contents · 2013. 8. 15. · 2)shellukltd,coryton 3)bpcorytonrefinery 4)oikosstorageltd,canvey...

Contents

Foreword............................................................

Background........................................................

Risk Management Arrangements.................................

Integrated Risk Management and the

Organisation’s Direction............................................

Community Risk Management Policy...........................

Structure of the Authority..........................................

Integrated Risk Management Planning Process...

The Community Risk Profile in Essex – Now and

Moving Forward......................................................

Climate Change......................................................

Demographics........................................................

Housing and Population............................................

The Economy.........................................................

Operational Service Delivery................................

The Right Person....................................................

The Right Place......................................................

The Right Equipment...............................................

Future Constraints..................................................

Funding................................................................

Comprehensive Spending Review 2007........................

Efficiency Savings..................................................

Our Intentions....................................................

Intention 1............................................................

Intention 2............................................................

Intention 3............................................................

Intention4.............................................................

Intention 5............................................................

Intention 6............................................................

Our Services.........................................................

Jargon Buster....................................................

Reference Documents.......................................

Consultation Questionnaire Pull-out

01 02

3

7

8

10

12

12

13

13

14

16

19

19

20

21

22

29

29

29

29

30

31

31

32

38

41

48

51

55

56

59

Foreword Welcome to the Essex FireAuthority’s latest Integrated RiskManagement Plan (IRMP).The aim of this plan is to provideeveryone in Essex with a helpfuland practical summary of thestrategies and concepts that theFire Authority intends to implementin its drive to become an excellentFire and Rescue Authority thatcontinually strives to make Essex asafer place to live in, work in andvisit.

The modern world presents adynamic environment for organisa-tions and managers; this is particu-larly true for the Fire and RescueService. Government initiativeshave had a significant impact onthe way we do business and theway we are held accountable. Ahigher standard of service is con-stantly demanded not only fromthe Government but also from thepeople who use the services thatEssex County Fire and RescueService provides, and we believethis is right.

The Comprehensive SpendingReview and current and emergingrisks all present challenges and

opportunities. We are constantlydriving to do more with ourresources. Our intentions withinthis plan therefore provide thestrategies that will enable EssexCounty Fire and Rescue Service tomeet these challenges and seizethe opportunities.

This plan is a consultation docu-ment and as such, once you haveread our intentions, it is hoped thatyou will complete the enclosedfeedback form and provide us withyour views on our intentions for thefuture of your Fire and RescueService.

Since the publication of our firstIRMP in 2004, the Fire Authority hasdeveloped the scope of its riskmanagement planning. Our plan-ning has moved from a focus onformal internal process to a broaderview which includes the ever-in-creasing number of reports that areavailable on developments thatimpact on the risks across theCounty of Essex. These develop-ments cover a diverse range of riskfrom natural events such as climatechange to man-made risk such asmajor commercial and residentialdevelopments or more threatening

risks such as terrorism, an ever-pre-sent and increasing concern.

To assist this broader approach andimprove our understanding of cur-rent and emerging risks, EssexCounty Fire and Rescue Servicehas completed a ‘County WideReview’. Completion of this reviewwas a development from our IRMPconsultation last year. This docu-ment will be updated annually andwill provide the Fire Authority andits officers with up-to-date strategicinformation to assist the develop-ment of its IRMPs for the short,medium and long term. As such,you will see, on reading our inten-tions, that reference is often madeto the County Wide Review; thisreview can be downloaded from ourwebsite: www.essex-fire.gov.uk.

As Chairman of the Essex FireAuthority I believe that the inten-tions within this plan provide soundstrategies to meet the challengeswe face. I also know that the offi-cers, managers and all employeeswithin Essex County Fire and Res-cue Service are the right people todeliver the high standards ourcommunities deserve.

Tony Hedley, ChairmanEssex Fire Authority

David Johnson, Chief Fire Officer,LL.b (Hons), BSc, MA, MSc, FCMI

0403

Introduction

This document is designed as aconsultation document to engagestakeholders in the IntegratedRisk Management Planningprocess and the development ofService activities. It is thisprocess that we believe putsdemocracy at the heart of ourdecision making and service pro-vision. Public accountability andawareness of service provision isimportant to the public sector interms of scrutiny and challenge.

It is these principles that drive ourneed to engage the community inthe consultation process and weencourage all stakeholders tonote the proposals within thisdocument and make comment tous.

Consultation responses from theIRMP are presented to the FireAuthority for consideration; these

responses canresult in alterations being

made to the finaloutcomes.

The document has been written insuch a way that it is accessible toa diverse range of audiences. Wecan also provide other languageversions and formats. Details ofthese are set out inside the frontcover of this plan.

The nature of this documentmeans that there is a certainamount of technical and Fire andRescue Service specific languageand phrases. To assist the readerwe have used bold green textwhere possible with an explana-tion provided in the ‘JargonBuster’. This can be found byeither clicking the hyperlink, ifreading an electronic version, orturning to the back of thisdocument.

This year our IRMP has beendeveloped reflecting the consulta-tion feedback that we receivedlast year. In particular, we havetaken note of comments whichmade reference to the level ofinformation afforded consulteesthrough the consultation docu-ment. In response to this wehave this year increased the level

of detail supporting each intentiontogether with an expanded back-ground information section. It ishoped that these additions willachieve a greater level ofresponse and inform the reader ofnot only what we are doing butwhy, how we will fund it and theperceived benefits for the com-munity.

The 2008–2011 IRMP set out ourintentions to undertake a compre-hensive review of the County ofEssex to determine current andemerging risk patterns. Theintention of the reviewwas to aid decision mak-ing regarding the alloca-tion of Fire and RescueService resources to helpmitigate against theserisk levels. Thisreview has beencompleted and hasacted as the pri-mary text toinform the

intentionsset out in this

consultation doc-ument. For fulldetails of the sup-porting evi-dence, referenceshould be made to theCounty Wide Review doc-ument, which is available fromour website(www.essexfire.gov.uk)or on request.

We hope that you find the docu-ment useful and informative; wewelcome any feedback on itscontent or on the way in which wedeliver our services. Your viewsare important to us so pleasetake a few minutes to fill in the

questionnaireenclosed. All infor-mation is confi-dential and willnot besharedwith otherorganisa-tions.

Ian

Mar

low

2008

Tell us whatyou thinkabout ourservices

Weʼve responded toyour feedback withextra detail on key

intentions05 06

The IRMP contents, proposalsand method of delivery have thisyear been subjected to a fullequality impact assessment iden-tifying the ‘impact’ that eachmight have on the communitieswe serve. Further to this the

document and our method ofconsultation have also been sub-jected to further equality impactassessments in line with the guid-ance set out within the NationalFramework for 2008–11.

Equality Impact Assessment

Background Information

The requirement to develop andconsult on IRMPs was estab-lished in 2003, to replace existingstandards of fire cover, whichdetermined how many fire sta-tions and fire appliances weneeded to meet the demands ofour local communities’ risk profile.

