Archived decisions

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority Item

26^th September 2007

Results of Public Opinion Survey 2006

Report of the Chief Officer

1

Summary

1.1

A summary of the results of the Public Opinion Survey, conducted in 2006, is appended for Members' information. The findings highlight increased public awareness and interest which in turn are driving up expectations in our service delivery.

Strategies for addressing the issues identified will centre on achieving greater engagement of the people living in our local communities. This will be achieved in a number of ways, including targeted marketing activity, targeting our resources on those people that are most at risk and community safety activity specifically focussed on safety in the home and fire safety awareness.

2

Recommendations

2.1

That Members receive the findings of the public opinion survey and endorse the strategies and actions for addressing the issues raised.

3

Introduction

3.1

The Service conducts a public opinion survey every three years (the last one was conducted in 2003). Whilst the data is used to populate Best Value Indicator (BVI) 3 (a statutory requirement) the opportunity is also taken to seek views on a range of other particular issues. Our consultation provider - Opinion Research Services (ORS) - was commissioned to undertake the survey. Other fire and rescue services (FRS) may have chosen another consultation provider or more likely used their local authority survey as a vehicle for their own (mandatory questions).

Anecdotally I understand Brigades using their local authority survey have reported an average 2% reduction in satisfaction compared with Brigades commissioning their own bespoke survey.

ORS were commissioned by a further 19 brigades to undertake this survey and the opportunity has been taken to benchmark the results where applicable.

3.2

The questionnaire was distributed to a random selection of addresses in Hampshire on 1^st September 2006. Two reminder questionnaires (as per CLG guidance) were sent out to non-responders in October 2006. The cut-off date for returned questionnaires was 30 November 2006. The survey was distributed to 3500 households and the Royal Mail returned 46 of these addresses as failed mail. The removal of failed mail reduces the sample size to 3454 from which 1382 completed questionnaires were returned, yielding a response rate of 40%.

The delay in receiving the report was due to a mix up between the Audit Commission and the CLG who had not agreed the weighting scheme ahead of the survey. I am hopeful such a delay will not be repeated in future surveys.

3.3

Executive Summary of Results

Summaries of the results together with our proposal strategy for addressing each of the main topics are detailed below. Where there are direct comparables with previous surveys they have been added in brackets. Main topic areas questioned were:

1. Satisfaction with the Fire Authority

2. Communication

3. Awareness of Fire Safety Messages

4. Fire Risk Awareness

5. Fire Safety in the Home

6. Careers in the Fire and Rescue Service

3.4

Your Fire Authority

62% of people report they are satisfied with the way HFRA runs things. 37% reported that they were neither satisfied or dissatisfied, and only 1% feel dissatisfied (2003 - 66%, 2000 - 72%).

66% of people are satisfied with the service provided by HFRA. Only 1% are dissatisfied (BVI 3 related question).

6% of people report that they or a family member have used the fire and rescue service provided by HFRA in the last 12 months.

Proposed strategy: Despite a huge increase in HFRS `visibility' in the community via such initiatives as Home Fire Safety Visits, and a marked increase in positive media coverage in local print and broadcast media, public expectation is rising ever faster. We propose to increase public awareness through regular and focussed advertisements in the popular press highlighting the successes of the Authority as part of wider Public Relations campaigns.

3.5

Communication

Many people report they do not feel well informed about what HFRS spends its money on, whether HFRS is delivering on its promises or how well HFRS is performing.

The majority of people have positive perceptions of HFRS.

57% of people would like to access information about HFRS through local newspapers, others via mail/ letters, the HFRS website or leaflets.

13% of people have had contact with HFRS in the last 12 months. Almost all (91%) report they were happy with the response they received the last time they were in contact with HFRS.

Proposed Strategy: We will use this external research to inform the development of an updated Corporate Marketing & Communications Strategy in 2008. We will also continue to move forward with work to update our visual identity, to build on the positive public perceptions which have been highlighted in this report.

3.6

Awareness of Fire Safety Messages

70% of people can recall having seen or heard a fire safety message in the past 12 months. Of the respondents 71% saw the message on the television.

The most common messages which people recalled were about smoke alarms/ detectors, firework safety and smoking.

Almost 100% understood the message and 99% understood what they had to do to improve their safety from fire.

Proposed Strategy: From 4 September 2007 the management of Community Safety (CS will become fully integrated within the new Service Delivery structure. The CS management team have identified a number of priorities that will be addressed through the next IRMP in 2008, one of which will focus specifically on safety in the home and fire safety awareness. The findings of this Survey will provide useful intelligence to inform the action plans that support the IRMP and shape how we focus our CS resources. For example, the specific information on smoke detector ownership and testing will help us to determine how to ensure that the 95% of homes fitted with smoke detectors will continue to benefit from the protection to life that they provide.

Television advertisements are a key way of raising awareness and increasing understanding of fire safety messages but are prohibitively expensive. We will therefore continue to develop our team of duty press officers and photographers who successfully capitalise on incident led opportunities to achieve positive coverage on local TV news.

3.7

Fire Risk Awareness

The majority of people believe cigarettes and chip pans are among the most common causes of house fires (same in 2003).

90% of people report they feel safe from the risk of fire in their home. Only 2% feel unsafe from the risk of fire.

