Agenda item - NEW CROSS AND BROOMHILL PROJECT

Agenda item

NEW CROSS AND BROOMHILL PROJECT

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

Minutes:

Wayne Bowcock, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, presented the report which updates members on the current collaborative prevention work being undertaken at the New Cross and Broomhill projects, following a request from Councillor Jason Zadrozny of Ashfield District Council.

 

The New Cross project was set up in 2014 by Ashfield District Council as a multi-agency collaborative prevention team to work with troubled families and complex persons in response to their multifaceted social problems which demanded a high resource input from a range of agencies.

 

The project has been regularly independently reviewed and reports that for every £1 spent, a saving of £12 is collectively realised across the combined partner agencies. This could result in the predicted saving of public money totalling of £3.4 million by 2019. Specifically for NFRS, a contribution of almost £1 will provide savings to the Service of £1, resulting in a cost neutral contribution, although the broader social benefits are significant.

 

Since its establishment and success of the pilot model, a second site has been established at Broomhill to tackle the same issues.

 

NFRS continues to meet its commitment of funding to the value of £40,000 per annum (agreed for 3 years), at New Cross and a NFRS District Prevention Officer has been seconded to the Broomhill Project for a period of three years, to be reviewed every 12 months. 

 

The resource and financial contribution from other partners is detailed within the report.

 

Members are presented with three potential options in the report and requested to determine which should be selected with regard to the future engagement and funding by the Service in the New Cross and Broomhill projects.

 

It is noted that with regard to option one, to maintain the current support, £40,000 is earmarked as a reserve and accounted for the current budget.

 

Councillors commented as follows:

 

(a)  with consideration to the economy of scale, it would be better to continue this work, and so option 2, ‘continue with the year 3 financial support and withdraw the secondee’ which gives the broader benefit, is preferred with a further report in 12 months’ time;

 

(b)  further information is required as to the fire incident reduction achievement following NFRS’s involvement;

 

(c)  consideration should be given to the broader positive social impact of the project and not just in relation to NFRS;

 

(d)  these projects are not an appropriate use of funding, do not achieve the savings claimed and actually result in a cost. £40,000 may be ring fenced but it could be better spent elsewhere to promote and improve fire safety. There is no evidence that the projects have saved lives; they appear to focus on enabling people to be happy in their home, which is not fire safety related. It is increasingly likely that the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) will withdraw funding to the projects in the next financial year and this will result in the collapse of the projects;

 

(e)  with this new information, members need to better understand the current situation before committing funding;

 

(f)  other options need to be presented to identify how effective and sustainable fire prevention work can be supported;

 

(g)  it’s important to ensure that all areas of the county can benefit from this funding and not just population pockets within the Ashfield District Council area;

 

(h)  further information is requested prior to any decision as the Service needs to be robust in how every penny is spent to ensure the best outcomes;

 

(i)  confirmation from the CCG needs to be sought regarding their commitment to future funding before a decision is made for NFRS’s commitment to funding. If the CCG are intending to withdraw, then option three, ‘to withdraw from the project at the end of the current financial year’, should be selected. If the CCG agreed to commit to a further year’s funding, then it is reasonable for NFRS to commit a further one year funding but the position needs to be reviewed in a year’s time;

 

(j)  this has been an excellent example of partnership working and consideration should be given to the achievements of the projects so far;

 

(k)  assurance should be sought regarding the benefits to the wider Nottinghamshire community of these projects.

 

RESOLVED

 

(1)  for the Deputy Chief Fire Officer to confirm the position of the CCG with regard to its future funding of the New Cross and Broomhill Projects;

 

(2)  once the CCG funding position is clarified, to delegate authority to the Chair, in consultation with the Lead Opposition Member, to determine which of the options presented within the report, or if amended, recommended by the Chief Fire Officer, should be acted upon;

 

(3)  for the Committee to receive an update report to the next meeting.

 

Supporting documents: