Working together to make Cornwall safer - Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 - Cornwall Council
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Working together to
make Cornwall safer
Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022
Year three annual review 2021-22
© Jordan Riley
www.cornwall.gov.uk
Introduction
This document provides an update on where we are against
our three-year Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) 2019-
2022, and what we will be focussing on in the final year, 2021-
2022. It demonstrates the dynamic nature of our work and the
progress we continue to make against our three year plan.
During year three of our IRMP 2019-2022, we will Following an HMICFRS inspection in September
continue to deliver our priorities; Prevent, Protect, 2020, which considered how fire and rescue
Respond, People, Perform. The full document is services had responded to the covid-19 virus, we
available at www.cornwall.gov.uk/IRMP were very pleased with the inspection findings
and proud that our staff have been recognised
In preparation for 2021/22 we have undertaken
for the part they have played in responding to
a review of the impact and consequence that the
this national pandemic. Our teams go above and
covid-19 pandemic has had on our communities
beyond every day serving the residents, visitors
and staff. We have identified the positive changes
and businesses of Cornwall.
we have made as a result of the pandemic and
considered where we can embed these practices I want to take this opportunity to give my thanks
into our service; for example the additional to all of our staff with particular mention to our
support we have provided staff to manage Phoenix Services team who were instrumental in
their health, safety and wellbeing, as well as collecting and distributing Personal Protective
improvements to how we communicate and share Equipment (PPE) during the first phase of the
information across the service. pandemic, and our on-call firefighters who have
supported our ambulance colleagues by providing
Throughout this year, we will continue to align our
blue light trained drivers. Our on-call firefighters
policies, procedures and training to implement
continue to support South Western Ambulance
the National Operational Guidance and looking
Service Foundation Trust as part of the national
at how we incorporate the National Professional
agreement and between April 2020 and January
Standards being developed by the National Fire
2021 had responded to 1770 medical incidents.
Chiefs Council (NFCC). We will ensure that we
maintain the positive culture we were recognised As a service of Cornwall Council, our staff have
for by her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary worked alongside Council colleagues in a number
and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) in our of areas including covid-19 fire safety business
2018 inspection. We continue to embed the compliance, enforcement and preparation of
actions and recommendations from our HMICFRS discharge lounges. Our staff have gone above and
report, but also take time to recognise the beyond to support communities across Cornwall
unwavering professionalism and dedication of our and the HMICFRS report highlighted how valuable
staff during what has been a very challenging year. they have been throughout the pandemic and how
quickly they adapted. Their actions potentially
We must plan and prepare resources for a busy
saved lives. We are immensely proud of our staff
tourist season, particularly if more UK residents
for their continued support.
will choose a ‘staycation’ in Cornwall this year
following any covid-19 lockdown release.
On the 18 January Cornwall announced we would
be hosting the G7 summit. We are proud to be
playing our part working with and supporting our
partners to plan for and deliver a safe and secure
G7 summit showcasing the duchy. We have been
preparing for the event for several months and Mark Hewitt
recognise this will have an ongoing and increasing Chief Fire Officer
impact on our resources.
Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22 3
Our service
Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service covers the 13th largest
geographic area of all fire authorities in England but has
one of the lowest population densities.
We have a resident population of 569,500 which operate 7am-7pm (on-call staff at night) and
rises considerably at peak times of the year as 24 stations are crewed solely by our on-call
a result of tourism. There are over four million personnel. This means that from 7pm – 7am
visitors to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly each across Cornwall 29 of our 31 stations are on-call.
year, with peak volumes concentrated around We recognise this has an impact on our response
the UK holiday months. The annual summer times and continue to ensure our response is as
Boardmasters event in Newquay attracts up to quick as it can be. The make-up of operational
50,000 people and sees the population of this firefighters across the service is approximately
seaside town swell considerably. The volume of 70% on-call and 30% wholetime.
traffic on the roads also varies significantly during
During periods of the year when the population
the tourism season, with traffic increasing by
and potential risk increases in Newquay, we
around 24% compared to the rest of the year.
implement our Newquay 24 crewing model and
Cornwall has only one bordering fire and rescue staff Newquay Community Fire Station 24 hours-a-
service, which affects how many stations we need day. We have now fully implemented a previously
and how many firefighters we have, to ensure our piloted community safety crewing model in
response is effective and efficient. Liskeard to support our resilience in the east of the
county and to undertake community safety within
We have 31 community fire stations across
the local area. The station is crewed from Tuesday
Cornwall; two of these have operational crews
to Friday 8am – 6.30pm with a wholetime crew.
working out of them 24-hours a day; five stations
Wholetime firefighters
Wholetime firefighters work shifts on a full-
time contract and during their hours of work are
available to provide an immediate response to
emergencies. They undertake all the required
training as part of their wholetime hours.
Wholetime staff undertake and deliver a wide
range of protection, prevention and community
engagement events during the day and evening.
On-call firefighters
On-call firefighters are trained personnel who
have a job outside of the fire service, but are
available to respond to an incident. They are alerted
to an incident by a pager, and attend the station
using their own method of transport, ready to ‘turn
out’ in response to an incident. They are required to
attend a training session known as ‘drill night’ once
a week for two hours. The number of hours they
may be available for depends on the terms of their
contract and they are paid for drill nights and for © Jordan Riley
attending incidents.
