Written evidence submitted by West Midlands Fire Service (PCB 10) Policing and Crime Bill

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1 Written evidence submitted by West Midlands Fire Service (PCB 10) Policing and Crime Bill Executive Summary West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service (WMFS) provides fire and rescue services across 7 Metropolitan Local Authorities Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull, Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell, and Wolverhampton. Governance 1. A Devolution deal has been agreed for the West Midlands and work is progressing to implement the West Midlands Combined Authority. 2. A devolution deal within a metropolitan area, although not currently agreed, will almost certainly feature the election of a Mayor. In 2017 elections are likely to take place in West Midlands resulting in the implementation of a publicly elected Mayor. 3. In the West Midlands a governance arrangement that places the West Midlands Fire Service under the control of an elected Mayor, (as opposed to a Police and Crime Commissioner), will recognise the neutral role undertaken by Firefighters in the West Midlands and will not compromise the levels of trust the community have in the Fire Service brand 4. A Mayor will provide publically elected leadership and governance to ensure that the Chief Constable and Chief Fire Officer are delivering effective services and excellent outcomes for communities in West Midlands. 5. By establishing effective committee structures within WMCA, the Mayor will have assurance that locally elected representatives can hold the Fire Service to account for service delivery across the West Midlands 6. West Midlands Fire Service is committed to taking an evidence based approach to serving our communities. This includes evidencing the most effective governance arrangements that lead to the ability to reduce risk in partnership with a range of organisations including the Police, NHS, Ambulance Service, third sector organisations and voluntary organisations. Service Delivery 7. West Midlands Fire Service strategy is focused on making our communities Safer, Stronger and Healthier. This is achieved by understanding risk and by taking a joined up approach with a range of partners in order to reduce risk. 8. WMFS uses its trusted and professional brand to access 30,000 number of homes per year in order to make their communities Safer, Stronger and Healthier.

2 9. In West Midlands Fire Service in conjunction with its Met colleagues (excluding London) delivered: o o o 35% of the 626,706 HSCs delivered nationally to vulnerable people in the community, 37% of all HSCs to vulnerable older people (65+) and 27% of all HSCs to disabled people 10. WMFS activity in the community has reduced because of funding cuts between 2009/10 to 2014/15 there has been a 39% reduction in HFSC/Safe and Well activity a direct impact on our ability to deliver excellent outcomes. 11. WMFS response times for all incident types has increased by 55 seconds since the beginning of the Spending Review. 12. Since September 2015 West Midlands Fire Service has responded to 180 incidents, 78 incidents involving falls and 102 involving other calls for assistance. 13. WMFS currently delivers 30,000 Safe and Well (historically HSC) visits per annum targeting the most vulnerable. 14. Over the past 5 years WMFS have seen a 21% increase in RTC incidents (1919 to 2265). WMFS has also seen a 5% increase in Arson Vehicle Fires over the last 5 years. 15. Although there has been a 5% decrease in dwelling fires over last 5 years (1877 to 1704) this is on the back drop of a 50% decrease over last 17 years with the percentage reductions appearing to be slowing down year on year 16. Over the past 3 years there have been 226 (1 Jan 2013 to 1 st Jan 2016) incidents involving 5 fire appliances or more reflecting the high frequency of and the scale of demand on resources. 17. In 2013/14 the cost of dwelling fires, non-dwelling fires and road traffic collisions in the West Midlands stood at 198,651, WMFS delivery of excellent outcomes for its diverse communities is achieved through a range of activities. Finance 19. Between 2010/11 and 2015/16 there was a cash reduction in spending power (budget) in stand-alone Fire and Rescue Services of 141m - 28m of that deduction was in WMFS. WMFS therefore accounted for a 19.8% share of the budgetary reductions. 20. Senior management team has seen a reduction in cost and has the fewest managers per million population and second lowest for managers per m of all English FRS s.

