Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service

Integrated Risk

Management

Plan

2013-2017

Executive

Summary

Foreword 2

Your Fire and Rescue Service 3

Risk analysis 5

- Understanding risk 5

- Firefighter safety 6

- Built environment 7

- Roads and transport 9

- Natural environment 11

- Working together to reduce these risks 12

Our Strategic Objectives 13

‘Keeping the public safe’ work streams 15

‘Value for money’ work streams 20

‘Keeping our firefighters safe’ work streams 23

Our consultation 27

Contents About this plan and why it matters to you……

Every year Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service

(NFRS) create a plan, called the Integrated Risk

Management Plan (IRMP).

This plan is about improving public safety, reducing the

number of emergency incidents and saving lives. Every

fire and rescue service in the country has to have one, to

ensure that our work achieves the right service for local

needs.

Everyone who lives or works in, or travels through

Northamptonshire will have an interest in how well they,

and their loved ones are protected from fire and how

quickly and effectively they could be rescued from other

emergencies in the county.

This plan summarises what NFRS does now and how our

services may need to change in the future to continue to

meet the changing needs of the communities and the

challenges of the economic climate.

This document is an executive summary of our full 2013-

2017 Plan, and builds on previous IRMPs to assess the

risks to life within the county we serve, and propose new

ways to deploy our resources to address these risks.

To view the full 2013-2017 Plan please utilise the contact

details on the back of this document.

1

Chief Fire Officer Martyn Emberson and Councillor André González De Savage

It gives us great pleasure to introduce this strategic plan, which has been produced with the

recently published Fire and Rescue National Framework for England at its core.

The plan continues to evidence the hard work, commitment and achievements of NFRS

wherein driving down demand through effective preventative and enforcement work

continues to be a focus. We are therefore particularly encouraged by the continued

downward trend in the number of fires and road traffic collisions, which gives us confidence

that our prevention and enforcement work is being resourced in the right areas and continues

to deliver the desired outcomes.

As we move forward the need to innovate and develop new ways of working is pivotal to

addressing the challenges of keeping our communities and firefighters safe, whilst managing

the ongoing impacts of reduced local authority funding.

With this in mind, one of the main areas of focus during the life of this plan is the

development of closer working arrangements with partners within the fire and rescue sector

and the development of integrated operations with Police and Ambulance. The main aim of

this is to explore and identify opportunities to improve value in a way that will help ensure we

are able to maintain the services that are essential to creating a safer Northamptonshire. All

emergency services are dealing with similar challenges and as such, it makes sense to look

at how we manage these challenges together.

We are very appreciative of the dedication shown by all our staff in delivering a first class

service to the communities across the county and are proud of the leading role NFRS is

undertaking in developing innovative firefighting techniques to enhance firefighter safety,

supporting the wider aim to make Northamptonshire a great place to live and work.

We are accountable to the communities we serve and hope you will take this opportunity to

give us your views on the plans for your fire and rescue service.

Foreword

2

Our stations

Northamptonshire is served by 22 fire stations. Six of these are wholetime stations, staffed

24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Two are variable crewing stations and the remaining 14

are retained (part time) stations, as illustrated in the map on the left.

Our People…

We have an establishment of 580 people, this is made up of

525 operational posts and 55 support staff posts, all

dedicated to providing an excellent fire and rescue service

for the people of Northamptonshire.

All our firefighters are fully engaged in the delivery of

prevention, protection and response front line services every

day. Supported by our dedicated teams, including;

community safety, arson reduction, fire protection, and

volunteers who carry out a wide range of community safety

activities and initiatives to support our vision of ‘A Safer

Northamptonshire – Together’.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service

(NFRS)

NFRS covers an area of 235,964 hectares,

serving an estimated population of over

687,300 people living in 286,988 households.

Your Fire and Rescue Service Value for money!

NFRS currently costs £35.70 per head

of population per year. We remain one

of the best value for money UK Fire

Services.

3

As a County Council Fire Authority, NFRS

adopts Northamptonshire County Council’s

(NCC) wider purpose of supporting the

community and providing intervention where

necessary. For further details please go to

www.northamptonshire.gov.uk.

The Financial Challenge

The Government’s 2010 Comprehensive

Spending Review for the years 2011/12 to

2014/15 was driven by a need to reduce

spending in order to deal with the national

budget deficit. Over the last year or so the

service has reduced operating costs by over

£1m in order to help offset the reduction in

local authority funding. Total expenditure for

NFRS in 2011/12 was approximately

£24.5m. This is equivalent to £35.70 per head

based on the current population estimates

and demonstrates good value for money, with

the service remaining below similar sized

FRS’s average of £37.47 and the County

Council Fire and Rescue Services average of

£37.44. However, expectation is that the next

spending review period will continue to

constrain local authority spending across all

services. This will impact on our ability to

meet the growing demands placed on us, and

highlights the need to explore new ways of

delivering a high quality, efficient service in

what continues to be financially challenging

times.