4 Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22
Bude
Key
Service Headquarters Delabole Launceston
• Wholetime Day Staffed Station
Padstow
Wholetime Shift Station Wadebridge Callington
St Columb Bodmin
• On-call Station
Newquay Liskeard
n Service Admin St Dennis Lostwithiel Saltash
Perranporth
Emergency Services St Austell Looe Torpoint
Command Station Fowey
Polruan
Truro Mevagissey
St Ives Tolvaddon
Hayle St. Mawes
St Just Helston Falmouth
Penzance
St. Keverne
Mullion
Our Critical Control Centre handles 999 calls 24
hours-a-day 365 days a year, manages out of
14.38
hours’ calls for some critical council departments
and monitors CCTV for a number of town and
parish councils; all providing an efficient approach
Critical control staff
to working together to make Cornwall safer.
Our non-operational staff undertake a range of
roles and responsibilities. They deliver fire and
road safety awareness, other community safety 174.5
Wholetime firefighters
initiatives and support our 19 wholetime watches
to develop and deliver local projects aligned to the (including officers)
risks in their station areas.
387
We also have a number of personnel that support
our engineering workshop, where our equipment
and vehicles are tested, repaired and maintained. On-call firefighters (including
The training and development team ensure all 13 tri-service safety officers*)
operational staff are appropriately trained to
maintain their competency in fire fighting and
rescue skills and techniques. Our Phoenix Services
team provides external services and training on
behalf of Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service and
72.89
Non-operational staff
we have specialist and admin teams, who provide
critical support to maintain operations across the
*Tri-service safety officers have responsibilities
service.
which support fire, police, ambulance services
and the antisocial behaviour team.
These Figures include both full and part time posts and are
expressed as the number of equivalent full time roles in our
budgeted establishment figures
Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22 5
Our budget
The Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service budget is £19.377
million for 2021/22. When we developed our 2019-2022
IRMP we did so under the umbrella of Resilient Cornwall
which included Community Safety and Localism. Following
changes to the organisational structure, we have separated
these budgets and are now reporting on only the fire and
rescue elements of the budget.
Our 2020/21 budget was set at £18.806m and we are The forecast overspend relating to business as
forecast to overspend by £1.983m at the end of the usual costs is as follows:
financial year. This year the overspend is impacted
• Non uniform staff (green book) pay inflation - an
by the covid-19 pandemic and has resulted in
additional pressure of £0.093m.
additional forecast costs of £1.214m covering
employee costs, income losses, our ability to meet • Employee costs relating to rank to role and
savings targets and additional personal protective secondary contracts £0.176m.
equipment (PPE) and cleaning costs. Business as • Income pressure of £0.500 across Phoenix
usual forecast overspend is £0.769m. Services and CCTV, including £0.093m non-
delivery of savings.
The covid-19 additional costs are attributed to:
Plus other small offsetting variations.
• On-call firefighters and critical control
staff costs of £0.256m including staffing In addition to the above we are scheduled to
requirements throughout December 2020. deliver £0.050m of non-covid affected savings
targets of £0.169m.
• PPE and estate cleaning costs £0.079m.
• Non-delivery of savings £0.458m. Relating We are required to make a £0.522m reduction to
to the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) our budget during 2021/22. We have identified a
savings project Crew Model Review (CMR) 1: number of projects under the Perform priority,
crewing systems and role profiles £0.160m; which identify how we meet this requirement.
the CMR 3 project to review support services In the below table we have broken the 2021/22
and undertake an organisational restructure budget into Prevention, Protection and Response
£0.265m and CMR 20 contract efficiencies and Service Development and Improvement, to
£0.033m. ensure it is possible to compare budgets across
• Income shortfall £0.416m with Phoenix Services our three-year plan and our annual updates.
and Critical Control.
• Training and development £0.005m.
2020-21 2021-22
(Million) (Million)
Prevention, Protection, Response £13,781 £14,045
Service Development and Improvement £5,596 £5,606
Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service net revenue budget £19,377 £19,651
The budget figures above include saving targets of £0.522 £0.000
6 Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22
Capital budget to be replaced with modern and fit for purpose IT
equipment to assist the command and control at
We have a one-off capital budget of £26.5 million larger more complex incidents.
which funds a 15-year planned programme to We are also looking to replace the older response
replace ageing vehicles, equipment and IT with cars and support fleet, and in doing so will
more up-to-date ones aligned to modern-day risks continue to replace these with an electric vehicle
and maximising new technologies. where possible and where not, ensure that
The profiled budget for the capital programme for performance is balanced against emissions in
2021-2024 is provided below. terms of response capabilities.
Year six of the programme will also see investment
2021/2022 2022/2023 2023/2024 in operational equipment such as light portable
(year 6) (year 7) (year 8) pumps, thermal imaging equipment and enhanced
£3.385m £1.053m £0.922m aerial imagery, as well as renewing our maintenance
and care arrangements for our breathing apparatus.
Our priority as we enter year six of the programme There will be continued investment into our training
is to continue to invest in our vehicle fleet. This facility which is used to teach firefighters the
includes identifying the appropriate specification fundamentals of fire behaviour.
for five new 4x4 fire appliances to ensure we have The capital programme delivers updates and
sufficient front-line appliances to deal with our improvements to our IT capability to maximise
remote rural risk profile. We are looking to invest in current technology and ensure the systems we
additional light pumping appliances and alternative have are resilient, secure and effective. 2021/22
types of vehicles such as personnel carriers that can will see us replacing the existing firefighter
be used for crew transport and relief crews at larger availability management system and we are
and/or longer incidents. This means we will not need currently seeking commercial approval through
to use fire appliances for this purpose and will be a the Cornwall Council Investment and Commercial
more efficient and effective use of our resources. Board to proceed to formal tender stage. We have
Both Incident Command Units are due for a full undertaken service and end-user engagement to
technical refresh and mid-life overhaul this year. gather a full understanding of the specification
This will involve decommissioning some of the old required to ensure we procure the right system at
satellite technology and out-of-date hardware for it the best price to meet the needs of the service.
Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22 7
Where are we now?
In 2019 we produced our three-year IRMP which is our
statutory duty under the Fire and Rescue National
Framework for England 2018.
The IRMP 2019-2022 was agreed in consultation covid guidelines. Procuring and distributing PPE,
with our communities. The three-year plan sets developing arrangements to maintain social
out our priorities and objectives and the activities distancing, reviewing building access and cleaning
we will undertake to achieve them. Every year we procedures and supporting staff health and
review the plan against emerging evidence, risks wellbeing. We reviewed the government guidelines
and the changing context of local government and developed a ‘triggers document’ which has
and council budgets and priorities. The plan and enabled the service to make evidence-based
associated consultation can be found at decisions, quickly and safely, as well as identifying
www.cornwall.gov.uk/IRMP and utilising technology to develop our internal
communications to keep all staff informed.
This year-three review summarises our current
We delivered community safety messages in
situation and outlines our priorities over the
innovative and creative ways to support the
next year. It also serves as our Cornwall Council
reduction in face-to-face community engagement.
Service Plan and is used to identify key activities
which will be delivered across the various service We developed a flexible approach to make sure
functions. These activities are cascaded through these critical services continue to operate safely
team plans and form the basis of individual and effectively, utilising council and other partners
objectives and performance measures. to share information and maximise the capability
of online technologies. We limited access to our
Our plan outlines the importance of taking into
community fire stations and our headquarters
account key influences and ensures we identify
buildings, which house the Critical Control Centre,
key internal and external factors to inform our
engineering workshops and training facilities.
priorities and shape our activities.
We brought back previous serving staff to ensure
adequate resilience in key areas of the service
National drivers - and have asked our dedicated and passionate
workforce to take on additional responsibilities,
local context develop new procedures, adapt policies and
even, in some cases, volunteer to be redeployed
On 23 March 2020 Government announced that to support other priority council services, such as
the country would be placed into lockdown to waste and recycling centres and enforcement of
reduce the spread of the covid-19 pandemic. covid-19 guidance through the government’s town
We have made significant adaptations and marshal scheme.
alterations to the way we deliver the critical and
We adopted a flexible approach to how our crews
statutory activities of our service, while ensuring
respond to emergency incidents to limit contact
the health, safety and wellbeing of our people
amongst staff when responding to fires and
and communities.
other emergencies. This meant using additional
We set up response cells that focused on our vehicles to maintain social distancing in vehicles
critical functional areas of response, critical while maintaining optimal crewing at incidents.
control and workshops and which focussed on We created an innovative “iTrain” online training
our people and our communications. These system to enable us to deliver virtual drill nights
ensured two-way dialogue between the services and provide interaction to ensure maintenance of
management team and the primary areas of focus skills for our staff.
for our covid response. Throughout the response
To ensure all vehicles and equipment required
to the pandemic, the cells have continued to work
by our responding personnel continued to
tirelessly to ensure operational and support staff
be maintained and repaired, we asked our
are able to carry out their duties safely and within
8 Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22
engineering and workshops teams to split into two The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) is the
shifts. This helped to maintain appropriate staffing professional voice of the UK fire and rescue
levels, while minimising contact between staff. service and drives improvement and development
throughout the UK fire sector. They have
We changed the way we delivered face-to-face
developed several programmes of work which
activities including prevention work, such as home
support national fire reform. We will need to
fire safety checks and community engagement
maintain resources and capacity to ensure we
activities, and our business safety and protection
are able to implement the outcomes of these
work. We changed procedures and patterns of
programmes, which are outlined below;
working to ensure we could continue this vital
safety work and protect the most vulnerable • The Community Risk Programme focuses on
members of our communities, while operating the methods, tools, skills, knowledge and
within government guidelines to ensure the safety processes that will be required to identify and
of our staff. assess all foreseeable fire and rescue related
risks within our local communities. Guidance
We trained some staff to drive ambulances and
is being developed which seeks to standardise
provide assistance to the South West Ambulance
how risk is assessed across UK fire and rescue
Services Foundation Trust (SWASFT) as part
services and how this is reflected in the risk
of a national agreement between fire service
management planning IRMP process.
employers, the ambulance service and the Fire
Brigades Union (FBU), to support local ambulance The guidance is expected in Spring 2021 and we
services. This has seen our service undertake will need to ensure that we identify the changes
a 24-hour commitment to provide personnel required and allocate appropriate resources
for two ambulances based at Newquay and to implementing the recommendations. We
Launceston Community Fire Stations. In line with already have a method of assessing community
the agreement we have attended cardiac arrest risk, and a number of tools and products which
and paediatric emergencies, transferred patients we produce, so we will need to look at how
between Treliske and Derriford hospitals, and these will need to be adapted, improved or new
supported additional training for personnel to use tools and processes developed that are aligned
some paramedic equipment to further support to the guidance.
the community with a higher level of medical
• The People Programme incorporates a
intervention. This kind of cross service and
number of projects which focus on the culture
cross-agency working has ensured that services
and people who work in the fire services.
being delivered to the most vulnerable in our
Strengthening leadership and developing
communities have been maintained, irrespective
cultural values and behaviours that make fire
of organisational boundaries, and truly embodies
services a great place to work for everyone.
our service vision of ‘working together to make
Diversifying the workforce and creating an
Cornwall safer’.
inclusive and equitable place to work. It
includes ensuring that employees are provided
National drivers - with excellent training and education and that
their health and wellbeing is supported.
