Archived decisions

Key Issues

Extent to which statement met

Prescribed Guidance / best practice

Findings

The fire authority has put in place the necessary building blocks to deliver an effective IRMP

Partly

Responsibility for the IRMP rests with the Fire Authority. They have considered the matter fully and have taken positive decisions regarding any delegation of this work to the Chief Fire Officer (or others). The letter from the ODPM (2 April 2003) indicated that it was expected that a Principal Officer and Liaison Officer would be appointed with responsibility for and involvement in the IRMP process. This has taken place and has been given due emphasis in organisational terms.

Project management arrangements should have been set in place to oversee the process. This would be expected as good practice and would assist the service in assessing progress against plan and in the feedback and monitoring process. Clear links with the BVPP and the Community Strategy should also be evident and any action plans should to be incorporated into the Authority's business and financial planning processes. Evidence is required of an agreed overall timetable including key milestones and formal monitoring arrangements.

The Authority has made some good progress in that it has:

· Project management arrangements in place (Prince 2) and timeline for initial development of year 1 IRMP and associated action plans

· Corporate management team (CMT) of 4 officers and 7 members (including Chair and CFO) responsible for overseeing development of IRMP.

· IRMP clearly linked to corporate plan and BVPP. All included with hyperlinks on Web site.

Areas for further development include:

· Links to business and financial plans including IPDS are less well developed. Consideration of financial impact limited to such things as GIS system etc. in year 1. Little evidence of consideration of officer capacity to continue to develop and monitor progress on Action Plans. This is an ongoing project such issues need to be projected further than year 1.

· Action plans specify who what and when, but lack targets for expected outcomes. Outcome targets and PIs to feed into formal monitoring arrangements need to be further developed.

The fire authority has identified existing and potential risks to the communities it serves.

Partly

Clear evidence is required of a systematic, planned approach to reviewing and assessing currently available data and information, with action plans to address any gaps and system weaknesses (include extent of data collection, recording mechanisms).

Existing and potential risks to the community should have been identified and prioritised against a set of agreed criteria that reflect national and local priorities.

The Authority has enhanced its data collection and monitoring systems to inform the risk map

· Restructuring is being used to develop and enhance working relationships with partner agencies. This should markedly improve collection and sharing of data as well as developing joint responses to identified risks.

· Developing a sound data collection system to inform preparation of risk map using GIS.

· Established a risk intelligence team to monitor impact of responses to identified risks as well as identifying new and potential risks

It also needs to consider:

· The Authority has yet to formally identify and prioritise existing and potential risks to the community. It is concentrating on ensuring that it has robust data to support these decisions. The introduction of many other aspects of the modernisation agenda are dependant on risk identification. Delay in the identification of risk will have an impact on many other areas of the Modernisation agenda.

· The Authority is already aware of key risk areas and the need to redeploy resources to more effectively address these risks. It now needs to prepare itself to take hard decisions in the immediate future to reflect real risk rather than perceived community needs.

· The risks to the community as identified by currently available data should be set out in the IRMP.

· The IRMP identifies many risks in the SWOT and STEEPLE analysis and some of these are addressed in the action plans for year one. These risks should be categorised and prioritised. The Authority needs to demonstrate that it is tackling the major risks first. They should also be clearly linked to national and local priorities.

The fire authority has assessed the effectiveness of the current preventative, protective and response arrangements.

Partly

Clear evidence is required of a planned and prioritised approach to reviewing extant policies, procedures and practices. This review should be linked to identified key risk areas and include comparison with national and local performance indicators. The balance between prevention and intervention should have been addressed.

HFRA are making some progress in this area in that they are:

· Looking to focus on developing the risk map and improve prevention strategies in year 1.

· intending to improve already implemented innovative strategies for prevention (Community Fire Station and Education initiatives).

· Have proposed changes in response to automatic detection systems and non emergency situations.

Further action in this area is dependant on the identification of key risk areas.