Since the introduction of the IRMP in 2004

NFRS has been able to consistently evidence balanced and incremental improvements in

performance. As a result of prevention activity, amongst other changes, the total number of

incidents we attend has been steadily falling and this enables us to use our resources in different

ways and also significantly reduces the impact the service has on the environment (e.g. less use

of water, fuel etc).

The graph below illustrates the reduction in incidents over the last three years:

A growing Northamptonshire

We are committed to delivering services to meet our

communites’ expectations and year on year aim to drive

down the incidence of fires and road traffic collisions within

Northamptonshire.

Currently the resident population of Northamptonshire is

estimated to be 687,300, which is predicted to increase to

762,300 by 2019 (Census 2012). This population growth will

impact on how we deliver our services and to meet this

challenge we will continually review the changing pattern of

risk and adapt our plans accordingly.

3,152 2,842

2,654

3,434 3,149

2,649

1,347 1,538

1,369

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

2009-10 2010-11 2011-12

Fires False Alarms Special Services

4

How we gather this information

We collate a vast amount of data from the incidents we and other agencies attend, together with

contextual information, for example relating to population growth.

Through a process of data modelling this data is then analysed to inform us where, when and how

incidents are most likely to occur. This allows us to target prevention work appropriately and ensure

our resources are suitably placed.

The following risk analysis sections will aim to further explore the risks within Northamptonshire that

NFRS aim to reduce.

Understanding the risk

In 2011/12 the service attended 6,658 incidents; a decrease of 646 (8.84%) compared to 2010/11.

This reduction can largely be attributed to our success in the implementation of an unwanted fire

signals policy, which since implementation has seen a drop in the number of false alarms due to

apparatus, with a decrease of 34.4% compared to 2010/11.

As a summary, the graph below illustrates the number and variation of incidents that we have

attended in 2011/12 compared with 2010/11.

Secondary fires are defined as those which would involve refuse, derelict buildings, derelict vehicles, grass

and heathland

0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800

Fires (Primary)Fires (Dwelling)

Fires (Secondary)Fires (Chimney)

False Alarms (Good Intent)False Alarms (Malicious)

False Alarms (Due to Apparatus)RTC's

Medical Co-responderOther Special Services

2011-12 2010-11

5

Firefighter Safety

In 2011/12 there were 100 firefighter accidents recorded within NFRS. This was a slight increase on

the previous year but maintains a downward trend from 2007/8 figures. In this period there has been

a 64% decrease in reportable injuries.

Reportable injuries are those which resulted in an absence of more than 3 days

attributable to an injury at work or which are classed as reportable major injuries. Details

of these can be found on the HSE website .

The need to ensure a safe working environment for all staff, including operational personnel who

may be exposed to potentially hazardous working environments, is of primary importance to us.

In considering our plans and actions, we take account of any learning outcomes from incidents

across the country in an attempt to further reduce the likelihood of firefighter accidents, or any

other accidents in the workplace. Later sections within this plan signpost some of the work being

undertaken to enhance firefighter and community safety in Northamptonshire.

The downward trend in firefighter injuries from 2007/8 is illustrated in the graph below.

Of the 100 injuries recorded in 2011/12 there were were 6 reportable injuries. The remainder

were minor injuries with a range of causes. The highest incidence was slips/trips/falls and manual

handling which accounted for 60% of the total.

Further details regarding firefighter safety can be found on pages 25-26

6

17

15

19

13

6

113

126

94

79

94

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

2007/8

2008/9

2009/10

2010/11

2011/12

RIDDOR Reportable Injuries Minor Injuries

There were 367 reported fires in the home last year; this shows a further decrease (16.01%) on the

previous year.

The chart above illustrates the general improvement seen in the number of dwelling fires since April

2004.

-

Domestic Fires

In order to make Northamptonshire a safer place to live we

make every effort to prevent fires in the home and the

accidents and injuries caused as a direct consequence.

Both nationally and locally, domestic fires consistently

represent the biggest threat to injury and death from fire.

Consequently we are actively involved in Community Safety

campaigns at a local and national level to drive down this

risk.

The focus of our attention over the last few years has been

on educating and raising awareness amongst the most

vulnerable people within the community to help reduce the

likelihood of these fires occurring. This has had a positive

impact with measureable results and we will continue efforts

to reduce these figures year on year.

Built Environment

409 429 410 419 442 411 381 328

144 123 102 96 100 71 56 39

0

200

400

600

2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12

Accidental Deliberate

6

7

Deliberate Fires (Built environment) Since 2006/07 we have seen a reduction of 33.7% in the number of deliberate building fires. The service

continues work to reduce this figure through a number of prevention and arson task force initiatives. The

number of successful prosecutions where one of our Fire Investigation Officers contributed continues to

rise, and this also has an impact upon arson reduction figures and incidents of antisocial behaviour.

It is important that we continue to target acts of deliberate fire setting to make our county a safer place.