3 21. All support departments are being reviewed again to contribute at least a further 1m in savings towards the overall budget deficit 22. WMFS will potentially need to borrow to fund capital projects from WMFS are using current reserves to build new fire stations, training facilities and update the existing fleet. 24. WMFS are the lowest Band D precepting Fire Authority in the UK despite its risk. 25. It is essential that the Chief Fire Officer is accountable and responsible to deliver services to their community and maintain a balanced budget. Through an in-depth and professional understanding of risk based service provision the Chief Fire Officer has the insight and foresight to deliver public sector reform and efficient but effective service provision. WMFS Workforce 26. WMFS operational strength has been forecast to reduce by 154 posts (1322 to 1168) a 14% reduction over the coming 2 years, which will be achieved through natural retirements with no compulsory frontline redundancies. 27. WMFS Firefighter numbers have reduced by 277 since 1 April 2010 with potentially another 141 to be lost in the next 15 months to June 2017 a total reduction of 418 Firefighters over 7 years. 28. Workforce stats - 5% of our operational workforce are women 29. Workforce stats - 11% of our operational workforce are from BME communities 30. Workforce stats - 57% of our non-operational workforce are women 31. Workforce stats - 17% of our non-operational workforce are from BME communities 32. Workforce stats - 1% of our workforce have not declared their ethnicity 33. Workforce stats Of 55 FF recruited in 2013 = 11% were female, 15% were BME. 34. Workforce stats Of 53 FF recruited in 2014 = 13% were female, 4% were BME. WMFS Prevention HFSCs/Safe & Well 35. WMFS currently delivers 30,000 Safe and Well (historically HSC) visits per annum targeting the most vulnerable Coventry Telecare 24/7-15m av. attendance time 36. WMFS operational fire fighters respond to hundreds of telecare calls within Coventry for a falls response service on behalf of Coventry City Council. The response is provided 24/7 by frontline operational firefighters for a non-emergency call and average a 15 minute attendance time to our most vulnerable members of the

4 community. They have been able to provide interventions for further care, provide a falls service and also undertake wider safe and well interventions. N.B. a) FRS Falls Response utilises Brigade Response Vehicles (smaller fire engines) to maintain the availability of the tradition fire engines (PRL s) b) FRS personnel a. are trained in falls response and lifting equipment b. undertake a RSPH level 2 qualification in understanding health improvements Wolverhampton Telecare 37. From April 2016 Falls Response extends into the Wolverhampton area with other areas showing significant interest. Other Prevention notes: 38. Hospital discharges - WMFS front line fire now undertake home care assessments and safe and well assessments for Hospital Discharges creating capacity to free up hospital beds. 39. Safe and Well - All WMFS firefighters undertake a holistic safe and well assessment covering wider health and wellbeing interventions and advice. 40. Health Service care card evaluation - From April 2016 all Safe and Well Checks will evaluated using care card system developed within the health service 41. Shared facilities with community partners - Community fire stations share facilities with WMAS (35 sites), Learn Direct, Age Concern. Birmingham City Council Youth Offending Team are currently sharing WMFS HQ site in Birmingham dedicated safety centres - used by thousands of young people offering lifestyle advice, safety information and life skills. They reduce anti-social behaviour, fire setting and general youth crime as well as increasing school attendance, enhancing employability and reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training 43. WMFS provided YFA and special educational needs groups provide qualifications, heart start, first aid and lifesaving skills to hundreds of young people. WMFS play a major role in delivering key DCLG performance indicators: fire campaigns and initiatives and home safety checks. West Midlands Fire Service in conjunction with its Met colleagues (excluding London) delivered - 35% of the 626,706 HSCs delivered nationally in % of all HSCs to vulnerable older people (65+) and - 27% of all HSCs to disabled people 44. Impact of cuts - The fall in funding from 2009/10 to 2014/15 has contributed to WMFS s ability to deliver outcomes for the community. There has been a 39% reduction in HFSC/Safe and Well activity. Whilst steps have been taken to continue focusing on the highest risks there has been an inevitable impact on the vulnerable. For example HFSC s for the elderly have fallen by 20%. There has also been a decline in fire prevention campaigns and initiatives since 2010/11.

