Agenda for Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham Fire and Rescue Authority - Community Safety on Friday, 19th March, 2021, 10.00 am

Agenda and minutes

Venue: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt4VuYp8JJJvXCLRmSRJ1mw/featured - To be held remotely and streamed. View directions

Contact: Cath Ziane-Pryor  Email: catherine.pryor@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

7.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

None.

8.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

None.

9.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 220 KB

Of the meeting held on 8 January 2021 (for confirmation)

Minutes:

The minutes of ther meeting held on 8 January 2021 were confirmed as a true record and will be signed by the Chair.

10.

An update on the 'Areas for Improvement' from the 2019 HMICFRS Inspection pdf icon PDF 315 KB

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

Minutes:

Craig Parkin, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, presented the report which provides members with an update on the progress in addressing the 25 AFIs across the service.

 

Highlighted points included:

 

a)  following on from the inspection, further potential areas for improvement were identified at departmental level and are being addressed;

 

b)  whilst 10 of the 12 AFIs aligned to the Community Safety Committee for scrutiny have been closed as completed, 2 AFIs remain active;

 

c)  the Committee is requested to approve an extension to 31 March 2021 for the completion AFI 4, ‘ensuring that prevention work is targeted at people most at risk’ as the initial schedule for the improvement of this area has been significantly impacted by the lockdown and Covid-19 restrictions;

 

d)  the inspectors had criticised the Service for not evaluating the work undertaken regarding safe and well visits to vulnerable people. As a results Nottingham Trent University has evaluated the work to ensure that the most vulnerable people are effectively targeted;

 

e)  there is clear and strong evidence that operational domestic smoke alarm ownership could be as low as 40% in some communities, there is still much work to be done;

 

f)  progress to address AFI 9, ‘to ensure that mobile data terminals (MDTs) are reliable to allow staff to access risk information’ continues.

 

g)  the storing and processing of information on MDT’s can be complex, but it is essential that all crews are able to recall and register all risk information including car build, chemicals, buildings, and site-specific risk information (SSRI).

 

Resolved

 

1)  to note the progress made against the areas for improvement;

 

2)  to agree the extension of area for improvement for to 31 March 2021.

11.

Service Delivery Performance Report pdf icon PDF 533 KB

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

Minutes:

Craig Parkin, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, introduced the report which provides an update on the performance of the service delivery directorate in the period between 1 December 2020 and 31 January 2021. It is noted that despite Covid 19, the Service has been undertaking an array of work, including:

 

i.  362 urgent care shifts completed for EMAS;

ii.  1209 urgent care patients transported;

iii.  12,195 medicine and food parcels delivered;

iv.  515 Covid tests administered;

v.  24,506 vaccinations given;

vi.  3646 signposting and befriending calls made;

vii.  11 Covid testing centres built;

viii.212 Covid testing volunteer trained;

ix.  39 staff supporting partner organisations.

 

Mick Sharman, Area Manager for Response, provided the following summary with regard to response and COVID-19 partnership working:

 

a)  the Service attended 1,228 incidents, which is an increase of 423 incidents compared to the same period in the previous year;

 

b)  whilst the report states that there have been 3 fire fatalities, since publication of the agenda it has been confirmed that one fatality was due to other circumstances;

 

c)  the report provides a breakdown by category of incidents, a comparison of numbers to the previous year, and the multi-appliance attendance numbers;

 

d)  the average response time remains at 7.42 minutes, which is within the target of attending within 8 minutes. With regard to the slightly heightened response time to Priority 1 incidents, which includes road traffic collisions, these can take place anywhere and appliances often have to travel further to attend from the fire stations which are sited to serve the built environment;

 

e)  the on-call availability target is 85%. As set out in appendix A to the report, availability has increased significantly, due to lockdown, with an overall availability average of 92%, with Stapleford achieving an impressive 99%;

 

f)  on-call availability at Retford and Ashfield stations are listed separately as they operate a different model of day shift crewing, with the availability of one appliance considered very good, but the availability of a second appliances needing further support;

 

g)  call answering within 7 seconds at the Joint Control Centre surpassed the 90% target, but mobilisation system availability missed the 99% target by 0.2% due to significant power outages;

 

h)  although the average response times for England for 2019/20 are provided in the report, it is noted that such results are influenced by number of factors including call handling times, turnout times, drive times, traffic conditions, time-of-day, all of which can vary depending on the geographical and urban area, but members should be assured that the NFRS is performing well;

 

i)  all staff are working very well to support the Service in supporting the community, with staff  supporting seven vaccination centres and now administering vaccinations.

 

Bryn Coleman, Area Manager for Prevention, provided the following overview of prevention and protection work:

 

j)  although several staff are temporarily supporting partner emergency and health services with COVID-19 work, the Service continues to maintain its statutory duties;

 

k)  Safe and Well Visits (SWV) were initially paused due to lockdown, partners continued to make referrals and there is now a backlog. A triage process has been established using the ‘CHARLIE matrix’ , enabling identification of those at high and very high risk who will then receive personal visits;

 

l)  for referrals of citizens who are considered medium risk against the CHARLIE matrix, visits have been paused during the pandemic but where possible telephone contact is made;

 

m)  post-incident visits to affected communities continue to take place. Following serious incidents in Warsop, Ashfield, Hucknall and Stockhill, firefighters undertook appropriately socially distanced community reassurance and engagement work, targeting 653 properties, of which 204 were provided with safety advice and smoke alarms were fitted at 148;

 

n)  road and general fire safety initiatives continues predominantly via social media as socially interactive engagement has been paused due to the pandemic and secondment of staff to partners to support COVID-19 work;

 

o)  safety of buildings remains a priority with the Service undertaking inspections to identify potential safety hazards and failings, educate and inform residents and those responsible for safety, the activity of which is outlined within the report;

 

p)  the City Council and NFRS partnership, the Joint Audit and Inspection Team (JAIT), continues to examine major developments across the city, with a particular focus on buildings converted for accommodation and high rise developments to identify any safety concerns that require addressing prior to occupation;

 

q)  a Fire Engineer from the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service provides support to NFRS in more complex issues. Due to a nationwide shortage resulting from an increased demand following the Grenfell Tower Fire, the Service is investing in 2 members of the Protection Team studying to become Fire Engineers to ensure that in the longer term the Service will have its own in-house capability;

 

r)  there were 155 Unwanted Fire Signals (UFS) and 10 Unwanted Lift Rescues (ULR) during the performance period. Officers continue to work with building managers and the ‘responsible person’ to remind them of their legal obligations and reduce unwanted calls;

 

s)  the new Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) is being developed and will be submitted for  to the Fire Authority prior to going out to consultation next year with the delivery plan including target actions and dates, and a longer term strategic view;

 

t)  it’s anticipated that HMICFRS’s next inspection will be far more in-depth than previously and require more detailed information.

 

Members’ comments included:

 

u)  it’s reassuring that the Service continues to provide excellent support and meet statutory requirements, even during these unusual times;

 

v)  specific information on the outcome of deliberate fires, including if the Police make any arrests or press charges, would be interesting;

 

w)  personal thanks are given to all staff who have supported the more vulnerable citizens in our communities during the pandemic.

 

Resolved to note the report.