Work streams which identify this can be found in our Community Protection Strategy, available on request.

Commercial and Local Businesses

In 2010/11 NFRS attended 214 non domestic building fires. This is a 15.4% decrease on the previous year

and continues the downward trend from 2006/07.

Of the recorded non domestic building fires in 2011/12; accidental fires accounted for 41.98%. Fires such

as these are avoidable and have a large impact on both the national and local economy, with the risk of job

losses and subsequent social and economic impact on the community, as well as impacting on the

environment. For this reason non domestic building fires remain a priority for us. In 2011-12 our Fire

Protection Officers (FPOs) undertook 3296 protection related activities. This a decrease in the number of

inspections, as illustrated below, and is as a result of a reduction in the number of inspecting officers,

following changes to the budget last year.

Despite this reduction; the fire protection team continue to effectively promote fire protection systems and

safe practices in the workplace, which have contributed to this reduction in commercial and local business

fires evidenced above. We will continue to focus our activity in this area to balance a potential increase in

risk, and in doing so will encourage developers and planners to support the drive for installation of sprinkler

systems in commercial and local businesses, a method of fire suppression we strongly recommend. More

information on sprinkler systems can be found by contacting the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler

Association www.bafsa.org.uk.

4676 5862 6063

3989 3561 3296 0

10000

2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12

Protection Activity Undertaken

8

There was a 9.92% reduction in the number of incidents that required people to be extricated from

vehicles in 2011-12 compared with 2010-11.

Despite this decrease, Road Traffic Collisions (RTC) remain one of the highest risks to people in the

county, and for this reason it is a primary focus of work for the service and is subject to a new

response strategy that addresses, amongst other aims, how we can improve our speed and flexibility

in responding to RTCs when they occur.

Whilst the number of RTCs we attended in 2011/12 was lower than the previous year, this was not the

case nationally. Figures released by the Department of Transport showed that in 2011 road deaths

increased by 3% (the first increase since 2003) and that serious injuries rose by 2% (the first increase

since 1994). In addition, car occupant deaths rose by 6%, pedestrian deaths by 12% and serious

injuries among cyclists by 16%.

At the time of writing local indications are that there has been an increase in this type of incident in

comparison with the corresponding period in the previous year.

These national figures, and local indications stress the importance of continuing to work with partners

to gather intelligence which inform our targeted prevention plans. It is through these we help make the

roads of Northamptonshire as safe as possible.

Roads and Transport

Road Safety Education Programme

A dedicated role exists within NFRS to produce and deliver the road safety education

programme throughout the county’s primary and secondary schools, colleges,

complimentary education groups, Princes Trust and youth groups.

The main programme is a graphic, hard hitting presentation which highlights the impact

and consequences of dangerous driving and the aftermath of a road traffic collision. In an

“open forum” debate, discussion is encouraged using video clips and visual aids.

9

NFRS Attendance to RTCs between 2004-2012

.

As illustrated above, NFRS attended 420 RTCs in 2011/12 which has continued a downward trend

since 2005/06.

Deliberate Fires (Vehicle)

Campaigns run by our Arson Task Force have

seen the number of abandoned cars set on

fire fall from 570 in 2002/03 to just 5 last year

(2010/11). Our End of Life Vehicle Impound

Scheme (ELVIS) has contributed to this

reduction. The scheme speeds up the process

of removing abandoned vehicles, thereby

preventing them becoming targets for arson

586

662 653 638 592

526 488

420

135 138 154 160 132 143 131 118

2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12

RTCs total RTC extrications

10

The risk of water and flooding

We have recently introduced two boat rescue units and now have a number of personnel with

Specialist Rescue Boat Operator (SRBO) qualifications. Despite this new capability, we must

continually address the threat of widespread flooding and water related incidents, and do this by

working in close partnership with the environment agency, local authorities as well as the local

resilience forum, to ensure we can respond well to the impacts of climate change across

Northamptonshire.

Within this, we must consider our capability to deal with flooding incidents and continue to

recognise the dangers associated with rescuing people trapped in/by water. It is important that

where these changes can be addressed by additional training, engine capability, design or

additional new equipment that these options are fully considered.

The Communities and Local Government (CLG) report “Effects of Climate Change on Fire and Rescue

Services in the UK” states that Central England temperatures have risen by almost one degree

centigrade over the last century. Winters across the UK have been getting wetter, which leads to

increased flooding. Some sources of evidence suggest that these trends may continue.

The following chart shows flooding incidents attended by NFRS between April 2004 and March 2012.

A majority of these incidents involved water removal/provision. This chart supports CLG findings.

As can be seen below, there has been a linear trend of increase in the number of incidents from 2004

to 2012, with a particular spike in 2010-11:

.

