Fire Service - Report and Appendices
North Ayrshire Council · 14 November 2022
Back to Police and Fire and Rescue Committee — 14 November 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Page | 1 Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Police & Fire and Rescue Committee – 14 November 2022 Subject Performance Report and Service updates Purpose To advise members of the Police and Fire Committee as to progress against North Ayrshire’s Local Fire and Rescue Plan and to provide committee members with other key Fire and Rescue Service updates Recommendation For members to note the information contained within this report 1. Introduction 1.1 On the 1st October 2019, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) laid before the Scottish Parliament its new Strategic Plan for the period 2019-22. As a result of this publication, the Service is legally obliged to review its existing Local Fire and Rescue Plans for all 32 local authorities across Scotland. 1.2 The priorities contained within the current North Ayrshire Local Fire and Rescue Plan were formally approved at the full Council. The continuation of these priorities has been agreed for the 2021/22 period, via the Police & Fire and Rescue Committee, and will be subject to ongoing monitoring via this forum. 2. Performance Summary 2.1 An analysis of operational responses within North Ayrshire for the period 1st April to 30th September 2022 identified a 7.3% decrease in activity levels across the local authority when compared to the corresponding period in 2020. A further review of the three years average indicated a 0.3% decrease in overall operational activity during a similar timeframe. 2.2 In reviewing operational activity on a broader level, false alarms accounted for 56.3% of all demand within North Ayrshire, with fire related and special service activity accounting for 30.5% and 13.2% respectively. 2.3 For the period 1st April to 30th September 2022, overall progress is being monitored across six indicators, utilising the three-year rolling average as basis of measuring performance. Year on year and the rolling three-year average figures are also used to review short and long terms changes in demand and trends. 2.4 Utilising the defined approach in Section 2.3, review of performance against these six indicators identified four indicators are below, one remains constant and one is above
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Page | 2 the three-year average. Two indicators have seen a reduction in the three-year average by more than 70% and 33%. 2.5 Further analysis of this performance is provided within the associated performance report (Appendix A). 3. SFRS Updates 3.1 The SFRS has published its Strategic Plan (Appendix B) for the period of 2022/25. This plan has been published after approval by the Scottish Parliament. 3.2 Ross Haggart has been appointed as the Interim Chief Officer of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. This temporary appointment follows former Chief Officer Martin Blunden’s recent departure from the organisation. 3.3 The SFRS presented pre budget scrutiny evidence to the Criminal Justice Committee at its meeting on Wednesday 26th October 2022. This submission contained an overview of organisation’s planning assumptions for the period of 2022/23 – 2026/27. It also provided an overview of the measures already being implemented to meet the agreed Capital Spending Review for the period of 2021/22 -2025/26. Further information on this submission can be located within the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee website. 3.4 The SFRS’s Ayrshire Area has been working closely with an array of partners to deliver programmes and initiatives designed to support the safety of local residents over the period of 4th – 6th November 2022. This work included delivering safety presentations to young people across North Ayrshire, identifying and uplifting materials used for unwanted and dangerous bonfires, promotion of organised displays across the region and co-responding measures being adopted by the SFRS and Police Scotland over the course of aforesaid weekend period. 4. Proposal It is proposed that members of the Police & Fire and Rescue Committee: a) Note the contents of the performance summary and associated report for the period 1st April to 30th September 2022. b) Note the SFRS updates. 5. Implications 5.1 No implications have been identified at this time in respect of service delivery within North Ayrshire.
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Page | 3 6. Conclusion 6.1 Fire and rescue service activity is subject to regular monitoring and review and the local fire and rescue plan priorities identified within the Local Fire and Rescue Plan forms part of this reporting process. 6.2 Members of the Police & Fire and Rescue Committee will be kept up to date as to progress against the Local Fire and Rescue Plan and to any future fire and rescue service updates as they arise. Area Commander Ian McMeekin Local Senior Officer East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire Scottish Fire and Rescue Service For further information please contact Area Commander Ian McMeekin 01294 606811
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North Ayrshire Performance Report 1st April 2022 - 30th September 2022
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North Ayrshire Performance Report Table of Contents Local Fire and Rescue Service Plan Priorities 3 North Ayrshire Activity Summary 4 Domestic Safety - Accidental Dwelling Fires 5 Domestic Safety - Accidental Dwelling Fire Casualties 6 Unintentional Injury and Harm 7 Deliberate Fire Setting 8 Non-Domestic Fire Safety 9 Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals 10 Prevention &Protection 11 Retained Duty System 11 Glossary of Terms 12 Scottish Fire and Rescue Service | North Ayrshire Performance Report 2
