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ITEM EX11

EXECUTIVE – 28 OCTOBER 2003

FIRE RISK MANAGEMENT PLANNING IN OXFORDSHIRE

Report by Director for Community Safety & Chief Fire Officer

Introduction

  1. This report provides information in respect of the Fire Authority’s responsibility for creating an Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) for Oxfordshire. It examines the context of Central Government’s requirement for the creation of such plans, their aims, objectives and desired outcomes. It also identifies the methodology and approach required to produce an effective IRMP and annual Action Plans. It examines the requirement for public consultation on the plan’s strategic direction, the annual implementation plans and potential options for service improvement. The Draft IRMP and Action Plan 2004–05 are circulated with the agenda to all members of the Council (and are available for public inspection.) The Executive is recommended to approve these documents for consultation.

    2. Background

  2. Central Government has a declared agenda to reform public services. On 16 December 2002, the Deputy Prime Minister announced the need for reform and modernisation of the framework within which the Fire Service operates. In April 2003 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) issued Fire Service Circular 7/2003, identifying risk management planning as a critical element of the Fire and Rescue Service’s programme for modernisation and establishing the requirement for Fire Authorities to produce an IRMP for their area.

  3. Publication of the White Paper "Our Fire and Rescue Service", in July 2003, sets out the Government’s vision for the future provision of fire and rescue services for England and Wales. The vision is of a service that is proactive in preventing fires and other risks, rather than simply reacting to fires, and has a broader community safety remit that contributes to a wider agenda of social inclusion, neighbourhood renewal and crime reduction. The White Paper identifies the following 3-strand prevention strategy:

    • designing fire safety into homes, offices and other buildings through the Building Regulations;

    • maintaining a safe environment through fire safety and other legislation, imposing responsibilities on employers and commercial property owners; and

    • promoting community safety to encourage safe behaviour and to reduce the incidence of arson.

  1. The Fire and Rescue Services’ contribution to this strategy will be through an organisational structure that allocates prevention and intervention resources based on risk assessment and risk management, rather than inflexible, nationally prescribed, fire cover standards.

  2. These new requirements will be incorporated into an Integrated Risk Management Plan, that each Fire Authority is required to produce. The White Paper also requires Fire Authorities to consult their local communities and ensure that the Fire and Rescue Service works with other emergency services and relevant agencies to implement the plan.

  3. It should be noted at this stage that, whilst the agenda for change within the Fire Service has been given recent impetus by proposed and actual legislative changes, many brigades have already embarked upon a programme of modernisation. Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is in the vanguard of this approach and a number of locally developed policy initiatives have been adopted and offered nationally as examples of ‘best practice’, such as our approach to dealing with Automatic Fire Alarms (Unwanted Fire Signals), Community Safety Strategy and inter-agency partnership working. It is within this context that the IRMP process, and the opportunities for improved service delivery that it offers, should be considered and any subsequent changes managed.

    4. Integrated Risk Management Planning – Aims and Objectives

  4. Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service’s existing Vision and Values reflect the changing environment and focus on securing a safer community through prevention and an appropriate intervention where control measures fail. The need to listen and respond to community needs and work with partners and stakeholders to deliver effective services are similarly embodied within our current culture and organisational structures. The opportunity offered by the requirement to develop the IRMP should, therefore, contribute to the overall aims and objectives of the Fire Authority, enabling a flexible, risk based approach to resource allocation and securing continuous improvement in service delivery.

  5. The primary objective of the plan is to make the service more responsive to locally identified needs and better able to deliver a "safer community". The outcomes anticipated through this approach to resource allocation are:

    • A reduction in the number of fires and other emergency incidents occurring;

    • A reduction in loss of life in fires and other emergency incidents;

    • A reduction in the number and severity of injuries occurring in fires and other emergencies;

    • A reduction in the commercial, economic and social impact of fires and other emergency incidents;

    • Safeguarding of the environment and heritage (both built and natural); and

    • Provision of a Fire and Rescue Service that represents value for money for the community

  1. The IRMP should enable more effective targeting of the resources allocated to improve community safety, through protective and preventative activity, and an appropriate level of emergency response to save lives, reduce injuries and consequential loss. The plan will provide the Fire Authority with a strategic overview of the County’s Fire and Rescue capability, inform resource planning decisions and determining the short and medium-term policy direction. The IRMP should:

    1. Establish existing and potential risks to the communities within Oxfordshire;

    2. Evaluate the effectiveness of current preventative, protective and response arrangements;

    3. Identify opportunities for improvement and determine policies and standards for prevention and intervention;

    4. Determine resource requirements to meet these policies and standards; and

    5. Include arrangements for implementation, monitoring, audit and review.

  1. The process of developing the IRMP will also incorporate the creation of an annual ‘Action Plan’, to be embedded within the Service Planning process. The Action Plan will determine the key activities required to implement specified elements of the IRMP within the relevant timeframe. The dynamic nature of the IRMP will ensure that the Service remains responsive to social, economic and environmental change and determines appropriate priorities and Service Delivery objectives.