Natural Environment

36 14 46

73

36

95

160

108

0

50

100

150

200

2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12

Floodingincidents

Linear (Floodingincidents)

11

Emergency and protective Services working

Together

With the economic climate the way it is, we recognise that the next four years will be challenging. To

help meet this challenge, we will work at a strategic level with our ‘blue-light’ partners (Police and

Ambulance Services) to explore and develop opportunities for integrated operations that aim to protect

the availability and quality of emergency and preventative services whilst optimising the infrastructures

that support service delivery.

Page 18 provides further examples of work already initiated, which provides a solid platform for further

collaboration..

NFRS recognise that to achieve our vision of ‘a safer Northamptonshire in conjunction with the

Council’s prevention strategy, we continually seek to improve partnerships we have developed with

other agencies to ensure we provide the

best service we can.

There is a significant network of existing

agencies and organisations who are working

to address local needs and through working

in partnership we seek to align our service

with the needs of the community, especially

where service provision crosses

organisational boundaries.

Some examples of our partnerships which

support either part or all of the communities

of Northamptonshire are depicted in the

diagram to the right.

Working together to reduce these risks

Home Fire Safety

Check (HFSC) partnership

referral network

Other Fire Authorities

Landlords and

Local Businesses

Planners, Developers and Highway Agencies

East Midlands

Ambulance Service (EMAS)

Northamptonshire Police

e.g Arson Task Force

Youth Intervention

Schemes

Local Community

Our Partnerships

12

Our Priorities

• The safety of workforce

• Develop safer working

concepts

• Support and develop

our staff

Our Priorities

• Build capacity and

generate resource for

reinvestment into the

service

• Increase our influence

within the community

• Efficient and effective use

of resources

Our Priorities

• Further develop flexible

arrangements for

responding to

emergencies

• Continue to meet the

greater demands placed

on the service

• Deliver targeted

community safety

activity

Overview

Our Strategic Plan is refreshed each year to ensure it continues to articulate the strategic direction of the Service and remains flexible to encompass

new issues. In order to reduce the risks within the county, such as those identified within the risk analysis section of this document, we implement

new work streams or special projects each year which support our strategic objectives, detailed below.

These objectives exist with an aim to:

Reduce the number and severity of fires, RTCs and other emergency incidents occurring

Reduce the commercial, economic and social impact of fires and other emergency incidents

Safeguard the environment and heritage, both built and natural

Our Strategic Objectives

The three strategic objectives are identified

throughout this document by their defining

colours. For each improvement action or

project detailed in the subsequent pages, the

objective to which the action links will be

visible on the page in a bubble similar to

those shown here, example 1 on page 16.

Below each objective you will see bullet

pointed strategic priorities that break each

objective down further. These have been re-

confirmed as still relevant as part of our

annual Strategic Review and represent the

current direction of the service in achieving

our ultimate aim of improving our service to

community and our organisation and

personnel.

Our Strategic Objectives

Purpose:

To Protect the people, property and environment and engage with all sectors of the

community

.

Keeping firefighters

safe Providing value for money

Keeping the Public

Safe

13

The strategic targets below indicate our core aims in ensuring public safety, the safety of

our staff, and that efficiencies are maintained. These key targets are how we will measure

the success of this IRMP programme and form part of a much larger performance

framework that is in place to ensure we are using our resources in the right way. You will

find further details relating to the projects that support these targets in the following few

pages. The full detail of all of our performance measures can be found in our full 2013-17

Strategic Plan and can be found at www.northamptonshire.gov.uk under ‘Fire and public

safety’,’Policies and publications’, ‘Our 2013-17 strategic plan’.

Our Strategic Targets

The colour

shading

identifies

the relevant

strategic

objective to

which the

information

relates.

n

m

a

i

n

k

n

o

w

n

c

a

u

s

e

s

o

f

a

c

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Example 1:

14

16

• Reduce the number of fire related incidents we need to attend

• Enhance life chances of people involved in medical emergencies

• Successfully target community safety activity

• Improve our ability to meet our Standards of Operational Response (SOR)

• Enhance the life chances of people involved in Road Traffic Collisions (RTCs)

• Maximise the use of our staff

• Collaboration benefits are realised

• Reduce the number of false alarms

• Increase our influence

• Establish a trading company

• Reduce our carbon footprint

• Enhance safety of workforce

• All incident commanders are assessed against the new nationally agreed incident

command standards

• Enhance local facilities for training and protecting firefighters in compartment fires

• Roll out of replacement Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for all operational

personnel

Keeping the Public safe

Keeping Firefighters safe

Providing value for money

Strategic Targets Objectives

We will achieve this through

The implementation of a

Response Strategy

The main principle behind the NFRS

response strategy will be to mobilise the

most appropriate resource to an

emergency, taking into account the incident

type and the time it would take for a

resource to arrive. The determination of the

resources mobilised will be based on

having the appropriate capability to be able

to deal with the immediate risk, stabilise the

incident and bring it to a satisfactory and

safe conclusion.

To achieve this NFRS will continue to utilise

traditional fire appliances, but will also

utilise a range of specialist vehicles and

appliances crewed with varying numbers of

firefighters with a range of different skills.

