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1 |
Summary |
1.1 |
Objective 09 in The Fire and Rescue Service Plan 2008 - 2011 identifies the requirement to undertake a review of home safety. Objective 15 gave a commitment for RDS to participate in delivering home fire safety visits (HFSV) as part of their community safety activities for the year 2008 - 2009. This paper discusses the objectives separately to determine the effectiveness of each, but brings them together to formulate the strategy for home safety for 2009 - 2010. This strategy is based upon lessons learnt, and utilises the progress made in risk intelligence, which allows us to better target our resources to achieve maximum effect in reducing risk in the community. |
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2 |
Recommendation(s) |
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2.1 |
The Committee note the contents of the evaluations and acknowledge the achievements of completing 20,000 HFSV's in 2008-2009. |
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2.2 |
The Committee note the revised strategy for Home Safety Visits (HSV) for 2009-2010. |
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3 |
Introduction and Background |
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3.1 4 4.1 |
HFRS commenced a programme of Home Fire Safety Visits (HFSV) in 2001 and since that time a number of delivery strategies have been implemented to enable HFRS to conduct this core activity. The strategy for 2008-09 aimed to deliver 20,000 HFSV's. This target was achieved by utilising a number of delivery options, RDS personnel, Whole-time fire-fighters, Green Book personnel and personnel from partner organisations external to HFRS. Home Safety Evaluation HFRS has supported HFSV since 2001, initially this was funded within the annual budget, however in 2005, Central Government grant funding was made available to encourage Fire and Rescue Services to escalate this activity across the country. Since that time HFSV have been considered a core activity and although specific grant funding has ceased, it is expected that this activity will remain a core activity of HFRS. |
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4.2 |
Year Completed Home Safety Visits 2001 161 2002 1089 2003 3240 2004 8738 2005 16238 2006 21296 2007 22858 2008 20 500 Source - Community Fire Risk Management Information System. (CFRMIS). |
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4.3 |
In total we have delivered over 80,000 Home Safety Visits and fitted over 190,000 smoke detectors. |
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4.4 |
Initially there was a `blanket' approach in delivering HFSV's but in 2007 we targeted identified groups to maximise the effectiveness of our resources. The identified groups were: · People over the age of 60, · Children under the age of 5, · Single occupants, · Households where occupants have a disability, · Households where English is not the first spoken language, · Low income households,
And anyone who does not have a working smoke detector, |
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4.5 |
HFRS performance indicators identify that we have significantly reduced the number of dwelling fires and injuries as a result of fire. Unfortunately fire deaths do not show the same reduction and in the year 2008-2009 there was an increase on the previous year. However, an evaluation on the effectiveness of HFSV has been completed by GreenStreet Berman Ltd on behalf of the CLG and this report concluded that nationally HFSV's have had a positive impact on the reduction on fire deaths and supported our own findings on the reduction of dwelling fires and injuries. Whilst HFSV's have played a major part in the reduction of primary fires and injuries, account must be taken of other factors; the impact that national and local campaigns and schools education have had and the increase in safety standards with regards to electrical goods and furniture. Whilst a targeted approach has been adopted in later years, in reality this was difficult to achieve as there was limited intelligence available. This resulted in some visits being completed in areas which did not necessarily reflect the risk. Group Managers and other HFRS personnel felt that the activity was driven by numbers utilising a `blanket' approach as opposed to driven by risk and having a target of 2 HFSV per pump, per day, affected their ability to effectively identify, engage with and deliver the quality of service to the most at risk in their station/group. |
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4.6 |
Over previous years the strategy and delivery mechanisms were driven centrally from HFRS Headquarters. The findings indicate that the responsibility for any HFSV delivery strategy should sit with the Group Managers as they are best placed to manage and coordinate this activity in their group utilising their resources in the most effective and innovative way. |
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5 |
Evaluation of RDS delivering Community Safety |
5.1 |
RDS play a vital role within their own community with regards to local knowledge and community engagement. In the past they have played a part in community risk reduction by delivering community safety messages at local events such as fetes. In the main this has been without financial payment or reward. The provision of RDS delivering HFSV's involved significant cost implications. But this has to be balanced against the contribution to the local community as a whole in terms of risk reduction and place shaping. The following is an indication of the costs compared to WDS personnel for delivering HFSV's: · The cost to the organisation for RDS personnel to deliver 1 Home Safety Visit is £119.95 and · The cost for WDS personnel to deliver 1 Home Safety Visit is £15.72.
