Knight Review of the Fire and Rescue authorities in England

Written evidence from Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service ( FRR 05)

Introduction

1. Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service is part of the Community Safety and Protection Directorate of Cornwall Council. The Chief Fire Officer also holds the role of Director of Community Safety and Protection and is a member of the Corporate Leadership Team. Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service forms part of a wider Community Safety Service with the Deputy Chief Fire Officer as head of service. A joined up community safety service includes responsibilities for youth engagement, domestic violence, anti-social behavior, road safety, fire prevention, emergency management, drug and alcohol misuse. The Directorate also encompasses the Public Health and Protection Service, which includes Environmental Health, Trading Standards, Licensing and the Coroner’s Service.

2. The Community Safety Service has a total of 809 staff, including 206 wholetime firefighters, 425 on-call firefighters and 157 community safety and support staff. The operational service is delivered through 31 community fire stations, which includes two 24 hour wholetime shift stations, five day crewed stations, one of which operates a seasonal crewing variation and 24 stations crewed by on-call personnel.

3. Within Cornwall Council there are 123 councillors representing Cornwall and together they form the full Council. The Council’s governance structure is a Leader and a Cabinet of nine portfolio holders. The Cabinet forms the designated Fire Authority.

4. Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service sits within the portfolio for Homes and Communities which includes, Housing, Bereavement Services, Fire and Rescue Service, Public Health and Protection (Environmental Health, Trading Standards, Animal Welfare, Coroners and Licensing), Community Safety and Police and Crime Commissioner Liaison.

5. Following the visit from Sir Ken Knight on 31 January 2013 we welcome the Facing the Future report and recognise a number of positive examples throughout the document on how we in Cornwall deploy our resources and collaborate with others to drive efficiency. This includes our Invest to Save Camborne, Pool, Redruth and Hayle Project, which has utilised detailed risk analysis to show that re-locating two stations will enable a further 13,900 people to be covered in our 10 minutes emergency standard, will achieve savings of £520,000 per year and facilitate co-location with Police and Ambulance services.

6. As reflected in the report we believe we are in a strong position in Cornwall Council to realise improved and efficient ways of working. This is reflected in the position of our Chief Fire Officer within the council who holds a wider remit spanning the Community Safety and Protection Directorate. This provides significant opportunities for improved joined up service delivery with other Council departments and partner agencies, scrutinised by the council’s governance structures.

Recommendations

7. The report suggests that over a 10 year period attendance at fires has reduced by 48% nationally with attendance at building fires down by 39% and secondary fires by 44%. However, operational activity has not decreased in Cornwall to the same extent as outlined in the report over the same period; we have seen a 34% reduction in fires, 32% reduction in building fires and 22% reduction in secondary fires. The report also looks at the half-year statistics published in March 2013 suggesting overall incidents from April to September 2012 have reduced by 17% from the same period in 2011; in Cornwall incidents reduced by only 1% during this period. The point being made is that national statistics do not always reflect what is going on in specific areas. It is also worthy of note that Cornwall has seen two periods of intensive operational activity through spate conditions over the past few months.

8. The complex nature of rescue incidents, national resilience commitments, water rescue, shaft rescue, rope rescue and the training required to maintain safe systems of work cannot be sustained if we have wholesale reductions in firefighter numbers. It is essential that we effectively manage risk ensuring we have the right level of resources in the right place. Risk is very different from operational activity. Effective risk management could be supported through capital investment from Central Government on an Invest to Save basis to support the relocation of stations and shared use with other 999 services. This would see fit for purpose buildings, encourage joint working and support risk modelling based on modern and future demographics.

9. With over 67% of our operational personnel working the on-call duty system Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service fully supports the role on-call firefighters play in a modern and inclusive Service. In the current economic climate we recognise the challenges of recruiting on-call staff, specifically when in Cornwall 89% of business are micro businesses (0-9 employees) and 18% of the overall workforce is self employed. To address the question raised on whether services could increase the number of ‘on-call’ (RDS) staff by 10%, it is recommended that Central Government provides more support for primary employers. This could include: tax breaks; NIDR reductions and centrally funded grants to support initial training for self employed and primary employers to address the financial burden.

10. To support the delivery of evidence led and targeted community safety activity, demonstrating social return on investment across Government departments, we would look for Central Government departments to work jointly in the provision of grant funding on a pump priming or reward grant basis. For example:

· Unemployed Job Centre Plus - our work with long term unemployed recognised by the Department of Work and Pensions

· Fireworks and Chrysalis programmes working with ex-offenders supported by the Home Office

· Phoenix and youth engagement programmes to reduce exclusions and support young people’s development supported by Department of Education

· Road Safety education programmes supported by Department of Transport

A joint approach from the centre would encourage and support wider reaching, more diverse community safety programmes that utilise the Fire and Rescue Service brand, delivering significant return on investment through measurable outcomes.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service w as pleased to host Sir Ken Knight during his research for the Facing the Future report. We look forward to the G overnment ’ s response to the report to provide clarity on the support mechanisms and political leadership that will support F ire and R escue S ervice reform over the coming years.

June 2013