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8 0 5 34 1 43 9 0 1 12 1 40 1 0 2 19 0 5 1 0 6 43 4 58 6 0 4 59 0 77 5 0 3 38 0 14 3 2 1 44 2 32 10 1 8 5 3 21 5 0 4 10 1 25 2 0 5 72 2 44 50 3 39 336 14 359 -33% -70% 0% -15% -7% 14% -10% 5% -2% -6% -21% 2% -7% -4% -5% -3% -6% 3% Local Fire and Rescue Service Plan Priorities Kilbirnie & Beith Kilwinning Accidental Dwelling Fires Accidental Dwelling Fire Casualties Unintentional Injury and Harm Deliberate Fire Setting Non-Domestic Fire Safety Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals Ardrossan & Arran Dalry & West Kilbride Irvine East Irvine South Irvine West 5 Year Average Change Stevenston North Coast & Cumbraes Saltcoats Total Incidents Year on Year Change 3 Year Average Change The Local Fire and Rescue Service Plan has been developed to set out the priorities and objectives withinNorthAyrshire and allows our local authority partners to scrutinise the performance outcomes of these priorities. We will continue to work closely with our partners in North Ayrshire to ensure we are all “Working Together for a Safer Scotland” through targeting risks to our communities at a local level. The plan has been developed to complement key partnership activity embedded across North Ayrshire'sCommunity Planning Partnership. Through effective and co-ordintated partnership working we will seek to deliver continuous improvement in our performance and effective service delivery in our area of operations. The Local Fire and Rescue Plan for North Ayrshire identified six areas for demand reduction and is subject to regular monitoring and reporting through the Police & Fire and Rescue Committee. A summary of the priorities and current activity is detailed below with further detail and analysis contained within this performance report. About the statistics within this report The activity totals and other statistics quoted within this report are published in the interests of transparency and openness. They are provisional in nature and subject to change as a result of ongoing quality assurance and review. Because all statistics quoted are provisional there may be a difference in the period totals quoted in our reports after local publication which result from revisions or additions to the data in our systems. The Scottish Government publishes official statistics each year which allow for comparisons to be made over longer periods of time. Activity levels have reduced by more than 5% Activity levels have reduced by up to 5% Activity levels have increased overall Scottish Fire and Rescue Service | North Ayrshire Performance Report 3
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North Ayrshire Delivery Activity Summary Hour (am) Total Hour (pm) Total Midnight 28 Mid-day 71 1am 21 1pm 67 2am 32 2pm 67 3am 13 3pm 102 4am 27 4pm 104 5am 20 5pm 102 6am 20 6pm 120 7am 48 7pm 102 8am 54 8pm 113 9am 68 9pm 98 10am 73 10pm 52 11am 79 11pm 31 32% 14% 54% 30% 13% 56% Fires Special Services False Alarms Incidents by Classification Annual Ratio 3 Year Ratio 23.68% 22.03% 15.90% 9.23% 7.32% 3.76% 3.76% 1.58% 1.45% 1.39% 1.32% 1.25% 1.06% 0.92% 0.79% False Alarm (UFAS) False Alarm (Dwelling) Outdoor Fire False Alarm (Good Intent) Refuse Fire Dwelling Fire Special Service - Effecting… Other Building Fire Special Service - RTC Other Primary Fire Special Service - Flooding Special Service - No action (not… Special Service - Assist other… Special Service - Animal… Special Service - Lift Release Top 15 Incident Types by % of Total Incidents 462 fires primary & secondary special services 200 false alarms 854 2% totalnumber of incidents 1,516 -8% -30% fire casualties 3 -70% non-fire casualties 39 -6% 0% 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11121314 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 00 Activityby Time of Day 61.15%RDS availability Home Fire Safety Visits Carried Out 454 Fire Safety Audits Carried Out 178 Scottish Fire and Rescue Service | North Ayrshire Performance Report 4
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-33% -10% -7% Main Source of Ignition Year on Year 3 Year Average 5 Year Average Domestic Safety - Accidental Dwelling Fires Domesti 74 83 70 65 75 50 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Performance Summary AccidentalDwelling Fires to Date Detection Present 88% 91% Detection Actuated Calls Made via Linked Alarms 20% Automatic Detection & Actuation 8 9 1 1 6 5 3 10 5 2 Ardrossan & Arran Dalry & West Kilbride Irvine East Irvine South Irvine West Kilbirnie & Beith Kilwinning North Coast & Cumbraes Saltcoats Stevenston 6.9 7.1 0.8 0.9 4.0 3.8 1.7 6.2 3.8 1.6 Ardrossan & Arran Dalry & West Kilbride Irvine East Irvine South Irvine West Kilbirnie & Beith Kilwinning North Coast & Cumbraes Saltcoats Stevenston Incidents Per 10,000 Population - North Ayrshire Human Factors Accidental Dwelling Fires by Ward Area Alcohol/DrugImpairment Distraction Incidents Per 10,000 Population - Ayrshire 2.9 3.7 1.5 2.8 East Ayrshire North Ayrshire South Ayrshire Ayrshire Severity of Accidental Dwelling Fires No Firefighting Action Direct Firefighting 36% 12% 84% 6% 6% 2% 2% 0% 0% 0% Not applicable Item 1st ignited Room of origin Floor of origin Limited to 2 floors More than 2 floors Whole building Whole Roof Extent of Fire Damage 24% 6% Scottish Fire and Rescue Service | North Ayrshire Performance Report 5
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-70% 5% -4% Year on Year 3 Year Average 5 Year Average Domestic Safety - Accidental Dwelling Fire Casualties 0 0 0 0 00 0 1 1 1 0 - 9 10 - 19 20 - 49 50 - 79 80+ 5 21 2 10 10 3 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Unintentional Injury or First Aidat Scene Hospital Serious Injuries Hospital Slight Injuries Fatal Injuries 1 Performance Summary Accidental Dwelling Fire Casualties Year to Date Extent of Harm Age / Gender Profile Casualties Per 10,000 Population - North Ayrshire Fire Casualties by Ward Area 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 Ardrossan & Arran Dalry & West Kilbride Irvine East Irvine South Irvine West Kilbirnie & Beith Kilwinning North Coast & Cumbraes Saltcoats Stevenston 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.02 0.00 0.00 Ardrossan & Arran Dalry & West Kilbride Irvine East Irvine South Irvine West Kilbirnie & Beith Kilwinning North Coast & Cumbraes Saltcoats Stevenston Casualties Per 10,000 Population - Ayrshire 0.25 0.22 0.09 0.19 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 East Ayrshire North Ayrshire South Ayrshire Ayrshire 0% 100 2 2 Breathing difficulties Asphyxiation Burns –slight Other medical condition Scottish Fire and Rescue Service | North Ayrshire Performance Report 6