The process is detailed within theNational Framework published bythe Communities and Local Gov-ernment department. Each Fireand Rescue Authority must pro-duce a publicly available IRMPcovering at least a three-yeartimespan, which:

is regularly reviewed and

revised and reflects up-to-daterisk information and evaluationof service delivery outcomes;

has regard to the risk analysescompleted by Local andRegional Resilience Forumsincluding those reported inexternal Community Risk Reg-isters and internal risk registers,to ensure that civil and terroristcontingencies are captured intheir IRMP;

reflects effective consultationduring its development and atall review stages with represen-tatives of all sec-tions of the com-munity andstakeholers;

demonstrates how prevention,protection and response activi-ties will be best used to miti-gate the impact of risk on com-munities in a cost-effectiveway;

provides details of how Fire and

Rescue Authorities deliver theirobjectives and meet the needsof communities through work-ing with partners; and

has undergone an effectiveequality impact assessmentprocess.

Risk ManagementArrangements

Risk is managed bythe Service within dif-ferent contexts. First-ly, the corporate riskcontext, whichinvolves the manage-ment of business, health, safetyand welfare risks. This is record-ed within the Authority’s Corpo-rate Risk Register. Secondly, thecommunity risk context, whichaddresses the Service’s core roleof making communities safer –and it is this context that providesthe focus for this plan. However,although risk is managed in twodifferent contexts the process ofcascading risk to inform subse-quent planning processes is

achieved through the aggregationof risk from both contexts.

Figure 1. Sources of Risk

In managing community risk, it isimportant that decisions regard-ing the use of resources are intel-ligence-led.In support of this intelligence-ledapproach to the management ofrisk, the Authority has adoptedthe National Intelligence Model.The model, which is alsoemployed by a range of the Ser-vice’s partner community safetyorganisations, has been modifiedfor use and is illustrated below:We want widespread

consultation indevelopment of all our

plans 0807

Figure 2. The National Intelligence Model Integrated RiskManagement and theOrganisation’s Direction

The Authority has a clear defini-tion of our primary role. Put sim-ply, it is: to save and protect life,property and the environment. Toachieve this to the best of ourability we need to reach a positionwhen our people feel inspired todeliver and be part of an excellentFire and Rescue Service, and wework with other people to domore than we have ever done tomake Essex safer.

The Service delivers its plansthrough the ‘Corporate Strategy’,which is essentially a perform-ance management framework.This enables us to organise andmeasure ourselves against thekey areas of organisationalactivity.

The IRMP cuts across all areas ofthe organisation’s activities. TheService divides its activities intofour key areas as identified in its

Corporate Strategy. Each area isimportant to delivering safer com-munities within Essex througheither:

Delivering community safetyactivitiesImproving the way in which wemanage our activitiesManaging our resources todeliver more where it mattersDevelop the skills and knowl-edge of our workforce to beeffective in their roles.

The Corporate Strategy is shownbelow and can also be accessedthrough the Service website,www.essex-fire.gov.uk. Alsoreferred to as our Strategy on aPage, the Corporate Strategy listsmeasures which enable us tojudge our progress towardsachieving excellence in servicedelivery.

1009

Community RiskManagement Policy

The Authority’s policy in relationto community risk management isto reduce the level of risk withinthe communities of Essex, fromfires and other emergencies, bydelivering an appropriate balanceof prevention, protection andemergency responseservices.

The Structure of theAuthority

To deliver this the Authority struc-tures its community safetyresources around seven Commu-nity Commands. Each has a ded-icated administrative centre whichhouses community safety andsupport staff.

As well as the seven CommunityCommand areas, the Service hasa Headquarters, which was origi-nally based in Hutton, near Brent-wood. In May 2008 the Authority

launched a four-year programmeto relocate Headquarters to a newsite in Kelvedon. Several depart-ments have already been relocat-ed to the new Headquarters andplans are underway to developthe site over the coming years toaccommodate all of our satellitefacilities. There are a number ofother centres around the Countythat contribute to the running ofthe organisation such as our train-ing centres at Wethersfield, With-am and Orsett. In addition, thereis a Service vehicle workshop atLexden, near Colchester, whichmaintains our operational equip-ment and fleet of 130 fire appli-ances and 149 cars and vans.

Most importantly, the Service has52 fire stations 18 wholetime (ofwhich 5 are day crewed) and 34retained, strategically located toprovide protection to all areas ofthe County. The newest station isthe Urban Search and Rescuefacility recently built in Lexden.The Service has an establishmentof 965 firefighters conditioned tothe wholetime duty system, 539firefighters conditioned to the

1211

retained duty system, 236 supportand 42 Control Room staff.

Integrated RiskManagement PlanningProcess

The Fire Authority’s StrategicIRMP addresses community riskmanagement issues within twotimeframes:

Short/medium-term = up tothree yearsLong-term = four years andover

The data used to inform the FireAuthority’s approach to assessingand managing community risk isinitially drawn from the work ofthe Essex Resilience Forum. Thisproduces an Essex-wide Commu-nity Risk Register, which high-lights a Community Risk Profileand an assessment of the risksthat are faced. This process hasbeen carried out as a multi-agency project and has involved acycle of identifying potential haz-

ards within alocal context,assessing therisks and givingconsideration tohow those risks aremanaged. It alsoconsiders the implications of theAuthority’s close proximity to Lon-don, and the other neighbouringauthorities of Kent and theEastern Region.

In addition, a more localisedapproach is undertaken within theCommunity Command structure.This involves the development ofCommunity Command and indi-vidual Station Risk Profiles,whereby information and data iscollated to identify risks at wardlevel, so that action can be takenby those closest to localcommunities.

The Community RiskProfile in Essex – Nowand Moving Forward

Essex is one of the fastest eco-

nomically developing counties inthe country. Examples of thisgrowth and development includehousing, air and rail transport(particularly Stansted), BathsideBay, Shell Haven and the associ-ated increase in traffic move-ments. The tragic events of 9/11and 7/7 and the subsequentthreat of further terrorism in theUK have also added to the Ser-vice’s responsibility to be fullyprepared and equipped to deal

with a wide range of emergencyincidents.

The changes facing the Countyover the next two decades aredetailed in Section 3 of our Coun-ty Wide Review document, avail-able on our website or on request.

Climate Change:What willbe the impact of predicted

Figure 3. The Rural and Urban Areas of Essex

Take a look atour County Wide

Review @essex-fire.gov.uk

1413

climate change on ourenvironment?

As the map below shows, Essexis 70% rural, so hotter, drier sum-mers are likely to lead to anincrease in crop and grass fires.This will impact on the Servicefinancially in terms of firecover and availability of other

Figure 4. Small Fires, 2001–2006

Flooding

Essex has the largest coastline of any Fire and Rescue Service in theUK. The map below shows the areas of the County that are at riskfrom tidal flooding.

Figure 5. Tidal Flood Risk Zones in Essex

Demographics

The County Wide Review docu-ment (Section 6) describes diver-sity in all aspects of the Essexpopulation and the variety of risksthat this presents. It is importantfor the Service to recognise theserisks and trends, and to prepare aflexible response to meet eachgroup’s needs. The Review iden-tifies the factors that present themost significant challenge to the

Fire and Rescue Service, and theinitiatives designed to tacklethese issues. For example, youngpeople are most at risk from roadtraffic collisions. The EssexCasualty Reduction Board wasset up in January 2006 to addressthis issue by delivering an effec-tive response and a range of roadsafety initiatives in partnershipwith Essex County Council,Police, Ambulance Service andthe Highways Agency.

resources. Further details ofthese risks and the potential con-sequences can be found in Sec-tion 4 of the County Wide Reviewdocument.