local context We have a number of projects already in
progress which are aligned with the intended
Nationally Fire and Rescue Services are operating
outcomes of this programme and others which
in a changing landscape. In our IRMP 2019-2022
are scheduled to start during the 2021/22
we outlined the change which saw responsibility
financial year. We will need to continue to
for Fire and Rescue Services moved under the
deliver the ongoing projects through to
Home Office and proposed changes to policy
successful implementation and evaluation.
which affect three key areas; efficiency and
We will also need to identify resources to set
collaboration, accountability and transparency,
up, deliver and evaluate the new projects,
workforce reform. This has placed a new focus on
ensuring appropriate governance, engagement
the culture and people who work in fire services,
and evaluation to ensure these are fully
as well as ensuring we continue to place resources
implemented and embedded.
and emphasis on responding to emergencies and
undertaking appropriate prevention activities to
reduce risks in our communities.
Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22 9
• National fire service reform is being practice which the fire sector should be proud of,
underpinned by the development of a suite of but also provides clarity on where reform is still
UK-wide professional standards that will follow required. In the report Cornwall were assessed as
a commonly recognised process originating being ‘good’ for how well we look after our people
from the British Standards Institute. Throughout and as ‘requiring improvement’ for our efficiency
the pandemic these standards have continued and effectiveness at keeping people safe.
to be progressed, this includes, standards
We have spent time focusing on the suggested
for community risk management planning,
improvements from the report and look forward
operational response (including operational
to hearing the views of HMICFRS in 2021 as they
preparedness, learning and competence), a
begin the next round of inspection visits. We
code of ethics and emergency response driver
have completed the information gathering and
training and leadership. As each new standard is
reporting in preparation for this.
rolled out, we will need to ensure we undertake
the necessary review of our current practices The Autumn/Winter data request focused on data
and undertake work to bring them into line with from the functions of Prevention, Protection,
the national standards. It is unclear at this stage Response and People. We are looking forward to
what the standards will be and what resources welcoming the HMICFRS team to undertake an
will be required to implement them. inspection of our service in Spring 2021 and will
work with them to develop our six-week virtual
The first round of inspections by HMICFRS
inspection timetable and agenda which at the
concluded in January 2020 with the publication
time of writing this document was scheduled to
of a State of Fire and Rescue Service report
commence at the end of March 2021.
which identifies many areas of strength and good
10 Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22Where do we want
to be and why?
During year two of our three-year plan, we have made
significant adaptations to how we deliver services to support
our vision of ‘working together to make Cornwall safer’, while
operating in the restrictions of a global pandemic.
We have adapted our ways of working to focus We produce an Annual Assurance Statement,
on the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff which provides assurance to communities and
and supporting the most vulnerable members Government that the service is being delivered
of our communities. This has affected our ability efficiently and effectively, and a full review of our
to deliver everything set out in year two of our performance against our plan will be published
IRMP and some of the work has been postponed, in the 2020/21 statement in July 2021. This will
which has impacted on some of our performance be scrutinised by the Council’s elected Members
targets. Full details of our performance and through Neighbourhoods Overview and Scrutiny
achievements during 2020/21 is published through Committee. These performance documents are
our quarterly performance reports to Cornwall available on our website: www.cornwall.gov.uk/
Council’s Cabinet and Neighbourhoods Overview IRMP
and Scrutiny Committees.
Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22 11How are we going
to get there?
We continue to deliver against the priorities set out in the
2019-22 IRMP, with a focus on the following areas for 2021-22.
operational staff, not required to respond, could
Prevent: To improve undertake. The consultation results from this can
the health, safety and be found on page 22.
wellbeing of the people We will continue to implement innovative IT
and communities most solutions as well as utilising our social media and
links across the council to promote fire and rescue
at risk safety through local radio and newspapers.
In 2019/20 we undertook a project to identify
We have undertaken a review on data quality within ways of building volunteer capacity to deliver
the service and this has enabled us to understand prevention activities. Covid has reduced the ability
incidents of deliberate fires with a greater level of to engage and build volunteer capacity for this
accuracy. The number of deliberate fires is now specific purpose. Post - covid we may revisit this
understood to be less than previously thought and opportunity.
we have been able to lower the priority for this
Safeguarding referrals, including those initiated
type of incident. We have therefore removed the
through our own prevention activities, such as
‘detailed understanding of arson – behaviour and
home fire safety checks, are continuing to increase
prevention’ project from our IRMP for year three.
and this remains a priority for 2021/22. The work we
The way we deliver home fire safety checks during have undertaken with the Council’s Safeguarding
2021/22 will potentially be significantly impacted Adult’s Board (SAB) has ensured our approach
by the covid-19 pandemic and we will continue and procedures are aligned and understood by
to adapt our approach to keep our people and everyone across the service. This improvement
communities safe, being aware of the longer term work has increased the number of referrals and
impacts of covid. demands on our service. During the redesign of
the service we have built in additional capacity
We will continue to work closely with adult social
to support this vital safeguarding work and have
care teams to identify the most vulnerable people
introduced a role joint funded with the police
in our community and developed covid-safe
which has specific responsibility for safeguarding
procedures to enable a small team of people to
referrals.
deliver home fire safety checks.
Road safety remains a key prevention priority and
We will also continue to use our operational crews
we support the peninsula road safety partnership
when not responding to incidents to undertake
and the Safer Cornwall priority and we will be
prevention activities as identified as a priority
continuing to deliver campaigns and initiatives,
within our consultation.
including the Learn2Live programme.