Local performance indicators should be developed in conjunction with partners and the community to reflect agreed outcome targets.

The fire authority has assessed the opportunities for improvement and determined local policies and standards.

Partly

The authority has demonstrated the link between evidence, risks and current arrangements in arriving at clearly laid out goals and objectives and that these are in turn linked to any action/implementation plan. The authority is able to provide detailed risk maps and evidence of risk assessment and prioritisation process. Any revised policies, procedures or standards (with the aim of meeting the goals and objectives) should clearly make the case for change and set out the likely benefits to accrue.

The implications of failing to meet or exceeding targets should be set out by the Authority along with contingency plans. Comparison of new targets against old national targets should be given where change is recommended along with the rationale for change.

The authority will be unable to fully cover this area until it has completed a risk assessment and prioritisation process.

The Authority has reviewed policies and procedures in relation to unwanted fire signals, partnership working, graded responses to emergency incidents and premises inspections. Local standards have also been revised. It now needs to develop clear outcome targets in relation to these changes to facilitate monitoring.

The evidence, risks and current arrangements underlying these changes should be clearly set out in the IRMP together with the anticipated benefits expected from the changes.

The fire authority has assessed the resource requirements to meet the policies and standards identified.

Not at all

Resources are in place to support the delivery of the IRMP and associated action plans. An assessment has been made of deliverability and resources have been directed accordingly.

There is a clear demonstration that this work has not been done in isolation from available resources or likely resource limitations. Any savings (or investment requirements) have been clearly identified and fully justified.

The authority has a history of sound financial management and budgetary control. However, budget preparation is currently a major problem at the authority. In addition to budgeting for pay increases, pensions and modernisation issues there is uncertainty around some capital projects and becoming a precepting authority with no balances and reserves to bring forward from the previous contributing authorities.

However very limited costing has been done in relation to the modernisation agenda.

Although not covered in the IRMP at present the authority is aware of many potential areas for more effective deployment of resources.

The Authority urgently needs to estimate the likely costs and savings so that a medium term financial plan can be developed and amended as the risk plan develops. This should be used to inform appropriate and timely funding bids.

The fire authority has made arrangements for implementation, monitoring, audit and review.

Partly

Implementation and monitoring arrangements make reference to and are included in the overall project and implementation plan. Effective monitoring and review systems are in place with both members and senior managers receiving regular and relevant management information on the progress against action plans. There is good evidence of corrective action where difficulties are encountered. Similarly, there is good evidence to support learning from past experience.

The CMT, charged with the development of the IRMP, should monitor the development and implementation of associated action plans over the years. The Performance Peview Committee will be responsible for monitoring the impact of the changes as well as reviewing future targets.

The Authority now needs to ensure that they have sound management information so that targets can be reviewed regularly and effectively and help ensure that they remain appropriate.

The fire authority has consulted with its partners and the wider community on its IRMP proposals.

Partly

There is a consultation plan in place and delivery is being monitored against it. All key stakeholders have been included in the consultation. The consultation is meaningful and proportionate, addressing the key issues and any change of direction. This should include other public sector organisations, the community, business, staff and unions in accordance with IRMP guidance document 2. Any consultation has been co-ordinated with other bodies as appropriate. The authority has reviewed the purpose, extent, nature and outcomes of any consultation and how this has been or will be incorporated into the IRMP.

The Authority has undertaken extensive and effective consultation with the communities and has begun to establish links with the business community. Restructuring should improve links with other public sector organisations.

However

· There currently seems to be a lack of clarity about how the results of consultation will be fed into the IRMP particularly where the results are at odds with the initial proposals.

· Links with business, hard to reach groups and other public sector organisations need to be improved.

The fire authority has complied with prescribed guidance and timetables.

Partly

An IRMP has been produced that is a clear statement of the Authority's goals for improved community safety, the areas identified for improvement, the policies designed to deliver those goals and improvements and the standards set for prevention and intervention. Anyone reading the IRMP should be able to see how the policies and standards will contribute to the goals.