The County Wide Review alsoidentifies the link betweenincreasing temperatures and thenumber of fires. The chart belowshows peaks in the number ofsmall fires in the hot summers of2003 and 2006.

1615

Other factors considered by theService include ethnic groups, thetravelling community, immigrationand the age profile of our popula-tion, particularly the over 80s agegroup, which is growing rapidlyand is statistically at the greatestrisk from fire.

In tackling the wide range of riskswithin our communities, the Serv-

ice must become more effectivein its marketing and communica-tion strategies that focus on high-er-risk groups. It must also workmore closely with key partnersand social services.

The map below shows years ofpotential life lost and so can beused as a substitute for lifeexpectancy, with red areas likely

Figure 6. Years of Potential Life Lost Indicator 2000–2003Health Inequalities: Essex (Including Southend and Thurrock)Copyright (Source: Audit Commission)

to have the lowest life expectan-cy, through to dark green areaswhere life expectancy is likely tobe highest. The Years of PotentialLife Lost indicator is calculatedannually, and shows the ratiobetween the years of potential lifelost per 1,000 population.

The calculation uses an assumedlife expectancy of 75 years.When a fatality occurs, the age ofthe person is deducted from thisassumed life expectancy andgiven as a ratio per 1,000population.

The map below shows the location of accidental dwelling fires in thelast two financial years, compared with Years of Potential Life Lost.

Figure 7. Accidental Dwelling Fires from 2006/7 to 2007/8 with Years ofPotential Life Lost(Source: Audit Commission)

1817

Figure 8. Areas of Multiple Deprivation(Source: Essex Resilience Forum Community Risk Register)

Housing and PopulationGrowth

Out of the four major nationalgrowth areas selected by theGovernment, two will have adirect bearing on Essex – theThames Gateway and the Londonto Peterborough M11 corridor.

Our dwelling fires are mostly inour more densely-populatedareas and using the

demographics from partner agen-cies we can see that these areasare also most deprived and wherethe life expectancy is low. How-ever, a significant number of acci-dental dwelling fires, injuries andfatalities still continue to happenin rural areas of the County.

The Economy

In 2003, the value of totalproduction within Essex was

some £18 billion. Our economy isworth more than that of any majorUK city except London and Man-chester, and more than elevenEuropean countries. It has beenone of the fastest-growing in thesouth east since 2000. The busi-ness community has grown sincethe mid-1990s and is one of thelargest in the UK today.

Given the importance of smallbusinesses in underpinningEssex’s prosperity, it is vital thatEssex County Fire and RescueService does more and more toensure that small businesses areprotected from arson and acci-dental fires.

The Service has a statutory dutyto protect the lives and ensure thesafety of employees through theapplication and, when necessary,the enforcement of fire safetylegislation.

Section 11 of the County WideReview document details theeconomic state of Essex and itsimpact upon the Service.

Operational ServiceDelivery

The Service’s purpose is to saveand protect life, property and theenvironment through preventionof, protection from, and responseto risk. Risk is based upon anassessment of the current andemerging risk at both local andnational level and the ability ofEssex County Fire and RescueService to prepare for andrespond to them. Risk also existsas a threat to the ability of EssexCounty Fire and Rescue Serviceto deliver its objectives; this isdefined as corporate risk. For fur-ther information about operationalservice delivery and risk, pleaserefer to Section 12 of the CountyWide Review document.

The Service operational responseto the known and perceived riskwithin Essex is based on the con-cept of: ‘The right person, in theright place, at the right time, withthe right equipment and theright training.’

19 20

The Right Person

‘The right person’ has the neces-sary skills, knowledge, experi-ence and, in some cases, qualifi-cations considered necessary forthe role, combined with the abili-ty to apply these qualities on thefireground and at the fire station.

If you suggest that all firefighters

are able to be deployed equally,you accept that all firefightersmay adequately and safely beasked to face the same risk andthe expectation as an employer isthat they will respond to that riskin a broadly similar fashion. Infact, how firefighters respond tothat risk will be based on theirknowledge, skills and experiencegained through training andattending incidents.

Figure 9. Comparison of Calls to Stations Conditioned to the Wholetime andRetained Duty Systems, 2005–2007

Figure 9 shows that, in general,fire stations crewed by firefightersconditioned to the wholetime dutysystem attend more incidentsthan fire stations crewed by fire-fighters conditioned to theretained duty system. In somecases this is as few as 44 firecalls in one year, including falsealarms. The evidence thereforesuggests that in some instancesthere is a significant difference inthe level of experience gained atincidents by firefighters condi-tioned to the wholetime andretained duty systems. As anemployer the Service must con-sider this evidence, and the oper-ational expectations placed onfirefighters, to ensure all our staffare safe, as we have a duty toprotect their health, safety andwell-being.

The Right Place

‘The right place’ is the point fromwhich sufficient resources can bemobilised in the shortest time andtravel to the incident using thefastest method, along the quick-est routes and arrive within a time

KeyE10 ColchesterE11 DovercourtE12 ClactonE17 ManningtreeE18 FrintonE19 WeeleyE20 BrightlingseaE21 WivenhoeE22 West MerseaE23 TiptreeE24 CoggeshallE25 WithamE30 SouthendE31 LeighE32 South Woodham

FerrersE33 Great BaddowE34 ChelmsfordE35 HadleighE42 ShoeburynessE43 BurnhamE44 TillinghamE45 TollesburyE46 MaldonE47 HawkwellE48 Rayleigh

E49 RochfordW50 GraysW51 BrentwoodW52 BasildonW54 Canvey IslandW55 OrsettW66 CorringhamW67 IngatestoneW68 BillericayW69 WickfordW70 Harlow CentralW71 OngarW72 LoughtonW73 Waltham AbbeyW78 BraintreeW79 WethersfieldW80 Sible HedinghamW81 HalsteadW82 Old HarlowW83 StanstedW84 NewportW85 Saffron WaldenW86 ThaxtedW87 DunmowW88 Leaden RodingW89 Epping

2221

period reasonable for the risk.

The Civil Contingencies Actplaces a legal duty on the emer-gency services to undertake riskassessments and maintain themin a published Community RiskRegister. Risks in this contextare those that could result in amajor emergency. In particular,

premises such as chemical plantsand oil refineries should be con-sidered individually in terms of thespecial risks they present. TheCommunity Risk Register is thefirst step in the emergency plan-ning process and is the methodused to identify and record levelsof risk. It also ensures that plansare proportionate to the risk.