Proposed Strategy: This again links with the areas outlined above. We already run community safety campaigns that focus on the risks of smoking in the home and chip pan fires. The next step is to evaluate these current campaigns and activities and to target those people most at risk to educate them about these dangers.

3.8

Fire Safety in Your Home

1% of people have had a fire at their home in the past 12 months. Of those who had a fire at their home, 34% called the FRS. 40% report they or a member of their household attempted to tackle the fire prior to calling the FRS.

95% of people (2003 - 90%) have at least one smoke alarm in their home. 45% of people (2003 - 58%) test their smoke alarms at least once a month, but 6% report they test their smoke alarms less than once a year or they never test them.

46% (2003 - 63%, 2000 - 70% ) of people have a planned escape route from their home in the event of fire. However, 19% of people take none of the fire safety precautions highlighted in the survey in their home.

11% of people report a chip pan is used in their home. If there was a chip pan fire in their home, the majority of people report they would use a damp cloth to cover it (84%) or turn off the power to the pan (81%).

16% of people have had a Home Fire Safety Visit from their FRS in their current home.

32% of people have taken action to improve fire safety in their home in the last 12 months. Many others report they feel their current fire safety measures are sufficient or they do not feel at risk from fire in their home.

Proposed Strategy: The Service Delivery Directorate has identified a number of priorities that will be addressed through the next IRMP in 2008, one of which will focus specifically on safety in the home and fire safety awareness. These findings will provide useful intelligence to inform the actions plans that support the IRMP and shape how we focus our CS resources. For example, the specific information on smoke detector ownership and testing will help us to determine how to ensure that those 95% of homes fitted with smoke detectors will continue to benefit from the protection to life that they provide.

We will continue to promote these messages through our proactive media work and will incorporate more specific campaigns to raise awareness of these messages into our refreshed Marketing and Communications Strategy in 2008.

3.9

Careers in your Fire and Rescue Service

Many people feel people with disabilities are unsuited to working as firefighters. A small minority feel women are also unsuited to working as firefighters in the FRS.

25% of people would consider being involved in non-emergency projects with the Fire and Rescue Service on a voluntary basis.

Proposed Strategy: We need to make it clear we are an equal opportunity employer and we welcome applications from all members of society. The latter point is an interesting issue for us as we focus more on partnership working. We are expanding this idea in greater detail by building on our existing community engagement strategy by recruiting a voluntary workforce to support key areas of activity within Service Delivery.

3.10

Benchmarking Comparisons

The benchmarking comparisons between HFRS, and the other 19 FRS in England for whom ORS conducted the survey in 2006, highlight those areas where HFRS does either better or worse than average (based on the ranking of its scores on key indicators).

_ Hampshire was ranked in the top 5 for 5 of the 22 indicators and was ranked top in 2 cases.

_ Hampshire was ranked significantly above average for 4 of the 22 indicators.

_ Hampshire was ranked bottom 5 for 5 of the 22 indicators.

_ Hampshire was ranked significantly below average for 1 of the 22 indicators.

_ From all the indicators, Hampshire performs best on indicators relating to fire safety in the home.

Appendix A shows the comparison between HFRS and the other 19 FRSs and our ranking between 1 and 20.

4.

Contributing to Corporate Aims and Objectives

4.1

There is a statutory requirement to obtain the `percentage of citizens satisfied with the overall service provided'. This forms the basis of BV1 3 which in turn underpins our corporate aim to be in the top 10 fire and rescue services in the Country.

5.

Equality Impact Assessment

5.1

Given the random nature of the questionnaire distribution, it is difficult to be certain the survey reaches every social classification in the correct ratio.

However the report is weighted to ensure true representation of the people in Hampshire.

Gender:

Male = 44.6%

Female = 55.4%

Ethnic Groups:

White:

96.9%

Mixed:

0.7%

Asian or Asian British:

1.1%

Black or Black British:

0.5%

Chinese or other:

0.8%

Other categories of responders included employment status, household type, tenure, age and long standing illnesses.

6.

Background information (Section 100D of Local Government Act 1972)

6.1

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:

2006 Public Opinion Survey commissioned from Opinion Research Services (Swansea).

Note:

The list excludes: (1) published works; and (2) documents that disclose exempt or confidential information defined in the Act.

Indicator

Our Score

2006

National Score

2006

Our Rank

Score out of 100 - 100 is best

Rank out of 20 - 1 is best

YOUR FIRE AUTHORITY

How Authority runs things

75

75

12

Service provided by Authority

76

76

11

COMMUNICATION

Informed about money

49

52

17

Informed about standard of service

61

64

17

Informed about delivery of promises

55

57

17

Informed about performance

57

60

17

Informed about services provided

58

61

18

Feel FRS working to make area safer

77

78

15

Feel FRS efficient and well run

71

72

14

Feel FRS trustworthy

77

78

15

Feel FRS approachable

76

76

11

Feel FRS listens to concerns of residents

69

70

13

Feel FRS acts in best interests of residents

75

76

13

Feel FRS treats everyone fairly

75

76

13

Feel FRS works well with other agencies

73

74

14

Feel FRS good value for money

72

72

12

FIRE SAFETY MESSAGES

Seen or heard fire safety message

70

66

2

FIRE SAFETY IN HOME

Smoke alarms on every level

75

66

1

Planned escape route

46

44

5

Fire extinguisher

23

19

3

Fire blanket

14

9

1

Home fire safety check

15

16

10