Archived decisions

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority Item 10

16 September 2009

Draft `Hampshire Error! Bookmark not defined.Fire and Rescue Service plan 2010 to 2013': proposed corporate objectives and consultation strategy

Report by the Chief Officer

Contact: David Howells, Director of Corporate Services Telephone 02380 626833

1

Summary

1.1

Seven new corporate objectives are proposed for the draft `Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Plan 2010 to 2013'. Once these have been considered and approved by the Authority, we will seek views and comments on them from our various stakeholders and also invite suggestions for any further objectives. The consultation period will run from 21 September 2009 to 11 December 2009.

2

RecommendationError! Bookmark not defined.s

2.1

That the Authority considers and endorses the proposed corporate objectives (set out in Appendix A) as a basis for consultation with stakeholders; and

2.2

That the proposed consultation strategy and programme (set out in Appendix B and C) be approved.

3

Introduction Error! Bookmark not defined.and Background

3.1

Members will be aware that the Authority's corporate plan covers a three-year period which is reviewed, consulted on and updated annually. We call our corporate plan the, `Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service plan'. It incorporates what we used to call our `Integrated Risk Management Plan' (IRMP) - which all fire and rescue authorities are required to publish.

3.2

The published Plan is the tangible result of a now well-established corporate planning process and performance management framework. The process ensures that the corporate objectives in the Plan (together with all other supporting plans, strategies, policies and procedures) remain relevant in the changing context in which we operate, and responsive to our stakeholders needs. Important elements of the process include regular reviews of:

· current and emerging risks (Strategic Risk Register)

· operating context - assessing social, technological, economic, environmental, political, legal, ethical factors (STEEPLE analysis)

· our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis)

· past and current performance (monitoring of key performance indicators)

· the findings and recommendations from external and internal audits

· central government expectations (e.g. National Framework)

3.3

In proposing new corporate objectives careful consideration is given to the resource implications of each as well as the Service's capacity to deliver them. For this reason, the Plan is deliberately presented for final approval to the Authority's meeting in February each year when the forward budget has to be determined.

3.4

Effective consultation with our key stakeholders is vital to the planning and formation of new objectives, actions and activities. In particular, our staff are actively encouraged to contribute though the annual `Ideas Week' and the staff suggestion scheme - `Bright Sparks'. Group Plans are also taken into account to strengthen our `top-down and bottom-up' approach to corporate planning.

3.5

Members will be familiar with the Service's current corporate branding strap line: "We make life safer". It stemmed from a view that Service's overarching purpose could be summarised as, "Every time we touch a life, we make it safer".

3.6

Members will also be aware that the Authority's determination to pursue continuous improvement. Our ambition is now "We want to be the best fire and rescue service in the country".

3.7

We want the Plan to be easily understood by the public and our staff. That is why for the 2009 to 2012 Plan, we asked the Plain English Campaign to look at our plan and make suggestions as to how we make it less technical and easier to understand. We have asked the Plain English Campaign to look at our 2010 to 2013 consultation document (Appendix A) and we will asked them to look at the final plan before it is published in April 2010.

4

Priorities and Targets

4.1

At the start of last year's corporate planning process - the opportunity was taken to identify and describe priority areas for action. Members will recall that the current Service Plan incorporates the corporate targets in the five priorities. The targets are considered to be challenging, but achievable. They are based on an analysis of five years worth of data from 2003/4 to 2007/8 (where available) but excluding data for the highest and lowest year in each case. This methodology is the same as used by the Government Office for the South East (GOSE) for the Local Area Agreements (LAA) targets and as is recommended in Communities and Local Government (CLG) guidance. These priorities will continue into the 2010 to 2013 plan.

4.1.1

People

Our responsibility is to save lives and to reduce injuries and harm that fires and

other incidents cause.

We will:

· reduce the number of people killed or injured in fires by 25% by 2012 (from 2008);

· help people escape, without getting hurt, from fires and other emergencies;

· work with our partner organisations to reduce the number of people who suffer serious injuries and who are killed in road accidents by 40% by 2010 (from 2000);

· work with the police to find and prosecute people who deliberately start fires; and

· achieve `Level 4 of the Equality Standard for Local Government' by 2010 to show our commitment to understanding the needs of the wide-ranging communities we serve.

4.1.2

Property

We will promote ways of making all types of property safer and we will enforce fire-safety regulations.

We will:

· reduce the number of fires in buildings by 20% by 2012 (from 2008);

· reduce the number of fires started deliberately by 20% by 2012 (from 2008);

· check fire-safety standards in buildings that are more likely to have a fire;

· promote the use of automatic sprinkler systems in buildings that are more likely to have a fire or that are difficult to escape from; and

· fit 15 sprinkler systems in major building projects by 2012 (from 2008).

4.1.3

Community

By working closely with our partner organisations, we are able to improve our performance and help to deliver a wide range of activities for safer and stronger communities.

We will:

· work with our communities to make sure that we are better prepared to deal with major threats and emergencies;

· work with our partners to achieve the targets we have agreed with them for improving our service:

· help our partner organisations to achieve their aims; and

· be recognised by our partners for the work that we do to reduce the risks people in the community face.

4.1.4

Environment

We are determined to reduce the effect of fires and other emergency incidents on the environment, as well as reducing our own carbon footprint.

We will:

· reduce the effect fires and other incidents have on the environment by 10% by 2012 (from 2008);

· reduce our carbon footprint by 20% by 2012 (from 2006); and

· achieve the British standard for environmental management (ISO 14001) by 2010. (This will test that all our procedures for reducing the effect our activities have on the environment are working well).

4.1.5

Resources

We will manage our resources (our staff, buildings and IT systems) in a cost- effective way and assess activities and any new initiatives to check that our investment in them is worthwhile.

We will:

· achieve the Government's efficiency savings of £1,055,000 a year for 2008 to 2011;

· respond quickly to all emergencies with the appropriate resources;

· increase the number of women who join the service as firefighters by 18% by 2013 (from 2008);

· increase the number of our staff who are from ethnic minorities by making sure that the number of people who join the service is between 2% and 5% above the number of people from ethnic minorities working in the county (from 2008); and

· get more funding by working with other organisations.

6

Consultation strategy and programme

6.1

The consultation strategy attempts to provide a programme of activities designed to ensure a good level of engagement with those key stakeholders most likely to be concerned about, or able to contribute most to, the proposed set of corporate objectives. A copy of the consultation strategy and draft programme is attached as Appendix B and Appendix C respectively for Members' approval.

6.2

The consultation period will run from Monday 21 September 2009 until Friday 11 December 2009.

7

Risk Analysis

7.1

Failure to produce a corporate plan (including the statutory requirement to produce an Integrated Risk Management Plan) would pose a significant risk for the Authority because the authority would be failing to meet a statutory obligation as set out by the government.

7.2

Consultation with key stakeholders on the preparation of our corporate plan is an essential requirement of good governance. The lack of a robust consultation strategy would run the risk that our corporate priorities, policies and objectives might fail to properly reflect the needs and expectations of local communities and our various key stakeholders.

8

Resource Implications

8.1

Work is continuing on identifying the resource implications and the proposed objectives for the three-year financial planning period 2020/11 to 2012/13. As several of the proposals seek to improve cost-effectiveness the overall impact is not expected to lead to any growth in the budget. There may, however, be some short-term investment in resources to manage the various projects. These will be funded from within existing resources.

8.2

The costs associated with the programme of consultation activities will also be met from within existing departmental budgets.

9

People Impact Assessment

9.1

An initial `people impact assessment' (PIA) has been undertaken for each of the proposed corporate objectives.

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.

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.