Figure 10. Special Risks in Essex

Top sites listed in the Communi-ty Risk Register:

1) Calor Gas Ltd, Coryton2) Shell UK Ltd, Coryton3) BP Coryton Refinery4) Oikos Storage Ltd, CanveyIsland5) Calor Gas Ltd, Canvey Island6) Esso Petroleum7) NuStar Terminals Ltd8) Vopak Terminal9) Proctor and Gamble10) Industrial Chemicals11) Qinetiq Environment TestCentre, Foulness Island12) Exchem Organics, Harwich13) Carless Refining, Harwich

Other special risks listed in theCommunity Risk Register:

1) Serco Gulf Engineering, Saf-fron Walden2) Stansted Fuelling3) Flo Gas, Halstead4) Dynamic Fireworks, Colch-ester5) Mistley Quay and Forwarding6) Langford Water Works, Essexand Suffolk Water7) Hanningfield Water Works,Essex and Suffolk Water8) Transco Gas Holder, East-wood9) Transco Gas Holder, Shoe-buryness10) Coryton Energy Centre11) Transco Gas Holder Grays12) Transco Gas Holder, Harlow13) Synthomer Ltd14) Robert Stuart PLC

“COMAH” stands for “Control of Major Acci-dent Hazards”. COMAH applies mainly tothe chemical industry, but also to some stor-age activities, explosives and nuclear sites,and other industries where threshold quanti-ties of dangerous substances identified inthe COMAH Regulations (1999) are kept orused.

2423

Figure 11. Essex County Fire and Rescue Service Resources, OperationalResponse

Section 12 of the County WideReview document explains theService’s operational perform-ance standards. These requirethe Service to attend an emer-gency within eight minutes on80% of occasions, ten minuteson 90% of occasions and twentyminutes on 100% of occasions.

It is important to continuallyassess the balance of risk acrossthe County to ensure that ouroperational performance stan-dards are appropriate, havingfirst set out our plans to reduce,remove and control risk usingproactive community safety andeducation measures.

Of the wide range and diversity ofincidents that the Service attendshistorically, evidence shows thatmost reportable injuries anddeaths occur in fires in domesticdwellings and road traffic colli-sions. Figure 12 below showsthe location of fire deaths and

injuries during the last threeyears. Red dots represent firefatalities, while yellow dots repre-sent fire injuries. The backgroundshading represents the density ofincidents that have occurred ineach area.

Figure 12. Dwelling Fires, Fatalities and Recorded Injuries, 2005–2008

Figure 13 overleaf shows the roadtraffic collisions in which peoplewere killed or seriously injuredbetween 2005 and 2008. The reddots indicate fatalities. Thecoloured background indicates

the density of incidents thatoccurred in each area. The darkshading around Harlow, Grays,Colchester and Leigh identifiesthe 20 min turn-out area for eachstation’s Rescue Tender. Clearly,

25 26

a significant number of incidentsoccur outside of this turn-outarea. They also occur alongroutes which pass through a num-ber of stations conditioned to theretained duty system, particularlyalong the M11 and A12. The riskto life therefore may be seen to bemore evenly spread across theCounty in relation to road trafficcollision incidents and thereforethe perception of a difference in

the level of risk across the Countymay not be justified.

The Service has sought to reduceits response time to road trafficcollision incidents by providing allfront line appliances with special-ist rescue equipment. Thisresponse relies on two factors inorder to ensure equality of serviceresponse to road traffic collisionsacross the County. Firstly, that

Figure 13. Killed and Seriously Injured in Road Traffic Collisions, 2005–2008

Figure 14. Station Turn-out Area Based on 8-10 minutes Travel Time

the attendance time is broadlysimilar for rural and urban areas,and secondly that appliances areoperationally available.

The map above represents theService’s response based on aten-minute turn-out area whencomparing stations conditioned tothe wholetime and retained dutysystems. Significant areas of the

County are outside the scope ofattendance for retained stationswhen tasked with this standard ofattendance time.

In the 2008–2011 IRMP we con-sulted on the business case foradditional resources in the Stanst-ed area. As a result, it is now ourconfirmed intention to seekapproval to develop this facility.

2827

Consultation Questions

Proposal 1: New Arrangements for Crewing of SpecialistAppliances

The plan explains how we intend to release resources by changing theway we crew our special appliances. On balance, to what extent toyou agree that the Authority has identified a sensible approach formeeting the demands of new risks?

Strongly agreeAgreeDisagreeStrongly disagree

If you ticked “disagree” or “strongly disagree”, please use the spacebelow to explain why.

Based on the evidence provided in this plan and the County WideReview, to what extent do you agree that this proposal is necessary?


I






In your opinion, what are the main advantages of this proposal?

III



Can you suggest any alternative options or ways of implementing thisproposal?

Proposal 2: The Role of the Firefighters Conditioned to the Whole-time and Retained Duty Systems and Incident Commanders

The plan explains how we intend to introduce a certification processclarifying the role of firefighters and incident commanders. To whatextent to you agree that a pilot should go ahead with a view to imple-menting the changes by 2010?

II


Proposal 3: Specialist rescue

The plan explains how we intend to determine the County’s risks andour needs in terms of specialist rescue. To what extent to you agreethat the Authority has identified a sensible approach in this proposal?








IV V

Proposal 4: Incidents in Rural Areas

The plan explains how we intend to explore opportunities to improveavailability in areas covered by crews conditioned to the retained dutysystem. To what extent to you agree that the Authority has identified asensible approach in this proposal?








Proposal 5: Operational Response and Deployment

The plan explains how we intend to carry out more detailed researchinto the role of helicopters in the Fire and Rescue Service. To whatextent to you agree that the Authority has identified a sensibleapproach in this proposal?

Vl Vll


Proposal 6: Crewing and Attendance Standards

The plan explains how we intend to run a series of pilot programmesand then implement a new style of station management, in order toimprove availability of fire appliances. To what extent to you agree thatthe Authority has identified a sensible approach in this proposal?









Vlll IX

Do you have any general comments about the Integrated RiskManagement Plan 2009–2012 Consultation Document?

Would you be interested in taking part in one of our consultationfocus groups to discuss these proposals in more detail?YesNo

If so, please make sure you provide your contact details below.

Have you read the Essex Fire Authority’s County Wide Reviewdocument?YesNo

If not, why not?Unable to access a copyTechnical problem with the Service websiteDidn’t have timeOther (please specify)........................................................................






X XI

MIXEDWhite and Black CaribbeanWhite and Black AfricanWhite and AsianAny other Mixed background, please specify:....................................

BLACK OR BLACK BRITISHCaribbeanAfricanAny other Black background, please specify:....................................

ASIAN OR ASIAN BRITISHIndianPakistaniBangladeshiAny other Asian background, please specify:....................................

CHINESE OR OTHER ETHNIC ORIGINChineseTraveller of Irish HeritageGypsy/RomaOther TravellersAny other background, please specify:....................................Prefer not to specify

Do you have a disability under the terms of the 1995 DisabilityDiscrimination Act?YesNo

What is your role in completing this questionnaire?Member of the publicEssex County Fire and Rescue Service staffBusiness community memberPartnerOther

Did you find the document easy to understand?YesNoNot sure

Do you think that the document is well laid out?YesNoNot sure

How did you hear about this consultation exercise? (please statebelow)

How would you describe your ethnic origin? (please tick asappropriate)

WHITEBritishIrishAny other White background, please specify:....................................

XII XIII

You don’t have to provide the following personal details if you don’twish to. However, it is required if you are interested in joining ourCommunity Consultation group. In line with the Data Protection Act1988, any personal information you do give us will be treated as confi-dential and will not be shared.

TitleMr Mrs Miss Ms Other

FirstName........................................................................................................

