m. pearson clerk to the authority service … · service headquarters the knowle clyst st george...

M. Pearson

CLERK TO THE AUTHORITY

To: The Chair and Members of the Audit and Performance Review Committee (see below)

SERVICE HEADQUARTERS THE KNOWLE CLYST ST GEORGE EXETER DEVON EX3 0NW

Your ref : SS/SY/APRC/Jan2012 Date : 24 January 2012 Telephone : 01392 872200 Our ref : Please ask for : Sam Sharman Fax : 01392 872300

Website : www.dsfire.gov.uk Email : [email protected] Direct Telephone : 01392 872393

AUDIT AND PERFORMANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE

(Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority)

Wednesday 1 February 2012

A meeting of the Audit and Performance Review Committee will be held on the above date, commencing at 10:00 hours in Conference Room B in Somerset House, Service Headquarters to consider the following matters. M. Pearson Clerk to the Authority A G E N D A

1. Apologies 2. Minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 2011 attached (). 3. Items Requiring Urgent Attention

Items which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as matters of urgency.

4. Declarations of Interest

Members are asked to consider whether they have any personal/personal and prejudicial interests in items as set out on the agenda for this meeting and declare any such interests at this time. Please refer to the Note 2 at the end of this agenda for guidance on interests.

PART 1 – OPEN COMMITTEE

5. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority Performance Report: April to November 2011 Report of the Deputy Chief Fire Officer (APRC/12/1) attached (page 4).

6. Audit and Review 2011/12: 3rd Quarter Progress Report Report of the Audit & Review Manager (APRC/12/2) attached (page 23).

7. Audit Commission Update Report The Audit Commission has produced a report for the Committee, a copy of which is included within these papers for your reference (page numbered and enclosed separately) FOR INFORMATION. A representative of the Audit Commission will be present at the meeting to present the report to the Committee.

PART 2 – ITEMS WHICH MAY BE TAKEN IN THE ABSENCE OF THE PRESS

AND PUBLIC

Nil

MEMBERS ARE REQUESTED TO SIGN THE ATTENDANCE REGISTER

Membership:- Councillors Dyke (Chair), Burridge-Clayton, Drean, Gribble, Mills, Radford and Way

Substitute Members Members are reminded that, in accordance with Standing Order 36, the Clerk (or his representative) MUST be advised of any substitution prior to the start of the meeting.

NOTES

1. ACCESS TO INFORMATION Any person wishing to inspect any minutes, reports or lists of background papers relating to any item on this agenda should contact Sam Sharman on the telephone number shown at the top of this agenda.

2. DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS BY MEMBERS What Interests do I need to declare in a meeting? As a first step you need to declare any personal interests you have in a matter. You will then need to decide if you have a prejudicial interest in a matter. What is a personal interest? You have a personal interest in a matter if it relates to any interests which you must register, as defined in Paragraph 8(1) of the Code.

You also have a personal interest in any matter likely to affect the well-being or financial position of:- (a) you, members of your family, or people with whom you have a close association; (b) any person/body who employs/has employed the persons referred to in (a) above, or any firm

in which they are a partner or company of which they are a director; (c) any person/body in whom the persons referred to in (a) above have a beneficial interest in a

class of securities exceeding the nominal value of £25,000; or (d) any body of which you are a Member or in a position of general control or management and

which:-

you have been appointed or nominated to by the Authority; or

exercises functions of a public nature (e.g. a constituent authority; a Police Authority); or

is directed to charitable purposes; or

one of the principal purposes includes the influence of public opinion or policy (including any political party or trade union)

more than it would affect the majority of other people in the Authority's area.

Anything that could affect the quality of your life (or that of those persons/bodies listed in (b) to (d) above) either positively or negatively, is likely to affect your/their “well being”. If you (or any of those persons/bodies listed in (b) to (d) above) have the potential to gain or lose from a matter under consideration – to a greater extent than the majority of other people in the Authority’s area - you should declare a personal interest. What do I need to do if I have a personal interest in a matter? Where you are aware of, or ought reasonably to be aware of, a personal interest in a matter you must declare it when you get to the item headed "Declarations of Interest" on the agenda, or otherwise as soon as the personal interest becomes apparent to you, UNLESS the matter relates to or is likely to affect:-

(a) any other body to which you were appointed or nominated by the Authority; or (b) any other body exercising functions of a public nature (e.g. membership of a constituent

authority; other Authority such as a Police Authority); of which you are a Member or in a position of general control or management. In such cases, provided you do not have a prejudicial interest, you need only declare your personal interest if and when you speak on the matter. Can I stay in a meeting if I have a personal interest? You can still take part in the meeting and vote on the matter unless your personal interest is also a prejudicial interest. What is a prejudicial interest? Your personal interest will also be a prejudicial interest if all of the following conditions are met:-

(a) the matter is not covered by one of the following exemptions to prejudicial interests in relation to the following functions of the Authority:-

statutory sick pay (if you are receiving or entitled to this);

an allowance, payment or indemnity for members;

any ceremonial honour given to members;

setting council tax or a precept; AND (b) the matter affects your financial position (or that of any of the persons/bodies as described in

Paragraph 8 of the Code) or concerns a regulatory/licensing matter relating to you or any of the persons/bodies as described in Paragraph 8 of the Code); AND

(c) a member of the public who knows the relevant facts would reasonably think your personal interest is so significant that it is likely to prejudice your judgement of the public interest.

What do I need to do if I have a prejudicial interest? If you have a prejudicial interest in a matter being discussed at a meeting, you must declare that you have a prejudicial interest (and the nature of that interest) as soon as it becomes apparent to you. You should then leave the room unless members of the public are allowed to make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter by statutory right or otherwise. If that is the case, you can also attend the meeting for that purpose.

You must, however, leave the room immediately after you have finished speaking (or sooner if the meeting so decides) and you cannot remain in the public gallery to observe the vote on the matter. Additionally, you must not seek to improperly influence a decision in which you have a prejudicial interest. What do I do if I require further guidance or clarification on declarations of interest? If you feel you may have an interest in a matter that will need to be declared but require further guidance on this, please contact the Clerk to the Authority – preferably before the date of the meeting at which you may need to declare the interest. Similarly, please contact the Clerk if you require guidance/advice on any other aspect of the Code of Conduct.

- 1 -

AUDIT AND PERFORMANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE (Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority)

17 November 2011

Present:- Councillors Dyke (Chair), Drean, Gribble, Mills, Radford and Way. Apologies:- Councillor Burridge-Clayton. *APRC/17. Minutes

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 22 September 2011 be signed as a correct record.

*APRC/18. Declarations of Interest

Members of the Committee were asked to consider whether they had any personal/personal and prejudicial interests in items as set out on the agenda for this meeting and declare any such interests at this time. No interests were declared.

*APRC/19. Audit Progress Summary

The Audit Commission produced an audit progress summary (to 7 November 2011) that set out issues covered since the previous meeting. The reports issued since the previous meeting included, amongst other matters, details of the:

Annual Audit Letter 2010/11, and;

Audit of system controls and financial statements. David Bray, the new Audit Manager, and Alun Williams, representing the Audit Commission, were present at the meeting to present this item. Alun Williams reported favourably on the Annual Audit Letter, summarising the key findings of the audit work undertaken for the Authority in 2010/11. He drew attention to Appendix 1 of the report circulated which set out details of the additional work that had been undertaken as a result of the issues with the Statement of Accounts and the extra fee that had been incurred as a result. In terms of the audit of system controls and financial statements, Alun Williams reported that this was a detailed report that had been discussed with officers and an action plan had been agreed and was included within the report circulated by the Audit Commission. He commented that the Audit Commission had an excellent working relationship with the Finance Team which had resulted in the achievement of a set of accounts that had been completed correctly and on time and he thanked the officers involved in achieving this.