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0% -2% -5% Year on Year 3 Year Average 5 Year Average Unintentional Injury or Harm 0 5 4 10 4 0 0 8 3 5 0 - 9 10 - 19 20 - 49 50 - 79 80+ Slight Injuries 53 99 42 44 39 39 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Deliberate PerformanceSummary Special Service Casualties Year to Date Age / Gender Profile 4.3 0.8 1.6 5.4 2.6 2.3 0.6 5.0 3.0 3.9 Ardrossan & Arran Dalry & West Kilbride Irvine East Irvine South Irvine West Kilbirnie & Beith Kilwinning North Coast & Cumbraes Saltcoats Stevenston Extent of Harm Non-Fire Casualties by Ward Area 5 1 2 6 4 3 1 8 4 5 Ardrossan & Arran Dalry & West Kilbride Irvine East Irvine South Irvine West Kilbirnie & Beith Kilwinning North Coast & Cumbraes Saltcoats Stevenston Casualties Per 10,000 Population - North Ayrshire Non-Casualties Per 10,000 Population - Ayrshire 1.9 2.9 2.1 2.3 East Ayrshire North Ayrshire South Ayrshire Ayrshire 59% 41% First Aidat Scene Hospital Serious Injuries 5 18 Fatal Injuries 1 9 Hospital Slight Injuries Road Traffic Collision Water Rescue Assisting Other Agencies 49% 3% 38% All Other Incidents 10% Scottish Fire and Rescue Service | North Ayrshire Performance Report 7
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-15% -6% -3% Year on Year 3 Year Average 5 Year Average Deliberate Fire Setting 399 438 394 258 393 336 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 399 438 394 258 393 336 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 All Deliberate Fires Non Performance Summary Deliberate Fires Year to Date Deliberate Fires by Classification Deliberate Fires Compared to OperationalActivity Incidents Per 10,000 Population - North Ayrshire 29.4 9.4 15.0 38.5 39.1 28.6 25.3 3.1 7.6 56.6 Ardrossan & Arran Dalry & West Kilbride Irvine East Irvine South Irvine West Kilbirnie & Beith Kilwinning North Coast & Cumbraes Saltcoats Stevenston Deliberate Fires by Ward Area 34 12 19 43 59 38 44 5 10 72 Ardrossan & Arran Dalry & West Kilbride Irvine East Irvine South Irvine West Kilbirnie & Beith Kilwinning North Coast & Cumbraes Saltcoats Stevenston Slight Injuries Incidents Per 10,000 Population - Ayrshire 20.5 24.7 7.5 18.1 East Ayrshire North Ayrshire South Ayrshire Ayrshire 7% 11% 7% 12% 5% 7% 93% 89% 93% 88% 95% 93% 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Primary Secondary Secondary Fire Ratio by Activity Type 32% 68% Refuse Other Secondary Scottish Fire and Rescue Service | North Ayrshire Performance Report 8
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-7% -21% -6% 3 Year Average 5 Year Average Year on Year Non-Domestic Fire Safety 79% 14% 7% Accidental Deliberate Not Known 2 1 2 2 1 4 1 Public Utilities Retail Education Non-Residential Residential Unwanted PerformanceSummary Non-Domestic Fires Year to Date Non-Domestic Fires by Nature of Origin Incidents Per 10,000 Population - Ayrshire Non-Domestic Fires by Premises Type Incidents Per 10,000 Population - North Ayrshire 0.9 0.8 0.0 3.6 0.0 0.0 1.2 1.9 0.8 1.6 Ardrossan & Arran Dalry & West Kilbride Irvine East Irvine South Irvine West Kilbirnie & Beith Kilwinning North Coast & Cumbraes Saltcoats Stevenston Non-Domestic Fires by Ward Area 1 1 0 4 0 0 2 3 1 2 Ardrossan & Arran Dalry & West Kilbride Irvine East Irvine South Irvine West Kilbirnie & Beith Kilwinning North Coast & Cumbraes Saltcoats Stevenston 0.7 1.0 0.6 0.8 East Ayrshire North Ayrshire South Ayrshire Ayrshire 20 22 26 15 15 14 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 6 2 4 1 1 Not applicable Limited to item 1st ignited Limited to room of origin Limited to floor of origin Roof space and other floors Limited to 2 floors (not… Extent of Fire Damage Scottish Fire and Rescue Service | North Ayrshire Performance Report 9
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14% 2% 3% Year on Year 3 Year Average 5 Year Average Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals 316 316 341 299 315 359 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 UFAS Percentage Against all False Alarms Performance Summary Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals Year to Date Incidents Per 10,000 Population - North Ayrshire 37.2 31.4 4.0 51.9 51.0 10.5 18.4 13.0 19.0 34.6 Ardrossan & Arran Dalry & West Kilbride Irvine East Irvine South Irvine West Kilbirnie & Beith Kilwinning North Coast & Cumbraes Saltcoats Stevenston 1,224 1,314 1,171 1,187 1,356 1,067 23% 24% 27% 21% 22% 28% 0%0 300 600 900 1,200 1,500 1,800 2,100 2,400 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 All Incidents UFAS Activty UFAS Percentage Against all Incidents 704 710 813 791 838 854 46% 44% 48% 41% 44% 49% 0%0 300 600 900 All False Alarms UFAS Activty Home Fire Safety Visits Unwanted Fire Alarms Signals by Ward Area 43 40 5 58 77 14 32 21 25 44 Ardrossan & Arran Dalry & West Kilbride Irvine East Irvine South Irvine West Kilbirnie & Beith Kilwinning North Coast & Cumbraes Saltcoats Stevenston Incidents Per 10,000 Population - Ayrshire 24.4 26.4 13.2 21.7 East Ayrshire North Ayrshire South Ayrshire Ayrshire 22% 14% 12% 8% 8% Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals - Top 5 Premises Scottish Fire and Rescue Service | North Ayrshire Performance Report 10
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6.29% 59.99% 47.84% 39.42% 87 45:21:06 9 675% 10.19% 68.20% 58.60% 47.29% 193 102:52:43 12 925% 5.91% 56.32% 29.63% 31.34% 64 32:06:43 9 625% 69.58% 88.63% 78.84% 79.30% 143 84:36:37 12 1050% 31.44% 33.17% 36.77% 33.99% 107 52:20:02 8 675% 72.46% 75.27% 62.80% 69.80% 156 84:41:37 11 850% 28.90% 53.33% 31.46% 37.91% 48 22:14:10 6 450% 99.32% 100.00% 97.90% 99.01% 50.61% 79.26% 23.26% 49.90% 91.97% 94.09% 96.10% 94.20% 37 24:09:10 8 800% 92.42% 92.31% 87.35% 90.50% 28 21:37:35 10 950% 50.83% 71.46% 59.14% 61.15% 70.18% 96.28% 90.41% 86.36% No. of Personnel Contracts 11 13 1150%05:45:53 Ayrshire Total Mobilisations Total Time Deployed Largs Skelmorlie Millport -1 Millport - 2 Brodick Ardrossan Dreghorn Dalry Beith Kilbirnie Appliance Availability Mon - Fri (08:00 - 18:00) Mon - Thu (18:00 - 08:00) Weekend (Fri 18:00 - Mon 08:00) Total Lamlash North Ayrshire Home Fire Safety Visits Home Fire Safety Visits Carried Out Percentage of HighRisk Home Fire Safety Visits Carried Out Percentage of Visits Carried Out Following Attendance at an Incident 454 32% 43% Top 5 Premises Smoke Detectors Fitted During Home Fire Safety Visits 631 Fire Safety Audits Carried Out 178 New Audits 90% Post Fire Audits 7% Complaint Audits 1% Re-Audits 2% 4% 92% 4% 0% 1% Broadly Compliant Areas of Improvement Notice of Deficiencies Enforcement Notice Prohibition Notice Fire Safety Audits Retained Duty System Scottish Fire and Rescue Service | North Ayrshire Performance Report 11