An effective IRMP should:

· identify existing and potential risks to the community within the authority area;

· evaluate the effectiveness of current preventative, protective, and response arrangements;

· identify opportunities for improvement and determine policies and standards for prevention and intervention;

· determine resource requirements to meet these policies and standards;

· include arrangements for implementation, monitoring, audit and review.

Some progress has been made in that:

· The authority has a plan (using Prince 2) in place which should eventually deliver an effective IRMP. However it is not likely to have a document that will exhibit all areas of an effective IRMP for a number of years yet.

· Officers and members are already aware of key risk areas across the county and are aware of areas where redeployment of resources would produce more effective use of resources in addressing those risks.

The authority may have to speed up the timetable in various areas as a result of financial constraints.

It needs to consider with some urgency the more obvious potential redeployment of resources and assess the financial impact. The timetable should then be reviewed in the light of this information to ensure it is affordable and is also used to inform potential funding bids.

Overall assessment of progress in this topic area

Some progress

Key Issues

Extent to which statement met

Prescribed Guidance / best practice

Findings

The fire authority has an action plan in place to deliver the move from rank to role.

Partly

The authority has produced a costed action plan that sets out the resource (staff and money) implications of the move from rank to role that is effective from 7 November 2003.

The Authority has made good progress in this area in that it has:

· a clear prioritised implementation plan.

· held assessment and development centres for the past 2 ½ years.

· a clear and costed plan is in place for Phase 1 and will be in place for phase 2.

The fire authority has fully assessed and provided for the resource implications of the move from rank to role.

Partly

A fully and properly costed action plan is in place and has been considered and agreed at senior management team / authority level. Costs are fully integrated into draft / final budgets for 2004/05.

A clear and costed plan is in place for Phase 1 and will be in place for phase 2. Appropriate costs are included in budgets.

Employees and other key stakeholders are fully aware of the plans and processes involved and the role they have to play.

Not at all

There is a communication plan in place and consistent and clear messages have been given to all relevant staff.

Staff awareness of the issues is varied. Those directly affected are aware of how the pay issues will impact on them. Other staff are only aware of general issues, but there seems to be a general lack of clarity about how this will be rolled out in HFRA and how it will affect individual staff in the longer term.

A communication plan needs to be developed to ensure that a clear consistent message is given to all relevant staff. This should help ensure that all staff are committed to the implementation of this initiative.

Overall assessment of progress in this topic area

Some progress

Key Issues

Extent to which statement met

Prescribed Guidance / best practice

Findings

The fire authority has set in place management structures to support the introduction of IPDS.

Completely

Responsibility for IPDS has been championed at a senior level within the authority. The authority has considered the matter fully and has taken positive decisions regarding any action plan to progress implementation. A senior member of the management team has been appointed to lead on the issue.

Members involved in the working group responsible for the development and implementation.

The CFO is chair of IPDS steering group.

Senior officer designated as lead officer responsible for development and implementation.

Members have had regular briefings including a visit to the Fire Training College.

Paper to Authority in Nov 2003 identified training needs and assigned responsibilities it also included a growth bid for the training budget.

Prince 2 project manager has been identified.

Employees and other key stakeholders are fully aware of the plans and processes involved and the role they have to play.

Partly

There is a communication plan in place. Consistent and clear messages have been given to all relevant staff.

The practical implications have been included in personal targets and development targets for key staff.

The authority has made progress in this area in that:

· A communication plan and education pack have been produced. Communication is recognised as being key to successful implementation of the IPDS.

· Hampshire had started to develop IPDS prior to the introduction of the Modernisation Agenda - change of title from Officer to Manager.

However the communication does not appear to be effective at all levels. Station based staff and support staff show limited awareness of the system and this has an impact on their buy in to the process.

The fire authority has complied with prescribed guidance and timetables.

