To consider Report CFO/039/19 of the Chief Fire Officer, concerning scrutiny of performance against the objectives and performance targets/ outcomes, as set out in the Service Delivery Plan 2018/19 for the period April 2018 to March 2019.

Members considered Report CFO/039/19 of the Chief Fire Officer, concerning scrutiny of performance against the objectives and the performance targets/outcomes as set out in the Service Delivery Plan 2018/19 for the period April 2018 to March 2019.

Members were provided with a presentation in support of this report, by Jackie Sutton – IRMP Officer.

Members were advised that although the report is presenting the recorded performance for the period December 2018 to March 2019, it does in fact provide performance information for the entire financial year, as the figures are cumulative.

They were also informed that a “RAG” system has been introduced for action statuses, with Green indicating that an action is now complete and is business as usual; Amber indicating that the action is in progress; and Red signifying that the action has not yet commenced.

In terms of the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s), Members were advised that performance around some of the KPI’s, was impacted by the particularly warm weather experienced during the summer months, which resulted in a peak in incidents.

The presentation highlighted to Members, a number of KPI’s that were on target (green), including:

·         total number of primary fires.

·         number of accidental dwelling fires.

·         number of deliberate fires in occupied and unoccupied properties.

·         number of deliberate ASB fires attended.

·         Total number of false alarms attended.

·         Sickness absence.

·         Attendance standard.

·         Number of injuries occurring in accidental and deliberate dwelling fires.

Members were informed that during 2018/19, there were unfortunately 4 fatalities in accidental dwelling fires, although this is the lowest number recorded. It was also highlighted that each fatality occurred within an area of high deprivation.

The presentation went on to advise of KPI’s where performance was within 10% of the target (amber), which are as follows:

·         Total number of incidents attended.

·         Percentage of 999 calls answered within 10 seconds.

·         Total number of fires attended.

·         Total number of secondary fires attended.

·         Total carbon output of all buildings.

Members were advised that most of these KPI’s where affected by the protected hot weather; and resultant increase in incidents and calls.

With regards to total carbon output of all buildings, it was noted that a contributory factor to the performance being over target, is likely to be increase in the water usage at the Training and Development Academy, due to recruit courses.

Members were then informed that the performance target for the following KPI’s, was not achieved:

·         Total number of emergency calls received.

·         Total number of special services attended.

·         Number of RTC’s.

In relation to total special services, it was explained to Members that some of those incidents we would not want to reduce, for example those that we attend on humanitarian grounds; and others, MFRA are not able to influence[HJ(1] , such as assisting other agencies and lift rescues. Therefore, Members were advised that for next year, special services will be recorded for assurance only, with no targets set.

With regards to the number of RTC’s attended, Members were advised that these have increased, as have the number of injuries in RTC’s. However, they were also informed that there are a large number of RTC’s that MFRA do not attend; and when the figures are combined with those of Merseyside Police, there has been an overall reduction in the number of RTC’s across Merseyside.

Questions were raised by Members regarding how MFRA’s performance compares to other FRA’s.

Members were advised that we do benchmark against other Metropolitan FRA’s; and nationally. They were informed that in relation to sickness, MFRA are one of the top 5 best performing FRA’s in the Country, which is undoubtedly due to the fantastic support provided by Occupational Health and our capability process.

With regards to fire related benchmarks, they were advised that our performance is very good in relation to fire fatalities, however we do have high numbers of accidental dwelling fires, which are related to high levels of deprivation. Members were advised that the issue around deprivation will be considered at the forthcoming Strategy Day.

It was confirmed to Members that we are a high performing fire and rescue service, which is highlighted by the HMICFRS Inspection Report.

Members were also informed that the increase in incidents and calls during the period, were largely due to the hot weather and spate conditions, which resulted in an extremely busy summer period. They were informed that this position will have been replicated across the Country.

With regards to our attendance times, Members were informed that MFRA have one of the fastest average response times in the Country. They were also informed that as a result of decisions to have only wholetime firefighters, MFRA are able to do more to protect people within the community.

Questions were raised by Members regarding the number of RTC’s and the impact of MFRA’s work in this area.

Members were advised that Merseyside Police are aware of all RTC’s within Merseyside, whereas MFRA are only aware of those that we attend. They were also informed that the incidents we attend, are not necessarily the incidents that MFRA are working directly to prevent. For example, a lot of MFRA’s work around reducing RTC’s, is focused around educating young, new drivers, as opposed to older drivers. Members were informed that the HMICFRS Inspection did drill down to the young driver group, to identify the impact of MFRA’s intervention. 

Members Resolved that:

The attached reports be approved for publication on the Website.