.

By continually reviewing how we respond to emergencies and what we

use

Cobra Technology

Cobra is a state-of-the-art fire fighting system developed by Cold Cut Systems of Sweden. NFRS

is at the forefront of Cobra’s introduction to the UK, gradually installing the equipment across our

fleet of standard fire appliances. We are also developing a safer fire fighting methodology by

combining the use of Cobra with other more conventional tactics and operational procedures.

NFRS is currently the leading user of Cobra within the UK and is working closely with the

manufacturer to further develop the equipment and training. The Cobra system is now standard

fit on all new fire appliances as well as a rapid response Cobra Intervention Vehicle (CIV)

Cobra Intervention Vehicle (CIV)

In 2010, NFRS introduced a CIV to back up our normal response with fire appliances, or when

fire cover is reduced in a certain area due to staffing issues or other operational activity. This

vehicle provides the capability to fight some fires in a different way, reducing the need to deploy

staff into high-risk areas. The condition of the atmosphere and potentially casualty survival rates

will be improved and fire contained prior to the arrival of a fully equipped appliance.

Priority

To further develop flexible

arrangements for responding

to emergencies

15

Rescue Boat Technical Rescue Vehicle Cobra Intervention Vehicle

Alternative Pumping Appliances

The service carried out a trial of a compact pumping appliance in 2012. Although the trial vehicle

was ultimately not deemed to meet our requirements the concept of using smaller appliances with

flexible crewing arrangements was proved to be viable.

A variety of options are available from various suppliers and are currently undergoing evaluations

with other FRS in the UK and Europe. These appliances are in essence a smaller fire engine, which

can be driven on a car licence, while carrying all the equipment necessary for certain types of

incident. They can be crewed by two to six firefighters. NFRS will monitor the effectiveness of these

vehicles and will run trials to investigate the potential for their use in the service.

The advantages of these smaller vehicles will be greater fuel efficiency, a reduced training burden

and the ability for more flexible crewing arrangements.

Initial Intervention Vehicles (IIV)

This vehicle provides a quick response to the high number of RTCs, particularly in rural areas.

They will be crewed by a full-time firefighter, with enhanced casualty trauma care training and

equipment, provided by the EMAS, to facilitate greater support to casualties and enhance scene

safety, lighting, vehicle stability, glass management and a cutting capability.

The pilot of this vehicle has improved availability of resources at the rural station it served and

also provided early, potentially life-saving intervention at road traffic collisions. This trial period led

to the purchase of four IIVs, which will serve to complement our existing fleet and provide an

improved service to the community.

We will Review all Duty

Systems

We are continuously monitoring the

effectiveness of all of our operational duty

systems to ensure a cost efficient and

effective way of managing service

resources. To date, our on-going duty

system review has freed up 8 operational

positions in order to support our RDS

stations and enhance our response to

incidents. We will continue to monitor the

current systems in place and will be

conducting a further review following the

outcome of a recent legal judgement.

16

Initial Intervention Vehicle Combined Aerial Rescue Platform Alternative Pumping Appliance

How will we achieve this?

We must constantly review how

Northamptonshire and the communities

within it are changing. This allows us to

target our prevention work and resources

appropriately to ensure we are reducing the

potential risks to those who live, work and

travel within Northamptonshire.

We will identify and target the

changing societal risks

Earlier we outlined some of the key risks

that have a direct impact on the way we

need to prepare and deploy our operational

resources and capability. Clearly, there is a

lot we can model and plan for and trends

and patterns which dictate this.

Each year these risks change and this

means we need greater flexibility in

preparing for any potential situation we may

face. In order to prepare for said risks we

must be aware of how society as a whole is

changing, and how we can best prepare to

ensure we continue to provide the best

service possible.

Age Statistics show that older citizens are most at risk from fires

in the home. With a prediction of one in five of

Northamptonshire’s population being 65 or over by 2019 it is

important that we continue to target prevention work within

this high risk group.

Another notable high risk group is 17-25 year olds who are

deemed most likely to be involved in a RTC.

For this reason we run a number of road safety initiatives

aimed at lowering the number of young persons injured or

killed on the roads of Northamptonshire.

Alcohol and Drugs

Those who live in homes where the occupiers misuse drugs

or alcohol are also at increased risk of a fire. Research

suggests that nationally more than 50% of fire fatalities within

the home involve drink or drug-related behaviour.

In Northamptonshire between April 2011 and March 2012

NFRS attended 31 dwelling fire incidents where it was known

or suspected that alcohol and/or drugs were involved.

Fire Setting

Deliberate fires in Northamptonshire have declined steadily

and significantly since 2003. However, in 2011-12 we

recorded our first rise in deliberate fires in eight years, when

Northamptonshire saw the second biggest spike in arson

attacks in the whole country. This highlights the need to

continue our work through our Arson Task Force.