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92% Glossary of Terms Term- What it means ADF Accidental Dwelling Fire CSET Community Safety Engagement Toolkit is a internal IT system used to record home fire safety visits and community safety activities FSET Fire Safety Experiential Training is a bespoke training programme developed by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in Ayrshire and delivered to community planning partners to raise awareness of fire safety within the domestic environment HFSV Home Fire Safety Visit PDIR Post Domestic Incident Response, a term used by Prevention and Protection Directorate to indicate actions taken following attendance at a fire or other incident in the home. PDIRs include amongst things the offer of a free follow-up home fire safety visit Primary Fires These include all fires in buildings, vehicles and outdoor structures or any fire involving casualties, rescues or fires attended by five or more appliances RDS Retained Duty System. Professional on call firefighters who may have other primary employment responsibilities outside the Fire and Rescue Service but respond to emergency calls within their local area as and when required RTC Road Traffic Collision Secondary Fires These are the majority of outdoor fires including grassland and refuse fires unless they involve casualties or rescues, property loss or fire or more appliances attend. They include fires in single derelict buildings Special Service Calls to incidents which are not fires or false alarms such as RTCs, rescues, flooding, incidents involving hazardous materials or the provision of assistance to other agencies UFAS Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals. When an automatic fire detection and alarm system is activated as a result of anything other than an actual fire the activation is classed as a false alarm. If an attendance is made to such an event by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, then the event is recorded as an UFAS incident Scottish Fire and Rescue Service | North Ayrshire Performance Report 12
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Strategic Plan 2022-2025
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INTRODUCTION WHAT IS THE STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-25? HOW WE HELPED TO KEEP SCOTLAND SAFE OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS OUR SERVICE, OUR AMBITIONS FOR SCOTLAND’S COMMUNITIES OUR OPERATING ENVIRONMENT FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS OUR OUTCOMES Blue Light Services photocall staged by Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) at their Perth Airport base to show the many services and organisations that SCAA works with. Credit Perthshire Picture Agency 1 3 5 7 9 13 CONTENTS SG/2022/176
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INTRODUCTION As SFRS approaches our 10th anniversary in 2023, this is our fourth Strategic Plan and the first one that aligns to our new Long-Term Vision for the Service which we published in 2021. In our Vision document we set out our ambitions to be a progressive organisation, centred around people’s needs, inclusive of all and better connected to our communities. This Plan marks the next steps towards realising that Vision. It also builds on our organisational Values, demonstrates our commitment to continuing to modernise the Service by doing more for our communities and changing how we work. It further strengthens our approach to prevention while maintaining an appropriate emergency response and addressing the repair and replacement challenges within our estate. This Plan will deliver against the strategic priorities set out for the Service by the Scottish Government in the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2022. It comes at an important time for Scotland as we recover and learn lessons from COVID-19. In response to the pandemic and to help Scotland recover from its impacts, the Scottish Government has committed to: w Developing a progressive, wellbeing economy for Scotland. w Building public services on a person- centred basis. w Addressing issues of systemic social and economic inequality. w Strengthening partnership working across public services. We are delighted to introduce the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) Strategic Plan 2022-2025. As a Service committed to the Christie reform principles, we will look to play our part in achieving these wider ambitions for Scotland. In producing this Plan, we have ensured that our actions will support these priorities for Scotland as we work to improve the safety and wellbeing of our communities. Although we pride ourselves on our ability to plan our services for a future Scotland, the pandemic has shown it is impossible to fully predict the future. As such, we have set out what we want to achieve over the next three years within this Plan, as well as highlighting some of the challenges we are faced with and the barriers we will need to overcome to realise our potential and achieve more for Scotland. We recognise we will be working to deliver this Plan through a period of significant economic and financial challenges. From 2023/24 to 2026/27 the Scottish Government has set an indicative flat cash budget for the Service which, with the impact of inflation, will represent a cut in real terms in our budget over that period. As we drive forward with the ambitions set out in this Plan we recognise that we will do so against this backdrop and as a result some hard choices will need to be made as we prioritise our actions. Equally we must address the problems of an ageing estate and operating systems that need upgraded. We also need to maintain an extensive fleet of vehicles and equipment that supports what we do, whilst taking steps to reduce our carbon consumption. The challenges we face are significant and it is clear to us that our capacity to deliver our full potential will be contingent on the availability of funding. We will always strive to do more for the people of Scotland but we must also be realistic in pursuing our ambition based on the resources available to us. Finally, the commitments within this Plan are only possible because of the excellent work of all our people. They are truly inspirational and we would like to thank them for everything they do for the people of Scotland and for each other. We would also like to thank our partners and communities who we proudly serve and who support us in what we do. 21