Surname..................................................................................................

Address.......................................................................................................................................................................Postcode.............................

Telephone(home)....................................................................................

Telephone(day)........................................................................................

Email........................................................................................................

Please tick to indicate your age group:

What is your Sexual Orientation?BisexualGay/LesbianHeterosexualPrefer not to say

Are you are a Transsexual?YesNoPrefer not to say

What is your religious belief/faith?BuddhistChristianHinduJewishMuslimSikhOther, please specify:....................................NonePrefer not to say

Under 1616 – 2425 – 3435 – 44

45 – 5455 – 6465 – 7475+

XIV XVHeadquarters Kelvedon Park, Rivenhall, Witham, Essex. CM8 3HB

t: 01376 576000 f: 01376 570466 www.essex-fire.gov.uk

Essex CountyFire & Rescue Service

The Right Equipment

‘The right equipment’ is thatwhich will safely and effectivelycarry out a particular task or tasksfor which it is specificallydesigned at the relevant incidentunder all conditions.

Further information about equip-ment and training is contained inSection 12 of the County WideReview document.

Future ConstraintsFunding

The Fire and Rescue Service hasundergone rapid and significantchange in recent years. The chal-lenge this continues to pose forthe management team of EssexCounty Fire and Rescue Servicecannot be underestimated, partic-ularly in terms of the financial costof initiating and then supportingthat change programme and howthis continued programme ofchange will be funded in thefuture. The Fire and Rescue Serv-

ice is now a key player in localSustainable Communities pro-grammes; it has a reputation fordelivering and for acting as a cat-alyst for action. However, the col-lective weight of national expecta-tions placed on the Fire and Res-cue Service by the public and theGovernment must not exceed ourcapability to deliver.

Comprehensive SpendingReview 2007

The Comprehensive SpendingReview 2007 was a zero-basedreview. It established Govern-ment spending priorities andexpected efficiencies and savingsover the three years, 2008/09,2009/10 and 2010/11. The Chan-cellor made clear in his 2007budget statement the Govern-ment expects the average counciltax increase in England to be sub-stantially below 5% in 2008/09and has made clear that it is pre-pared to use capping powers asnecessary to protect council tax-payers from excessive increases.

On 24 January 2008 the Govern-ment announced the Local Gov-ernment Finance Settlement for2008/09. The figures for the Rev-enue Support Grant and NationalNon Domestic Rate payments forEssex in 2008/09 total £30,859k,an increase of 3.1% over2007/08. The total fundingamount for 2008/09 is £70,666mwhich represents an increase of3.9% in council tax. The govern-ment had also announced provi-sional funding figures for 2009/10and 2010/11. For Essex thiswould provide an additional£696k in 2009/10, an increase of2.3%. For the final year of thethree-year settlement period therewould be a further increase of£815k, 2.6% in 2010/11.

Efficiency Savings

The Government has confirmedthat Essex will be required tomake efficiency savings for thethree years from 2008/09 to2010/11. Annual savings, com-pared to the 2007/08 base level ofexpenditure of 1.6% are required

over each of the three years withtotal savings of £3.5m by2010/11.

Past experience has enabledEssex to find efficiency savings tomeet Government expectationsand to deliver significantly morecommunity safety activity throughthe reallocation of posts, changesto activities within existing postsand procurement savings.

3029

OOuurr IInntteennttiioonnss

Intention 1 ~ Newarrangements for crewingof specialist appliances

What do we intend to do?

Our first intention is to redeployresources to meet the demandsof new and emerging risks withinthe County.

Why do we think this is theright thing to do?

The County Wide Review sets outclearly the demands facing theService to provide operationaland community safety activities tomeet the growth in the north westof the County. To meet the grow-ing demands to reduce andrespond to this emerging risk weneed to use our resources to domore in this area.

To do this we have to review the

use of our resources to ensurethat they are deployed in an effi-cient way to deliver the greatestbenefit and value for money to thecommunities we serve.

How do we intend to do it?

We will undertake an assessmentof resources against current andpredicted use. We will then imple-ment alternative crewing arrange-ments at stations with specialappliances. New, modernarrangements, already proven inother Fire and Rescue Services,will be introduced for the crewingof specialist appliances and inparticular aerial ladder platforms.

Current arrangements at fire sta-tions provide for a dedicated crewfor many specialist appliancesregardless of frequency of use.Our aerial ladder platforms are aparticular example of this. Byreviewing these crewing arrange-ments and for other special appli-ances we will be able to releasefirefighters and officers for rede-ployment to meet the growingdemands within the County.

This intention will not bring areduction in numbers of personnelbut will allow us to do more withthe same level of resources.

How do we expect this toimprove our performance?

This will deliver a more effectiveuse of our valuable firefightersand officers and will providescope for the redeployment offirefighters and officers to otherareas of the Service that requireadditional resources. In the longerterm posts released will bedeployed to areas of risk whichpresent the greatest demand.

When will it happen? Howlong will it take?

Work will commence during 2008and implementation will be duringthe 2009/10 financial year.

Who will be responsible?

The work will be delivered by theDirector of Operations andResilience.

How much is this likely tocost and where will the funding come from?

The cost of this intention will bemet from existing budgetresources.

Intention 2 ~ The role ofthe firefightersconditioned to the whole-time and retained dutysystems and incidentcommanders


It is our intention to clearly estab-lish the operational requirementsand competencies expected offirefighters and allincident command-ers and assessour personelagainst these.

Have we taken asensibleapproach fordealing with newrisk?

3231

Why do we think this is theright thing to do? Whatresearch has been done?

Our firefighters and officers pro-vide an invaluable and vital serv-ice to their communities. Forthose conditioned to the retainedduty system, mainly living andworking within close proximity tothe stations from which theyrespond, they are dedicatedmembers of the Service who formany years have fulfilled anessential role in more rural and‘lower-risk’ areas.

Over recent years, however, sig-nificant changes have occurredthat now dictate a review of therole of firefighters conditioned tothe retained duty system and howthat element of our service isdelivered. Two significantchanges are:

An increase in the level of oper-ational risk faced by crews inareas covered by firefightersconditioned to the retained dutysystem.

Increased training demands onoperational personnel to ensuresafe systems of work aredeployed at incidents.

Operational Risk

Many of the Service’s fire stationsconditioned to the retained dutysystem were opened many yearsago in areas that were traditionallyof lower risk. Over the past ten tofifteen years, however, the riskprofile of the County has beenchanging and indications are thatthis change will continue. Evi-dence already shows that muchof this change is occurring inwhat were once lower-risk areasand as such is changing thedemands placed on firefightersconditioned to the retained dutysystem.

The map detailed below identi-fies the industrial areas cur-rently present on stationgrounds conditioned to theretained duty system.

The number attached to eachsymbol indicates the numberof individual developmentswithin each area.

Figure 15. Industrial Areas Served by Firefighters Conditionedto the Retained Duty System

Do you think it is agood idea to introduce a certification process to

make the role of firefighters and incidentcommanders clearer? 3433

Training and Safety

It has already been argued that, atpresent, firefighters conditionedto the retained duty system per-form broadly similar roles to theircolleagues on the wholetime sys-tem at operational incidents,because of the expectationsplaced upon them by the Service.This means that at present theyare expected to respond to thesame emergencies and deal withthem in the same way as firefight-ers conditioned to the wholetimeduty system.

