Agenda and minutes

None.

None.

Of the meeting held on 22 June 2018 (for confirmation).

Confirmation

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 June 2018 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Matters Arising

Craig Parkin, Assistant Chief Fire Officer, informed members that with regard to minute 6, ‘Reducing the Number of Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals Through Collaboration’, and the arrangements, whereby when an automatic alarm is raised, confirmation by a person that there is indeed a fire and the attendance of an appliance is required, were not yet in effect. Although implementation was predicted within 6-8 weeks following Committee’s approval, further discussions are taking place with partners and the Fire Brigades Union to ensure that all required measures are in place to appropriately support the approved approach.

It has been reiterated that when automatic alarms are received at night for higher ‘risk to life’ buildings, including residential or where people sleep, these properties are exempt from call challenging process and the Service will respond directly. 

It is anticipated that the new measures are implemented from November.

Members of the Committee welcomed the delay in implementation to ensure that all parties are ready, understand the requirements and prepared to respond appropriately.

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

Craig Parkin, Assistant Chief Fire Officer, presented the Service Delivery Performance Update report and highlighted the following points:

(a)  A new performance management framework is due to be implemented in the Spring and will provide a greater depth of detail, including further information on prevention work and business and partner engagement. Currently there is a focus on satisfying the data requirements of the HMICFRS inspection;

(b)  A partnership mapping exercise will take place during the next few months;

(c)  No areas of performance have been identified as raising any concerns and incidents remain within the expected tolerances;

(d)  Further preventative work around road traffic collisions (RTCs) and general road safety is proposed to try and further reduce incidents;

(e)  Retained Duty System (RDS) availability remains an ongoing challenge, for example at Southwell and Tuxford Fire Stations, but with an average of 83.32%, Nottinghamshire does achieve one of the highest availability rate in the East Midlands.

(f)  Work continues to improve RDS availability, particularly by increasing recruitment. It is possible that in wealthy areas such as Southwell, the role of retained firefighter is just not considered attractive. Group Manager West is taking part in a national Fire Service working group to examine the reasons why retained staff leave the service and will investigate factors such as community demographics, local community factors such as the salary offered and the flexibility available;

(g)  The ‘On-Call Support Team’ will become operational in the coming weeks and provide further flexibility to retained crews designed to increase overall availability;

(h)  Although there are fewer fires, incidents such as that at Sutton Bonington which stopped trains running and the Stoney Street multi-storey car park fire, particularly following the previous incident in Liverpool where more than 1,000 cars were destroyed present ongoing challenges for the fire sector. This has prompted a national approach to consider such incidents, including  the construction, access, and architecture of multi-storey car parks, including whether it would be appropriate to require sprinkler systems to be installed;

(i)  If businesses hold hazardous substances on their premises, they don’t necessarily need to register this unless required under a range of guidance, for example quantities meet a set level. However, during premises inspections, Fire Officers routinely document the hazardous materials found and  informs the site specific risk information which staff refer to when attending incidents;

(j)  Illegal waste sites/dumps are particularly concerning, not just from an environmental perspective. Local knowledge of businesses and industry can prove vital in initially identifying potentially hazardous materials;

(k)  On-board computers list the potential hazards and risks around specific industries and trades, from which fire fighters can then de-escalate the risk as a better understanding of the incident and site is gained.

Members of the Committee expressed concern at some of the downward trends around retained officer retention, particularly that of overnight retained staff, but welcomed the pro-active and successful approach to trying new methods to attract and interest potential recruits.

RESOLVED to note the report.

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

Craig Parkin, Assistant Chief Fire Officer, presented the report which updates members on the ‘Safe and Well’ visits which replace the former ‘Home Safety Check’.

The following points were highlighted:

(a)  Although the principle is the same, Fire Services across the country are applying a variety of schemes differently under the safe and well name. This has caused great concern and challenge from Trades Unions nationally which consider this to be a broadening of the firefighter role. The Nottinghamshire Service has been working to address firefighter concerns and  this has seen amendments with staff signposting citizens to appropriate information and services;

(b)  Using the most recent hand held technology during visits will make it possible for referrals of citizens to other services to be raised automatically where appropriate by staff and is a key area for development.

Members of the Committee welcomed the report.

RESOLVED to note the report.