Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority

Performance Review & Scrutiny Committee Item 11

27 February 2009

The change in duty system at Winchester Fire Station from day-crewing to continuously-crewing

Report of the Chief Officer

Contact: Steve Trevethick, Group Manager, 01962 870230, [email protected]

Dave Turner, Station Manager, 01962 870230, [email protected]

1

Summary

1.1

The change of duty system at Winchester Fire Station from day crewing (DC) to continuously crewing (CC) in October 2007 has already resulted in some significant improvements compared with the previous year (October 2006 to September 2007). Performance data shows the first year of operation (October 2007 to September 2008):

· arson has reduced by 18%

· home fire safety visits have increased by 42%

· response times to incidents has improved by 12.5%.

1.2

Feedback from the personnel at Winchester shows they have embraced the change fully. This has resulted in a more family friendly working pattern, high morale and increased productivity over a range of activities including Workplace Assessments, Home Fire Safety Visits (HFSV's)and Environmental Visual Audits (EVA's).

2

Recommendation

2.1

That the improvements in service delivery resulting from the change in crewing arrangements at Winchester Fire Station since October 2007 be noted.

3

Introduction and Background

3.1

The change in crewing arrangements at Winchester Fire Station was a corporate objective in the 2006 Integrated Risk Management Plan. It was implemented on 1^st October 2007.

3.2

A Project Team comprising all key stakeholders was formed to manage the change of all three DC stations being Winchester, Andover and Havant to the continuously crewed duty system. This would ensure the stations were crewed full time as opposed to being crewed by wholetime duty system firefighters during weekdays with back up from retained duty system (RDS) firefighters at evenings and weekends.

3.3

The Project Board was tasked with ensuring the production and implementation of a plan covering premises, human resources and finances, with expectations of improved performance in a range of key areas including improved response times, more HFSVs & EVA's, and generally more community fire safety activities.

3.4

This report summarises the improvements achieved in the first year of operation.

4

Outcomes

4.1

The change in duty system - with personnel now on active duty at nights and weekends - has enabled greater opportunity to engage in community safety activities. The best example being the increase in Home Fire Safety Visits (HFSVs) from 438 in 2007 to 736 in 2008 - an increase of 42%.

4.2

Additional activities now undertaken by crews also include:

· 52 EVA's to reduce arson

· Excess of 20 targetted Road Safety activities

· Participation in the Junior Citizen scheme

4.3

Response times to incidents have improved. Peak call times in Winchester occur in the early evening when under the day crewing arrangements Winchester were on a retained five minute turnout. This change has resulted in an improvement in our attendance target LPI20a (8/80) and our turnout time has improved by 12.5%.

4.4

Since the change from day crewing to continuous crewing the demand for the station to attend emergency calls has reduced by 16.6% :

· Oct 2006 - Sept 2007 = 894

· Oct 2007 - Sept 2008 = 749

4.5

It is recognised that the factors affecting emergency call rates are wide and varied, however, it is also acknowledged that the additional community safety and intervention activities that the station personnel are involved in can only have a positive influence on this reduction.

5

Staffing improvements

5.1

Firefighters at Winchester were asked to comment on the change on year one and the following two replies were typical. "The DC system was onerous on staff and their families". "Although it attracted an enhanced payment, personnel were restricted to remaining within four minutes of the station for sometimes five days at a time". It is also acknowledged that the CC system is also compliant with the Working Time Directive.

5.2

The change in duty system enables supervisory managers to better organise training and community safety events. This is reflected in all new watches achieving `Grade A' in their Work Assessment Audits. It means we can arrange HFSV's in the evenings and weekends to meet the needs of the house occupiers.

5.3

The four-watch duty system means that each firefighter is likely to attend fewer incidents. This can result in it taking longer for firefighters to complete some aspects of their development programme. This is a problem common to the four-watch system and becomes a particular issue on stations with comparably lower numbers of emergency calls.

5.4

The DC system attracted a number of benefits to those working that style of shift. These included, Service housing/rent and mortgage allowance, RDS salary with turnout fees resulting in personnel receiving payments in addition to their basic salary. These payments were in recognition of the system they worked and the restrictions imposed upon them. When the station changed to CC, these additional benefits ceased. To compensate for this the Service made a one off transitional payment of £10,000 to each individual affected, and provided additional travel costs for one year where these increased.