Under current arrangements,however, firefighters conditionedto the retained duty systemreceive two hours training a weekcompared to those on the whole-time system, who receive eighthours per week. This would indi-cate that if the Service has thesame expectation of both groupsof firefighters, they are mobilisedto broadly similar incidents andexpected to deal with them in thesame way, there is a disparity inthe training provision.

A firefighter’s role is a very com-plex one, requiring high levels oftechnical knowledge across awide range of emergencies andthe maintenance of core skills.The application of those skills atoperational incidents is alsoessential to ensure they worksafely within a dynamically chang-ing hazardous environment.

Communities with lower levels ofpopulation density and risk, par-ticularly those in rural areas, oftenhave fire stations conditioned tothe retained duty system. Figure9 on page 19 displays the numberof emergency calls received bythese stations between 2005 and2007. The graph shows thatmany of these stations attend farfewer fire calls than some stationsconditioned to the wholetime dutysystem, some less than fifty ayear. This provides little opportu-nity for some crews to gainessential experience through theapplication of skills across a widerange of operational incidents.They are still, however, expectedto respond in the same way as all Ia

n Mar

low 2

008

3635

crews. Equally, the demandsplaced on crews conditioned tothe wholetime duty system arenot necessarily clear or consistentacross the County. It is also clearthat incident command skills forall personnel who may be respon-sible for managing an emergencyare generic and should be main-tained to a minimum requiredstandard.


In terms of addressing the twoareas raised within this section,changing risk profile in most areasand training and safety for opera-tional personnel, it is expectedthat this work will deliver signifi-cant outcomes. These includepersonnel and equipment deploy-ment that meets the needs of thechanged and changing risk profilefor communities within the Countyand in particular those served byfirefighters conditioned to theretained duty system. This willmean ensuring that we have theright people in the right place at

the right time with the right skills.This will in turn improve the oper-ational safety of our personnel,ensuring that competencies arematched with experience againstknown or perceived risk.

The outcome will be to improvethe quality and quantity of servic-es provided to the community andimprove safe systems of work forour personnel.


The Service will look to introducea certification process for incidentcommanders, from Crew Managerto Chief Fire Officer, which clearlyestablishes their minimum opera-tional requirements. While thiswork is being undertaken theexpectation placed on operationalcrews will be that they will contin-ue to employ tactics that will saveand protect life and property.Examples of these tactics wouldbe entering dwelling fires to savelife and protect property, orresponding to the scene of a roadtraffic collision and cutting casual-

ties free. However, for other morecomplex and large incidents suchas a chemical leak or fire in alarge factory unit the expectationwill be that other than attemptingto save a saveable life, crews willconsider using defensive tacticsfrom the outset. Efforts will bedirected towards protecting sur-rounding properties and the envi-ronment, ensuring no one comesto further harm until additionalCommand Support arrives.

This will not change the way fire-fighters conditioned to the whole-time or retained duty system aremobilised or the types of inci-dents they are sent to.

We will also consider the provi-sion of wholetime officers atretained stations to provide oper-ational cover and managementsupport, a pilot of which will berun this year.


All changes will be implemented

by 2010 with progressive stepchanges being introducedthroughout the intervening period.


The Director of Workforce Devel-opment will be responsible for thedelivery of this proposal.


It is intended to provide theseimproved arrangements fromwithin existing resources.

Intention 3 ~ SpecialistRescue


It is our intention to determinespecialist response requirementsagainst current risk levels and

3837

introduce effective means for get-ting specialist rescue require-ments, with unique skills andsafety equipment, to incidents asquickly as possible across theCounty.


Increasingly, health and safetylegislation is placing significantonus on the Service to providespecialist equipment and trainingto deal with less frequent but verycomplex incidents. These specifi-

cally include rescuing people fromheight, animal rescue, static andswift water rescue, confinedspace and sub-surface (under-ground) or open ground rescue.

These types of emergency requirespecialist equipment and trainingwhich must be undertaken regu-larly. Such is the nature of thetraining that it is neither desirablenor realistic to expect the equip-ment to be provided to every fireappliance, as this would be dis-proportionately expensive andwould place a significant drain onavailable training time. Due to the

infrequency of some of these inci-dents the accumulation of knowl-edge and experience would bethinly spread and slowly gained.

In reality, however, if a member ofthe public requires rescue from aninland water way or lake, time isoften of the essence.


The outcome will deliver animproved response to meet thecurrent and emerging risk profileof the County. It will further deliv-er a proportional spread of rescuecapabilities across the Service toensure that equipment, training

and deployment optionsare provided againstcommunity risk profiles.


We will determine if our currentarrangements meet the growingdemands to meet specialist res-cue requirements. This willinclude skills, equipment andmobilising arrangements includingthe current Rescue Tender capa-bility which is now mainly super-seded by recent improvements inthe provision of equipment andtechnology, phasing out existingarrangements and replacing withnew where necessary.

When will it happen and howlong will it take?

The work will be undertaken in2009 with outcomes delivered in2010.



Is our approach todetermining risk &needs a good one?

4039

Figure 16. Operational Response within 8, 10 and 20 Minutes


Costs will be determined againstspecific agreed outcomes. Eachwill be assessed in terms of delivering value for money in proportion to reduction of risk levels. Costs will not, however,exceed current capital predictions.

Intention 4 ~ Incidents inrural areasWhat do we intend to do?

It is our intention, in areas primari-ly protected by firefighters condi-tioned to the retained duty sys-tem, to seek opportunities toimprove availability and reassessthe ‘traditional’ concept of servicedelivery. It is our intention to workto establish greater availability of

retained personnel by looking atinnovative ways for crewing,mobilising and provision of appli-ances. This will ultimately allowfor more appliances to be avail-able for more of the time by intro-ducing more flexible and modernarrangements that increase theemphasis on the role of firefight-ers conditioned to the retainedduty system.

Why do we think this is the

right thing to do?

A quick and proportionalresponse is of most relevance at

life-threatening incidents such asroad traffic collisions where everysecond is vital. A well trained,proportionate and safe responseis far better for our communitiesthan no response at all.

Figure 16 demonstrates the oper-ational attendance area coveredby all stations. The darkest areasshow those parts of Essex thatreceive the fastest fire cover interms of speed of response (8–10minutes). Most, but not all, of thenorth of the County is coveredwithin the 20-minute attendanceshown by the lighter shaded

Ian

Mar

low 2

008

4241

Figure 17.

KeyE17 ManningtreeE18 FrintonE19 WeeleyE20 BrightlingseaE21 WivenhoeE22 West MerseaE23 TiptreeE24 CoggeshallE25 WithamE42 ShoeburynessE43 BurnhamE44 TillinghamE45 TollesburyE46 MaldonE47 HawkwellE48 RayleighE49 Rochford

W66 CorringhamW67 IngatestoneW68 BillericayW69 WickfordW71 OngarW78 BraintreeW79 WethersfieldW80 Sible HedinghamW81 HalsteadW82 Old HarlowW83 StanstedW84 NewportW85 Saffron WaldenW86 ThaxtedW87 DunmowW88 Leaden RodingW89 Epping

On average, duringthe fifteen-month peri-od January 2007 toMarch 2008, threeappliances crewed byfirefighters on theretained duty systemwere operationallyunavailable due to ashortage of crewsevery twenty-fourhour period. Duringthe summer periodthis rose to five.