5 45. Impact of further cuts - Further cuts will reduce resources available to focus on this work and reduce outcomes further, which will increase risk. WMFS Protection 46. Stronger economy - WMFS Protection services are geared towards supporting the local economy. This means prioritising the business sector, focusing on giving a wide range of advice and, when necessary, enforcing the law through qualified inspectors. Firefighters contribute to this vital work carrying out routine visits and inspections as part of integrating services. 47. Monitoring and enforcement - Premise owners are responsible for managing safety in the workplace, so the role of WMFS is largely to monitor how well this is being done and to take enforcement action when necessary and to have a good understanding of risks in commercial premises across their areas for operational response purposes. 48. Planning - Officers also work with building control and approved inspectors to inspect plans for new buildings and ensure compliance with the following: - Clear access routes for fire appliances in areas of new build - Adequate water supplies and firefighting facilities - Suitable escape routes and fire resisting construction - Safety systems such as fire alarms and escape lighting 49. Safety audits are carried out using a risk based system of ranking sites in order of priority, to ensure visits take place where they will achieve the greatest impact on safety. 50. National protection activities - Serving the heartlands of businesses and the UK economy WMFS play a major role in contributing to the national protection activity. FRS conducted 67,266 audits in 2014 as part of determining the compliance of the business sector with fire safety regulations. WMFS in conjunction with its Met colleagues (excluding London) contributed heavily to this delivering 22% of the audits. 51. High risk - WMFS has large numbers of industrial and relatively high risk premises within its community. Often this is a legacy of former industrial heritage and how the cities have developed. One example of the relative risk is that WMFS has a higher percentage of unsatisfactory business audits undertaken, meaning they comprise the greatest business risk, which therefore requires further resources to enforce compliance.

6 WMFS Response 52. Reduction in Incidents - Although demand is generally reducing it is important to recognise that we are a risk based service and our resource configuration is based upon risk; likelihood and severity and an understanding of overall impact. Surge capacity is also an important concept. It is also right to say that not all incident types are reducing and those that are may not be reducing as quickly as they have in the past. Over the past 5 years WMFS has seen a 21% increase in RTC incidents (1919 to 2265). WMFS has also seen a 5% increase in Arson Vehicle Fires over the last 5 years. Although there has been a 5% decrease in dwelling fires over last 5 years (1877 to 1704) this is on the back drop of a 50% decrease over last 17 years with the percentage reductions appearing to be slowing down year on year with a forecast that we may have nearly reached the bottom of any potential reductions. 53. Telecare response - Since September 2015 WMFS has been providing a response to Telecare falls incidents. Over this period of time WMFS has responded to 180 incidents, 78 incidents involving falls and 102 involving other calls for assistance. Our trusted brand enables us to enter vulnerable people homes to deliver a range of interventions enabling people to continue to live within the community. Our average attendance time to get to these incidents is 15 minutes. 54. Make Ups (5 or more) - Over the past 3 years there have been 226 (1 Jan 2013 to 1 st Jan 2016) incidents involving 5 fire appliances or more. 55. Cost of Incidents to the community - In 2013/14 the cost of dwelling fires, nondwelling fires and road traffic collisions in the West Midlands stood at 198,651,600. Without our response these costs would spiral with even higher impact upon our communities and the economy. The impact of our response times is not just relative to casualties but also the impact it has on our transport network and critical national infrastructure. 56. Reductions in resources - Despite making great strides in efficiency the scale of the funding reductions has inevitably meant a reduction in front line service resources and the impact of that is already being seen in prevention, protection and operational response. 57. Nationally, the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) has seen response time s increase over the last 20 years. 58. Increased response times - WMFS is starting to see increases in response times, the average 1 st appliance attendance time to all incidents between 2013/14 and 2014/15 increased by 4.5%