    2. The Oxfordshire IRMP and Action Plan

  2. The draft IRMP (download as .doc file) and Action Plan (download as .doc file) have been drawn up in the light of the above principles and using the methodology set out at Annex 1. It also builds on the conclusions of the Community Fire Safety Scrutiny Review reported to the Executive in May 2003, on which the Executive had asked for a report back "with a view to pursuing pro-actively the development of Fire Safety Education, in the context of the anticipated Government White Paper". Fire Safety Education is key to integrated risk management, the requirement to report back is effectively met by the extensive coverage in the draft IRMP and Action Plan (see for example Option Appraisal OA3 in the draft Action Plan.)

  3. On 9 September the Council, on a motion by Councillor Mrs Dee Bulley, agreed to ask the Executive "to ensure that the case for a Carterton Fire Station and possible funding options are included in the programme of work that will be necessary following the implementation of the Fire White Paper post 1 April 2004." The Executive on 30 September noted that this issue would be considered in the context of the IRMP, and it is dealt with in Option Appraisal OA8 of the draft Action Plan.

  4. I gave a presentation on the new IRMP requirements to the Community Safety Scrutiny Committee on 22 September. The Committee agreed to set up a small task group, comprising Councillors Mrs Bulley and Harris, to consider the Draft IRMP. I am making arrangements to go through the draft documents with them, and any comments on their part will be reported at the meeting.

  5. Subject to any amendments the Executive may decide to make to the draft documents, they will be issued for consultation in accordance with the principles outlined in Annex 2. The target identified by ODPM for the finalisation of the IRMP and Action Plan is 31 March 2004. It is therefore proposed to report the outcome of consultation to the Executive on 16 March 2004, which would give the Scrutiny Committee an opportunity to make further comment in the light of the consultation responses at its 8 March meeting.

    6. Financial & Staffing Implications

  6. Development of the IRMP and the first annual Action Plan has been achieved from within existing resources. Funding for actioning the IRMP as from April 2004 is required for a two year period. This will be subject to the planning and financial management process for the 2004/5 budget.. The initial consultation costs of this process required for 2003 will be met from existing budget allocation.

  7. On 1 January 2000, Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service revised its organisational structure to accommodate the anticipated move to an integrated approach to managing risk. Accordingly, the traditional, geographically orientated, structure was amalgamated to provide a structure based on functional areas. The Service Delivery function, providing the Brigade’s prevention, protection and intervention capability was arranged on a sub-area basis. The areas are coterminous with existing District Council boundaries and are managed by an Area Fire Risk Manager. This organisational structure will enable the IRMP to meet locally defined needs.

  8. The IRMP has clear objectives and desired outcomes. Redressing of the balance in Fire and Rescue activity, from its traditional intervention role to a preventative and educative service, will require additional skills and resources. The move to an Integrated Personal Development System will ensure that appropriate staff, with relevant competence, are allocated to meet the changing need. As the Risk Management process is developed it is possible that resources may be redeployed to meet changing demands. As this process is completed and the subsequent Action Plans implemented the resource requirements will be identified.

  9. Developing the Integrated Risk Management Process is a medium term project and will be managed in accordance with Oxfordshire County Council’s project management guidelines. Final costings are still being established but it is anticipated that the project is likely to last for two years and cost in excess of £100k per annum. These costs will include the appointment of a ‘data handler’, the purchase of specialist predictive analysis computer software and the secondment of specialist officers to the project team.

    10. RECOMMENDATIONS

  10. The Executive is RECOMMENDED:

          1. subject to:

    • consideration of any comments from the Community Safety Scrutiny Committee task group; and

    • any amendments which the Executive may consider appropriate;

to approve the Draft Integrated Risk Management Plan and Annual Action Plan 2004–05 for consultation as outlined in the report;

          1. to ask the Director for Community Safety & Chief Fire Officer to report the outcome of consultation and any further views of the Community Safety Scrutiny Committee, together with any recommendations for amendment to the Executive in March 2004, with a view to formal adoption of both plans for implementation in April 2004.

 

JOHN PARRY
Director for Community Safety & Chief Fire Officer

Background Papers: Nil

Contact Officer: Alan Hoar, Major Projects Manager (Tel: 01865- 258503)

October 2003

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