Medical Emergencies See action ‘we will develop partnerships with blue light responders’ on page 18.

Priority

To continue to meet the greater

demands placed on the service

17

Police Partnership

Since 2003/04 NFRS have worked closely with

Northamptonshire Police to deliver a combined

Arson Task Force targeting the incidence of

arson across the county, through prevention,

education, investigation and detection of

deliberate fire setting.

This partnership has been hugely successful

and we aim to develop this collaborative

working with the Police to include:

Exploring how we can share resources in relation to analysis and data.

Exploring potential for Corporate Communications in Northamptonshire provided by the Police at reduced cost to NFRS.

Exploration of the relationship between the Fire Service’s new IIVs and Operations Dept.

Non-emergency call handling.

Use of fully functioning Fire Service garage/workshops providing a service to Police

Shared and effective use of property

Community bases – through the use of retained Fire Stations to deploy Police resources and access to new NFRS training facilities.

Exploration of shared training delivery (e.g. health and safety, management training, coaching and mentoring, driver training).

Explore joint work on business continuity

Reduce costs of postal logistics across county by sharing postal resources.

We will develop partnerships with blue light

responders

East Midlands Ambulance (EMAS) partnership

Partnership working increases the capacity of all

organisations to better serve the public. Over the last

decade, public services have undertaken a more joined-up

approach to meeting community needs. Through the life of

this plan, the further development of these partnerships will

continue to offer financial and service benefits.

Responding to life threatening medical emergencies is an

example of how ‘blue-light’ services can work together for the

benefit of the community.

In this regard, NFRS and EMAS have been working in

partnership since 2005, by providing a response to adult (life

threatening) medical emergencies in Northamptonshire.

First Aid and Defibrillation training provided by EMAS

enables retained firefighters and other NFRS staff to respond

to medical emergencies in their local communities, providing,

in conjunction with ambulance staff, a timely response to

emergency calls.

‘’We are very grateful to the NFRS for their continued

support and very proud of this partnership.’’ Michael Collins,

EMAS Service Delivery Manager (Operational Support)

18

C

Review of our Home Fire Safety Check (HFSC) Process

In recent years, NFRS have achieved challenging targets

for the delivery of HFSCs. Since 2008 over 30,500

households in the county have received this free service.

As we move forward, we recognise the need to ensure our

limited resources are available to those most at risk in the

community. To help achieve this we are introducing an on-

line self-help service for those able to use this approach,

whilst continuing to target those at most risk through ‘direct

engagement’, using our own staff, partners and volunteers.

Enforcement of fire safety legislation

NFRS have a statutory duty to enforce fire safety legislation

within the County.

NFRS will continue to target inspections of premises that

present the highest risk to life and through engaging with

planning authorities will continue to provide advice and

direction on fire safety matters, including lobbying for the

installation of sprinkler systems wherever applicable.

We will achieve this through

Implementation of a Community

Protection Strategy

Our Community Protection Strategy will

ensure that we are continually anticipating

the risks posed to the communities of

Northamptonshire and adapt our

community protection activity accordingly.

Wherever possible, our main efforts and

resources will be targeted at those groups

within our communities who are known to

be at risk. These are individuals whom

have been identified ‘more likely’ to

require assistance from the emergency

services due to lifestyles or environment

that they live in.

Our Arson Task Force Strategy

This strategy details the partnership

between police and fire, covering a

number of workstreams which contribute

to our arson reduction objectives of;

Prevention, Education, Investigation and

Detection.

Priority

To deliver targeted community

safety

19

How will we achieve this?

With a reduction in budget and a fragile

economic climate, it is important that we

explore potential ways of generating money

for reinvestment back into the service and

the community, as well as making

efficiencies.

Introduction of a Strategic

Growth Infrastructure Plan

Northamptonshire will change and grow over

the next twenty years. New development can

have a positive effect on an area, providing

new homes, jobs and economic prosperity.

However, projected demographic changes

within the existing population and planned

economic growth and proposed housing

development will place pressures on the

Service’s infrastructure, services and

facilities.

Through the Northamptonshire Growth

Infrastructure Plan NFRS will seek to access

developer contributions in order to secure

any necessary funding towards required fire

and rescue infrastructure projects. It is vital

that on-going investment in infrastructure is

secured, to support our communities, to

deliver growth, and to accommodate change.

Introduction of a commercial arm

NFRS’s approach for innovation supports the service in moving forward through the application

of new technology, procedures and guidance that enhances the safety of the community, and

the safety and capability of emergency responders.

The service has identified commercial opportunities to maximise the use of its assets in

generating income through commercial and public sector trading.

Income generation will enable the service to reinvest into the community and continue to

support the Service’s strategic objectives, aimed at protecting the people, property environment

of Northamptonshire through greater understanding of the community's needs.

A number of NFRS assets that can be developed to generate income for NCC have been

identified; these are illustrated in the diagram below:

Once the trading company is established it opens opportunities to develop individual business

cases that have previously not been explored, the aim being to maximise the use of the assets

and reinvest into improving community safety for the benefit of Northamptonshire.