7 59. Increased attendance times at life risk incidents - Critically, attendance times to life risk incidents has also started to increase, WMFS saw response times to dwelling fires increase between 2009/10 and 2013/14. This is likely to get worse. 60. Since the beginning of the last CSR WMFS has seen its average response times for all incident types increase as follows: 2010/ / / / /15 Increase from 2010/11-14/15 Average Time for 1st On scene appliance 00:05:15 00:05:48 00:05:38 00:05:54 00:06: % That is an average increase of 55 seconds to all incident types. WMFS Reserves 61. Between 2010/11 and 2015/16 there was a cash reduction in spending power (budget) in stand-alone Fire and Rescue Services of 141m - 28m of that deduction was in WMFS. WMFS therefore accounted for a 19.8% share of the budgetary reductions. 62. WMFS does plan to use its reserves over of the next 4 years. 63. With no Capital investment available from government we are using reserves to fund a number of capital projects including: - a new Station at Aston that includes an Ambulance Hub, - a new Tri Service building at Coventry (Fire, Ambulance & Police), - vehicle modernisation and replacement and estates refurbishment and modernisation programmes. 64. These commitments mean that some reserves are not available for use in other ways and that we will exhaust our capital resources by Any capital projects beyond this date may need to be funded through borrowing. WMFS Duty Systems 65. Dynamic mobilising - WMFS has introduced a number of changes relating to type of resources and the method in which vehicles are crewed, in order to maintain Service Delivery to our Communities, whilst meeting the budget reductions of 28 million over the last three years and currently planning for a further 10 million over the coming four years.

8 66. Survivability studies Academic research in collaboration with Coventry University has enabled WMFS to determine that a 5-minute attendance standard was critical to the likelihood of survival in a fire. When linked to our community safety strategy and Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP), we are able to identify the right resource in the right place at the right time. We currently deliver our SDM through a fleet of 41 fire appliances, 19 brigade response vehicles strategically located at 38 fire stations. 67. Optimum Crewing Levels - To deliver our services through this blended fleet, we have introduced different crewing levels to those previously utilised (3 riders on a BRV, 5 riders on a PRL), leading to a reduction in operational strength and associated vehicle costs, whilst still maintaining our level of service. 68. Recruitment Freeze No Redundancies - We continue to engage with staff to identify efficient and effective models to crew our fleet and have recently introduced a recruitment freeze to enable a further 154 post reduction on operational strength to 1168 from 1322 (14% reduction) over the coming 2 years, achieved through natural retirements with no compulsory frontline redundancies. This will also require the efficient use of shifts delivered by staff through optimum crewing levels (OCL) and offer opportunity for individuals to earn extra income through the delivery of voluntary additional shifts paid at plain rate with a 25% disturbance allowance attached. 69. Distributed Training Model - Following the financial restraints placed upon WMFS and the need to become more efficient with a leaner staffing model the Distributed Training Model (DTM) was implemented to provide a flexible approach to training through the provision of station based trainers whose skills could developed and utilised when dealing with emergency incidents as an additional benefit of centralised training instructors who did not perform operational duties. 70. IRMP informs all activity - The flexible approach of the DTM is informed by our IRMP which considers the risk we meet for both the type and location of training conducted through situating training assets in areas which have historically high call demand. Matching resource to risk through the provision of a spine of training assets and facilities ensures training can be conducted whilst appliances remain available to respond to all emergency incidents directly from training activities and support the maintenance of a 5 minute risk attendance standard for category one incidents. 71. Personal accountability - The DTM enables individuals and teams to conduct their own training and development at times and locations that meets their needs within a 24 hour shift system resulting in reduced costs from appliance movements, reduced travel times, appliances remaining available in local community areas, smaller numbers and reduced reliance on non-operational training instructors working traditional day duty shift systems. WMFRS Workforce 72. Reform and austerity has resulted in WMFS reducing the number of Firefighters by 277 since April Potentially this will reduce further with circa another 141 to be lost by June We currently have a freeze on recruitment that presents its own challenges regarding improving diversity within the workplace. 73. We are continually reviewing our approach to engaging with the communities we serve to allow them to gain a greater understanding of the work that we do. This is

