Agenda item

(i)   Report of the Interim Corporate Director of Resources.

(ii)  Presentation by Stuart Errington, Chief Fire Officer, County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service.

The Chair asked the Chief Fire Officer, County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS) to provide the Committee with an update presentation in relation to the County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Authority (CDDFRA) Community Risk Management Plan 2021-2024 (for copy see file of minutes).

The Chief Fire Officer thanked the Chair and Members and referred to the presentation slides included in the agenda pack.  He explained the Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) had been presented to Committee over the last few years for comment, now having changed to be the Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP).  He encouraged Members to complete an individual response to the consultation, ending 23 March, in addition to providing feedback at the meeting.  The Chief Fire Officer noted there were four questions set out within the consultation:

1.    Do you have any overall comments about our CRMP and approach to allocating our resources?

2.    Should we continue to invest and prioritise Fire Safety activities to ensure the built environment within County Durham and Darlington remains safe for occupants and visitors?

3.    Should we continue to trial the use and various crewing arrangements of Tactical Response Vehicles (TRVs)?

4.    Should we identify opportunities for collaboration with local Fire and Rescue Services and key partners?

The Chair thanked the Chief Fire Officer and asked Members for their comments on each of the questions.

Councillor R Crute, Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, thanked the Chief Fire Officer for his report and presentation.  He noted Members would be aware of the situation in relation to issues such as COVID-19 and working with reduced funding.  He added that the uncertainty was also an issue that impacted the Local Authority and noted the Chief Fire Officer would see the same impact from a Fire and Rescue Service perspective.  He commended the work of the CDDFRS and asked as regards Safe and Wellbeing Visits (SWVs).  He noted that prevention was better than cure and asked if any reduction in terms of the number of visits due to the pandemic had increased risk.  He noted he suspected that the visits would be focussed on the most vulnerable and asked what the current position was and how the Fire and Rescue Service planned to catch up on visits to help mitigate that risk.

The Chief Fire Officer noted that it was difficult in terms of working through the SWVs, adding that the visits were a long-term strategy, with visits having been carried out for the past 10-12 years.  He reminded Members that following changes to how resources were used, the number of visits had been increased significantly over the last four to five years, with CDDFRS being one of the highest performing Fire and Rescue Services in the country in relation to number of visits per 1,000 population.  He explained that, while frontline Firefighters may not have been able to conduct SWVs in person during the pandemic, in order to both protect against passing COVID-19 to vulnerable people and protect staff, there was a small team of Community Risk Officers that had still continued to visit those that were most vulnerable.  It was noted such visits were carried out with the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and procedures in place to mitigate the impact upon the most vulnerable. 

The Chief Fire Officer added that from an early stage CDDFRS had adopted telephone SWVs and while the number of SWVs had not been at previous levels, there had still been a few thousand delivered over the period.  He explained that there would be a review of SWVs, noting currently that all areas and people are treated similarly.  He noted an example being a property in an affluent area with hardwired smoke alarms would still receive a physical SWV.  He added that experience during the COVID-19 period had shown that those types of properties potentially could receive a telephone or online SWV as there would be no need to attend the property to fit smoke alarms and therefore it would allow an increase of both types of visit and allow focus for the physical visits to be for those in high risk areas or with some area of vulnerability.  The Chief Fire Officer noted there was a lag period associated with the outcomes from such visits and therefore it may be a few years before information would come through.  He added that there would be efforts to catch up in terms of SWVs as soon it was safe to do so from a community and Firefighter safety perspective.

The Chair thanked the Chief Fire Officer and recalled the previous work of the Committee in respect of SWVs and noted the respected and trusted nature of the Fire and Rescue Service meant that they were particularly effective in terms of the SWVs and their ability to gather valuable information from residents.  The Chair asked for comments relating to the first question from the CRMP consultation.

Councillor K Thompson asked as regards the budget forecast, which set out best, worst, and mid-case scenarios, and what level of inflation had been built in respect of an increase in precept.  The Chief Fire Officer noted that all the scenarios assumed an increase in precept up to the maximum amount of two percent, adding that Fire and Rescue Services were held to tight referendum limits and had not had freedom that Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) had in terms of their precept increases.  He reiterated that over the life of the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) an increase of two precent had been factored in. 

The Chief Fire Officer noted it was a difficult decision and the Fire Authority did not take the matter lightly, however, the alternatives could be some significant cuts to frontline resources, impacting on prevention, business fire safety and in the ability to put the same level of resource to respond.  He explained that from an inflation perspective, two percent was also factored in across the four years.  The Chief Fire Officer noted that such issues were difficult to predict, with some short-term impacts around Brexit relating to capital funds, refurbishment of stations, there being an increase in terms of the cost of steel and insulation materials coming from Europe.  He concluded by reiterating the difficulty in predictions, given the continuing uncertainty in respect of COVID-19 and Brexit.

The Chair asked as regards forecasting for the next few years, given the exceptional year as a result of the pandemic.  The Chief Fire Officer explained that there were a series of assumptions that were used, an example being the level of Government grant.  He explained that for the best case scenario a two percent increase in Government grant had been assumed, for the medium case no increase which had been the case for the current year, and the worst case had assumed a five percent decrease, as had been experienced year on year through the first four years of austerity.  He added there were assumptions in respect of council tax and business rates based upon information from Durham County Council and Darlington Borough Council in terms of their assumptions.  He explained there were also assumptions relating to pay awards, noting previous zero increases based upon the Government’s position in terms public sector pay freezes, with a two percent increase per year being factored in beyond the current year.  He concluded by reiterating that as there was a number of assumptions and uncertainties the three best, medium, and worst case scenarios were as set out within the report.

With no further questions from Members, the Chair reminded Members that they could respond individually in addition to the contributing to the response of the Committee.  He asked Members as regards the four questions as set out within the CRMP consultation.  The Chair noted that the Committee Members supported the CDDFRA in all four of the areas as set out within the CRMP consultation questions.  He thanked the Chief Fire Officer and all CDDFRS staff for their hard work especially in the current situation and funding settlements.

Resolved:

(i)      That the report and presentation be noted.

(ii)      That a response containing views of the Committee on the CRMP consultation be submitted to County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Authority.