Figure 18.

Figure 19.

4443

KeyE10 ColchesterE12 ClactonE30 SouthendE31 LeighE32 South Woodham FerrersE34 ChelmsfordE35 HadleighW50 GraysW51 BrentwoodW52 BasildonW54 Canvey IslandW55 OrsettW70 Harlow CentralW71 OngarW72 Loughton

Figure 20.

Figure 21.

We believe that no matter whereyou live in the County you have aright to expect as far as isreasonably practicable a fast andeffective emergency responseand we believe that our communi-ties would expect us to use tech-nology and innovation to help usdeliver these expectations andcontinually improve the servicethat we deliver.

The Service cannot respond evenwith the right person in the right

place at the right time with theright equipment if an appliance isnot available. Therefore, it isessential that we seek innovativesolutions when reviewing theavailability ofappliances.

Is it a good ideato explore

opportunities toimprove availability

in rural areas?

areas. Due to thedistance betweenstations and the sizeof station grounds,particularly in areascovered by firefight-ers conditioned tothe retained dutysystem, any reduc-tion in the availabilityof appliances has asignificant affect onthe time taken for

the next availableappliance to attend,which may notalways be from thenext nearest station.

4645

Availability of FirefightersConditioned to theRetained Duty System

The impact of availability or howoften appliances crewed by fire-fighters conditioned to theretained duty system are availablemeans, simply, that at some timesof the day firefighters are notavailable to respond to emergen-cies in some areas. This means,in the event of an emergency,appliances from further awaymust respond, taking longer toarrive and taking firefighters awayfrom other areas of the County.

Graphs detailed above comparethe number of hours that appli-ances crewed by firefighters con-ditioned to the wholetime andretained duty systems have beenunavailable for emergency callsfor the period January 2007 toMarch 2008.

This comparison clearly demon-strates a significantly greater lossof availability within the cover pro-

vided by firefighters conditionedto the retained duty system thanthose on the wholetime duty system.


It is intended that the outcomesof our work will improve our per-formance against our agreedattendance standards of 8, 10and 20 minutes for a greater sec-tion of the County than is currently provided for.


We will seek innovative solutionsto providing retained availability.


The outcomes of the work will bedelivered in the financial year for2009/10.


This work will be delivered by theDirector of Workforce Development.


Costs associated with the imple-mentation of new arrangementswill be balanced against riskreduction and improved opera-

tional cover thereby ensuring valuefor money. Proposed costs willform part of the budget for2010/11.

Intention 5 ~ OperationalResponse and Deployment


There are a number of ways inwhich our intentions can beachieved using existing and more

4847

Figure 22. Turn-out Areas for Retained and Wholetime Appliances, Comparedwith a Helicopter Based at Lippitts Hill

modern, innovative methods andall realistic options will be considered.

It is our intention, as part of thiswider review of specialist roles,rescue and deployment, to under-take a feasibility study looking atthe role of helicopters in the mod-ern Fire and Rescue Service.Used by other emergency servic-es in the UK, across Europe and

many other countries in the world,they provide one modern solutionto service delivery allowing a fastresponse wherever needed. Aresponse faster than many exist-ing options which rely on travel-ling to incidents on roads that arealready heavily congested and willbecome more so as Essex contin-ues to expand its commercial anddomestic infrastructure.

Why do we think this is the

right thing to do?

As demonstrated within theCounty Wide Review, Essex is afast-expanding and diverse county. A county that requires aFire and Rescue Service that isable to respond in a dynamic,innovative and progressive manner.

We believe that operationalresponse should utilise the mostefficient methods for ensuring thatwe get the right equipment to theright place in the fastest possibletime. This provision should beregardless of where you live with-in the County. It is with this inmind that we believe it is right forthe Service to consider all possi-

ble options for improvingour operational

deployment.

Figure 22 shows the turn-outareas for appliances crewed byfirefighters conditioned to theretained and wholetime duty sys-tems. The dark coloured areasrepresent eight minute responseareas and the lighter green areasrepresent ten-minute responseareas. It can be clearly seen thatgreater areas are covered by fire-fighters conditioned to the whole-time duty system than those cov-ered by firefighters on theretained duty system. The provi-sion of a helicopter capability pro-vides the potential for deploymentacross the County that is equalregardless of type of cover.


It is intended that the outcome ofour work will provide a detailedfeasibility study establishingwhether or not there is a role for ahelicopter unit in the Fire andRescue Service and, if so, whatthe organisational and financialimplications may be.

It may be controversial -should we get ahelicopter?

5049


The feasibility study will considerwhether using a helicopter suchas that used by the Essex AirAmbulance and Essex Police, butdedicated solely to Essex CountyFire and Rescue Service needs,will allow it to best meet thedemands set out above. Thestudy will evaluate the feasibilityof working in partnership with theMetropolitan police at their baseat Lippitts Hill. Early indicationssuggest that this would representthe most cost-effective option.


The study will be completed in2009.



How much is this likely tocost and where will the

funding come from?

The cost of the feasibility studywill be met from within existingresources.

Intention 6 – Crewing andAttendance Standards


Our intention is to implement newways of working to allow StationManagement Teams to planresources effectively and flexiblyto ensure fire appliances are keptavailable, 24 hours per day, 365days per year.


Using a nationallyprovided calculation Essex identifiedthat, in order

to maintain optimum availability ofour appliances crewed by fire-fighters conditioned to the whole-time duty system and primarycrewed special appliances, 1.4firefighters need to be employedfor every one firefighter rider posi-tion.Employing this many firefighterswas intended to ensure that everyfire appliance would be availableall of the time. Included withinthis work was the maintenance ofa four-watch system, with eachwatch operating in isolation fromthe others, so that personnel

could not swap between watchesto provide a higher degree of flex-ibility in ensuring that fire appli-ances remained available.

Despite building in a necessarylevel of capacity, the Service stillspends in the region of £0.4mevery year moving personnelbetween stations every day tocover for absences above andbeyond those which could beconsidered reasonable. This isnot only an unnecessary expense,but also causes disruption to theworking day of fire crews, impacts

Ian

Mar

low 2

008

Would you support pilotsto test a new style of stationmanagement?

5251

on training, unnecessary roadmovements which may impact onsafety and the environment and isa system which many firefightersdislike.

It is anticipated that this [proposalto implement new crewing andattendance standards] will realisenet annual efficiency savings ofapproximately £0.3m.

At present because crewing of fireappliances is done ‘globally’across the County, if an absenceoccurs at one station whichmeans insufficient firefighters areavailable, responsibility for cover-ing that gap rests centrally withHeadquarters. This is in partcompounded by an out-datedbusiness model for running fire stations which sees prescrip-tive centralised control takingaway flexibility from local man-agers to run fire stations.

Most importantly, local responsi-bility and accountability areundermined and the ultimate con-sequence is that fire appliances

on some occasions are not avail-able. This is particularly the caseat weekends and over the sum-mer months.