Priority Build capacity and generate

resources for reinvestment into

the Service

• Consideration has been given to how this facility could be used by the private sector in protecting not only the initial responders but also the local economic infrastructure.

Command Development Centre (CDC)

See page 24

• Due to a high level of interest in Cobra technology within the UK and Internationally, our experiences and knowledge of developing a safer fire fighting concept places NFRS in a unique position to capitalise on its investments.

Cobra Technology

see page 17

• This facility will not only support the delivery of UK courses; it will allow international courses to be delivered within the Service with income generation benefits for NFRS.

Fire Behaviour Training

See page 23

20

Develop new funding models

W

i

t

h

f

u

n

d

i

n

How will we achieve this?

Through improved engagement with internal and

external customers we will gain a greater

understanding of community need and target our

activity accordingly.

Review our communications strategy

Our communications strategy is essential to our understanding the needs and expectations of the

communities we serve and for the community to understand all of the ways in which the fire and

rescue service contribute to achieving improved outcomes and how they can access our help.

Enhance elected member engagement

NFRS has changed significantly in recent years and the

initiatives in this plan continue this journey of change. It is

essential that we work closely with the elected members to

ensure they have sufficient information and knowledge about

how the Service is adapting to meet the needs of the people

they represent.

Priority

Increase our influence within the

community

Priority

Build capacity and generate

resources for reinvestment

into the Service

21

The introduction of a commercial arm,

detailed on page 20 is one of the ways

we aim to build capacity over the next

four years.

Other work streams that support this

priority include

the review of all duty systems

targeting prevention and response

activity effectively

collaborative working

improving our Information

Communication Technology (ICT)

infrastructure and improving

business intelligence

.cal issues.

Implementation of the Information Management Strategy

The aim of the information management strategy is to provide an integrated approach to information management, to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of services to the community and the safety of staff through timely, accurate and accessible business intelligence and to ensure compliance with legislation.

Implementation of the Asset Management Strategy

The asset management strategy provides an integrated framework for procuring and managing property, fleet and equipment and Information Communication Technology (ICT) assets. It will help ensure alignment and compliance with corporate standards and processes in the purchase and maintenance of the range of assets which support and enable delivery of front line services

Reducing our carbon footprint

In the life of our last IRMP 2010-2013 we committed to reducing the impact NFRS has on the environment by embracing a new approach to solar electricity through the use of photo-voltaic solar panels. Solar electricity is a renewable energy and doesn't release any harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) or other pollutants into the environment. These were fitted to several fire stations and create efficiency savings whilst reducing the impact NFRS has on the environment. We continue to work towards reducing our carbon footprint through review of our assets and the way in which we deploy resources.

How will we achieve this?

We will continue to look at ways in which we

can maintain the service we provide, within

economic constraints.

Through review of NCC HALO

Governance model

High Ability Low Operation (HALO) is a new

governance model introduced by NCC.

The basic principle of this model is that NCC

retain a small in-house core of personnel to

commission and facilitate outcomes rather

than employing staff to do actual works.

The purpose of this new governance model is

to help the county council maintain effective

and affordable services to the community.

In support of the HALO model, which

highlights the need to explore new ways of

delivery, NFRS will continue to look at

developing joined-up opportunities with our

‘blue light partners’ in order to protect the

availability and quality of emergency and

preventative services.

Priority

Efficient and effective use of

resources

22

How will we achieve this?

In recent years there have been a number of

serious incidents across the country resulting

in firefighter fatalities. Improving our facilities

for training and assessment will help prevent

this happening in Northamptonshire.

Enhanced Fire Behaviour Training

In early 2011, NFRS submitted a planning application for a new fire behaviour training facility

near Chelveston in East Northamptonshire. The application outlined proposals to install

specially adapted containers on the land for NFRS compartmental fire training purposes

These simulators are designed to replicate, as realistically as possible, the activity of fire gases

within a compartment. They also demonstrate a range of phenomena related to 'flashover',

‘backdraft’ and other forms of fire gas ignitions.

The site allows firefighters to experience, within a controlled environment; how a compartment

fire (a fire in a room) is likely to develop and behave under different ventilation conditions (with

doors or windows open or closed). This type of training was introduced in the 1980's and has

been increasingly used over the last two decades, by many different Fire and Rescue

Services, both in the UK and abroad.

How will we achieve this?

We are committed to ensuring that all

reasonable steps are taken to provide safe

and healthy conditions, compliance with all

relevant health and safety legislation,

management of health and safety in the

workplace, the provision of necessary

information, instruction, training and

supervision to all employees, and, to review

our policies and make improvements where

applicable.

