Northamptonshire firefighters cut by almost a quarter since 2010

[brumble49]

[B]Northamptonshire has lost almost a quarter of its firefighters since 2010, while crews are taking longer to respond to emergencies.[/B]

The Fire Brigades Union has lambasted the “appalling cuts” to fire services across the country, which it says are putting public safety at risk.


In the Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, the number of full-time equivalent firefighters fell from 501 in 2010 to 384 in 2018 - a drop of 23%.


At the same time, crews took almost a minute and a half longer to respond to callouts in the 12 months to March 2018 than in the same period in 2010 - a 16% increase, bringing the total response time to 10 minutes 36 seconds.


The figures refer to primary incidents, which are the most serious fires with potential to harm people or cause damage to property.

Across England, the number of firefighters has fallen by more than 22% since 2010, from 41,632 to 32,340, and there are now 45 fewer fire stations.

The average time taken to respond to serious incidents increased by more than 30 seconds over the same period.

The Home Office said local factors could affect response times, and that there is not a straightforward link between response times and the outcomes of a fire.



However, Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said there was a clear link between slower response times and government cuts.

“Year on year we are seeing appalling cuts to the service and these figures are clear evidence that the cuts have gone too far,” he said.

“Understaffed fire stations across the country struggle to provide a 24-hour service to their community, with the starkest effect outside of cities.

“Fire and rescue services are expected to do more with less and it is only down to the dedication of fire and rescue staff that the service is performing at all.



“The service is at breaking point. Public safety is being put at risk.”

Response times in Northamptonshire are slower than the England average, which last year stood at 8 mins 45 secs.

The slowing responses in England have come despite the fact that firefighters are attending fewer primary incidents.

In 2009-2010, there were 1,178 in the Northamptonshire area, compared to 798 by 2017-18.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Government is thankful for the continued tireless efforts of firefighters across the country.



“There has also been a long term downward trend in both fires and fire deaths for many years, recently reaching historically low levels, and we are confident that fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work.”

https://bit.ly/2FR8uWS

[velbert]

At the same time, crews took almost a minute and a half longer to respond to callouts in the 12 months to March 2018 than in the same period in 2010 - a 16% increase, bringing the total response time to 10 minutes 36 seconds.

Response times in Northamptonshire are slower than the England average, which last year stood at 8 mins 45 secs.

Shocking ......

[jake]

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service - HMICFRS

Effectiveness

How effective is the fire and rescue service at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks?

Last updated 19/06/2019

Requires improvement

An effective fire and rescue service will identify and assess the full range of foreseeable fire and rescue risks its community faces. It will target its fire prevention and protection activities to those who are at greatest risk from fire. It will make sure businesses comply with fire safety legislation. When the public calls for help, the fire and rescue service should respond promptly with the right skills and equipment to deal with the incident effectively. Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service’s overall effectiveness requires improvement.

Too often Northamptonshire FRS has too few fire engines available which has an effect on response times. The service is aware of this and is looking to make improvements, including new flexible arrangements for staff to help cover demand. But it needs to keep better track of how many engines it has available at any given time and consider what more can be done.

The service’s prevention and protection work also needs improvement. Its prevention team has been substantially reduced to make savings required by the county council and so it doesn’t have enough resources to cover its prevention activity. Firefighters are supposed to support prevention but are often too busy. It works with partner agencies on a variety of annual activities to promote fire safety, but it needs to review how effective these are.

The service also has too few resources to meet the requirements in its risk-based inspection programme and isn’t auditing the high-risk premises it says it needs to. It also doesn’t do enough to engage informally with local businesses.

The service consults with the local community to build a picture of the risk of fire and other emergencies. Northamptonshire FRS works with the police to collect and share information about risk for particular premises. But not all of its scheduled checks are being done, although we are glad to see its backlog in processing this information has been cleared. It needs to ensure all systems for sharing information work as well as they should.

The service works with other agencies in planning the response to large-scale incidents. But these exercises should be based on realistic situations and involve more staff. It shares its control room service with Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service, which helps it to deal with demand. Staff are trained to take command at incident sites, but more senior commanders don’t have their training updated or checked. The service gathers debriefs from operational staff after incidents, but could improve the way it communicates identified learning to them. Crews were not always aware that over-the-border risk information is available to them when attending incidents in neighbouring counties. A more consistent approach with neighbouring services to conduct joint training is needed.

