole research community. We will be taking forward
work to ensure that regional control centres can take advantage
of FSEC toolkit data, and have recently begun a scoping study
looking at the potential benefits of co-responder schemes.
CONCLUSION
42. Since the Select Committee's last Inquiry
into the FRS and the publication of the White Paper in 2003, the
FRS has gone through a process of fundamental change. The FRS
is now focussed on preventing, not just responding to fires. This
is already achieving large reductions in the number of fire deaths.
The FRS has been through cultural change—moving from rank
to role. A competence-based approach to training at all levels
has been introduced and the FRS is striving to become a more diverse
and flexible organisation and employer. The FRS has taken on and
developed expertise in dealing with a range of resilience issues
professionally and efficiently, working across individual FRA
boundaries to achieve results.
43. The ODPM has laid the foundations and
supported the service through all these changes as we have set
out in this memorandum. We are well on the way to having a fire
and rescue service that is fit for purpose in the 21st Century.
We remain firmly committed to the modernisation programme and
driving change in each fire and rescue authority.
44. There are a number of challenges facing
the service in the next 10 years, not least the aging population;
the number of single person households; the construction of 4
million new dwellings; and the increasing threat from terrorism
and natural disasters. So the FRS will need to continue to adapt
and change. Looking ahead, we are developing a vision to meet
these challenges and the role that the FRS will need to play in
the future. We have already enhanced the capability of the service
to respond to major incidents, such as terrorist attacks and those
caused by climate change. We are enhancing these capabilities
still further. We have already asked fire and rescue authorities
to prioritise their community fire safety work with vulnerable
groups and we are also asking authorities to work in partnership
to deliver their functions more efficiently and effectively. We
are encouraging them to look at their structures to ensure they
have the capacity to meet the challenges ahead.
45. There is more to do. But, in the last
two years, the fire and rescue service has become a more modern,
more dynamic service. It is now better equipped to protect the
public against the changing and growing threats that we face.
And it is ready to respond to the new challenges it now faces.
3 Chaired by Sir George Bain and presented to the
House on 16 December 2002. Back
4
Foreword to The Future of the Fire Service: reducing risk, saving
lives. Back
5
June 2003. Back
6
£188 million in capital and up to £16 million annual
crewing cost. Back
7
Our Fire and Rescue Service, 2003. Back
8
SI 2005 No 1541. Back
9
Ensuring resilience to emergencies; establishing regional control
centres; introducing regional procurement; integrating common
and specialist services; developing regional training; and introducing
regional human resource functions. Back
10
The cost of the new scheme will be about 22% of pensionable pay
against 37.5% for the existing scheme. The new scheme will be
open to firefighters on the retained duty system. Under the new
pension arrangements, employment after age 60 will be subject
to fitness. Back
11
Where a central government department's policies or initiatives
increase the cost of providing local authority services, the "new
burdens" principle means that the Government will fund the
additional expenditure, providing that the aggregate value of
the burdens across all authorities in any financial year is greater
than £100,000. Back
12
This £90 million represents total efficiency gains of 4.4%
against the provisional 2004-05 baseline (including capital charges).
All figures are provisional, subject to possible revision by some
FRAs. Back
13
We made clear in our General Election manifesto that we would
not hesitate to use our capping powers to protect council tax
payers from excessive rises in future years. Back
14
Children and young people; safer and stronger communities; healthier
communities and older people; and economic development and enterprise. Back
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