- 2 -

*APRC/20. Audit and Review 2011/12 Six Month Progress Report The Committee received for information a report of the Audit and Review Manager (APRC/11/13) that provided an update in respect of the progress made between April and September 2011 in respect of the audits undertaken. In response to a question asked, the Audit Manager referred to the action that had been taken by the Authority in respect of the National Fraud Initiative and the cases where there had been both under and overpayments as a result in changes in circumstances that had not previously been reported. This matter had been considered at length by the Committee at its meeting on 22 September 2011 (Minute *APRC/14 refers). The Audit Manager stated that there had been 3 audits undertaken between April and September 2011, namely Health and Safety, Democratic Services and Hydrant Management. Reference was made to the audit on health and Safety and Hydrant Management, both of which were given an assurance statement of “improvement required”. In terms of Health and Safety, this area had been reviewed by the Senior Management Board with areas such as the maintenance of competencies now being addressed. This work had been fed into an Operational Assurance project to ensure that the appropriate action was taken. In terms of hydrant management, the main issue identified was the need for the establishment and maintenance of a hydrant database. The Audit Manager added that the Audit Team was able to provide the assurance statements in order to deliver improvements in service delivery in the future.

*APRC/21. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service Performance Report: April to September 2011 The Committee received for information a report of the Deputy Chief Fire Officer (APRC/11/14) that set out the Service’s performance in April to September 2011, as measured against the targets set within the Corporate Plan for 2011/12 to 2013/14. The Committee was informed of the progress made against the targets with particular emphasis on areas where there may be a downward trend which required further work to be undertaken or where a positive performance had been achieved. In this regard, the following points were noted: Measures 1 to 3 - Deaths, injuries and incidents which occurred as a result of fire in the places where people lived:

In terms of measure 1, it was noted that there had been a further death as a result of a house fire since September 2011 but that a downward trend was still being maintained.

The downward trend in respect of measures 2 & 3 was still being maintained.

Measures 4 to 6 - Deaths, injuries and incidents which occurred as a result of fire in the places where people worked and visited:

The recent M5 incident would impact on the figures in November 2011. The Service had been commended for the way in which it dealt with this tragic incident, alongside other emergency services.

- 3 -

Measures 7 and 8 - Occasions where response standards are met for first attendance at dwelling fires and RTCs:

In terms of measure, an improvement was needed and work was being undertaken to investigate the reasons behind the performance, such as the difference in turnout times form station.

Measure 9 – the Committee received a comprehensive presentation given by the Head of Community Safety and the Corporate Planning Manager that covered the progress made to date with the Local Community Plans and the proposals for the future.

*DENOTES DELAGATED MATTER WITH POWER TO ACT

The meeting started at 10.00hours and finished at 11.35hours

- 4 -

REPORT REFERENCE NO. APRC/12/1

MEETING AUDIT AND PERFORMANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE

DATE OF MEETING 1 FEBRUARY 2012

SUBJECT OF REPORT DEVON AND SOMERSET FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE PERFORMANCE REPORT APRIL - NOVEMBER 2011

LEAD OFFICER DEPUTY CHIEF FIRE OFFICER

RECOMMENDATIONS That the report be noted.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Attached for your consideration and discussion is the Performance Report April 2011 - November 2011 for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service.

The report looks at a summary of the Corporate measures, and the performance and progress against them so far in 2011/12.

RESOURCEIMPLICATIONS None

EQUALITY RISK & BENEFITS ASSESSMENT

APPENDICES Annex 1 – Guide to understanding the Performance Report

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority Performance Report, April 2011 - November 2011 (Page numbered separately)

LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority Corporate Plan 2011/12 – 20013/14

DEVON & SOMERSET

FIRE & RESCUE AUTHORITY

- 5 -

Annex 1

Guide to understanding the Performance reports Much of the new performance report now comes directly from our Performance Information Management System (PIMS), which is now being widely used within the service to access performance information and effectively manage performance. Top level summary of performance against the Corporate Plan's Targets: The Corporate Targets are shown in summary tables. For each Target, the following information is presented:

Actual Previous

Year

Target: To reduce incidents as a

result of fire in places where

people live

160 187

Number of Accidental fires 142 164

Number of Deliberate fires 18 23

Incidents of fire in the places where

people live

Apr to May 2011

Direction of Travel

0

50

100

150

Jun-09

Jul-09

Aug-09

Sep-09

Oct-09

Nov-09

Dec-09

Jan-10

Feb-10

Mar-10

Apr-10

May-10

Jun-10

Jul-10

Aug-10

Sep-10

Oct-10

Nov-10

Dec-10

Jan-11

Feb-11

Mar-11

Apr-11

May-11

Accidental Deliberate

Actual = shows cumulative performance from April to May 2011 Previous Year = shows cumulative performance from April to May 2010

Breakdown of Accidental and Deliberate

Arrow showing required direction of performance

Measure name and Target

Direction of Travel shows the numbers of fires within each month over the past 24 months to show trends, spikes and direction of travel. Accidental fires are shown in Blue Deliberate Fires are shown in Red

- 6 -

This graph shows the total number of incidents for each year since combination (April 2007). A trend line has been added to identify the current direction we are going in and therefore if we are going to achieve the target.

Trend

www.dsfire.gov.uk Acting to Protect & Save

Performance Report

April – November 2011

Corporate Plan 2011/12 to 2013/14

This is a performance report for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue

Service for the period April 2011 – November 2011.

01/02/2012

Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service

DCFO Gibbins

Devon and Somerset Performance Report

April 2011 – November 2011

- 9 -

Introduction

This is a performance report for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service for April 2011 to

November 2011.

This report looks at:

o Top level summary of performance against the Corporate Plan’s Measures (pages 4 to 15)

o Measures 1 to 3: Deaths, injuries and incidents which occur as a result of fire in the

places where people live (pages 5 to 8)

o Measures 4 to 6 : Deaths, injuries and incidents which occur as a result of fire in the

places where people work and visit (pages 9 to 11)

o Measures 7 and 8: Occasions where our response standards are met for first attendance

at dwelling fires and RTCs (pages 12 to 13)

o Measure 9: A publicly available and current Local Community Plan for each station (page

14)

o Measure 10: EFQM assessment score (page 15)

o Measure 11: Staff survey results (page 15)

o Vehicle Accidents (page 16)

Please use this report to interrogate performance, ask questions, and to understand how well the

Service/your department/your area are doing. If you have any suggestions how to improve this report, or

make it easier to illustrate performance against the Corporate Plan, please let us know.

At the time the data was compiled for this April – November 2011 report there were 21 Incident

Recording System (IRS) forms incomplete. There will be measures that will be affected by this missing

data so the information is subject to change.

De

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n a

nd

So

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rset P

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epo

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Ap

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1 –

No

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mb

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011

- 10 -

Measures Target Performance against the target

2011-12 YTD

Strategic Principle: Work with people, communities and businesses to make Devon and Somerset a safer place to live, work and visit

Measure 1: Deaths in Fires where people live

To maintain a downward trend in fire deaths in places where people live

Measure 2: Injuries in Fires where people live

To achieve a downward trend in fire injuries in places where people live

Measure 3: Fires in places where people live

To reduce incidents as a result of fire in places where people live

Measure 4: Deaths in Fires where people work and visit

To achieve a downward trend in fire deaths in places where people work and visit

Measure 5: Injuries in Fires where people work and visit

To maintain a downward trend in fire injuries in places where people work and visit

Measure 6: Fires in places where people work and visit

To reduce incidents as a result of fire in places where people work and visit

Strategic Principle: Respond to local, regional & national emergencies with the appropriate skills & resources

Measure 7: ERS % 1st

Attendance in 10 minutes where people live

To achieve an upward trend in performance for 1st

attendance in 10 minutes at dwelling fires

Measure 8: ERS % 1st

Attendance 15 minutes for RTCs

To achieve an upward trend in performance for 1st

attendance in 15 minutes at RTCs

Measure 9: A publicly available and current Local Community Plan for each station

100% of all LCPs to be available by 1st

April of each year

Strategic Principle: Work hard to be an excellent organisation

Measure 10: EFQM assessment score To progress towards the EFQM ‘excellence’ benchmark score by 31 March 2014

Measure 11: Staff survey results Continue improvement in staff survey results

- maintained a positive trend - improved performance (against prev. year) - worse performance (against prev. year) - the same as prev. year

- failed to achieve a positive trend



- 11 -

Measure 1: Deaths which occur as a result of fire in the places where people live

Target: To maintain a downward trend in fire deaths in places where people live

The graph above shows the decreasing trend since combination in deaths at places where people live.

