To consider Report CFO/003/19 of the Chief Fire Officer, concerning the scrutiny of performance against the objectives and performance targets/ outcomes as set out in the Service Delivery Plan 2018/19, for the period August to November 2018.

A presentation will be delivered in support of this report.

Members considered report number CFO/003/19 of the Chief Fire Officer, concerning performance against the objectives and the performance targets/outcomes as set out in the Service Delivery Plan 2018/19 for the period August to November 2018.

Members were informed that while this report is for the period August to November the data used is cumulative from April to November 2018. 

A presentation was delivered to Members by Jackie Sutton - IRMP Officer, in support of the report, which highlighted the following:-

·         There are 54 functional plan action points for 2018/19:- 2 are on hold and 4 have been completed.  Many of these actions rolled over from 17/18 and will continue through 18/19 as they are ongoing projects. Information was provided on the detail of these

·         There was extremely hot weather in June and July which had a massive impact on some incident types, although the performance has generally been under target since August and even during the bonfire period. 

·         There were 148 less primary fires this year, than by 30^th November 2017.

·         The attendance standard has been achieved on 92.8% of occasions. 

·         Carbon output has not gone up. 

·         In 17/18 the shifts lost to sickness was 4.41% and this year it is 2.93%, which is under the 4% target. 

·         Accidental dwelling fires were under target which is consistent with last year’s performance, however they did show a peak during June. 

·         Up to 30^th November 2018 there had been 2 fatalities in accidental dwelling fires, however sadly in January 2019 there were a further 2, an 87 year old male and an 85 year old female.  We will continue to target those considered most at risk for home safety interventions such as Safe and Well. 

·         Of the 58 injuries in accidental dwelling fires 13 were recorded as serious, meaning the majority were minor such as checks for slight smoke inhalation. 

·         Deliberate fires in non-domestic premises have fallen this year.  A large proportion of these incidents were in prisons and the number of them has gone up not down. 

·         The number of deliberate vehicle fires has been an ongoing problem, but so far this year numbers have fallen with 105 less incidents than in 2017. 

·         The total number of incidents attended along with the number of fires attended are within 10% of target. 

·         False alarms are closely monitored.  Aside from hospitals the majority are sheltered accommodation and are recorded as faults, but we are working closely with them to manage their systems, as we don’t want to discourage calls. 

·         There have been 76 less Anti-Social Behaviour fires this year than at November 2017.  9 incident were violence at work related and these were recorded on OSHENS which allows our partner organisations to target areas of risk. 

·         There were 4092 more emergency calls received by November than last year.  In July there were 6076.  This has now fallen below target most months and within 10% of target during November with 2191 calls. 

·         4297 total secondary incidents were attended, which is 326 more incidents than last year.  1751 of these incidents were in June and July. 

·         The total number of special services attended is slightly more than last year.  While this shows as over target, there has been much discussion about if we really want to decrease the numbers we attend.  For 19/20 there will be no target and it will be quality assurance. 

·         Road Traffic Collisions (RTC’s) are over target this year. 

·         There have been 236 injuries in RTC’s, of which 45 were considered serious.  3 fatal RTC’s have taken place to date this year.  MFRS only attend approximately 1/5 of RTC’s in Merseyside and our partners Merseyside Police use data recording, known as Killed and Seriously Injured (KSI), which shows a decreasing trend for injuries and fatalities in RTC’s. 

·         32406 total Home Fire Safety Checks (HFSC’s) have taken place to 30^th November 2018.  25683 were conducted by Operational Crews, even though HFSC’s were suspended in June and July due to spate conditions.  5660 safe and well visits were completed by Prevention Advocates. 

Members asked if the target was met for the number of special service incidents attended and were advised that 5 years of data is used to set the Authority’s performance targets. The CFO described the benefit to the public in relation to such activity.  Emergency Medical Response was provided as an example of the benefit of such work. 

Members thanked Jackie for her presentation and asked if we have got data from HFSC referrals to other agencies such as adult social care.  Members were informed that this question could not be answered at the time of asking, but were told that the service do hold that information. It was suggested to Members that this would be a good question for a future Scrutiny Committee. 

Members praised the HFSC presentation that was given to Liverpool City Council before Christmas 2018.  The figures presented at these astounded Councillors and the presentation was said to be conducted to a high standard.  It was recommended by Members that this is shown to more organisations. 

Members of other Local Authorities added that they would recommend this presentation for their own districts. 

Members were informed with regards to the number of fatal fires the Service had responded to (4 fatal fires to date) including the most recent double fatal fire that had occurred in in Old Swan. Members were made aware that there would be a campaign on Friday 8^th February 2019.  This campaign is ran in order to provide community reassurance, Members were invited to attend along with firefighters, volunteers and advocates. 

Members resolved that:

a)    the attached reports for publication on the website, be approved; and

b)    the make-up of partner referrals for HFSC’s, to be considerd as part of the  scrutiny process.