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WHAT IS THE STR ATEGIC PL AN 2022-25? The SFRS was established in April 2013. Since then we have produced strategic plans every three years to detail the activities we undertake to contribute to the safety and wellbeing of Scotland’s communities, whilst keeping our firefighters safe. This Strategic Plan outlines the high-level outcomes through which we will continually work towards our overall purpose, as outlined in the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2022: ‘To work in partnership with communities and with others in the public, private and third sectors on prevention, protection and response to improve the safety and wellbeing of people throughout Scotland.’ The Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2022 also sets for us seven strategic priorities and we have a statutory duty to have regard to these when developing our Strategic Plan: PREVENTION AND PROTECTION RESPONSE INNOVATION AND MODERNISATION CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE AND PERFORMANCE PARTNERSHIP PEOPLE SFRS LONG-TERM VISION As well as considering the Fire Framework, this Strategic Plan supports the achievement of our SFRS Long-Term Vision. Our Vision is an aspirational document which was shaped by our stakeholders and staff. It sets out our future direction and outlines where we want to be in ten years’ time. This Plan outlines the next stage in that journey. Our Plan has been driven by these important documents and the seven Strategic Outcomes which follow complement, and are structured against, the seven strategic priorities of the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland. We have developed this Plan in consultation with the people of Scotland, our partners across the country, and our own people. The consultation process revealed strong support for our seven Strategic Outcomes. As such, we’re confident that our ambitions for the next three years align with the needs of communities across Scotland. 43
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46,787 SECONDARY FIRES 133,621 HOME FIRE SAFETY VISITS TOTAL OF 77,423 FIRES ATTENDED 153,571 FALSE ALARMS 29,059 PRIMARY FIRES 16,000 FIRE SAFETY AUDITS 42,382 NON-FIRE INCIDENTS 5,501 NON-DOMESTIC FIRES HOW WE HELPED TO KEEP SCOTL AND SAFE OVER THE L AST THREE YEARS TOTAL OF 273,376 INCIDENTS ATTENDED 65
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OUR SERVICE, OUR AMBITIONS FOR SCOTL AND’S COMMUNITIES We are the fourth largest fire and rescue service in the world. Our key role will always be to respond to fires and other emergency incidents but we do much more than that. In communities across Scotland, you’ll find us: We aim to be a first-class emergency service responder that is valued by the communities that we serve. However, we firmly believe that the best way to deal with any type of emergency is to try and stop it from happening in the first place. With a key focus on prevention, particularly in support of the most vulnerable members of society, we work with our partners across the country to deliver: crucial fire safety campaigns; prevention interventions; and work on a wide range of public safety initiatives that keep people and businesses safe. Because of this and because our firefighters, both Wholetime and On Call, are valued within their communities, we have an ambition to develop our contribution to Scotland. As we develop our services we want to ensure that the facilities and equipment we use are of the highest standard. We want them to be modern, purpose designed for the 21st century and safe for our people. Better buildings and equipment will help us retain those who currently work for us while attracting new people to help us become a more diverse organisation. We will keep improving people’s lives and the safety and wellbeing of the communities we serve by reducing the risk from harm and working in collaboration with our partners and communities. Promoting fire safety Responding to serious transport incidents Responding to road traffic collisions Planning for and responding to chemical, biological and nuclear incidentsEnforcing fire legislation Working with key partners to enhance community safety Responding to serious flooding Carrying out rescues at height Dealing with structural collapse of buildings Undertaking inland water rescue 87
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OUR OPER ATING ENVIRONMENT FOR THE NEX T THREE YEARS The delivery of this Plan will be influenced by the following aspects of our operating environment and how we will work to ensure their impacts on us are appropriately managed. RECOVERING AND LEARNING FROM COVID-19 Throughout the pandemic we adapted swiftly alongside our partners to provide life-saving and innovative services for our communities. It is imperative that we continue to put key lessons we have learned from the pandemic into place to help us, and Scotland, fully recover. BUDGETING RESPONSIBLY Over the next three years we will face significant budgetary pressures in both our resource and capital budgets, with a flat cash settlement being indicated in the Scottish Government Resource Spending Review (2022). While our actual budget will not be known each year until the December prior to the new financial year beginning in April, we will have to proceed and plan for savings to meet these budget challenges. During this same period, inflation will lead to high price increases for the goods and services we need to deliver our services. We are likely to see challenges emerging for our people around the increased cost of living and the pressures this places on them and their households. We also face a significant and growing investment need in our estate with many of our buildings requiring substantial upgrading and decarbonisation. Failure to invest in our estate will add further pressure to our resource budget as we increasingly spend more money on repair costs that come from ageing buildings. We will always strive to balance our budget; however, the pressures we are facing will lead to an unavoidable increase in costs. As