Read the report in full here > https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/...ptonshire/

[jake]

Statements following release of HMICFRS report into Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service



Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Darren Dovey and Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) Stephen Mold have today responded to the findings of an HMICFRS inspection report.

The inspection, which was carried out in November 2018, focuses on assessing how effectively and efficiently Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service prevents, protects the public against and responds to fires and other emergencies. The report can be viewed by following this link: https://bit.ly/2Ir4vkG

A revisit was also carried out this month and a letter based on the progress made since the earlier inspection was also sent to NFRS. This letter can be viewed here: https://bit.ly/2XmLQi3

CFO Darren Dovey said: “At Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) we welcome this report from HMICFRS which has helped us scrutinise areas for improvement in our work to help keep the public safe.

“We are delighted the inspectors who revisited last week were impressed with the significant improvements we have made since their initial report, which stemmed from a visit last year while we were still governed by Northamptonshire County Council (NCC).

“We want the public to feel reassured we have listened to what the inspectors have said and, as such, earlier in the year we put in place an action plan to target areas for improvement.

“One area we have specifically targeted is that of the daytime availability of some fire engines in the county. We have now created a bank of available staff, which has given us the flexibility to send firefighters to stations that may require particular skills or expertise such as driving or command skills, increasing their availability to respond.

“In addition we have changed the methods by which we move fire engines around the county in order to maintain countywide fire cover. The results of this are that more fire engines are available during the daytime, resulting in an increase in the average number of appliances available throughout the 24 hour period. This, in turn, has seen an improvement in response times across the county.

“We have also made changes to the way we manage and record our training in order to give the service a better overview of the risk critical skills training our staff have completed. This change means our training is now more efficient and timely, ensuring our staff have the skills they need to do their jobs safely.

“Given the financial pressures faced by NCC, it was perhaps inevitable that prolonged funding constraints created challenges in certain areas of our delivery. We always work as hard as we can with the resources we have to ensure NFRS remains a service the public can trust to save lives and keep them protected.

“The last few months have been a time of great transition as our governance switched to the PFCC. As inspectors have already seen, we are now in a more positive position to plan for our financial future, which includes investing in the equipment, processes and people necessary to make us the best we can possibly be. We are confident we are in a more robust situation to bring about the changes that need to be made.

“Our work to keep the people of Northamptonshire safe is very important to us and we want people to feel safe in the knowledge we will be there to help when they need us and can deal effectively with large-scale, complex fires such as those seen recently in Sywell and Kettering.

“We fully acknowledge that work still needs to be done, but we are pleased inspectors have recognised the efforts we have made so far in our continued commitment to creating a secure future for a strong, resilient fire service.”

Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold said: “I am very encouraged by the significant improvements in Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service that HMICFRS identified when they revisited Northamptonshire last week. Huge strides forward have been made since the inspection on which the report is based, which took place in November last year, and I am optimistic that the Fire Service is clearly headed in the right direction.

“The initial inspection, which found several areas for improvement, took place when the Fire Service was under the control of Northamptonshire County Council. The issues identified were no surprise: the Fire and Rescue Service was clearly challenged as a result of the difficult position faced by NCC and this is why moving it to my office and giving it stability alongside Northamptonshire Police was the right thing to do.

“I also believe that the highly organised and effective response that the Fire Service mounted to recent major fires in Sywell and Kettering shows their effectiveness and should reassure the public in the Service’s ability to respond and keep them safe.

“I am certainly not complacent about how much work must still be done, however significant improvements have been made very quickly. This is because the new stability has given the Chief Fire Officer the ability to control his own resources, strengthen his top team, use technology and data to better understand demand and risk and so begin to make the improvements that local people want to see.

“These are also some of the issues that the Chief Constable is tackling and again, this shows the benefit of both organisations working closely together to share learning and positive change.

“I am glad that the inspectors were encouraged by the improvements that they have identified and I thank the firefighters and staff who have worked so hard to make the changes needed.”

https://bit.ly/2x3nj2V