Archived decisions

FIRE AND RESCUE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT FOR 2006

1. The Authority has considered a report by the Chief Officer summarising the outcomes of the Fire and Rescue Performance Assessment for 2006. A presentation on the item has also been received. Over the last two years, fire authorities have undergone their most comprehensive audit and assessment to date.

2. The Comprehensive Performance Assessment in 2005 resulted in the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority (HFRA) being awarded a rating of "good". In 2006, the Audit Commission introduced a further round of assessment involving all fire and rescue authorities in the United Kingdom. It was based on four levels of achievement, a score of `1' being the lowest, indicating inadequate performance, and a score of `4' being the highest, indicating the Authority is performing strongly. There were three separate but linked areas of assessment:-

· Service Assessment

This looked at how effectively the Service plans and responds to emergencies and incidents in the local community, including house fires, accidents and acts of terrorism. The assessment also looked at performance indicators, such as the numbers and types of fires, deaths, injuries, false alarms and arson attacks. HFRS was one of only 11 out of 45 fire and rescue services to be given the top category score of `4', indicating that the service is "performing strongly". This gives an important indication of how effectively the service is protecting its communities in the way it responds to fires and other emergencies.


· Use of Resources

This is designed to show how the Authority manages its financial and asset management arrangements - focusing on how well it plans and manages its resources and achieves value for money. HFRA was judged to be at level `3' "performing well".


· Direction of Travel

This is intended to show how well the Authority is modernising and focusing its activity on preventing fires and other emergencies from happening in the first place. It included an assessment of community education projects, working in partnership with charities and other agencies and addressing equality and diversity issues. HFRA was one of 22 authorities to achieve a score of `3', indicating it is "performing well". Only one authority was given the top rating of "improving strongly".

3. The Authority has congratulated the Chief Officer and all staff on the successful outcome of the Fire and Rescue Performance Assessment for 2006 and thanked those Members who had been particularly involved, for their efforts. It provides clear evidence that the Authority is amongst the top 10 of high performing fire and rescue authorities in the country. Those items identified for improvement as a result of the Performance Assessment have been included in the Authority's Improvement Planning Register and will be reviewed by Members and Principal Officers every six weeks and reported to the Authority annually.