In preparing this three-year review of our 2019-2022
IRMP we consulted the public, partners, elected
members and our own staff to consider how
we can take forward some of the good practice
and learning from our covid approach. In our
consultation we asked people to tell us what they
thought were the highest priority activities which
12 Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22Project: Protection Programme
Protect: To protect
Start date: 01.10.2020
businesses, people,
End date: 31.03.2022
the local economy and
environment from fire
and wider community Our protection work is traditionally undertaken
through on-site visits to business premises by
related risks. appropriately trained staff, however this was not
possible during the covid-19 lockdown period. We
In Cornwall we define high risk as: adapted our audits and engagement to be virtual
and this will be continued in 2021/22.
• Premises that provide sleeping accommodation
where people would find escape in an
emergency difficult due to a lack of mobility, Respond: To deliver an
and/or lack of familiarity with the building layout effective and efficient
– includes hospitals, residential care homes,
hotels, B&Bs and hostels
emergency response and
recovery service both
• Premises that have had a fire and we have attended
locally and to support
• Premises where we have received a complaint or
concern from a member of the public
national requirements.
We use these categories to prioritise resources From 1 April we will be implementing a pilot
across our prevention activities to those most at crewing system aligned to our savings plan.
risk from a non-domestic fire. However, an increase During this third year we will focus on developing
in the number of fires in non-domestic premises performance measures aligned to the new crewing
and a decrease in the number of qualified fire safety model and evaluating the outcomes of the changes.
inspectors we have, has put additional pressure on
our resources in this area. Recognising the increasing demands on social
care, now more importantly than ever, we aim to
We are expecting new national guidance in 2021 advance the Council’s devolution programme for
and a Protection Fire Standard on the fire and funding to take forward a social care responder
rescue service risk based inspection programme, pilot project. The pilot seeks to develop a combined
and we will need to implement this as and when the role across adult social care and fire, looking
details are available. at outreach provision of care combined with
the duties of an on-call firefighter. The work we
The national focus on building safety continues to have been doing to support clinically extremely
drive our local priorities. vulnerable people highlights the commonalities
between those individuals who require social care
We will be driving forward our Protection
support and those who the fire service targets for
Programme which incorporates
home fire safety checks and living safe and well
• Outcomes of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry visits. If the devolution programme gathers pace
we may need to develop and progress a project to
• Local Government Association (LGA) thematic
implement this.
review recommendations
In 2021/22 we anticipate continuing collaboration
• Outcomes from the Neighbourhoods Overview with other emergency services. Covid-19 has seen
and Scrutiny Protection Inquiry us work more collaboratively with our ambulance
• Significant fire safety changes identified in The colleagues including ‘combined crewing’ of two
Cube Report, following a fire that broke out in ambulances, in partnership with South West
student accommodation in Bolton town centre Ambulance Services Foundation Trust (SWASFT).
• NFCC protection improvements including We have created a new role in our structure
adoption of the competency framework redesign to lead the delivery of our business
continuity and resilience activities. This role has
• The government funding available to support the been established following a recommendation
changes required to fire and service’s building from our covid focussed HMICFRS inspection and
safety activities to drive our ongoing work to improve our local and
Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22 13national resilience activities The role will deliver our
National Resilience Strategy which captures how People: To ensure
we maintain compliance and competency for our
our workforce is
national assets that are provided by Government
and that can respond locally, regionally and professional, resilient,
nationally if required. Our National Resilience skilled, flexible and
Strategy will cover how we will ensure competency, diverse. Working in a place
compliance and a programme of audits which will
test our preparedness for an event, as well as how that is safe, healthy and
effective we are at supporting these events and inclusive, where people
how we also learn from what we do jointly with feel valued for their
other services.
contribution and role
We will continue to implement The National model our core values.
Operational Guidance Programme which will
ensure we have industry good practice for our
We will continue to deliver the activities aligned to
fire and rescue service. This is fundamental to
this priority with a focus on some specific areas of
firefighter, community and organisational safety.
work for 2021/22, which will support and deliver
We will continue to work with services across the
the NFCC improvements and deliver the budget,
sector to implement national operational guidance
including the savings outlined in our Medium Term
within the service. This will include the production
and publication of documents and the updating Financial Plan (MTFP).
of training to ensure it is aligned to the national Throughout covid the Health, Safety and Wellbeing
guidance. of our people has been at the forefront of our
activities. Covid-19 has brought about significant
New project: Policy and National changes to the way people work regardless of the
Operational Guidance Review type of role they have. Working from home, wearing
masks, cleaning and sanitising have all become
Start date: 01.04.2020
a part of daily life, but change affects people in
End date: 31.03.2022 different ways and we have been very aware of this
throughout 2020/21. We have put in place a number
of arrangements to support the mental health and
Our Critical Control Centre has been preparing for
the government’s new Emergency Service Network wellbeing of our staff, including a specific group
(ESN). This will replace the existing AirWaves of people dedicated to looking at what support is
communications system which will be switched off available to staff (the health and wellbeing cell).
following the switch over to ESN. This group looked at defusing following challenging
incidents, referral routes for additional support
The national programme timelines are under review through Cornwall Council, The Fire Fighters Charity
but the transition is now anticipated to occur during and specialist counselling services.
the latter part of 2023/24. This is a 12-month delay
but we continue to ensure we have all we need in We have a plan of ongoing communications
place to gain our code of connection to utilise the signposting to what support is available as well
ESN data services once up and running. as engagement activities to provide staff with
information and opportunity to share concerns
During 2020/21 we were able to use national and thoughts. These have been both online and
funding to recruit a new role into the Critical Control through socially distant face-to-face sessions. We
team. The Emergency Services Network Project have also drawn on our network of passionate and
Manager will continue to develop the detailed ESN enthusiastic health and wellbeing champions, who
adoption plans which will support implementation. undertake activities that provide support for our
staff’s mental and physical health and wellbeing.