In addition is the current year to date information (shown in green) which is not included in the trend line.

Since the introduction of the IRS recording system in April 2009 there has been 18 deaths. 50% of these

deaths have occurred in homes with no smoke alarm system fitted. Community Safety are carrying out

research into the causes of serious fires.

Further information relating to the four deaths this year is detailed on the following page.

Actual Previous

Year

Target: To maintain a

downward trend in fire

deaths in places where

people live

4 4

Number of Accidental 3 3

Number of Deliberate 1 1

Deaths which occur as a result of

fire in the places where people

live

April - November YTD

Direction of Travel

0

0.5

1

1.5


11

3

8

5

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Deaths in Fires where people live

Year End April - November YTD Trend (Year End)

Deaths in fires where people

live2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 Total 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 Total

Accidental 5 2 8 4 19 3 2 7 3 3 18

Deliberate 6 1 0 1 8 6 0 0 1 1 8

Total 11 3 8 5 27 9 2 7 4 4 26

Year end April - November YTD



- 12 -

Details of Deaths which occurred as a result of fire in the places where people live

Incident 1, Milton Road, Taunton, 17th June 2011 – Time of call 1245 hrs

Male aged 60, died due to a fire most likely caused by careless disposal of smoking materials igniting

household rubbish on the floor which spread to an arm chair. It was a late call with the fire out on arrival.

The fatality was believed to be dead before the arrival of the fire service. Fire investigation established

that there had been a number of previous fires of a similar nature within the dwelling that had not been

reported to us. There has been no Community Safety Intervention recorded by the Service and although

smoke detectors were fitted in the property we are unable to determine if they activated.

Incident 2, Kenley Gardens, Plymouth, 14thJuly 2011 – Time of call 0011 hrs

Female aged 82, died due to a fire which was probably caused by an unattended chip pan. The kitchen

was severely damaged by fire and the timber panelled ceiling was consumed in the fire. There was also

severe damage to the underside of the floor boards on the first floor.

Incident 3, King Street, Combe Martin 5th September 2011 – Time of call 0214 hrs

Male aged 65, died due to a fire caused by careless disposal of smoking materials. The fatality was living

by himself and was suffering from a number of health concerns. The building was fitted with a BS 5839

Part 1 system which raised the alarm and evacuated a number of neighbours. In addition the flat had

independent mains powered smoke alarms but it was likely the occupant’s mobility prevented him from

escaping through the room of origin.

Incident 4, New Quay Street, Teignmouth. 3rd November 2011. Time of call 21:55 hrs.

Upon arrival crews were faced with a fully developed fire in the ground floor of a 2 storey terraced

property. A 46 year old male was rescued from a first floor bedroom by crews from Teignmouth but had

regrettably sustained fatal injuries. The subsequent investigation indicated the fire had started in the

ground floor living room area and involved a single chair and 3 seater sofa. There was smoke detection

within the property and evidence indicates it was not in the correct position prior to the fire therefore

delaying its actuation. A full Fire Investigation Report is being prepared for the Coroner from which the

most probable cause of the fire will be published.



- 13 -

Measure 2: Injuries which occur as a result of fire in the places where people live

Target: To achieve a downward trend in fire injuries in places where people live

The introduction of the Incident Recording System (IRS) in April 2009 led to a significant decrease in the

number of recorded injuries, this was due to more accurate recording between those people taken to

hospital and those people treated or checked at scene. As agreed at Audit and Performance Review

Committee, data prior to the introduction of the IRS is now excluded from this measure, resulting in an

upward trend.

This year to date (April to November) there has been 32 recorded injuries. Of these injuries 25 were at

accidental fires in places where people live, this is lower than the same period in the previous two years.

The other 7 injuries were at deliberate dwelling fires, this is a reduction on the same period in 2010/11

when there were 11 injuries.

Actual Previous

Year

Target: To achieve a


injuries in places where

people live

32 40



Injuries which occur as a result of

fire in the places where people

live


Direction of Travel

0

5

10

15


162

110

4964

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Injuries in Fires where people live

Year End April - November YTD Trend (Year End since IRS)

Injuries in fires where people

live2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 Total 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 Total

Accidental 136 100 47 51 334 84 67 30 29 25 235

Deliberate 26 10 2 13 51 20 6 1 11 7 45

Total 162 110 49 64 385 104 73 31 40 32 280




- 14 -

Measure 3: Incidents which occur as a result of fire in the places where people live Target: To reduce incidents as a result of fire in places where people live

The graph above shows the decreasing trend since combination in dwelling fires. In addition is the

current year to date information (shown in green) which is not included in the trend line.

Year on year we have seen a reduction in fires in places where people live. The amount of reduction has

varied between 3.5% and 0.4% so it is really good to see that the current year to date figure of 672 fires

is 13% down on the same period in the previous year.

Actual Previous

Year

Target: To reduce

incidents as a result of

fire in places where

people live

672 775



Incidents of fire in the places

where people live


Direction of Travel

0

50

100

150


1245 1226 1221 1177

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Fires in places where people live

Year end April - November YTD Trend (Year End)

Fires in places where

people live2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 Total 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 Total

Accidental 1093 1097 1118 1063 4371 700 694 698 687 610 3389

Deliberate 152 129 103 114 498 115 92 71 88 62 428

Total 1245 1226 1221 1177 4869 815 786 769 775 672 3817




- 15 -

Measure 4: Deaths which occur as a result of fire in the places where people work and visit Target: To achieve a downward trend in fire deaths in places where people work and visit

The graph above shows the trend since combination, the number has remained consistent at 4 or 5

every year. The majority of deaths have been at vehicle fires (14 in total YTD). Accidental vehicle fires

are usually caused by a road traffic collision; subsequently the vehicle has caught fire with the occupants

still inside it.

On the 4th November 2011 was the large multi vehicle RTC on the M5. There were 7 deaths in total,

however following the initial pathologists examinations a maximum of 4 have been identified as being

potentially attributable to fire rather than being impact related. The record will be updated as and when

we receive any further information from the police, coroner or inquest.

All of the deliberate fire deaths in places where people work and visit have been suicides.

ActualPrevious

Year

4 5

4 4

0 1

April - November YTDDeaths which occur as a

result of fire in the

places where people

Direction of Travel

Target: To achieve a


deaths in places

where people work

and visit

Number of Accidental

Number of Deliberate

0

1

2

3

4

5

Dec

-09

Jan-

10

Feb

-10

Mar

-10

Ap

r-10

May

-10

Jun

-10

Jul-

10

Au

g-10

Sep

-10

Oct

-10

No

v-10

Dec

-10

Jan-

11

Feb

-11

Mar

-11

Ap

r-11

May

-11

Jun

-11

Jul-

11

Au

g-11

Sep

-11

Oct

-11

No

v-11


4

5

4

5

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Deaths in Fires where people work and visit


2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 Total 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 Total

Non-Domestic Accidental 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Deliberate 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Other Accidental 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 2

Deliberate 1 1 2 0 4 1 0 2 0 0 3

Vehicle Accidental 3 2 0 4 9 3 1 0 4 4 12

Deliberate 0 1 1 1 3 0 1 0 1 0 2

Total Accidental 3 3 1 4 11 3 2 1 4 4 14

Deliberate 1 2 3 1 7 1 1 2 1 0 5

4 5 4 5 18 4 3 3 5 4 19

Year endDeaths in fires where people

work/visit

April - July YTD



- 16 -

Measure 5: Injuries which occur as a result of fire in the places where people work and visit Target: To maintain a downward trend in fire injuries in places where people work and visit

The introduction of the Incident Recording System (IRS) in April 2009 led to a significant decrease in the

number of recorded injuries, this was due to more accurate recording between those people taken to

hospital and those people treated or checked at scene. As agreed at Audit and Performance Review

Committee, data prior to the introduction of the IRS is now excluded from this measure; however we are

still recording a downward trend.

Although the 4 deaths relating to the large multi vehicle RTC on the M5 have been captured, the number

of fire related injuries is yet to be confirmed. There were 51 people with injuries; however it has not yet

been identified how many were taken to hospital and how many injuries were directly attributable to fire.

