Agenda item

This report sets out a briefing on the Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority’s (KMFRA) Safety Plan 2014, which is out for consultation until 13 January 2014.

Discussion:

Sean Bone-Knell, Assistant Director, Service Delivery and James Finch, Assistant Director for Policy and Performance both of the Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority (KMFRA) attended the meeting to report upon the Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority’s Safety Plan 2014.

For the purpose of consideration of this item, Councillor Adrian Gulvin removed himself from the Committee and joined the Officers from the Fire Authority.

It was noted that the Safety Plan had been approved for public consultation on 5 November 2013 at the KMFRA Planning and Performance Committee and the consultation period now ran until 13 January 2014.

At the request of Medway Council, officers of the KMFRA had attended the Medway’s Rural Liaison Committee in addition to this meeting to undertake a briefing on the Safety Plan.

Sean Bone-Knell outlined the following changes that had taken place for the KMFRA since 2012 as follows:

• Reduced demand on the emergency response service despite response times to life threatening calls remaining static.
• Investment in new fire stations, including the redevelopment of Watling Fire Station in Gillingham and the provision of a new fire station in Rochester.
• Investment in new equipment.
• The recruitment of more on-call firefighters.
• The reduction in call outs to false alarms.

In addition he outlined proposed changes due to take effect over the next three years including:

·                      Changes to the duty systems for firefighters.

·                      Proposals for 24/7 fire stations.

·                      Proposals for day crewed fire stations.

·                      Proposals for on-call fire stations.

·                      Reducing the number of height vehicles in the vehicle fleet.

·                      Reviewing the fleet of fire engines.

·                      Decommissioning of the on-call fire engine from Medway Fire Station.

·                      Specialist firefighting and rescue.

·                      Working with other organisations.

·                      Supporting businesses in Kent and Medway.

Sean Bone-Knell and James Finch then answered member’s questions and confirmed that in Medway, there would be 1 full-time fire engine each at Watling Street Fire Station and Rochester and Strood Fire Stations and 1 on-call fire engine located in Rainham.

It was confirmed that call outs to road traffic accidents had not reduced as significantly as call outs to fires and it was considered that the reason for the reduction in fire callouts was attributable to fire prevention, the installation of fire alarms and the regulations now imposed on the materials used in the manufacture of furniture. In the past year, there had been a total of 13,000 incidents of which 4,000 had involved fires. Overall there had been a 5% reduction in the number of call outs to road traffic accidents and other incidents had also reduced across the board.

At the request of a member, James Finch agreed to provide further information on the statistics relating to the level of call-outs for specific types of incidents.

In response to a question from a member, Sean Bone-Knell advised that currently, should a part-time firefighter be called upon to undertake duty, they would attend the incident after calling into the fire station first, however over time, the authority would be looking to more flexible ways of working which may include the possibility of a part-time firefighter responding direct to the incident. He also outlined the types of employment that part-time firefighters had and emphasised the benefits that different skills can bring to the job.

In respect of the proposed reduction in the number of height vehicles from 5 to 3, it was confirmed that these vehicles would be located at Canterbury, Ashford and Maidstone. It was considered that this would provide sufficient cover for the whole of Kent and Medway on the basis that such vehicles were not usually required at an incident at the outset.

Members also discussed the proposed reduction of firefighting crews and the proposal to reduce the number of firefighters at on-call fire stations.

On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman thanked both Sean Bone-Knell and James Finch for attending the meeting and answering member’s questions on the KMFRA Safety Plan 2014.

Decision:

The Committee note the report on the KMFRA Safety Plan 2014 and that the KMFRA has agreed to provide a detailed analysis of the combined record of incidents which will be circulated to members via a briefing note.