5.5

Not scoped explicitly within the project but managed locally during the change was the personal effect on the DC firefighters and their families. People had to move home, children had to change schools and some spouses had to change or leave employment.

5.6

20 firefighters were transferred to Winchester from Redbridge Fire Station in October 2007. Although initially concerned about the move, most appear to have settled quickly to create effective and professional watches - describing themselves as being positive, motivated, and Winchester Fire Station as a good place to work.

5.7

For the transferred individuals the change has increased travel distance to work for many. Additional travelling costs were paid for by the service for their first year. Additional time taken to travel to work, child care arrangements where their partners work, and the financial cost after one year are the major concern of these firefighters. For this reason seven of the 27 posted staff applied for transfers to their nearest station to home. Currently none have been granted transfers as there are no vacancies at their chosen stations, and it is likely they will remain at Winchester for the foreseeable future. However the Appointments, Transfers and Promotion Panel are aware of these requests and have undertaken to action them expediently, balancing the needs of the service and personnel requests. Recognising this adverse impact on staff following feedback from consultation it has been agreed to give further consideration to transitional travel arrangements for any similar projects in the future.

5.8

The requests for transfers out of Winchester were anticipated by the Project Group. With time, this situation will change with more personnel particularly new entrants and transferee's being posted to Winchester. This change will occur over a number of years and with it will come increased stability. In the short term the current request for transfers from Winchester due to travel distance and time will remain.

5.9

The prohibitive cost of housing within Winchester (Highest UK house price in relation to average wage), excluded most of the existing DC personnel and transferred firefighters from buying local housing in the city. This wage to house price condition may also affect the expectation made in 5.8 of personnel moving to the Winchester area.

5.10

The change in duty system has had an impact on the retained duty system (RDS) section at Winchester. Under the former arrangements the RDS represented 50% of the workforce. They would `mix-crew' appliances with the wholetime personnel. This in turn helped to build a very close working relationship between the retained and wholetime firefighters. We were concerned about this, but it is pleasing to report that good relationships have been maintained and, one year on, there is good interactivity with positive impacts on training and team working.

6

Contribution to Corporate Aims and Objectives

6.1

This review of the change in duty system at Winchester Fire Station from day crewing to continuously crewing completes objective RE1 from our 2006/09 IRMP.

7

Resource Implications

7.1

Human Resources

The stations establishment was increased from 17 operational personnel to 44 to accommodate the new shift system. Seven of these personnel came from stations countywide and were identified from the voluntary transfer list. The remaining 20 personnel were relocated from Redbridge. This resulted in an establishment of four watches of 11 personnel.

The increase in Winchester's establishment was largely resourced by the change in the crewing arrangements at Redbridge and the re-deployment of existing personnel.

7.2

Physical Resources

The station was refurbished to accommodate the needs of a continuously crewed duty system. In the knowledge that the station would be relocated to Winnall in 2010, the extent of the works was kept to the minimum possible. The alterations were discussed in detail with the personnel. This was important in the smooth transition to the new system. The firefighters continued to operate successfully from the site despite the significant disruption to the day to day running of the station caused by the building works.

7.3

Financial Implications

The building works cost approximately £188,000.

The cost of running Winchester Fire Station increased from £932,654 in 2006/07 to £1,710,890 in 2007/08. This covered factors such as:

· An increase in the cost of establishment

· transitional allowances made to former day crewing staff as one off payments

· travel allowances

The running costs of the retained section has reduced from £137,000 to £106,000 due to the reduction in the number of calls attended by them.

7.4

Winchester's wholetime establishment went from 17 to 44 personnel which meant an increase in station salary costs of 27 posts, however the reduction of Redbridge's establishment resulted in a decrease in station salary costs of 20 posts and seven from other areas.

8

People Impact Assessment

8.1

This assessment was completed by the Project Manager. A positive outcome from this process was, enhanced female and male shower facilities, ensuring that the station could support the needs of a wide variety of personnel.

8.2

The proposals within this report are considered compatible with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Human Rights Act 1998, and the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.

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

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:

None

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