We currently have insufficient information to record individuals with injuries on IRS, therefore the figures

are showing as zero in November. The record will be updated as and when we receive any further

information from the police or inquest.

ActualPrevious

Year

Target: To

maintain a

downward trend in

fire injuries in

places where

people work and

visit

12 16

Number of

Accidental12 12

Number of

Deliberate0 4

Injuries which occur

as a result of fire in

the places where


Direction of Travel

012345678

Dec

-09

Jan-

10

Feb

-10

Mar

-10

Ap

r-10

May

-10

Jun

-10

Jul-

10

Au

g-10

Sep

-10

Oct

-10

No

v-10

Dec

-10

Jan-

11

Feb

-11

Mar

-11

Ap

r-11

May

-11

Jun

-11

Jul-

11

Au

g-11

Sep

-11

Oct

-11

No

v-11


4851

36

19

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Injuries in Fires where people work and visit

Year End April - November YTD Trend (Year End since Apr 09)

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 Total 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 Total


Deliberate 6 1 11 2 20 6 0 10 1 0 17


Deliberate 6 3 0 2 11 6 2 0 2 0 10


Deliberate 2 2 2 1 7 1 1 1 1 0 4


Deliberate 14 6 13 5 38 13 3 11 4 0 31

48 51 36 19 154 42 32 24 16 12 126

April - July YTDYear EndInjuries in fires where people

work/visit



- 17 -

Measure 6: Incidents which occur as a result of fire in the places where people work and visit Target: To reduce incidents as a result of fire in places where people work and visit

The graph above shows the decreasing trend since combination in fires where people work and visit.

Also included in the graph is the current year to date information (April – October) which is not included

in the trend line.

ActualPrevious

Year

Target: To reduce

incidents as a

result of fire in

places where

people work and

visit

1117 1165



Incidents which occur

as a result of fire in

the places where


Direction of Travel

0

50

100

150

200

Dec

-09

Jan-

10

Feb

-10

Mar

-10

Ap

r-10

May

-10

Jun

-10

Jul-

10

Au

g-10

Sep

-10

Oct

-10

No

v-10

Dec

-10

Jan-

11

Feb

-11

Mar

-11

Ap

r-11

May

-11

Jun

-11

Jul-

11

Au

g-11

Sep

-11

Oct

-11

No

v-11


21481968

18271683

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Fires in places where people work and visit


2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 Total 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 Total


Deliberate 149 136 112 106 503 113 95 77 71 74 430


Deliberate 255 193 162 132 742 197 146 116 106 112 677


Deliberate 560 504 365 324 1753 390 317 264 220 166 1357


Deliberate 964 833 639 562 2998 700 558 457 397 352 2464

2148 1968 1827 1683 7626 1545 1319 1278 1165 1117 6424

Year endFires in places where people

work/visit




- 18 -

Measure 7: Occasions where our response standards are met – 1st attendance in 10 minutes for places where people live

Target: To achieve an upward trend in performance for 1st attendance in 10 minutes at fires where people live

The dwellings emergency response standard is based on the first attendance arriving in 10 minutes

irrespective of where the dwelling is located. This 10 minute response is from the time of the call to the

time the first appliance arrives at the scene and therefore includes call handling time and turning out to

stations as well as actual travel time. There can be numerous impacts on the response time such as:

confused callers making call handling time longer to identify the location, or adverse weather conditions

(e.g. snow and ice) affecting retained staff getting to the station as well as affecting the appliance getting

out to the incident, and the incident being in a remote rural area.

The graph above shows the percentage achieved at year end against which the target is set, also shown

is the position at the end of November for each year. The trend line is based on the year end

percentages to identify how we are performing against the target.

During November we have only achieved 65.43% of first attendance in 10 minutes at dwelling fires

compared to the month of October where we achieved 73.68%. November is the lowest month this year

to date and we are now 2.78% lower than the same period in 2010/11 and 5.06% lower than in 2009/10.

Actual Previous Year

Target: To achieve an upward

trend in performance for 1st

attendance in 10 minutes at

fires where people live

71.36% 74.14%

Number achieved in 10 minutes 466 559

Number of incidents 653 754

% 1st attendance in 10

minutes

April - November YTDDirection of Travel

0.00

20.00

40.00

60.00

80.00

100.00

Dec

-09

Jan-

10

Feb

-10

Mar

-10

Ap

r-10

May

-10

Jun

-10

Jul-

10

Au

g-10

Sep

-10

Oct

-10

No

v-10

Dec

-10

Jan-

11

Feb

-11

Mar

-11

Ap

r-11

May

-11

Jun

-11

Jul-

11

Au

g-11

Sep

-11

Oct

-11

No

v-11

76.42% 74.14%71.36%

78.13%

71.25%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Percentage of Dwelling fires attended within 10 minutes

April - November YTD Year End % Achieved Trend (Year End % Achieved)

2009/10 2010/11 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 Achieved within 10 minutes 868 818 564 559 466

Total incidents 1111 1148 738 754 653

Percentage Achieved 78.13% 71.25% 76.42% 74.14% 71.36%




- 19 -

Measure 8: Occasions where our response standards are met – 1st attendance in 15 minutes for RTCs Target: To achieve an upward trend in performance for 1st attendance in 15 minutes at RTCs

The emergency response standard for Road Traffic Collisions (RTCs) is for the first attendance to be

within 15 minutes regardless of the whereabouts of the incident. For RTCs the average call handling

time is slower than for dwelling fires as it can take longer to identify the location of the incident with the

caller not always aware of their exact location.

The graph above shows the year end percentage achieved as well as the year to date position (April –

November). The trend line is based on the year end percentages to identify how we are performing

against the target.

During November we achieved 79.81% of first attendance in 15 minutes at RTC’s which is an increase

compared to October where we achieved 73.39%. We remain at a higher percentage than the same

time last year, although it is not as high as the same period in 2009/10.

Actual Previous Year

Target: To achieve an upward

trend in performance for 1st

attendance in 15 minutes at

RTCs

78.87% 76.30%

Number achieved in 15 minutes 601 673

Number of incidents 762 882

% 1st attendance in 15 minutesApril - November YTD

Direction of Travel

0.00

20.00

40.00

60.00

80.00

100.00

Dec

-09

Jan-

10

Feb

-10

Mar

-10

Ap

r-10

May

-10

Jun

-10

Jul-

10

Au

g-10

Sep

-10

Oct

-10

No

v-10

Dec

-10

Jan-

11

Feb

-11

Mar

-11

Ap

r-11

May

-11

Jun

-11

Jul-

11

Au

g-11

Sep

-11

Oct

-11

No

v-11

81.47%76.30%

78.87%79.67%76.79%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Percentage of Road Traffic Collisions attended within 15 minutes

April - November YTD Year End % Achieved Trend (Year End % Achieved)

2009/10 2010/11 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 Achieved within 15 minutes 1113 989 734 673 601

Total incidents 1397 1288 901 882 762

Percentage Achieved 79.67% 76.79% 81.47% 76.30% 78.87%




- 20 -

Measure 9: A publicly available and current Local Community Plan for each station Target: 100% of all LCPs to be publicly available by 1st April of each year

The Local Community Plan (LCP) is designed to inform the public of the activities DSFRS is undertaking

to make the community safer in each of our station areas. It is the local mechanism for planning activities

that will achieve the direction provided by the Corporate Strategy.

The target of 100% of all LCPs to be publicly available by 1st April of each year will commence as of 1st

April 2012. The reason that the target will commence from 1st April 2012 is that the new corporate

measures did not exist as of 1st April 2011 and therefore the measure and target could only be applied

retrospectively.

In total there are 83 Local Community Plans. The plans for 2011/12 are now in place and are available to

the public on the DSFRS website. Had the corporate measure existed on 1 April 2011 we would have

achieved a result of 82% being published before 1st April 2011 and the remaining 18% available from

26th May 2011.

The timeliness and quality of the LCP production has been improving each year since their introduction

at Combination in 2007. It is the importance of the LCP documents for planning and communicating our

activities to reduce risk within a local area that are the drivers for the 100% target in 2012.

