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Contact: |
Chris Bacon |
Temp/Assistant Chief Fire Officer |
Tel: 023 8064 4000 ext 207 |
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1 |
Introduction |
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1.1 |
Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service has been delivering a schools education programme since 1997. This is structured to deliver fire safety education to Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 (children from 4 to 13 years of age). |
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2 |
Issues |
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2.1 |
This year a total of 21,600 children have received fire safety education. The issue facing the Service is the evolution of the scheme in Key Stage 3 (11 to 14 year olds), where currently 1 firefighter per Division is delivering the fire safety education programme. |
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2.2 |
There is budget approval, from April 2002, for three more firefighters to assist with the Key Stage 3 Programme. However, recent experience gained by working within the programme has shown that the second firefighter will not benefit the scheme as originally intended. |
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3 |
Proposals |
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3.1 |
It is proposed that the Service should not proceed with the recruitment of the 3 extra firefighters; instead, the opportunity should be taken to utilise the budget provision for a number of improvements to the current community fire safety and schools education programme, including Key Stage 3, as follows: |
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3.1.1 |
The existing 3 Key Stage 3 firefighters are able to cope with the current workload but need additional professional educational support. The recruitment of a third Teaching assistant would enable the programme to develop and meet the foreseeable needs. |
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3.1.2 |
Attracting firefighters to join the Schools Challenge crew on 'day duties' has proven to be extremely difficult. To address this problem it is recommended that the existing 6 posts (3 at HQ Schools Education Team, 3 at Divisional HQ Key Stage 3 Education) be regraded to Temporary Leading Firefighter. This would recognise the importance of the programme and provide an extra motivational factor and career development opportunity. |
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3.1.3 |
At present Leading Firefighters in the Community Fire Safety Department at Service HQ receive a 10% allowance for flexibility in working evenings and weekends, whilst those who are based at Divisional headquarters do not receive any allowance, yet provide the same commitment and flexibility. This needs to be addressed so as to provide the same allowances to the 3 Divisional posts. |
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3.1.4 |
The additional number of major community fire safety initiatives is having an impact on the CFS Administrative workloads, e.g., arson liaison forum, reduction of unwanted fire signals, maintenance of the firesetters intervention database. The present single administrative post is unable to cope with the extra workloads imposed by the new initiatives and so it is recommended that an additional Scale 2/3 administrative post is required to maintain the impetus of the CFS programme and ensure timely and consistent administrative support. |
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4 |
Financial Implications |
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4.1 |
The estimated cost of these proposals are: |
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£ |
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Delete 3 Key Stage 3 Firefighter posts |
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Add 1 Teaching Assistant |
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Enhance Schools Challenge Crew Firefighters (6 posts) to Temporary Leading Firefighters |
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Introduce 10% allowance for the 3 Leading Firefighters based at Divisional Headquarters |
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Recruit a Scale 2/3 administrative post for Headquarters Fire Safety Department |
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Total Cost (including Employers on-costs) |
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Saving |
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5 |
European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998 |
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5.1 |
The proposals within this report are compatible with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998. |
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Recommendations |
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That the changes to the establishment detailed in Paragraph 4 of this report be approved and the saving be held taking account of current financial difficulties and taken into account by the Authority when it considers the Revised and Forward Budgets. |
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Section 100D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers |
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The following documents disclose the facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of the report. |
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None |
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NB The list excludes: |
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1 Published works |
2 Documents that disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act |
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File name [schoolcfs.rep] |
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