To consider Report CFO/65/22 of the Chief Fire Officer, concerning performance against the objectives and the performance targets/outcomes as set out in the Service Delivery Plan 2022/23 for the period October to December 2022, the Integrated Risk Management Plan actions and the HMICFRS action plan. 

Chief Fire Officer, Phil Garrigan,  presented Members with an update on the Authority’s performance, against its objectives and targets as set out in the 2022-23 Service Delivery Plan (SDP).

Members were advised that there had been a slight increase in the overall number of incidents attended by MFRS due to crews responding to support other blue light colleagues, most regularly the ambulance service.

The rating for the total number of fires was amber, and it was explained that this was in part due to the hot, dry summer in 2022.  Reducing the number of primary fires, including accidental dwelling fires, had improved year on year and that pattern was set to continue into 2022/23.

The Chair requested that the data relating to the percentage of shifts lost due to sickness be shared with the Scrutiny Committee to consider as part of their remit on monitoring performance.

With regards to the percentage of shifts lost, the Chief explained that a performance increase was forecasted for the fourth quarter. Members were advised that as part of succession planning, a significant process of strengthening the number of supervisory management roles had been undertaken and this would help performance moving forward. An overtime ban had also impacted slightly appliance availability. To ensure response standards were met, the Service was able to move to key stations to ensure the impact on response times was lessened.

The Committee discussed climate change and the increase in hot weather which had led to more fires in the summer months. Councillor Dave Hanratty suggested that the issue be raised at National Fire Chiefs Council to determine the impact and stress of climate change on Fire and Rescue Services nationally. Members were assured that government were aware that climate change was an emerging threat in the UK, evidenced by an increase in the number of wild fires that the Service had responded to. A presentation had been delivered to Government through the LGA which reported on the risk of hot weather and flooding and it was agreed that this be shared with the Members. With regards to wildfires, Members were assured that the specialist stations Formby and Heswall were equipped to handle these incidents due to their rural locality. 

Councillor Dave Hanratty noted that there had been an increase in the number of incidents involving automatic fire alarms and asked for further detail. It was explained that the Authority planned to separate the data relating to automatic fire alarms and false alarms to provide a more accurate view of the number of incidents. The Chief Fire Officer explained that the Authority did not want to stop people from reporting incidents with good intent.

Members were advised that the Authority had been engaging with housing associations and RSL with regards to the changes to legislation on supported living and it was noted that work was ongoing with the local authorities and the prevention team to engage with private landlords to ensure that residents were not endangered.

Councillor Harry Gorman enquired as to the total carbon output of buildings, noting that work had been commissioned to get to net zero by 2040. It was explained that carbon neutrality was a priority for the Authority and there had been a significant amount of work in Estates to reduce the Authority’s environmental impact. This included considering carbon as part of the new Training and Development Academy design and considering moving to alternative fuel for fleet cars. A further report to the Authority on MFRA’s Ambitions carbon neutrality would be presented to the Authority on the 18^th May 2023.

Councillor Wood asked if the Authority was seeking to run a campaign on being safe during the dry summer season. Members were advised that the Authority ran extensive comms campaigns with prevention during the summer period including guidance on using disposable BBQs.

RESOLVED the attached Service Delivery Plan reports (Appendices A-D) for publication on website be approved.