Progress update

The preparation of the 2012/13 Local Community Plans has begun. Community risk profiles have been

prepared and are available to inform the development of the 2012/13 plans. These contain information

on where risk groups are and how they might be engaged with, as well as signposting the reader to

sources of further information and other targeting tools.

The 2012/13 Local Community Plan templates have been distributed to the relevant service delivery

managers. The templates were newly developed for the 2011/12 plans and contain information about

station response activity levels, case studies of how stations have engaged with their communities and

maps both of the physical station ground and the 10 minute emergency response standard area.

Business support is assisting service delivery in preparing the plans to the required timescales by

offering on site support.

The outline levels of activities to inform the budget preparation are now completed. A period of

review will take place between now and the end of December during which time the first drafts of

the 2012/13 Local Community Plans will be produced. The draft plans are expected to be

distributed to Groups in early January.



- 21 -

Measure 10: EFQM assessment score Target: To progress towards the EFQM ‘excellence’ benchmark score by 31 March 2014

Progress update The 2011 Assessment has now been finalised.

The 2011 approach differed from the 2010 baseline assessment as it was completed by a team of six

internal assessors. The six assessors were comprised of three non-uniformed and three uniformed

members of staff. The benefit of having an assessment team of this size and composition is the greater

level of challenge and organisational knowledge that is brought to the assessment process.

The EFQM Assessment Team is pleased to report that a final score of 400-450 has been agreed

following a period of moderation. The moderation process has included the external validation of the

assessment by an external consultant.

This score represents an improvement on the 2010 Baseline Assessment score of 350 to 400 and is a

reflection of better performance across the organisation. The investment in those areas identified from

the 2010 baseline assessment (strategy, business processes programme and project management) is

starting to show a positive result as these new approaches have been initiated. Full benefit from the

investment will be realised once these approaches are embedded.

The EFQM Assessment has included the completion of a communications plan to raise awareness of the

model and the assessment outcomes throughout the organisation. The communications plan included

face to face presentations to key groups as well as a video webcast that has been posted on the front

page of the Intranet.

It is proposed that the EFQM assessment will be carried out on an annual basis to enable senior

management to monitor progress towards excellence. Key findings from the assessments are to be fed

back into the corporate planning process to ensure improvement requirements are captured and

managed.

One of the strategic goals of DSFRS is to become an excellent organisation by 2014. The EFQM model

will play a key role in monitoring this target.

Measure 11: Staff survey results Target: Continue improvement in staff survey results

Progress update The next staff survey is due to be carried out in 2012. The Steering Group resumed in October and is

meeting throughout November to plan the approach and consider the questions for the next survey. Part

of the Group’s work will be to identify and recommend those questions that will be used to inform

progress against this measure.



- 22 -

Vehicle Accidents

Vehicle Accidents cost the service time and money, they include all of the service vehicles, such as cars

and appliances. The graph below looks at the vehicle accident trends compared to the number of

incidents attended. It is good to see the number of accidents is decreasing at a quicker rate than the

number of incidents.

Number of Vehicle Accidents in relation to Number of Incidents

Accidents can take place in various situations and are not just related to attending incidents. The table

below identifies the use of the vehicle when the accident took place. The highest number of accidents

occurred whilst proceeding on blue lights to an incident and it is this area that has seen the greatest

reduction. This year there has only been 27 accidents whilst proceeding to an incident, compared to 61

in the same time period 2 years ago and 38 last year.

Use of vehicle Year End April - October

2009/10 2010/11 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12

Proceeding 99 70 61 38 27 Routine driving 51 37 33 21 22 Parking/reversing 26 23 14 10 10 Returning 23 22 7 10 8 Training 5 15 1 7 7 Other 16 13 2 10 10 At incident 21 12 5 8 3 Stationary/parked 17 11 12 6 6 Unknown 11 9 5 5 1 TOTAL 269 212 140 115 94

There is a good downward trend in vehicle accidents which is due to the robust local management in place within stations and groups. Where accidents have occurred they have been fully investigated and the personnel involved dealt with under Service policy. Where informal action has been initiated, this has helped to reinforce the message for all staff with regards to their personal responsibility. Opportunities should be taken in all training environments for managers to reinforce the need for correct procedures to be undertaken by all staff, as this will help to ensure that the same procedures are adhered to at operational incidents and in general vehicle movements.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Nu

mb

er o

f In

cid

ents

Att

end

ed

Nu

mb

er o

f V

ehic

le A

ccid

ents

Vehicle accidents Inc attended

Trend (Vehicle Accidents) Trend (Incidents Attended)

- 23 -

REPORT REFERENCE NO.

APRC/12/2

MEETING AUDIT AND PERFORMANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE

DATE OF MEETING 1 FEBRUARY 2012

SUBJECT OF REPORT AUDIT & REVIEW 2011-12: 3rd QUARTER PROGRESS REPORT

LEAD OFFICER AUDIT & REVIEW MANAGER

RECOMMENDATIONS That the report be noted.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Attached for consideration and discussion is the 2011-12 3rd Quarter Audit & Review progress report. The report combines the work of the DSFRS Audit & Review Team and the Devon Audit Partnership to provide one comprehensive Internal Audit report. The report details the progress against the approved 2011-12 Audit & Review Plan and provides assurance statements for the audits completed. The report details the key / high risk findings from the Hydrant Management and Glastonbury Festival audit reviews. The Audit & Review Team is pleased to report that suitable action plans have been agreed to improve the management of the risks identified.

RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS

None

EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT

None

APPENDICES None

LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS

Audit & Review 2011-12 Plan

Audit & Review Service Policy

DEVON & SOMERSET

FIRE & RESCUE AUTHORITY

- 24 -

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 The 2011/12 Audit & Review Plan was approved by the Audit and Performance Review

Committee on the 12 May 2011. The plan sets out the combined scope of internal audit work to be completed by the Audit & Review Team and the Devon Audit Partnership.

1.2 The Audit & Review Team and the Devon Audit Partnership are accountable for the

delivery of the plan and the policy includes the requirement to report progress to the Audit and Performance Review Committee at least three times per year.

1.3 All Internal Audit reports, Plans and Service Policy are available on the intranet and can

be accessed using the following link: http://intranet/Departments/SPRD/RiskandReview.asp 1.4 The key objective of this report is to provide the Audit and Performance Review

Committee with a progress report against the plan. 2. ASSURANCE STATEMENTS 2.1 One of the key roles of Internal Audit is to provide independent assurance as to how

effectively risks are managed across the organisation. 2.2 The following assurance statements have been developed to evaluate and report audit

conclusions:

High Standard

The system and controls in place adequately mitigate exposure to the risks identified. The system is being adhered to and substantial reliance can be placed upon the procedures in place. Only minor recommendations aimed at further enhancing already sound procedures.

Good Standard

The systems and controls generally mitigate the risk identified but a few weaknesses have been identified and / or mitigating controls may not be fully applied. There are no significant matters arising from the audit and the recommendations made serve to strengthen what are mainly reliable procedures.

Improvements Required

In our opinion there are a number of instances where controls and procedures do not adequately mitigate the risks identified. Existing procedures need to be improved in order to ensure that they are fully reliable. Recommendations have been made to ensure that organisational objectives are not put at risk. Fundamental Weakness Identified

The risks identified are not being controlled and there is an increased likelihood that risks could occur. The matters arising from the audit are sufficiently significant to place doubt on the reliability of the procedures reviewed, to an extent that the objectives and / or resources of the Council may be at risk, and the ability to deliver the service may be adversely affected. Implementation of the recommendations made is a priority.

http://intranet/Departments/SPRD/RiskandReview.asp

- 25 -

3. PROGRESS AGAINST THE PLAN

Audit Area Progress

Assurance Statement

Audit & Review Team

Health & Safety – HSE Expectations Final Report


Democratic Services Final Report

Good Standard

Hydrant Management

Final Report


Area Command – Glastonbury Festival

Draft Report

Good Standard

Central Training – Performance Management

Draft Report

Community Safety – Children & Young People

Draft Report

Information Management – Intranet & Sharepoint

Testing

HR – Transformation Project

Testing

Area Training – High Potential Leadership Programme

Testing

Resilience

To commence January 2012

Fleet Maintenance

To commence January 2012

Community Safety – Call Reduction

To commence February 2012

Community & Workplace Equalities – Now Fitness Testing

To commence February 2012

Emergency Call Incident Support - Training

To carry into 2012-13

Devon Audit Partnership

ICT Business Applications - Workforce

Testing

Key Financial Systems

Draft Report

ICT Business Applications – Gartan

Not Started

- 26 -

3.1 Given the current level of performance, the Audit & Review Team propose to carry the Emergency Call Incident Support audit into the 2012-13 financial year. The Audit & Review Team are pleased to report that the remaining audits should have progressed to at least Draft Report by the end of the current financial year.

