Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report :

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) Summary of Decision Area:

1.1. This report seeks approval to the appointment of Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) to work for a four year period, as a strategic partner with Hampshire County Council, to secure an effective reduction of fire risk in the County Council's premises. This proposal looks to build on the significant success of the partnership arrangement which has been running for the last three years with HFRS.

1.2. This report also provides information in relation to arson and vandalism reduction strategies in respect of the County Council's built estate.

2) Issues Covered in Report:

2.1. Three main issues are covered in this report:

· A proposal to renew the strategic partnership between HFRS and Hampshire County Council,

· An overview of the existing strategic partnership arrangements,

· An annual review of fire/arson and vandalism strategies being applied across the County Council's built estate.

3) Recommendations:

The Panel advises the Executive Member for Policy and Resources that:

3.1. The joint funded strategic partnership between Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) and the County Council be renewed for a four year period from October 2008 to October 2012.

MAIN REPORT

1) Purpose of the Report:

1.1. The purpose of this report is to:

· Seek approval to renew the appointment of HFRS to work as a strategic partner with Hampshire County Council for a four year term from October 2008 to October 2012,

· Provide an annual review of the existing strategic partnership with HFRS,

· Provide an annual review of the arson and vandalism reduction strategy relating to the County Council's built estate.

2) Contextual Information:

2.1. The County Council's property portfolio is large, comprising some 7000 buildings across 1000 sites. The building types in the estate are diverse, ranging from historic structures to modern high tech buildings. The vast majority of buildings, whilst they were constructed to relevant standards at the time, may require adaptation and enhanced standards of local management to reflect changes in the way buildings are now used and to keep pace with the requirement of new fire safety legislation.

2.2. In October 2005 new legislation in the form of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order was introduced. This new legislation refreshed and strengthened the legal onus on the owners and occupiers of property to conduct fire risk assessments and to manage fire safety and means of escape in relation to buildings. With the number and scale of building projects undertaken by the County Council, regular engagement with the Fire Service is an ongoing requirement. Given the strong links that already existed between the County Council and HFRS the next logical step was to create a strategic partnership between the two organisations to ensure close working arrangements continued in respect of this new legislation and ongoing commitments. The benefit of such an approach has been to ensure that resources from both organisations are focussed on the highest fire and arson risk areas and optimising the available resources for delivering physical improvements regarding fire precautions in the built estate and the local fire safety management of buildings.

2.3. Over the last four years the average annual cost of arson damage is up to £2.5m. However, this is an exceptional figure due to the cost of the fire damage reinstatement at Costello College in Basingstoke at a single cost of £4.7m. Vandalism reinstatement is averaging just under £1.1m per year over the same four year period.

3) Strategic Partnership Between Hampshire County Council and Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS)

3.1. The Panel endorsed the first Strategic Partnership Agreement between the County Council and HFRS in June 2005. The main purpose of the partnership was to secure the effective reduction of fire risk in the County Council's premises and in so doing provide a response to new fire safety legislation of the time - the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The key objectives of the strategic partnership are replicated in Appendix 1 and remain as relevant today as they were in 2005.

3.2. The Panel has since endorsed arrangements for the strategic partnership in October 2006 and are now being asked to agree to renew this partnership arrangement for a further four year period between October 2008 to October 2012.

4) Annual Review of the Strategic Partnership

4.1. The partnership provides for a (joint funded) Senior Fire Officer from HFRS to be seconded to work from the County Council's offices in Property Services. Each year a joint action plan is prepared that targets the key objectives of the agreement. The governance of the partnership agreement is managed through regular joint review meetings at which departments of the County Council are represented.

4.2. There have been some notable achievements throughout the course of the current partnership agreement including:

· A reduction in the cost and number of major arson incidents in County Council buildings

· A reduction in the number of false alarms from automatic fire alarms in County Council premises

· The development of an installation strategy for sprinkler systems, on a risk assessed basis, in new and refurbished County Council buildings, (refer to information report on this matter)

· A single point of contact for Building Regulation consultation delivering better levels of consistency and faster targeted response to building development projects

· Assistance from HFRS in raising fire safety management awareness at local building manager level and throughout the County Council

· A targeted arson reduction strategy focussed on the highest agreed priorities geographically and more recently to sites targeted with higher levels of vandalism

· A significant contribution to reducing risk to County Council staff and/or persons and organisations using County Council buildings

4.3 Through the partnership, HFRS has actively engaged in the development of a new County Council Corporate Fire Safety Policy. Another significant advantage of the partnership has been the involvement of HFRS in the development of a new fire safety manual. This manual, launched in January 2008 for building users in the County Council, responds to the requirements of the new Fire Safety Order.