In addition to the financial implications the following areas were identified: · Transport to undertake HFSV was an issue as there were insufficient vans to be available at all RDS stations. The Logistics of moving vans between stations and for this to link with the availability of personnel proved difficult, · Referral generation was difficult as RDS stations had little or no scope to generate their own referrals and therefore on occasion there was not sufficient referrals to sustain targets. · The availability of RDS personnel to undertake HFSV did not correspond with the availability of the recipients.
The outcome of this evaluation is that RDS personnel should be flexible and balanced against their availability, business cases and available budget. Group Managers are ideally placed to determine how RDS personnel should be used to best effect in terms of risk reduction. |
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6 |
Proposed Revised Strategy - Home Safety Visits (HSV) |
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6.1 6.2 |
Through the development of our strategy we recognise that there is far more scope to deliver safety in the home outside of fire related issues. To recognise this change the term Home Safety Visit (HSV) has replaced HFSV. With the progress made in risk intelligence we will target our resources at those we identify to be most at risk from fire. Work has been conducted by Community Risk Intelligence (CRI) that risk profiles station grounds in terms of socio-economic groups regarding accidental dwelling fires. This information is compiled and supplied to Group Managers in the form of addresses for each station ground within their group. It is essential that the delivery of the home safety visit activity focuses on the risk. |
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6.3 |
For the purpose of performance management each group has been supplied with a minimum target for HSV's. This is based upon the ability for each group to deliver and the available budget for the purchase of the smoke detectors. However no maximum has been set and Group Managers may secure external funding and resources to deliver over and above these targets. The visits for each group are as follows, Group Target New Forest North 307 New Forest South 307 Havant Group 595 Portsmouth 2035 Fareham & Gosport 955 Southampton 2035 Eastleigh and Test Valley 955 Winchester 595 East Hants 307 Rushmoor and Hart 955 Basingstoke and Deane 955 Total 10,001 A minimum target for the year has been set at 10001 for the whole of the county. The provision of smoke detectors will be two per visit and these will be purchased centrally. |
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6.4 |
In order to support Group Managers a new team will be based centrally at SHQ. This team will consist of a Station Manager, a Watch Manager and five CSA's. The team will develop, audit, provide guidance, set policy and support the delivery of the revised strategy across the county. Delivery Group Managers can utilise the 5 Community Safety Advisor's to assist with their delivery strategies, and those with only RDS resources will receive priority. |
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6.5 |
A Group Manager with the appropriate information is best placed to implement and resource the home safety strategy, this will also ensure that resources are used most effectively. |
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6.6 |
There will be no specific central funding for RDS to deliver this activity. If Group Managers decide to use RDS personnel they must fund it through the group community safety budget. |
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6.7 |
HFRS recognise we can have an impact on a number of the National Indicators identified in the Local Area Agreement and that HSV's will be influential across some of these indicators. We will ensure that we consider these indicators in further developing an delivering HSV's. |
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6.8 |
It is recognised that partnerships can play a vital role in assisting HFRS to reduce incidents of fires, deaths and injuries. It is also recognised that HFRS have a responsibility to pass on information to other agencies and we are introducing a Safeguarding Scheme for children and other vulnerable groups that we encounter. We will continue to develop partnership working and delivering our services through other agencies. In particular we will: |
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· Identify social/health issues of the occupant during a HSV and take the appropriate action, · Tailor information given during a HSV to suit the needs of the occupant/s, · Tailor the equipment supplied dependent on the needs of the occupant/s, such as remote testing alarms, alarms linked to call centres, · Undertake follow up visits to at risk occupants. · Work holistically with other partners/agencies to comprehensively reduce the risk to the occupant, · Use the Service Delivery Risk Register reduce risk in areas other than fire related. For example, Road Safety and Water Safety.