We will run a series of pilot pro-grammes utilising a new model ofempowered autonomous stationmanagement. Firefighters will notbe asked to move off pilot sta-tions to cover gaps and firefight-ers will not be moved onto pilotstations to cover gaps. It is antic-ipated that we will improve opera-tional availability, reduce costsand empower managers by bettermanaging resources within exist-ing shift systems.

It is essential, however, for this tosucceed that short-term sicknessabsence is controlled at the low-est possible level. Having invest-ed significantly in better occupa-tional health facilities the Servicewill adopt a more targeted focuson ensuring managers apply theService’s absence management

policy. The Service will alsoadopt a proactive approach toidentifying areas where absenceis unacceptably high and willwork with local managers toaddress local problems.


This will serve to improve opera-tional availability at stations. Thebenefit of this system locally willbe a reduction in disruption fromunnecessary movement of per-sonnel and therefore a reductionin unnecessarily incurred expenditure.

Station personnel will be encour-aged to develop flexible local sys-tems that best suit their needsand encourage an attitude of afamily friendly workplace.

Greater flexibility in taking holi-days, covering for colleagues andother local benefits will be devel-oped, whilst allowing mainte-nance of the existing shift system.


We will run the pilots during 2009.The outcome of the pilots will bereviewed and, subject to theirsuccess, full roll-out taking placeduring the 2010/11 financial year.


This will be delivered by theDirector of Workforce Development.

It is anticipated that this will be atzero cost to the Authority and willrealise annual efficiency savingsof approximately £300,000.

The pilots will be run within exist-ing budget. It is anticipated thatthey will generate savings in theshort term. In the longer term it isexpected that significant savingswill be realised as more stationsare managed in this way.

53 54

Our Services

As well as dealing with emergencies, fires and other incidents, EssexCounty Fire and Rescue Service also offers a range of safety servicesfree of charge:

Home fire safety checksFireBreakCommunity WheelsCrucial CrewDuke of Edinburgh AwardJuvenile Fire Setters ProgrammeElectric blanket testingOpen daysSchool visitsStation visitsChip pan demonstrationsAfter the Incident ResponseRoad traffic collision reduction initiativesDuring performance inspectionsDriver awareness campaigns on access issuesNominate a Neighbour schemePosters, leaflets and newsletters for local communities and organisationsAttend fêtes and charity eventsProvide business fire safety adviceProvide advice on requestNational campaigns

For more information on any of the above please call the Community Educa-tion Department on 01376 576000.

55 56

Jargon BusterWhat does it mean?

Areas of Multiple DeprivationNeighbourhoods considered to bedeprived in terms of income,employment, health and disability,education, skills and training, bar-riers to housing and services,crime and the living environment.

Communities and Local GovernmentThe Government department thatsets UK policy on local govern-ment, housing, urban regenera-tion, planning and fire and rescue.

Community Risk RegisterThis is a ‘live’ document detailingthe risks within Essex. A 'risk' forthe purpose of the CommunityRisk Register is one that can leadto a major emergency.

Control of Major AccidentHazards“COMAH” regulations applymainly to the chemical industry,but also to some storage activi-ties, explosives and nuclear sites,and other industries where dan-gerous substances are kept orused.

Essex County Fire and Rescue ServiceThe statutory Fire and RescueService for the County of Essexand the unitary authorities ofSouthend and Thurrock.

Essex Fire AuthorityRuns and manages the EssexCounty Fire and Rescue Serviceon behalf of the communities ofEssex. The Authority is made upof 25 elected members represent-ing Essex County Council and theunitary authorities of Southendand Thurrock.

Essex Resilience ForumThe purpose of the ERF is toensure that the emergency services and other key agenciesare prepared to respond to anyemergencies that may have a sig-nificant impact on the communities of Essex.

Integrated Risk ManagementPlan (IRMP)Sets out a Fire and RescueAuthority’s assessment of localrisks to life from fire, and uses thisto identify how its resourcesshould be deployed to tacklethese risks and improve the safetyof local people.

National Intelligence ModelThis improves the opportunities toshare intelligence across policeforces and other agencies suchas Crime and Disorder ReductionPartnerships. The Essex FireAuthority’s model is based on theNIM and helps us to ensure thatour planning process is aligned tothose of our partners.

Regulatory Reform (FireSafety) Order 2005A statutory instrument whichplaces the onus on individuals tocarry out risk assessments oncertain types of property and sub-mit them to their local fire authority.

Regional Spatial StrategyA strategy to guide planning anddevelopment in the East of Eng-land to the year 2021.

StakeholdersPeople with an interest or concernin something.

Thames Gateway SouthEssexAims to deliver a better quality oflife for those who live and work inthe south of Essex, with a seriesof initiatives covering education,health, urban regeneration, trans-port, prosperity, leisure, the envi-ronment, culture, the arts, sportand business innovation.

Years of Potential Life LostThe Years of Potential Life Lostindicator is an annual, age adjust-ed, rate of years of potential lifelost per 1,000 population. So afigure of 200 for an super outputarea indicates that 200 years ofpotential years of life, after adjust-ment, have been lost per 1000members of the population over ayear. For example, other thingsbeing equal, the death of twoone-year-old children (74.5 * 2,years lost) and one 24-year-old(51 years lost) in a super outputarea with a population of 1,000would result in a Years of Poten-tial Life Lost figure of 200. Theyears lost are calculated as 75minus age at death.

57 58

Reference Documents

Civil Contingencies Act 2004Office of Public Sector Informa-tionwww.opsi.gov.uk

Community Risk RegisterEssex Resilience Forumhttp://www.essexcc.gov.uk/mi-crosites/essex_resilience/crr.htm

County Wide ReviewEssex Fire Authoritywww.essex-fire.gov.uk

Data Protection ActOffice of Public Sector Informationwww.opsi.gov.uk

East of England PlanEast of England Regional Assemblywww.eera.gov.uk

The Fire and Rescue NationalFramework 2008–11 Communities and Local Governmentwww.communities.gov.uk

Fire and Rescue Services Act2004Office of Public Sector Informa-tionwww.opsi.gov.uk

Indices of Multiple Depriva-tion 2004Communities and Local Govern-mentwww.communities.gov.uk

Regulatory Reform (FireSafety) Order 2005Office of Public Sector Informationwww.opsi.gov.uk

59 60

Ian

Mar

low 2

008

Tell us what you think

Use the special pullout section, at the centre of this document, all you need is a pen and a postbox.

Write to us, and we’ll pay the postage. Put your comments down onpaper, being sure to tell us your name, address - and if you don’t mind uscontacting you by phone – a number we can reach you on during normalbusiness hours. Send your letter to: Chief Fire Officer (IRMP), Essex County Fire & Rescue Service, FREEPOST, EB93,CM13 1BR. Remember, we’re paying the postage so you won’t need astamp.

Send us an email. Despatch your comments to us online by following the links to IRMP from our website: www.essex-fire.gov.uk. Don’tforget to give us your full name and address- and if you don’t mind us con-tacting you by phone – a number we can reach you on during normal busi-ness hours.

Give us a ring. Providing you do so within normal working hours, you arewelcome to telephone us with your comments on 01375 576000. We will beonly to pleased to discuss them with you.

61