Completely

Payment of Stage 2 of the pay agreement depends on `a new pay structure, linked to the IPDS role structure and producing average pay increases of 7%'. The pay structure will be based on the developmental stages outlined within the IPDS, and not on current ranks, which will effectively cease to exist. The IPDS therefore has significant and urgent implications for every part of the fire and rescue service so that people can be properly paid. Senior management corporately have assessed the implications and impact across all parts of the service, alongside other key modernisation issues. Circular 11/2003 stated that "authorities are advised to assess their current state of preparedness and, as a matter of urgency, take any necessary steps for implementation, seeking assistance from the contact points identified"

The Authority has complied with guidance and timetables. Much work had been done in advance of the introduction of the Modernisation agenda.

Initial presentation to the Authority in September 2002. IPDS working group set up including 3 members, CFO and training officer. Regular progress reports presented to the Authority.

IPDS introduced April 2003 with clear time objectives and targets up to April 2004.

The fire authority has undertaken a gap analysis on IPDS and an action plan has been drawn up on the basis of this.

Completely

Circular 11/2003 specifically advises that a gap analysis should be undertaken.

The Authority has undertaken gap analysis which identifies a lack of fire fighters and middle managers in the next three years.

The fire authority is fully prepared for the introduction of workplace assessments.

Partly

Circular 14/2003 provides a checklist that enables assessment of the state of readiness for implementing workplace assessments. It is expected that all authorities will have either addressed or be completing this.

There is a broad outline for this but the finer details have yet to be developed

The authority now needs to establish arrangements for each member of the organisation to have an individual assessment.

The fire authority fully assessed and provided for the resource implications of the implementation of IPDS.

Completely

A fully and properly costed action plan is in place and has been considered and agreed at senior management team / authority level. Costs are fully integrated into draft / final budgets for 2004/05.

The action plan has been costed and built into budgets as far as possible. Members are aware of the issues.

Overall assessment of progress in this topic area

Some progress

Key Issues

Extent to which statement met

Prescribed Guidance / best practice

Findings

The fire authority has reviewed its own use of overtime in the light of the changes.

Not at all

The authority has considered the use of overtime in the context of the draft IRMP and has sought to maximise the opportunity for increased efficiency or more flexible use of resources.

The authority has done no work in this area in relation to the development of the IRMP. However discussions with officers suggest that this has been considered to a limited extent and will be considered in detail when the risk map has been produced - Year 2 and onwards of IRMP

The fire authority has made / planned changes in the use of overtime.

Not at all

Changes in operational activity have taken place or are planned based on the assessments made. Where no changes are planned it has been clearly demonstrated that this does not represent a value for money option for the authority.

There has been no attempt to assess the financial impact.

Overall assessment of progress in this topic area

Little progress

Key Issues

Extent to which statement met

Prescribed Guidance / best practice

Findings

The fire authority has comprehensively reviewed its duty systems and considered alternative approaches.

Not at all

A review has taken place and there has been consideration by members and/or the senior management team of the outcome of the review and agreement of an action plan.

The Authority has over recent years reviewed some of the duty systems and introduced day crewing and nucleus crewing at some stations. They have also identified stations where crewing arrangements should be reviewed in future.

However an overall review of duty systems will not be considered as part of IRMP until the risk map is completed. The current plan suggests that this is unlikely to be for another 18 months or more.

If the authority is to maximise funding arrangements it will need to implement some of the more obvious changes sooner than this.

The fire authority has made / planned changes that are in accordance with the outcome of the IRMP and / or objectives of the organisation.

Not at all

Changes have either taken place or are planned that can be clearly evidenced back to a redirection of resources based on the risk assessment undertaken as part of the IRMP.

Sign up to the changes has been accepted throughout the organisation and this has been evidenced through interviews.

There has been a redirection of resources, but not as part of the IRMP - though this is planned.

Staff at all levels in the organisation recognise that Hampshire has made significant progress in this area prior to production of the IRMP and are signed up to the changes. There is, however, no clear understanding from station based staff as to how this might be progressed in future. It is considered by many in the organisation that this is a communication issue.