a result, we will need to make hard choices as we work to modernise the Service whilst maintaining financial sustainability and budgetary control. FLEXIBILITY Being a more flexible organisation was key to how we responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will maintain our agile and flexible approach to deliver what is required of us by our communities. This means avoiding a “one size fits all” mentality and approach so that we can respond to differing community needs appropriately. SERVICE MODERNISATION We aim to develop our offer to communities as an emergency service based on a better understanding of changing risk. We will then reshape the use of our resources and service activities based on that risk and the resources we have available. CLIMATE EMERGENCY The impacts of climate change will increase over time. We will have to respond to more weather-related incidents which will increase in intensity, impact and frequency and continue to ensure our firefighters are properly trained, equipped and supported in this. DEMOGRAPHIC AND COMMUNITY CHANGE People are living longer with care increasingly shifting from institutional settings towards home-based care. This will generate new demands as Scotland seeks to support our population to age well in safe and resilient communities. Communities and households will also feel the impacts of the Cost of Living pressures and we know that when this occurs public expectation on frontline public services such as ours increases to help those most disadvantaged in our communities. Such pressures mean targeted prevention and early intervention work within communities will be of even greater 109
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importance. We will continue this crucial work with communities and our partners to prevent unintentional harm from happening and continue to support vulnerable members of Scotland’s communities. PLACE We are a national service, delivered locally. We are committed to understanding the changing risks across the country and meeting community needs. We will support the wider public service reform agenda of adopting a place-based approach to how public services are designed and delivered. This will shape how we work to ensure that our communities are safer, stronger and more resilient. RESILIENCE We play an important role in helping communities become more resilient. Whether in safeguarding people and communities against the impacts of a pandemic, the effects of adverse weather events, dealing with the threat of terrorism, and much more. There remains a vital need for us to work with our communities and emergency service partners to prepare better to meet these threats as they evolve over time. PEOPLE Ensuring the wellbeing of communities and the safety of our firefighters has always been at the heart of how we operate. This approach of putting people first remains at our core. We will continue to place a strong focus on meeting people’s needs as we change how we work. This includes ensuring that our people continue to receive the appropriate equipment and the training they need to carry out their crucial role. ENGAGEMENT AND EMPOWERMENT Engaging people in the decision-making process and empowering them to make appropriate choices for themselves is critical to making good decisions. We are committed to working this way, both with our communities and our own people. This will help us arrive at better decisions which will make us a stronger and more successful organisation. MANAGING CHANGE We have and will continue to run large change projects across the Service. Projects can range from introducing new technology systems, undertaking large scale building projects, working with suppliers to develop new types of emergency response vehicles, to changing the ways we work. Throughout the duration of this Plan we will further improve how we manage projects to ensure their effective and efficient delivery. As we proceed over the next three years we will continually revisit our assumptions about our operating environment and how any changes impact on the way we work. The detail in the following sections outlines what we aim to achieve over the lifetime of this Plan. How we will do so will be set out, scrutinised and monitored through our Annual Operating Plan by our Board. 1211
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OUR OUTCOMES: OUTCOME ONE WHAT SUCCESS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THREE YEARS By 2025 our prevention work will help individuals, communities, organisations and businesses feel more confident regarding safety within their homes, premises and localities. We will achieve this by: w Refocusing our preventative activities to address issues of social, economic and health inequalities. w Leading initiatives with our partners to appropriately share data and information. w Leading initiatives to reduce unintentional harm in our communities. w Working with communities, partners and stakeholders to produce and disseminate safety advice and information effectively. w Improving community safety and wellbeing by working to encourage sustained behavioural change within households. w Supporting business owners to protect Scotland’s non-domestic buildings and premises. WHAT WE WILL DO We firmly believe that preventing problems from arising is better than dealing with them when they occur. Our approach to prevention helps people, communities and the economy stay safe and enables us to support work addressing wider inequalities. We will continue to share data appropriately with our partners to protect the vulnerable in our communities. To support Scotland’s economy, we will continue to enforce and provide advice around fire safety legislation to business owners in shops, offices, workshops and factories. We will further expand our prevention work to Scottish households and develop our prevention approaches to influence people’s behaviours to help keep themselves safe and improve their wider wellbeing. We will build on the work with our partners to target education and safety initiatives to those who need it most, including the young and the vulnerable. We will develop our home fire safety visit programme to incorporate wider health and social care considerations and develop a coordinated approach to reducing unintentional harm, including falls, burns and scalds, and drowning, throughout Scotland. Community safety and wellbeing improves as we deploy targeted initiatives to prevent emergencies and harm. 1413