4. ADDITIONAL WORK COMPLETED 4.1 The Audit & Review Team and the Devon Audit Partnership have also completed the

following additional pieces of work that were not included in the original plan:

EFQM – The Audit & Review Team have played a key role in preparing the EFQM organisational assessment evidence document. The Audit & Review Manager is also one of the trained EFQM Assessors responsible for the completion of the annual assessment.

Incident Monitoring Pilot – The Audit & Review Team have played a key role in designing, building and piloting a new incident monitoring software tool.

Station Assessment – The Audit & Review Team co-ordinate the station assessment process.

Capital Funding Grant - The Principal Finance Manager requested that the Audit & Review Team complete the review of the Capital Funding Grant and sign the return to CLG to confirm that the grant had been used in accordance with guidelines.

Additional Crew Manager Review – The Senior HR Officer requested that the Audit & Review Team support the Additional Crew Manager Review. A framework has been designed to evaluate the most effective structure for delivering activities and managing risks at Wholetime 2 Pump Stations.

LAA Reward Grant Review - The Audit & Review Team completed a review of the management arrangements for the LAA Reward Grant.

Injury Pensions Audit – The Audit & Review Team completed a review of the injury pension awards, including the collection of overpayments.

Annual Stock Take – The Audit & Review Team have completed a review of the Stores annual stock take process.

Payroll Migration Project – The Audit & Review Team are involved in the Payroll Migration Project.

NFI Data Matching – The Audit & Review Team co-ordinate the NFI data matches.

Fraud & Corruption Risk Assessment – The Audit & Review Team carried out a risk assessment of the DSFRS fraud and corruption arrangements.

Operational Assessment (OpA) – The Audit & Review Team maintain the self-assessment for the CLG Operational Assessment.

On-going Audit Advice and Guidance – The Audit & Review Team provide on-going audit advice and guidance in relation to all Internal and External Audit matters.

Injury Pension Case – The Devon Audit Partnership completed a review of a suspected fraudulent injury pension case.

Regional Management Board Audit – The Devon Audit Partnership completed an audit of the Regional Management Board’s financial systems.

- 27 -

5. AUDIT & REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 As part of the Audit & Review process, best practice recommendations are captured in

an action plan for each piece of audit work completed. All recommendations are reviewed with service leads and agreed management actions are discussed and recorded to improve the current process.

5.2 To ensure that all agreed actions are effectively monitored, the Audit & Review Team

have built and communicated the Audit Recommendation Tracker. This has been made available to all Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS) employees to enable agreed management actions to be continually reviewed.

5.3 The Audit & Review Team are pleased to report that they have already seen evidence of actions being implemented and all agreed actions will be followed up in 2011/12. Time has been built into the 2011/12 plan for this purpose

6. AUDIT & REVIEW FOLLOW UPS 6.1 The Audit & Review Team are committed to following up all finalised Internal Audit work. 6.2 The Audit Recommendation Tracker has been designed and rolled out to ensure that all

agreed management actions can be monitored effectively. 6.3 The Audit & Review Team are also committed to completing formal follow up reviews of

all audits completed in 2010/11. This enables the Committee to track the impact of actions and performance against identified risks. All follow ups have been scheduled for completion in 2011/12, to date the following have been completed:

Audit Area 2010-11 Assurance 2011-12 Assurance

Sickness Management Improvements Required

Good Standard

Procurement Improvements Required


Protection Strategy


Good Standard

Operational Data Improvements Required

Good Standard

Health & Safety – Risk Assessments


Good Standard

Zero Based Budgeting – Pilot Project Assurance

Good Standard

Good Standard

7. KEY AUDIT FINDINGS – AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Hydrant Management

7.1 The Hydrants Team are responsible for the effective and efficient running of the hydrants function for the service. The team maintain DSFRS’ interests and obligations under sections 38 to 43 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, for the provision of water for fire fighting and training purposes; and associated obligations and interests under section 57 and 58 of the Water Industry Act 1991.

- 28 -

7.2 It is estimated that there are approximately 70,000 plus fire hydrants across Devon & Somerset. The majority of hydrants are owned by the water companies, however some (less than 5%) are privately owned.

7.3 It is understood that while the water companies own the majority of the hydrants, DSFRS

have the financial responsibility for the maintenance of them. 7.4 The key challenge for the Hydrants Team is to ensure that an up to date and accurate

database is populated. This will ensure that hydrant information can be effectively communicated and utilised across the organisation. The production of a DSFRS Hydrant Management Plan will support the team by clearly setting out the key milestones for collecting all data and how this is to be managed.

7.5 Once the Hydra database has been fully populated and mapped, the Hydrant

Management Team can focus their attention on other key service controls. These include:

Geographical Provision – The Hydrant Management Team should periodically work with the groups to identify any areas of under provision. The outputs from this work should then feed into the group and station plans.

Use of Resources - Feedback received during the review would indicate that there is the appetite from the groups to get involved in hydrant maintenance and that this would enhance their operational knowledge and improve the operational risk. The challenge for the Hydrant Management Team is to identify how the watches could be utilised to support them.

Inspection Programme - An effective inspection programme needs to be rolled out that is based upon risk and resource.

Default Service Level Agreements – Clear service level agreements should be developed and communicated to record the expected turnaround of reported defaults.

Pre-order / Final Payment Approval – The controls around the pre-order of maintenance works and the final payment should be strengthened to ensure that DSFRS only pays for authentic maintenance work that has been completed to the expected standard.

7.6 These were discussed with the Lead Officers and the Audit & Review Team is pleased to

report that a suitable action plan has been agreed to improve the management of the risks identified.

7.7 The agreed actions will be monitored as part of the audit follow up procedure. Once the

agreed management actions have been implemented and embedded, the Audit & Review Team would be in a position to award reasonable or full assurance.

Glastonbury Festival 7.8 The Glastonbury Festival is an annual music event that has grown from humble

beginnings in 1970 to a large scale national event over the subsequent years. The festival attracts a worldwide audience and can now be seen as a multi-million pound business.

- 29 -

7.9 Glastonbury Festival has; albeit for a temporary duration, a 24% larger population than the city of Exeter and is condensed into a 7.5mile boundary. The majority of the festival population are living in temporary accommodation such as tents and mobile homes and the increase in BBQ and camp fire activity is highly probable due to the nature of the event.

7.10 This temporary infrastructure is identified as a high risk profile for statutory enforcement

work and in addition to the size of the population and the temporary living arrangements (i.e. flammable tents and increased number of cylinders within mobile homes), the Audit & Review Team are of the opinion that Glastonbury Festival poses uniquely significant risks in respect of fire safety and emergency rescue.

7.11 The Audit & Review Team have concluded that in the main the Glastonbury Festival

project has been well managed, with suitable controls put in place to manage the range of risks associated with the festival.

7.12 The Audit & Review Team did identify the following areas where it was considered that

the process could be further improved:

Given the level of DSFRS resource involved in the Glastonbury Festival, the Audit & Review Team would expect the Senior Management Board are required to approve the DSFRS Glastonbury Festival Management plan on an annual basis.

The knowledge and experience of the DSFRS project team is going to be invaluable in helping to formalise and roll out a DSFRS Event Safety Management Strategy / Policy. Outdoor events are becoming a common occurrence; particularly in the summer months. Despite Glastonbury Festival being the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world, the strategy behind it could be applied proportionately to any event. An example of a similar local event is the Beautiful Days Festival in Devon that attracts 11,000 paying festival goers and a further 1,500 workers. It is understood that work is already underway in this area.