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7 |
Contribution to Corporate Priorities 2009-2012 |
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7.1 |
The revised HSV Strategy will have a positive impact on the following: Property, · By 2012 the number of fires in buildings will reduce by 20% · By 2012 the number of deliberate fires will reduce by 20%
Communities, · We will be publicly recognised as an active and effective partner in our work to reduce community risks
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8 |
Risk Analysis |
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8.1 |
Using local knowledge and risk intelligence will ensure that we contribute to addressing the following risks in the Strategic Risk Register: · Failure to identify and react to demographic changes in risk profiles, · Failure of the service to adequately reflect and understand our diverse communities and as a result fail to deliver our services appropriately.
The Service Delivery Risk Register has a specific area for dwelling fires. This ensures that the safety of people within their homes remains a high priority. |
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9 |
Resource Implications |
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9.1 |
Human Resources |
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The resource implications of the new HSV Strategy will be within the existing human resources. The home safety team will consist of one Station Manager, one Watch Manager and five Community Safety Advisors. This re-structure will allow two WM posts to be made available for Road Safety activities. |
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9.2 |
Physical Resources |
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Not applicable. |
9.3 |
Environmental |
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The targeted approach of 10000 HSV's will reduce by 50% the number of journeys made compared to the previous year. This should also improve the performance outcome of our efforts. Group Managers having greater control over their resources will ensure they are being used most effectively. |
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9.4 |
Information and Communications Technology Resources |
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There is an issue around the current data held within CFRMIS and data cleansing will be required in some areas to ensure that we can accurately identify at risk groups through MOSAIC and other risk intelligence tools. |
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9.5 |
Financial Implications |
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A budget has been set for £260,000 for CS activities for 2009-10, · £130,000 for the purchasing of smoke detectors and associated equipment. · £130,000 devolved to Group Managers to access for delivery of all community safety within their group.
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10 |
People Impact Assessment for new HSV Strategy |
10.1 |
This has been completed and the outcomes are as follows, · Monitor requests from the public for translation of fire safety information, verbal and written. · Develop partnerships with organisations who are more able and better equipped to provide specialist equipment for people who require it. · Develop our ability to engage with other equality groups. · Regular monitoring of activity regarding Gender, Age, Race, Disability, Religion/Belief and sexual orientation.
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10.2 |
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. |
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11 |
Consultation |
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10.1 |
Full consultation regarding the new strategy took place with stakeholders which included Union officials (FBU, RFBU and UNISON). |
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12 |
Conclusion |
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12.1 12.2 |
Group Managers being responsible for delivering HSV in their groups will focus their activity towards greatest risk and utilising local resources effectively will also ensure they are more conscious and accountable for costs. Local knowledge used in conjunction with data from CRI will enable Group Managers to deliver HSV's in the areas that are most at risk. They will also know the capability of their resources and appropriate strategies can be devised and implemented according to capacity. Whilst these strategies need to be driven and monitored by the Group Manager, guidance and support will be provided from the home safety team at SHQ. Although it was highlighted that RDS staff are relatively expensive to deliver HSV's this has to be balanced against the available resources for Group Managers who have a high proportion of RDS stations within their group. In addition it is recognised that RDS personnel have a vital role to play within their community. This new strategy allows for Group Managers to deploy RDS personnel in areas of greatest need and they maybe utilised to deliver a range of community safety activities for which funding is available within the overall budget allocated to Group Managers. |
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