Staff at all levels in the organisation should be engaged in the process. An effective communication plan should be developed as a matter of urgency

Overall assessment of progress in this topic area

Little progress

Key Issues

Extent to which statement met

Prescribed Guidance / best practice

Findings

The fire authority has comprehensively reviewed its part-time working and other conditions of service and considered alternative approaches.

Partly

A review has taken place and there has been consideration by members and/or the senior management team of the outcome of the review and agreement of an action plan.

The Authority already makes quite extensive use of part time working and is committed to expand the use following the out come of the changes to the grey book. They will also consider further appropriate use of part time working in light of IRMP.

A work life balance timeline has been produced linked to a health and safety stress audit.

There is an awareness of diversity issues throughout the brigade.

The Authority has introduced recruitment initiatives focussed on attracting underrepresented groups.

The fire authority has made / planned changes that are in accordance with the outcome of the IRMP and / or objectives of the organisation.

Not at all

Changes have either taken place or are planned that can be clearly evidenced back to a redirection of resources based on the risk assessment undertaken as part of the IRMP.

Sign up to the changes has been accepted throughout the organisation and this has been evidenced through interviews.

The Authority will consider possible redirection of resources once the risk assessment part of the IRMP has been completed.

There seems to be a lack of understanding amongst station based and support staff about how the Authority is addressing this aspect of the modernisation agenda. Communication plans should to be developed.

Overall assessment of progress in this topic area

Some progress

Key Issues

Extent to which statement met

Prescribed Guidance / best practice

Findings

The fire authority has a clear and well communicated vision of what it is trying to achieve in respect of modernisation.

Partly

There is a clear and demonstrable vision that is recognised and acknowledged by stakeholders both within the organisation and beyond.

The Authority's vision is set out in the Corporate Plan. This is clearly linked to the IRMP. However the vision and aims in both documents are in general terms and do not convey a clear idea, supported by outcome targets, of what the authority is trying to achieve.

There is no clear evidence to indicate that stakeholders both internal and external have a clear and shared vision of the Modernisation Agenda

The modernisation agenda has yet to become an integral part of the culture of the organisation

There is still a tension between service delivery and business planning. This needs to be resolved with some urgency if the agenda is to be implemented.

A clear explanation of the benefits as well as the costs of the implementation of the modernisation agenda should communicated to all staff.

The fire authority has taken effective action to deliver its key early priorities.

Partly

Key early priorities have been identified and resources focused accordingly.

SMART action plans are in place that are being monitored and delivered upon.

The year one action plans do set out priorities and these actions have been resourced.

As the risk map is still in production it is not yet clear if these actions will address the key priorities.

Current action plans are not SMART. They for the most part lack outcome targets.

The fire authority has made good progress to date in delivering on key aspects of modernisation.

Partly

There are clear signs of progress against the key early priorities. This can be tangibly measured and confirmed by stakeholders both inside and outside the organisation.

All interviewees in the study considered that HRFS had already taken action in several areas covered by the modernisation agenda and was therefore well ahead of many other brigades. However they were all less clear on what remained to be done and associated plans and time tables.

The fire authority has set in place effective plans to continue to deliver its priorities, aims and objectives.

Partly

Members and senior management are well informed and focused. The next stages of progress have been clearly identified. Strengths and weaknesses have been identified and action is being taken to address areas where progress is slow. Successes are celebrated. Management attention is clearly focused on the overarching aims and objectives of the organisation with realistic and deliverable ambitions.

Key members and senior management are well informed and focused. It is, however, unclear as to how well informed all members are or how prepared they are to take the difficult decisions that now face them.

Aims and objectives for the orgainisation need to be more focused and SMART targets identified and monitored. This would facilitate identification of strengths and weakness. Successes would then be clearer and provide motivation for staff and weaknesses could be addressed.

Overall assessment of progress in this topic area

Some progress