A further review of the current roles & responsibilities and the team rotas should be completed to ensure DSFRS resource is not excessive.

The risks surrounding the relationship with Glastonbury Fire Limited should be clearly recorded with mitigating control measures put in place to manage them.

Following the three year management agreement, DSFRS should look to renegotiate the scope of our activities and the amount of income received. It is suggested that this could be achieved in collaboration with the Trading Academy.

The Glastonbury Festival protection strategy should be reviewed to determine whether trader risk assessments can be accessed prior to traders being allowed on site.

A clear set of performance measures should be rolled out to enable the project team to evaluate the effectiveness of their activities.

The project team will need to build stronger links to the procurement team to ensure all purchases are robust, transparent and in line with procurement policy.

- 30 -

7.13 These were discussed with the Lead Officers and the Audit & Review Team is pleased to report that a suitable action plan has been agreed to improve the management of the risks identified.

7.14 The agreed actions will be monitored as part of the audit follow up procedure. 8. CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS 8.1 The progress made against the agreed Audit Plan will be reported back to the Committee

at regular intervals. 8.2 It is recommended that the report be noted. PAUL HODGSON Audit & Review Manager

Audit Committee update Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority Audit 2011/12

The Audit Commission is a public corporation set up in 1983 to protect the public purse. The Commission appoints auditors to councils, NHS bodies (excluding NHS Foundation trusts), police authorities and other local public services in England, and oversees their work. The auditors we appoint are either Audit Commission employees (our in-house Audit Practice) or one of the private audit firms. Our Audit Practice also audits NHS foundation trusts under separate arrangements. We also help public bodies manage the financial challenges they face by providing authoritative, unbiased, evidence-based analysis and advice.

Contents

Introduction ........................................................................................................2

Progress report ..................................................................................................3

2011/12 Audit................................................................................................3

Other areas of work ......................................................................................3

Government response to consultation on the future of local public audit...4

Update on the externalisation of the Audit Practice.......................................6

Other matters of interest ...................................................................................7

2010/11 Accounts .........................................................................................7

Managing Workforce Costs ..........................................................................8

CIPFA's Prudential Code for Capital Finance...............................................8

2011/12 Financial Statements Guidance Notes ...........................................9

For information: Board Governance Essentials ............................................9

Fire and Rescue National Framework ..........................................................9

Key considerations..........................................................................................11

Contact details .................................................................................................12

Audit Commission Audit Committee update 1

Introduction

1 The purpose of this paper is to provide the Audit Committee with a report on progress in delivering our responsibilities as your external auditors. It includes an update on the externalisation of the Audit Practice.

2 This paper also seeks to highlight key emerging national issues and developments which may be of interest to members of the Audit Committee. The paper concludes by asking a number of questions which the Committee may wish to consider in order to assess whether it has received sufficient assurance on emerging issues.

3 If you require any additional information regarding the issues included within this briefing, please feel free to contact me or your Audit Manager using the contact details at the end of this update.

4 Finally, please also remember to visit our website (www.audit-commission.gov.uk) which now enables you to sign-up to be notified of any new content that is relevant to your type of organisation.

Alun Williams

District Auditor

20 January 2012


http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/

Progress report

2011/12 Audit 5 Our interim audit for 2011/12 is in progress and we are working alongside your Internal Auditors in order to avoid any duplication of effort.

6 We are waiting for Internal Audit to complete some aspects of their work, particularly payroll and creditors, and hope to be in a position to report our findings and approach to your financial statements audit to the next Audit Committee.

Other areas of work 7 We met with your Audit and Review Manager in January 2012 to discuss the migration to the new payroll systems and the controls that we would expect to see in place.

8 The system goes live on 1 April 2012 and, although the Audit Commission’s Audit Practice will not be your External Auditors for 2012/13, we discussed the audit assertions that all auditors would be expected to consider under the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). These are set out in the table below.

Table 1: Audit Assertions All external auditors will comply with the ISAs

Assertion What does this mean? Occurrence Have the transactions actually happened and do

they relate to the audited body? This is more of a risk where a shared service is involved.

Completeness

Is everything that should be in the financial statements actually there? For example, have payments been omitted and have all potential provisions been considered?

Accuracy Have amounts and other data relating to recorded transactions and events been recorded and coded properly?

Cut Off Have transactions and events been recorded in the correct accounting period?

Classification Have transactions and events been recorded in the correct way and been disclosed under the right headings in the financial statements and notes?


Government response to consultation on the future of local public audit

9 In August 2010, the government announced its intention to bring forward legislation to abolish the Audit Commission and put in place a new framework for local public audit. In March 2011, the government published a consultation paper and, in January 2012, announced its response to the consultation to which it received 453 responses, the majority from audited bodies.

10 The Audit Commission is currently in the process of the award of contracts for the work currently undertaken by the Audit Practice for the period 2012/13 to either 2014/15 or 2016/17 (see ‘update on the externalisation of the Audit Practice’ below). The government envisages the retention of the Audit Commission as a small residuary body until the end of those contracts, to oversee them and to make any necessary changes to individual audit appointments.

11 Thereafter, the government proposes that a new local public audit regime will apply. The key features of that regime are:. ■ The National Audit Office will be responsible for developing and

maintaining audit codes of practice and providing support to auditors. ■ Mirroring the Companies Act provisions, auditors will be subject to the

overall regulation of the Financial Reporting Council (the FRC). The FRC will authorise one or more Recognised Supervisory Bodies (in practice, the professional institutes) to register and supervise audit firms and engagement leads.

■ As fire authorities are not elected, an independent audit appointments panel with a majority of independent members will appoint the auditor. Such panels may be shared between audited bodies.

■ Audited bodies must run a procurement exercise for their external audit appointment at least every five years, although there would be no bar on the reappointment of the incumbent audit firm (for a maximum of one further five-year term);

■ Audited bodies will be able to remove their auditor, but only after due process, involving the independent audit appointment panel and culminating in a public statement of the reasons for the decision.

■ The audit will continue to cover arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness, but without imposing further burdens on audited bodies. There will be further consultation on the approach to value for money.

■ The power to issue a public interest report will be retained.


■ Audit firms will be able to provide non-audit services to audited bodies, subject to complying with ethical standards and gaining approval from the independent auditor appointment panel.

■ The right to object would be retained, but the auditor will be given the power to reject vexatious, repeated or frivolous objections.

■ Grant certification will be subject to separate arrangements between grant paying bodies, audited bodies and reporting accountants (who could be the external auditors).

■ The National Fraud Initiative will continue. Discussions on how this will be achieved are ongoing.

12 The government is holding further discussions with audited bodies and audit firms to develop its proposals. The Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships are organising events in January and February 2012 to which audited bodies have been invited. The government intends to publish draft legislation for pre-legislative scrutiny in Spring 2012.


Update on the externalisation of the Audit Practice

13 The Audit Commission’s Chief Executive wrote to clients on 21 September 2011 summarising the Department for Communities and Local Government’s plans for externalising the Audit Commission's work that is currently undertaken by the Audit Practice. An update on progress was provided in Eugene's subsequent letter of 10 November 2011.

14 The key points are: ■ Contracts will be let from 2012/13 on a three- or five-year basis. The

earliest you will be able to appoint your own auditors is therefore for the 2015/16 audit.

■ The work is split into four regions, comprising ten ‘lots’. Each lot will be awarded separately, but any individual bidder can only win a maximum of one lot in each region (ie four lots in total).

■ The Commission is managing a fair and equitable procurement process to allow suitable private sector providers the opportunity to compete for the contracts.

■ Thirteen potential providers were invited to tender following the initial pre-qualification stage. The deadline for return of the tenders was 16 December 2011. Tenders received are currently being evaluated. The Commission plans to award contracts in mid-February 2012.

■ The Commission is planning to set out, early in 2012, the consultation process to be followed for individual audit appointments. For bodies audited by the Audit Practice, there will be an opportunity to attend an introductory event in each contract area with the Commission and the firm awarded the contract. The events will take place in May 2012.