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WHAT SUCCESS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THREE YEARS By 2025 our effective emergency response will contribute to ensuring communities remain safe. We will achieve this by: w Building upon our knowledge of our communities and using a place based approach to responding to the changing risks and inequalities they face. w Applying the lessons we have learned from COVID-19 to drive sustainable improvement in how we work. w Training effectively and efficiently as a Service and with our partners to improve community safety. w Providing the right technology and equipment to keep firefighters safe. w Improving how we manage calls from the public and deploy our resources to emergency incidents. w More efficiently responding to false fire alarm calls and improving road safety by reducing the number of blue light journeys we make to them. Communities are safer and more resilient as we respond effectively to changing risks. OUTCOME T WO WHAT WE WILL DO We will apply the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic to how we operate. We will continue our work to understand the changing risks within our communities and strategically decide how best to locate our operational resources based on where the greatest risks lie. We will aim to deliver on the commitments made in our Operational Strategy which places operational response at the forefront as we work with partners to deliver long term benefits to Scotland’s communities. We will ensure we have the right resources in the right places at the right times and further improve our On Call service. We will have appropriate systems to direct our firefighting activities effectively and continue to ensure all our people have the right skills, training and equipment. We will continue to plan and respond with other emergency services to improve public and firefighter safety. 1615
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WHAT WE WILL DO We will continue to develop the resources needed to tackle the impacts of climate change and we will ensure that these are strategically located across the country. Our firefighters will remain fully trained and equipped to support communities in meeting extreme weather events. We will also make use of other local resources that are available to bolster our response during prolonged or widespread incidents. We will continue to work to reduce our own organisational impact on the environment by changing how we work, how we consume and manage energy, and how we behave as we adapt to climate change. Reducing our carbon emissions is the first step in this journey. By 2045 we aim to become a carbon neutral organisation. WHAT SUCCESS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THREE YEARS By 2025 we will reduce our carbon emissions and continue to support our communities to tackle climate change. We will achieve this by: w Ensuring our people continue to plan, are trained for and equipped to respond to climate change incidents. w Working with partners to prevent fires, thereby reducing carbon released into the atmosphere. w Strategically placing specialist resources in areas where there is a greater risk of flooding. w Reducing our carbon consumption by aiming to invest in renewable technologies and reducing energy waste across the Service. w Investing further in the greening of our fleet by acquiring zero emission vehicles where appropriate. w Supporting staff to adopt changes and behaviour to support more environmentally friendly working practices. We respond to the impacts of climate change in Scotland and reduce our carbon emissions. OUTCOME FOUR We value and demonstrate innovation across all areas of our work. WHAT WE WILL DO Innovation is about new processes and new ways of doing things. It allows us to look at the equipment we use or the services we provide and renew or update them by applying new processes, techniques or implementing new ideas that lead to improvement. Over the next three years, innovation will be crucial in helping us to continue to deliver and develop our services as we face budgetary pressures. We will continue to embed innovation into how we work and operate. We will work with others to seek innovative opportunities to drive change and improvement. We will continue to use our talent, partnerships and resources to develop and improve our systems, processes and performance. We will develop our first corporate wide Innovation and Improvement Strategy which will set out how, as one of the largest fire and rescue services in the world, we will encourage and drive innovation across all areas of our work and help us make the best use of our resources, adapt to changing risks and drive good practice. WHAT SUCCESS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THREE YEARS By 2025 we will embrace innovative approaches to how we operate. We will achieve this by: w Promoting and embedding a culture of innovation in the Service that encourages staff involvement to develop new ways of thinking and working. w Delivering new opportunities, partnerships and collaborations to improve public and employee safety and wellbeing. w Deploying new digital and other technologies to change how we work and to keep firefighters safe. w Improving inter-departmental working and knowledge sharing across the Service. w Implementing a new approach to undertaking research and development. w Developing further innovative approaches to modernising our estate. OUTCOME THREE 1817
