Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority

Performance Review Scrutiny Committee Item 9

27 February 2009

Learning from our presence at Popley Fields

Report by the Chief Officer

Contact: Tom Carr, Group Manager

Telephone: 07918 887576

Email: [email protected]

1

Summary

1.1

The Popley Fields Community Centre (PFCC) initiative was designed to raise the profile of Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service in a local area, with the purpose of reducing risk with the use of local resources and the provision of an alternative location from which to provide an operational response.

1.2

A resource from Basingstoke Fire Station is moved to Popley Fields between the hours of 1400-2100, each day to respond to incidents and engage in community safety activities (detailed within section 5).

1.3

In January 2009 during a review of the strategic assessment for Basingstoke & Deane's Community Safety Plan, the following areas were highlighted as the areas for improvement, which require further multi-agency activities to reduce criminal damage including arson:

Urban - Town Centre, Norden and Brighton Hill

Rural - Tadley

It was pleasing to note that Popley Fields is not identified as an area highlighted as for improvement, which may partly be due to our presence at this site, however these other areas clearly require our attention.

2

Recommendation

2.1

That the Committee note the conclusions of this report, and support the ongoing review of Basingstoke.

3

Introduction and Background

3.1

In 2004, as part of a new approach to Integrated Risk Management Planning, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service embarked on a pilot scheme to deploy a fire appliance and crew from Basingstoke Fire Station to Popley Fields Community Centre during times of high operational activity. The intention of the project was to use our resources in a new and innovative way to reduce the risk of fires and anti-social behaviour. This initiative reflected the need for our Fire and Rescue Service to change its priorities and become more customer focused. This flexible method of deploying a resource to a local community highlighted our awareness of the issues in a specific area and find better ways of engaging with local people.

3.2

3.3

The intended aim of the trial to deploy a water tender and crew to the Popley Fields site between 1400 to 2100 hours daily was to:

o Provide community engagement in an area of identified risk

o Reduce arson in the immediate community

o Improve response times to and where, it has proved difficult to achieve attendance to emergencies within eight minutes on 80% of all occasions

Ongoing wider review of Basingstoke.

An ongoing review is due to conclude in March 2009. The review is considering the location of Basingstoke Fire Station, alternative methods of responding to specific incidents, crewing arrangements and take into account the boroughs strategic assessment.

4

Responding

4.1

Basingstoke's fire ground is approximately 90 square miles, consisting of dwellings, large and small industrial units, a large shopping complex, leisure facilities and a proportion of rural area. The area also has many main arterial road routes including the M3 motorway, which attracts a large number of incidents. The main operational activity is between 0800 and 2300 hours, peaking at approximately 1700 hours.

4.2

Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service North Hampshire Emergency Cover Review conducted in 2005, reported that although most incidents were within the town centre area, there were clusters of incidents in the Oakley (west) and Chineham (north east) areas, noticeably secondary fires. The report highlighted that the incidents attended in over eight minutes were due to the greater travel distances outside the town centre.

5

Preventing

5.1

Our regular attendance at Popley has provided an ideal opportunity for engagement with the local community in order to drive down risk with regards to community safety. It has also provided a vehicle in which to engage with young people and influence them against participation in anti-social behaviour. Feedback from the Popley Fields Committee and staff that manage the site, has informed us that they believe our work has benefited the local community.

5.2

Some of the activities we have been involved in are:

o Partnership working with Popley staff, Police, Wardens and the Resident Association

o Youth interaction

o Face to face interaction with local residents at Popley Fields Community Centre

o Home Fire Safety referrals and visits

o Organised events

o Delivery of national and local campaigns

o Articles in community newsletters and journals

5.3

Over the three year period since relocating the pump at Popley, primary vehicle fires have decreased by 40%. (From baseline data 2004/05). This has resulted in an 19% overall decrease in the total number of primary fires attended in the Basingstoke area.

Secondary fires in the Basingstoke area have increased by 28.4% since the move to Popley. This compares to a 21% reduction across the county as a whole.

Total incidents of arson have increased by 13% in the Basingstoke area. However the area has seen a reduction in both primary and secondary vehicle arson.

6

Contribution to corporate aims and objectives

6.1

Fire & Rescue Plan Objective 18 - `Learning from our presence at Popley Fields'.