Project: ESN / Airwaves replacement We are continuing to promote the role of the Health
Start date: 01.04.2020 and Wellbeing Champion and increase the number
we have within our service.
End date: 01.12.2022
We recognise that we need to work collaboratively
with others to enable sharing of ideas and resources
to work more efficiently. We are part of a health
and wellbeing forum that supports collaboration
14 Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22across Cornwall Council, South West Ambulance The partnership will deliver end point assessments
Services Foundation Trust (SWASFT), NHS England for all fire specific apprenticeships as well as the
(Treliske), Corserv, Devon and Cornwall Police emergency services contact handler apprenticeship
and the Coastguard. The forum looks at joint developed in conjunction with the police and
procurement opportunities, joint training and to ambulance services. The six apprenticeships are:
sharing best practice. This will provide a framework
• Operational Firefighter
of support for our health and wellbeing champions
and ensure we take a collective approach across all • Business Fire Safety Advisor
organisations. • Community Safety Advisor
We are working on a project which will ensure • Fire Safety Inspector
we take a collaborative approach to health,
safety and wellbeing, working with other • Fire Safety Engineer
organisations to identify what is required across • Emergency Services Contact Handler
the various organisations and consider where
We need to ensure that staff have the right skills,
there are opportunities to look at joint provision,
training, behaviours and competency to support
procurement and support. This will continue to be
their career aspirations and the evolving needs
progressed through 2021/22.
of the service. Over the next two to five years
we are forecast to lose a number of experienced
New project: Cornwall Health and Wellbeing operational staff due to retirement, including
collaborative approach experienced senior managers.
Start date: 01.04.2020 We need to create and implement an effective
talent management model incorporating
End date: 31.03.2022
succession planning, career pathways and
management development. This will include
Looking after our staff means ensuring our
reviewing and replacing the skills knowledge
recruitment processes are flexible, fair and meet
and experience, lost through retirement as well
the current and future needs of the service. This
as developing existing skills, knowledge and
includes having contracts that suit the changing
experience.
needs of our employees and provide equality
of opportunity across a number of roles and We need to support current managers to be
responsibilities, including apprentices. We will look effective both operationally and as effective
at opportunities for recruitment and retention of leaders, supported by embedding a coaching
apprentice firefighters, developing a robust policy and mentoring culture in the service. This will be
and recruitment process, implementing lessons aligned to the NFCC code of ethics, which is being
learned, identifying training needs. This will be developed nationally and replaces our own review
achieved through the recruitment resourcing of core values project which we had outlined.
project.
New project: Recruitment resourcing New project: Talent Management,
Succession Planning, and
Start date: 01.04.2020
Career Pathways
End date: 31.03.2022
Start date: 01.04.2020
We have entered into a partnership with the NFCC End date: 31.03.2022
to deliver end point assessments (EPA) across the Linked to the talent management project we will
fire sector. The purpose of the EPA partnership is continue to review how we deliver the training
to establish a quality assured, sector competent, and development needs of our staff. We will need
end point assessment organisation (EPAO) for the to ensure we are planning and training to be as
new range of fire specific apprenticeship standards. efficient and effective as we can be, both now and
The EPAO will be a joint Cornwall Fire and Rescue in the future. As the restrictions surrounding covid
Service and NFCC organisation. The partnership will continue we will need to consider different ways in
establish an EPAO for the sector delivered by the which we can deliver training.
sector.
Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22 15In order to ensure we have the right people in the capture and availability through new technologies
right place, at the right time to run our service is not yet fully realised. The updated equality
efficiently and effectively, we are looking at our objectives are:
operational contracts for our wholetime and • Improve the number of applications we receive
on-call duties. We have reviewed the current for careers within our service from under-
arrangements, in collaboration and negotiation represented groups specifically from women
with the appropriate representative bodies, and and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
considered changes to the contract types we offer. (LGBTQIA+) community
The agreed arrangements will be put in place • Increase and improve the standard and
during 2021/22 and we will undertake continuous collection of equalities monitoring data from our
evaluation of the project throughout third year of staff
the IRMP. • Improve the knowledge of our staff and elected
members in the importance of having a fully
inclusive workplace through the delivery of
Project: Training and Development Review training
Start date: 01.04.2020 • Improve the monitoring of reported sickness,
End date: 31.03.2022 stress, bullying and harassment within the
service to include equality monitoring
During 2019/20 the NFCC announced the first of • Update our protocols regarding equality in
the new professional standards which need to procurement and commissioning to ensure they
be adopted nationally for operational staff. As are accessible for people, specifically considering
and when the standards are developed we will impact on faith, belief and gender where possible
review our current policies and identify any gaps in • Demonstrate the use and sharing of information
current training and review associated policies and about new, existing and changing needs, risks
implement the changes. and vulnerabilities within our service and our
communities
We believe the culture of our service should be a
supportive one, driven by continuous improvement We support these objectives through our
across not only our processes and systems, but community engagement equality and diversity
our people too. We want to ensure our people (CEED) work. We recognise equality diversity and
inclusion has never been so important as it is now
are the best they can be and provide a coaching
in society, the fire sector and within our service. We
and mentoring culture that supports continuous
will look to drive equality, diversity and inclusion
learning and development. as a key priority throughout all we do and ensure
For 2021/22 we have identified a new project which everyone understands how they contribute and
will support managers to proactively, competently how they can learn more about diversity.