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WHAT SUCCESS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THREE YEARS By 2025 we will continue to demonstrate how effective we are at managing and sharing our resources, and performing against our objectives and obligations. We will achieve this by: w Remaining open and transparent in how we make decisions. w Improving levels of Service performance whilst providing value for money to the public. w Improving the use of data and business intelligence to support decision making. w Proactively engaging with and providing more accessible information on what we do for the public and our stakeholders. w Managing and maintaining our buildings, vehicles and wider infrastructure as well as we can. w Managing major change projects and organisational risks effectively and efficiently. We are a progressive organisation, use our resources responsibly and provide best value for money to the public. OUTCOME FIVE WHAT WE WILL DO As a progressive organisation our Board will continue to provide robust scrutiny whilst governing responsibly and transparently. We will continue to collect and publish the right data to show how well we are performing, making this information available to the public in ways that are accessible and easy to understand. We will continue to manage our finances, physical and digital infrastructure, vehicles, equipment and supporting infrastructure responsibly and maintain them to the best of our ability with the resources available to us. In addition, as an emergency service that is always looking to improve, we will continue to focus on the effective management of risk, and the health, safety and wellbeing of the public and our staff. 2019
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WHAT WE WILL DO We will be the best employer we can be and will put the physical and mental health of our people at the forefront. As an aspirational employer, we will aim to attract and retain the best people to deliver our services to the public. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic we had to work in more flexible and agile ways. Over the next three years we will continue to embed those changes in how we work and use technology to make day to day tasks easier for our people. We will continue to improve our training to enable our people to develop and maintain their competencies and skills. We will continue to improve our recruitment processes and make our roles more attractive to all members of our communities and develop our approach to youth engagement and employment. We will nurture an inclusive culture that values and welcomes everybody to be themselves at work. We will continue to provide our people with the dignified work facilities that they deserve, but this requires substantial investment. We will work with our representative bodies to champion fairness, equality, partnership, engagement, empowerment and respect for all. We will continue to be a Fair Work Employer, never paying less than the Living Wage to our staff. WHAT SUCCESS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THREE YEARS By 2025 we will be an employer that demonstrates our commitment to our people. We will achieve this by: w Continuing to work in partnership with our representative bodies to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the public and our people. w Developing and deploying new and more agile ways of working to protect the safety, wellbeing, physical and mental health of our people. w Continuing to provide training and development opportunities for all our people to ensure they have the right mix of knowledge and skills. w Expanding our youth engagement and employment activity. w Further promoting diversity and working with our partners to improve recruitment outcomes for minority ethnic people. w Continuing to make working for SFRS fulfilling and ensuring all our people can have their say regarding how we work. w Promoting a culture that values inclusion, promotes fairness, equality and respect for all while working to provide dignified work facilities for our people. The experience of those who work for SFRS improves as we are the best employer we can be. OUTCOME SIX Bottom photo: Pride Glasgow 2022 © Kiera Burns Photography 2221
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Community safety and wellbeing improves as we work effectively with our partners. WHAT WE WILL DO Partnership working is at our core. We will continue to work closely with our partners, including other fire and rescue services throughout the UK and internationally, to improve the wellbeing of communities and the safety of our firefighters. We will remain fully committed to Community Planning, and work with partners including Police Scotland, the Scottish Ambulance Service, Local Authorities, Health Boards, the Third Sector and Community Groups throughout Scotland. Partnership working is vital to ensure we perform at our best in all that we do, particularly in these financially challenging times. We will work closely with our communities to understand their changing needs and include them in the design, development and prioritisation of our services. WHAT SUCCESS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THREE YEARS By 2025 we will be recognised as a reliable and valued partner, delivering an effective emergency service and a wide range of place based initiatives with partners across Scotland and further afield. We will achieve this by: w Continuing our commitment to Community Planning and partnership working across all localities in Scotland. w Working with our partners to further safeguard the young and our vulnerable adults. w Working with our partners to address common service demand challenges. w Sharing more of our premises with partners and seeking efficiencies where we can through collaborative working. w Engaging more with communities and partners when designing, developing and delivering services. w Being positively valued by our partners and communities in all that we do. OUTCOME SEVEN OUTCOME FIVE We are a progressive organisation, use our resources responsibly and provide best value for money to the public. OUTCOME ONE Community safety and wellbeing improves as we deploy targeted initiatives to prevent emergencies and harm. OUTCOME SIX The experience of those who work for SFRS improves as we are the best employer we can be. OUTCOME TWO Communities are safer and more resilient as we respond effectively to changing risks. OUTCOME SEVEN Community safety and wellbeing improves as we work effectively with our partners. OUTCOME THREE We value and demonstrate innovation across all areas of our work. OUR PURPOSE To work in partnership with communities and with others in the public, private and third sectors on prevention, protection and response to improve the safety and wellbeing of people throughout Scotland. OUR VALUES STR ATEGY ON A PAGE OUTCOME FOUR We respond to the impacts of climate change in Scotland and reduce our carbon emissions. Photo on back cover: Pride Glasgow 2022 © Kiera Burns Photography 23
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