■ Appointments will start on 1 September 2012. As such, the Commission is extending the current audit appointment to allow any audit issues arising between 1 April 2012 and 31 August 2012 to be dealt with. The Commission’s Director of Audit Policy and Regulation wrote to clients on 19 December 2011 setting out more details on this ‘interim’ appointment.

■ Audit Practice staff in each lot area will in the main transfer to the successful bidders on 31 October 2012.

15 Further details are available on the Commission’s website. We will continue to keep you updated on developments.

16 Against this background, the Audit Practice’s focus remains: ■ Fulfilling our remaining responsibilities – completing our work for

2010/11 and delivering your 2011/12 audit - to the high standards you expect and deserve.

■ Managing a smooth transition from the Audit Practice to your new audit provider.


Other matters of interest

2010/11 Accounts 17 In December 2011 the Audit Commission published a report - Auditing the Accounts 2010/11 - which summarises its findings of the accounts audits in 2010/11.

18 The report covers the quality and timeliness of financial reporting by councils, police authorities, fire and rescue authorities and other local public bodies. In addition to auditors' work on the 2010/11 financial statements, the report also covers: ■ the results of the first year of International Financial Reporting

Standards (IFRS) implementation; ■ auditors' work on the Whole of Government Accounts returns; ■ auditors' local value for money work; ■ public interest reports and statutory recommendations issued by

auditors since December 2010; and ■ the key challenges facing bodies for 2011/12.

19 Auditors were able to give opinions on the accounts by the target date of 30 September 2011 at most organisations and this performance compares well with the previous year.

20 However, the challenges presented by the transition to IFRS are demonstrated by an increase in the number of bodies, from seven last year to eighteen this year, where the auditor's opinion was still outstanding after 31 October. There was also a significant increase in the number of bodies needing to make material adjustments to their accounts following the audit.

21 On 18 January 2012, the Audit Commission published ‘Let’s be clear: Making local authority IFRS accounts more accessible and understandable’.

22 This briefing supplements the report on the 2010/11 accounts referred to above and focuses on a long-running debate of how to make local government accounts easier to understand.

23 While the statutory accounts give comprehensive information on each local authority’s financial position and performance, reflecting the range of activities which they cover, they are a poor way of communicating the key information to lay readers.

24 The briefing notes that: ■ elected members and local people would benefit from having access to

well-presented extracts from the accounts, which would provide the key information on each authority’s financial position and performance;

■ the accounting profession and the Audit Commission could do more to encourage auditors and preparers of accounts to reduce clutter in statutory accounts; and


■ each authority could do more to ensure their accounts are shorter and more accessible. Those preparing accounts need to look critically at the previous year’s accounts. They should identify how these accounts could be sharper and more focused before starting work on the next set.

25 The briefing concludes by identifying possible steps to make local authority accounts more accessible and easier to understand, and the implications of doing so.

26 The Audit Commission is seeking views on the issues raised within the briefing and has invited comments by 16 March 2012 - further information on this is available on the Audit Commission’s website.

Managing Workforce Costs 27 The Audit Commission and Local Government Association have jointly launched 'Work in progress: Meeting local needs with lower workforce costs'.

28 The joint report - which can be found on the Audit Commission's website - is primarily aimed at councils as employers and shows how local authorities across England are reducing their workforce costs, with some finding creative solutions.

29 The report is supported by a number of resources which Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority may find helpful, including: ■ Five case studies which provide examples of the different approaches

councils are taking to reduce the costs of employing people while protecting valuable services. The case studies show what the councils did and why - and the benefits achieved.

■ A practical guide on how to undertake effective pay benchmarking, providing a series of steps to follow when starting a pay benchmarking process and highlighting the main issues that should be considered.

30 The report is supplemented with a briefing for elected members that includes a number of questions designed to help members assess how well their council decides the size, shape and cost of its workforce and this may also be of some interest.

CIPFA's Prudential Code for Capital Finance 31 CIPFA has recently updated its Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities. This new version reflects the introduction of IFRS which required: ■ PFI schemes to be included on organisations' balance sheets; and ■ The accounting treatment of leases to be reviewed – with many more

being considered to be finance leases and thus also included on the relevant balance sheets.

32 Although local authorities determine their own capital programmes, they are required to have regard to CIPFA's Prudential Code (the Code) in order to ensure that these capital investment plans are affordable, prudent and sustainable.


33 To demonstrate that these objectives have been met, the Code sets out the indicators that must be used and the factors that must be taken into account.

34 The Code does not include suggested indicative limits or ratios and these are for the local authority to set itself, subject to some overriding controls.

35 The prudential indicators required by the Code should be considered alongside its Treasury Management performance indicators. These indicators are both are designed to support and record local decision making and are not designed to be comparative performance indicators.

2011/12 Financial Statements Guidance Notes 36 CIPFA has recently published a set of guidance notes to provide support in preparing the 2011/12 year-end accounts. These offer constructive advice on all aspects of the requirements for 2011/12 and provide detailed guidance on the key changes, including accounting for: ■ Related party disclosures; ■ Exit packages; ■ Financial instruments; and ■ Interests in joint ventures.

37 The key changes to your financial statements in 2011/12 will also be covered by our final accounts workshops.

For information: Board Governance Essentials 38 The Public Chairs’ Forum and CIPFA have recently published a joint ‘how to’ guide for Chairs and Boards of public bodies.

39 'Board Governance Essentials: A Guide for Chairs and Boards of Public Bodies' offers advice across four key areas: ■ Good corporate governance. ■ Roles, responsibilities and relationships. ■ Standards of behaviour in public life. ■ Effective financial management and transparency.

40 This guide may provide interesting reading for all members.

Fire and Rescue National Framework 41 In December 2011 the government launched a consultation exercise seeking views on freeing fire and rescue authorities to tailor their services to meet local needs whilst meeting the wider needs of national resilience.

42 The priorities in the draft National Framework are for fire and rescue authorities to: ■ Identify and assess the full range of fire and rescue related risks their

area faces, make provision for prevention and protection activities and to respond to incidents appropriately;


■ Work in partnership with their communities and a wide range of partners locally and nationally to deliver their service; and

■ Be accountable to communities for the service they provide.

43 The consultation exercise ends on 19 March 2012 and further information can be found on the DCLG website.


Key considerations

44 The Audit Committee may wish to consider the following questions in respect of the issues highlighted in this briefing paper. ■ Has the Authority reviewed the Audit Commission's report on the

2010/11 accounts and, in particular, considered the key challenges facing bodies for 2011/12?

■ Has the Authority reviewed its 2010/11 accounts and identified ways in which these could be streamlined or clarified?

■ Has the Authority reviewed the Audit Commission / Local Government Association joint report on workforce costs and is the Audit Committee satisfied that appropriate use has been made of the supporting materials?

■ Has the Authority circulated the briefing for elected members on the Audit Commission's workforce report to all Members? Is the Audit Committee satisfied that the questions within the briefing have been properly considered?

■ Has the Authority reviewed its prudential indicators in the light of CIPFA's revised prudential code?

■ Has the Authority reviewed CIPFA's guidance notes for the 2011/12 financial statements and made satisfactory arrangements for their implementation?

■ Has the DCLG's consultation on the Fire and Rescue National Framework been considered?


Contact details

45 If you would like further information on any items in this briefing, please feel free to contact either your District Auditor or Audit Manager.

46 Alternatively, all Audit Commission reports - and a wealth of other material - can be found on our website: www.audit-commission.gov.uk.

Alun Williams

District Auditor

0844 798 5603

07909 936 177

[email protected]

David Bray

Audit Manager

07780 957 382

[email protected]


http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/

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If you require a copy of this document in an alternative format or in a language other than English, please call: 0844 798 7070 © Audit Commission 2012. Design and production by the Audit Commission Publishing Team. Image copyright © Audit Commission.

The Statement of Responsibilities of Auditors and Audited Bodies issued by the Audit Commission explains the respective responsibilities of auditors and of the audited body. Reports prepared by appointed auditors are addressed to non-executive directors, members or officers. They are prepared for the sole use of the audited body. Auditors accept no responsibility to: ■ any director/member or officer in their individual capacity; or ■ any third party.

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