and confidently deal with workplace issues and We have a strategic working group which includes
embed the required behaviours to achieve the a strategic lead for a number of areas including
culture we want across the whole service. We age, rurality, disability, LGBT, race and faith. The
will therefore be reviewing our HR policies and strategic group co-ordinates CEED activities and
practices and identify what training and HR support commissions activities through a number of
might be required to ensure this can be achieved. subgroups which focus on specific areas:
• Employee Voice Group
New project: Policy and Practices Review • Dyslexia Working Group
• Women in the Fire Service Group
Start date: 01.04.2021
• Mental Health and Wellbeing Group
End date: 31.03.2022
• Initiative and Evaluation Group
• On-Call Liaison Officers group
Equality objectives
During 2020/21 we further reviewed our equality
objectives and made changes to them to ensure
we are able to understand our progress and
performance against them. They are aligned to the
focused activities identified throughout year three
of our IRMP, taking into consideration that data
16 Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22We continue to undertake annual IT health checks
Perform: To ensure we across the critical control network and ongoing
have the right systems, security assurance to avoid unwanted cyber-
attacks. We are one of only a handful of fire and
equipment, vehicles rescue services to hold a Cyber Essentials Plus
and information to accreditation which is aimed at demonstrating
deliver value for money good cyber security protecting the information
and data that is key to the services critical control
services effectively and operations.
efficiently and which are
As we move through our capital programme of
appropriately governed replacing our vehicle fleet and appliances, we
and assured. are able to utilise more modern and innovative
technology, which will change the way we work,
In 2021/22 we will continue to make improvements streamlining processes and maximising the use of
which align to our ongoing inspections, reviews IT wherever possible. The newer fleet will mean
and the transformation work we are undertaking less time required repairing and maintaining the
as part of our efficiency and effectiveness fleet and reduce the cost of spare parts which
changes. Throughout covid we made significant IT can be costly due to the age of the vehicle and
improvements and we will be aiming to maintain the availability of parts. As the replacement
this progress to remove paper based working and programme continues we will review our contracts
improve our efficiency and effectiveness. and undertake detailed contract management
to ensure potential efficiencies and savings are
We have developed our Quality Assurance (QA)
realised.
Framework which provides a robust mechanism
for feedback and lessons learned from operational We have made progress against our workshop
activity and outcomes of both internal and external efficiencies and effective contract management
audits. We have a plan of improvements we want project during 2020/21 and developed an
to make within the service from local and national investigative report which outlines some of the
recommendations and work against a programme changes and improvements that need to be
of operational audits to assure our operational considered. We will continue this project through
readiness and response. Our strategic and tactical 2021/22 to deliver the required efficiencies and
QA groups consider the recommendations we savings. We will also continue to deliver the
implement and provide assurance that everything property integration project to find opportunities
is in place and working effectively including learning for co-location with blue light partners, as outlined
from national incidents. The third year of our IRMP in our 2019-22 IRMP. This will enable us to realise
will see us develop this further to embed the learning efficiencies, work together more effectively to
from covid and build on our QA Framework. achieve joint community outcomes.
Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22 17information for the inspection which will take place for
MTFP project: Workshops efficiencies
six weeks from March 2021. We welcome the HMICFRS
and effective contract
inspection and the opportunity to continually
management
improve. Actions and feedback from the inspection
Start date: 01.04.2020 report may have an impact on our year-three plan
End date: 31.03.2022 2021/22.
Continuing to support the declaration of Cornwall
Council’s climate emergency, we have outlined a clear
MTFP project: Operational Asset Review
action plan to identify and implement changes to
(incorporating IT and Assurance)
reduce our carbon emissions. Making good progress
Start date: 01.04.2019
in previous years, we have reduced carbon emissions
End date: 31.03.2022 by installing PV panels on 13 of our 31 community
fire stations, and trialling the use of re-usable water
bottles on stations. This year we aim to invest in our
premises through the installation of photo voltaic
MTFP project: Property Integration
panels to 17 of our community fire stations as part of
our commitment to carbon reduction.
Start date: 01.04.2019
For 2021/22, through our capital replacement
End date: 31.03.2022
programme we are exploring more lower emission
vehicles for appliances and fleet and have procured
our first vehicles. This investment sees us take a very
We recover some costs through Phoenix Services positive step toward a greener cleaner future and is
which is the cost recovery arm of Cornwall Fire and fully supportive of the wider council’s carbon reduction
Rescue Service providing discretionary services plans. Further exploration will be made across all our
which align to our core values and priorities. Our functions with the longer term aim to have a large
ability to deliver courses has been impacted by number of electric vehicles within our fleet.
covid. We continue to be ready to deliver our
services once restrictions allow within 2021/22. New project: Protecting Our Environment
We will continue to support the Primary Authority Start date: 01.04.2020
scheme which is successfully delivering a End date: 31.03.2022
partnership with a large regional housing partner
on a cost neutral basis. Our Critical Control Centre
Following the recommendation from our LGA and
will continue to manage ‘out of hours’ calls for some
NFCC peer review we will be commissioning an
critical council departments and monitor CCTV for
independent external provider to undertake a
a number of town and parish councils.
bespoke review of risk for our service in 2021/22.
In 2021/22 we will continue to work with our town The main aim of this review will be to enable us
and parish councils to maximise the benefits of our to consider how we can ensure we are efficiently
CCTV function. and effectively resourcing to risk. The ‘population
We have also seen benefits of wider working with growth’ and ‘crewing models for population
Cornwall Council teams and other emergency growth’ s outlined in our three year IRMP have been
services throughout covid in the deployment of included within the scope of© Jordan
this review
Riley
for the third
CCTV. In 2021/22 we will look to explore how these and final year of the plan.
opportunities can be further used to support the
safety of our communities.