7

Risk Analysis

7.1

By producing this report to the authority on the learning and development of our presence at Popley Fields we have mitigated the risk associated with failing to capture the outcome of the trial.

8

Resource Implications

8.1

The ongoing wider review of Basingstoke has resource implications for human, physical and Information Technology. Financial implications will be dependant upon the outcome of the review and will need to be incorporated into the corporate planning process

9

People Impact Assessment

9.1

People Impact Assessment completed in September 2008.

9.2

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.

10

Consultation

10.1

Popley Fields Community Centre Committee.

During our meeting with the Chair and Secretary of the Popley Fields Committee the following points were highlighted:

o Popley is expected to grow from 8,000 to 16,000 dwellings over the next five years

o Residents were concerned about the distance of the main fire station

o Local youths have respect for the Fire and Rescue Service, which has developed since their presence in Popley

o The committee believe that a Fire and Rescue Service presence has made a positive impact on the area

o They were led to believe that a permanent facility was being planned

o A shared facility with other partners was an option

o Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service will need an exit strategy

10.2

Basingstoke Crews

Our staff recognise that the initiative has provided a visible presence in the Popley area and good interaction between residents and the Service. They also believe that community safety initiatives throughout Basingstoke has reduced calls significantly in all areas of the town, not just Popley.

Local managers and crews at Basingstoke were consulted on the review making the following comments:

o Good partnership working to tackle anti social behaviour

o Good community interaction, although this is not always possible as Popley Fields Community Centre has the same groups revisiting

o Welfare arrangements at the site are limited

o Watch training requires careful planning and on occasions can be disruptive (Workplace Assessments are achieving targets)

o Fire appliance is in public view but the temporary station is at the rear of the Community Centre and they believe in the wrong position

o Extra security measures fitted to the appliance, which provides issues when it needs to be changed with another vehicle

o Current arrangements at Popley impacts on the work routine

Our crews are not convinced that Popley Fields Community Centre is the right location as other areas are now identified as providing more anti-social behaviour and fire issues.

A more flexible solution should be considered to drive down risk in the Basingstoke area.

Crews expressed concern in relation to the negative impact of an exit strategy.

11

Conclusion

11.1

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service have learnt valuable lessons from the Popley Fields experiment. The relocation of the pump from Basingstoke Fire Station to Popley Fields community centre has improved the attendance time to emergency incidents in the Basingstoke area. It has also shown improvement on the target of attending 80% of emergency incidents within eight minutes. Although the target has not been achieved, the Basingstoke area is above the county average, and has improved since the Popley pump was relocated. In 2007/8 Basingstoke crews attended 77.14% of emergency incidents, whilst the county as a whole attended 70.83%.

Incidents of arson have increased in the Basingstoke area - but vehicle arson has been reduced.

It is our intention to target our resources more effectively in the future and group managers will have a greater autonomy on how this will be achieved at a local level.

11.2

The moving of a resource to a temporary location at Popley Fields Community Centre has proven beneficial, working in the heart of a community, driving down the risk through partnership working. Interaction with the local community through a variety of activities has provided trust, especially with young people in the area.

11.3

The general feeling amongst managers and crews at Basingstoke is that a more flexible way of working within the whole Basingstoke area would be more effective than concentrating resources in Popley alone, especially on occasions when the community centre site is closed.

11.4

We would conclude that the review of our current arrangements at the Popley Fields Community Centre site, should be incorporated into the wider review of Basingstoke, taking into account the predicted growth of the area, the current condition of the fire station, its location, and the method of responding to the identified risks within the fireground and the surrounding area. We should consider the findings of the Borough's Strategic Assessment, where areas of concern have been highlighted and by using our experience at Popley Fields work with our partners to reduce the risk in identified neighbourhoods, using resources in a flexible manner evidenced by Service and Borough information.

12

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

12.1

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 :

HFRS Emergency Cover Review - North - 2003/05

Station 15 Popley Fields Community Centre - IRMP Project (StnO Coates), Nov 2005

Stn 15 Popley, 12 Month Report (SM Thurman), May 2006

Report on Community Interaction at Stn 15 (GM Wittcomb), February 2007

SMT Report (AM Butcher), 4^th June 2007

Report on Community Interaction at Stn 15 (Process Evolution)