We will implement the recommendations of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Consolidated Report

In 2009/10 The HSE conducted eight

targeted health and safety inspections of Fire

and Rescue Services. The consolidation

report summarised the main findings of these

eight inspections and detailed

recommendations. In response to the

publication of these findings, NFRS

introduced a task and finish group aimed at

identifying any shortfalls of the Service and

recommendations for improvements.

Priority

The safety of our workforce

Priority

Safer working concepts

23

Enhanced Command Development Centre

Because major incidents are typically complex and often challenging to manage; they require

good communication and decision-making skills, effective use of resources and information,

application of a clear command structure and a team based approach in which activities and

efforts of all personnel involved are effectively coordinated.

Developing these skills and training for these incidents requires realistic, real-time simulated

environments and scenarios.

The new Command Development Centre in Daventry utilises a range of sophisticated simulation

systems to do just this. It allows fire officers to train within a safe, simulated environment where

they can perfect skills that are then readily transferable to the live incident ground.

It will also enable the facilitation of multi-agency training to improve resilience both locally and

nationally.

Replacement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) contract

In 2014 we aim to roll out new PPE to all operational personnel. The new kit will deliver a high

technical specification with a more ergonomic design, therefore increasing its functionality for our

frontline staff.

Roll out of new breathing apparatus

In 2012 NFRS rolled out new breathing

apparatus equipment which will continue to

develop to include telemetry systems. This

‘telemetry system’ is made up of a radio

frequency transmitter/receiver mounted to

the breathing apparatus, which transmits

information about the breathing apparatus

set to a transmitter/receiver base station

located with the incident command centre.

In short this will allow incident commanders

to monitor how much breathable air each

firefighter using breathing apparatus within

an incident has remaining. This provides us

with further assurance in terms of safety

critical working environments to which our

firefighters are exposed.

24

Implementation of the Workforce Development Strategy

NFRS recognises that our employees are critical to the delivery of our services and achieving

our objectives. Our new Workforce Development Strategy will drive the programme of training

and development activity required to ensure we maintain the required skills and competencies

across the whole workforce, necessary to ensure we can continue to deliver the services

required to enhance community and workforce safety.

Introduction of E-learning packages

In line with the county council's priorities, an Online Learning Centre has been designed to

provide a range of courses and learning resources including interactive learning, discussion,

and support outside of and in addition to the classroom. E-learning allows the employee to be in

control of learning at all times. It can be accessed from any computer with an internet

connection, either at work, home or other Learning Centres and Libraries across

Northamptonshire. The advantages of this method of learning is a more flexible and economical

delivery of training.

NFRS will continue to work with other Fire and Rescue Services to develop these courses and

share good practice.

How will we achieve this?

We continue to prioritise the delivery of risk critical and other specialist training to meet the expanding role of the modern fire and rescue service.

Assessment of Incident Commanders

All NFRS Supervisory Managers will undergo

incident command assessment using our

new simulation suite at the Command

Development Centre, as detailed on page 26.

Through the continued assessment of

Incident Commanders we will continue to

enhance workforce competency.

Priority

Support and develop our staff

25

We will implement the delivery of this strategy through comprehensive action plans which will be

incorporated into departmental business plans.

These are available as a separate appendix which are obtainable on request and are also on the county

council website.

Delivery of this plan

26

To ensure Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue

Service reflects the needs of the local

community this plan was subject to a 12 week

public consultation in line with guidance from

CLG. It is not until the Service fully

understands what the local needs are that an

accurate plan can be produced that reflects

these requirements.

The consultation period ran from the 11

October 2012 to 4 January 2013.

Our consultation strategy builds on lessons

learnt through previous consultations and

looks to enhance public engagement with the

process.

The list of stakeholders included

The general public, Council Tax payers,

households etc.

Community organisations

Public representatives

Business organisations

Local Authorities

Employees and their representatives

Minority groups

Voluntary Sector

27

CONSULTATION We want to hear your

views on our plans

Consultation took place from 11 October 2012 to 4 January 2013.

Although the consultation on this document has now finished we

will continue to listen to comments and queries from stakeholders

How we were able to be contacted:

1) By Email at

service.improvement@northantsfire.org.uk

2) Telephone on 01604 797000

3) Write to us at Northamptonshire Fire and

Rescue Service Headquarters, Moulton

Way, Northampton, NN3 6XJ

4) At www.northamptonshire.gov.uk under

‘Have your say’ on the homepage

5) Public meetings/community meetings

6) Follow on Twitter #northantsfire

7) Follow on Facebook

8) Talk with us when we visited areas of

Northamptonshire in our Community

Outreach Vehicle

Draft Version 0.25

V.1.0

Northamptonshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service Service Headquarters

Moulton Way Northampton

NN3 6XJ

01604 797000

service.improvement@northantsfire.org.uk

Use your SmartPhone to scan this QR code and go directly to our online questionnaire.

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This information can be provided in other formats such as other languages, Braille, audio cassette etc.

If you require another format please phone (01604) 797000 and quote the reference below:

NFRS/IRMP/2013-17/Year10_consultation