Project: Cost Recovery
Start date: 01.04.2020
End date: 31.03.2021
During 2021/22 the HMICFRS will virtually
undertake the next round of fire and rescue
service inspections. In preparation the service’s © Caterina Lombardi
management team have prepared data and
18 Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22How will we know we
are there?
In our IRMP 2019-2022 we outlined the key performance indicators
which would help us measure our performance against our priorities.
Key Performance Indicators
Priority Measures
Prevent • Number of accidental dwelling fires
• Number of home fire safety checks (HFSC) undertaken
• % of HFSC undertaken with high risk groups
• % of HFSC undertaken outside of the 10 min response time
• % reduction in people killed and seriously injured in road traffic collisions*
• Number of deliberate primary fires**
• Number of deliberate secondary fires***
Protect • Number of non-domestic fires
• % of non-domestic fires confined to room of origin
• % of high risk non-domestic premises with a fire safety audit (FSA)
• % of ‘high risk’ premises on the operational risk register with a FSA (new in 2020-21)
• Number of false alarms caused by automatic fire alarms
Respond • % calls handled within 2 minutes for all incidents
• % of wholetime turnouts completed within 90 seconds for all incidents (updated 2020-21)
• % of on-call turnouts completed within 6.5 minutes for all incidents (updated 2020-21)
• Average response time to primary fires** with a crew of 5
• Appliance availability with a crew of 5
• % of failures to mobilise first appliance
• % of incidents reached within 11 minutes for wholetime and 16 minutes for on-call (updated 2020-21)
People • % of staff with breathing apparatus (BA) compliance
• Average percentage of time lost due to sickness absence for all staff excluding on-call
• Number of days/shifts lost due to sickness absence per on-call person
• % of operational managers compliant with incident command training
• % of staff with performance and goals identified
• % of staff compliant with mandatory training
• Number of Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations reportable incidents
• Fitness testing compliance
• % of recruitment applications from under-represented groups
Perform • % capital budget spent against forecast
• % savings against Medium Term Financial Plan target
• % of Freedom of Information requests responded to within timescales
• % step one complaints responded to within 10 working days
• % step 1 complaints upheld
• % step 2 complaints responded to within 20 working days
• Customer satisfaction
* This is now reported through the Road Casualty Reduction Partnership..
** Primary fires include all fires in buildings, vehicles and outdoor structures or any fire involving casualties, rescues or firesattended by five or
more appliances
*** Secondary fires are generally small outdoor fires,
not involving people or property. Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22 19Projects
We have outlined a number of projects which we will develop and deliver during 2020/21. These projects
are subject to robust governance and we continually monitor our progress through a number of project
boards, reports and discussions. We have summarised the list of projects for 2020/21 below.
Priority Project(s) 2020-21 (year 3)
Prevent
Protect Protection Programme Expanded programme of work, incorporating
Grenfell tower action plan (year 2 project)
Respond Policy and National Operational
To continue through year 3
Guidance review
As outlined in the 2019-22 IRMP – project will extend
ESN / Airwave Replacement
beyond the lifetime of this IRMP
People Training and Development Review To continue through year 3
Policy and Practices New project for year 3
Health and Wellbeing To continue through year 3
Recruitment and Resourcing To continue through year 3
Talent Management To continue through year 3
Perform This project now incorporates the IT and Assurance
Operational Asset Review project which was identified in the 2019-22 IRMP as a
separate project
Property Integration As outlined in the 2019-22 IRMP
New project identified to deliver the required budget
Workshops Efficiencies
savings in year 2
Cost Recovery New project identified to deliver the required budget
savings in year 2
Protecting our Environment As outlined in the 2019-22 IRMP
20 Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22What might stop us?
The ongoing uncertainty regarding covid-19 to administer the changes, succession planning
restrictions is still unknown and we expect some and corporate memory loss with experienced
disruption to the way we work to continue into the people leaving the service.
2021/22 financial year. We will continue to review
Many of our improvement projects are aligned
and adapt our approach according to the highest
to efficiencies and savings borne of digital
risk in or communities and to ensure the health,
advancements and improving technology. The
safety and wellbeing of our staff.
timescales we are working to and the realisation
Changes across the council will also impact on of the savings is predicated on the Council’s Digital
our service and we will continue to maintain our Cornwall Plan delivering the expected hardware,
strong links with the various workstreams that software and infrastructure improvements that
are looking at efficiencies and improvements. support this work, for example a new availability
For example, the programme to improve and system which will provide improved management
implement IT solutions, the business support support.
review and the working arrangements for office-
The health and wellbeing of our staff is a priority
based staff and the policies around home working,
for the service and this may be impacted by the
flexible working, travel and building use.
amount and pace of change we are currently
Our local elections are scheduled for May 2021 experiencing and will continue to experience in
which will see the number of elected Members the short and medium term. Successful change
appointed to the council reduced from 123 to requires resource to support and drive it and we
87. We may be required to provide additional need to ensure that the pace of change can be
induction and training to newly elected members supported by the coaching and mentoring culture
on the roles and responsibilities of a Fire Authority. which is at the heart of our service’s core values.
The legal dispute around the firefighters pension
scheme has now been resolved, however pension
administrators and fire services are still awaiting
guidance on the application of the remedy. Impact
on the service is wide reaching including, capacity
Integrated Risk Management Plan 2019-2022 | Year three annual review 2021-22 21You can also read