9 achieved through targeted events through our workforce and also recruiting community volunteers and community members. This has provided the opportunity to improve our diversity to: 74. Previous recruitment campaigns have resulted in the following: recruited 55 Firefighters of whom 11% were women and 15% were from BME groups recruited 53 FF of whom 13% were female and 4% were BME. 75. A workforce reflecting the diversity of our community - We understand that there is more work to do to engage with the community further and ensure that we are reflective of the communities we serve. Our current profile includes: 5% of our operational workforce are women 11% of our operational workforce are from BME communities 57% of our non-operational workforce are women 17% of our non-operational workforce are from BME communities 76. Management reductions: April 2010 Station Commanders and above: 83. January 2016 Station Commanders and above: 63 WMFS DICE Outcomes 77. In achieving our diversity, inclusion, cohesion and equality outcomes we will be striving to improve this profile. WMFS is committed to Diversity, Inclusion, Cohesion and Equality and has put in place the following activities: A regional wide Young Firefighter scheme Fire Safety Tutoring The One Body One Life programme Princes Trust Specific courses to support NEETS (not in employment, education or training). Fire expeditions programmes Community Fire stations Safeside Apprentices and work experience which create employment pathways We have had interventions targeting anti-social behaviour within young people i.e. Aurora programme: Community members and community Volunteers

10 Special Deaf Team 120 Vulnerable Persons Officers across West Midlands The Schools programme Youth Emergency Services events Dementia friendly organisation Reducing Health inequalities WMFS works with local community groups and local minority media to engage the diverse communities of West Midlands including delivering awareness programmes In-house training 78. We are able to run our instructor training programmes in-house, we are able to offer the following qualifications Certificate in Basic Expedition Leadership Delivery Youth Work in the Fire Service Volunteering Team Teach WMFS Blue Light and wider collaboration 79. Staffordshire Fire Control - Before merger cost of separate control room functions = 3.9m (WMFS), 1.7m (SFRS). - A combined saving with Staffordshire Fire & Rescue of 1.6m 80. West Midlands Police - A Fire Safety Officer is based in regulatory services in Solihull as part of a wider team including WMP and trading standards. - Chelmsley Wood Police Station is being used as a welfare site for fire crews when working in this area. - Fire Safety work within an effective Joint Licencing Task Force and also work together in relation to the storage of fireworks. - A range of joint initiatives across our delivery area including Birmingham Community Safety, Police and Crime Board (20k for Aurora)

11 - Rouge landlord initiatives alongside protection (120K funding opportunity) - In Sandwell there are projects like the Safer 6 and Community Partnership Action days. - WMFS currently work with WMP in relation to multi-agency response plans, MASAT (multi-agency specialist assessment team), Multi-agency response to CBRN, MAESU (Multi Agency Emergency Services Unit), Multi-Agency National pilot project on CPNI (Centre Protection National Infrastructure), training and input provided to firearms teams in relation to fire, Identification and Memorandum of Understanding for multiagency Strategic Holding Area. 81. NHS and Ambulance Service - WMFS are mobilised as a response to elderly people who have fallen this is described earlier in the document - WMFS enables early discharge from Hospital freeing up hospital beds by attending the home of the patient and delivering a Safe and Well Check - West Midlands Ambulance Service base their response vehicles on 35 WMFS stations with a hub ambulance station based at Aston Fire Station 82. The Fire Service Brand The police and fire and rescue brands are strong and well-respected in the West Midlands; they are also very distinct. Local communities have come to expect high levels of service from both organisations in different areas of their lives. Examples of the unique role of firefighters and the importance of the distinct neutrality of the fire service brand are considered below: Risk modelling shows that people who are socio-economically vulnerable are also vulnerable to fire. WMFS has built relationships with individuals dealing with alcoholism, drug dependency, hoarding, and mental health problems etc. The trust developed has given WMFS access to the homes of the most vulnerable, allowing them to reduce the risk of fire, and more recently crime and other behaviours that cause ill health and further pressure on health and social care services Safe and Well visits are person-centred home visits which expand the scope of previous home checks by focussing on health and crime prevention, as well as fire. WMFS is also working with Public Health England to address the drivers of winter-related illnesses It is essential to ensure that any restructuring of the fire and rescue service does not impact on WMFS unique brand and compromise its ability to continue with these innovative programmes.

12 Community Volunteers 83. Community volunteers have 193 in total with 38% female and 37% BME 84. Community members have 1959 in total with 56% female and 30% BME March 2016