4.4 The success of the partnership with both organisations working jointly to target shared corporate aims will also contribute towards the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) process in 2009.

5) Annual Review of Arson and Vandalism Incidents at County Council Sites and Buildings

5.1. The graphs in appendix 2 and 3 illustrate the trends in arson and vandalism incidents over the last four years. The graph in respect of fire/arson losses is very encouraging and in 2007/08 the costs are lower than on previous years although the total number of fire/arson incidents has increased.

5.2. The partnership arrangements with HFRS is helping to raise awareness about arson and the seconded Fire Officer has now carried out arson reduction advice visits to all schools in the highest risk areas of Basingstoke and Havant. (As identified by the HFRS strategic risk profile).

5.3. The arson reduction visits are also used to identify physical arson risks associated with the location of bin stores on sites and the targeting of joint funding between Policy and Resources and Children's Services for relocating bin stores away from buildings. The latest round of arson reduction visits will target 40 sites with the highest vandalism expenditure.

5.4. It can be seen from Appendix 3 that the number and cost of vandalism incidents remain fairly static at over 2,800 incidents per year and currently cost over £1.1m. To put this into perspective, the opportunity cost of this level of vandalism expenditure is the equivalent of renewing the flat roof coverings for 20 buildings with new thermally efficient systems or replacing 20 boilers with modern energy efficient plant.

5.5. Schools remain the target for most acts of arson and vandalism and experience has shown that it is unlikely that any single measure will ever be wholly successful in combating vandalism. What works well at one site appears to have little impact at another and the reasons behind such trends are varied. Changing the behaviour of people towards public and community property would help but is difficult to achieve given the unpredictable nature of vandalism. Redirecting unauthorised persons away from buildings (creating secure fenced zones around building clusters) is helping to reduce high incidents of vandalism at some sites.

5.6. Other strategies for tackling vandalism include:

· Rapid response to dealing with vandalism

· Security patrols

· CCTV and security lighting

· Secure boundary fencing

· Anti theft measures

· Design in new buildings

5.7 Over the last two years there has been a rise in the number of thefts of copper and lead from buildings. This is due to the high price of raw materials on the open market and the consequent high price of scrap metals in the secondary market. In 2007/08 the County Council experienced 80 incidents of lead theft from it's buildings with remedial costs of £270,000 for 2008/09. These figures stand at 50 thefts and £58,000. The County Council is working with local crime prevention officers and is trialling the use of a material for marking lead with an invisible but traceable dye which fluoresces under ultraviolet light.

6) Option Analysis / Comparison:

6.1. With respect to the proposal in Paragraph 3 above, because of the unique position of HFRS having the strategic overview of fire safety in Hampshire no other option has been considered on this occasion.

7) Conclusions:

7.1. The Strategic Partnership between the County Council and HFRS is proving effective at raising awareness of fire safety in the County Council's buildings and is beginning to show good results in reducing the cost of arson to the County Council. The continuation of such a strategic partnership can only enhance the County Council's performance in respect of any future Comprehensive Area Assessment.

7.2. The cost of arson incidents involving the County Council's buildings decreased significantly in 2007/08. Vandalism incidents have also fallen in 2007/08, although the cost still remains high at over £1.1m. This is mainly due to the cost of responding to the new incidents of lead theft otherwise the underlying trend would also be downwards.

8) Summary Recommendations:

8.1. That the Panel advises the Executive Member for Policy and Resources that the proposal to renew the joint funded strategic partnership between Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and Hampshire County Council for a four year period from October 2008 to October 2012 be approved.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

COMPREHENSIVE RISK & IMPACT ASSESSMENT:

Race and Equality Impact Assessment

Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

Crime Prevention Issues

The County Council has a legal obligation under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to consider the impact of all the decisions it makes on the prevention of crime. The proposals in this report will have a positive impact on the prevention of crime, in terms of helping to reduce arson and vandalism at the County Council's properties.