Agenda item

(To receive a report by Stuart Ruff, Assistant Chief Fire Officer, which provides an update on progress made to date in relation to each of the work streams identified in the action plan established as part of the Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Retained Duty System (RDS) Improvement Strategy)

It was reported that in November 2016, Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue (LFR) presented a paper which laid out its Retained Duty System (RDS) Improvement Strategy.  This Strategy established an action plan to respond to the national report 'A professional view of the Challenges for recruitment and retention in the Fire and Rescue Retained (on call) Sector' and also to the findings of an extensive local review of the RDS as it operated in Lincolnshire.

It was reported that Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue had 48 fire engines to respond to emergencies; 39 of these were crewed by personnel working the Retained Duty System (RDS) and represented 81% of the operational staff.  RDS staff responded to emergency incidents on an "on call" basis and provided an effective and efficient community Service.  Members were advised that the RDS review was one of the most important projects for the Service at this time, and the report built on the one which was presented in November 2016. 

Members were advised that the action plan aimed to address 78 recommendations, grouped under 9 work streams, to improve the RDS and would be delivered in three phases with a target completion date of April 2018.  It was noted that there were two work streams which had been put on hold which were the annual leave arrangements and the payment system, as these were interlinked.

The Committee received a demonstration of the RDS online training development system and an update on the recruitment pages on the website.

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report, as well as the online demonstration of the system, and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was queried whether the training was an NVQ type qualification or just internal training.  Members were advised that while the training did not provide an NVQ qualification, retained fire fighters were trained to a national operational standard.  It was also highlighted that the online learning was about maintenance and development of skills.

·         It was noted that improvements had been made to the Fire and Rescue side of the LCC website so it was now more aimed at supporting RDS fire fighters and employers, including guidance documents for employers.

·         It was confirmed that Fire and Rescue did have a cadet scheme which operated in several areas of the county, and young people could get involved from the age of 14.  It was noted that this was an area which Fire and Rescue was looking to expand.

·         Members were informed that there were 24 female retained fire fighters, which was around 6% of the total.  It was noted that this was slightly above the national average for RDS firefighters.  One of the aims of the project was to ensure the recruitment process was as accessible as possible to all members of the community.

·         It was queried when the Service would be in a position to address work stream 9 – Payment System and also whether those who worked on a roster were more willing to be paid a salary.  Members were advised that this was a complex area and officers were still unclear about the relative benefits of a salary system.  The variance of pay would be fairly small per individual, but it was not certain that this would improve retention, and there was also an ongoing debate at a national level regarding salary systems for RDS staff.  More work would be done to look at increasing activity such as additional work around co-responding and medical services.

·         It was queried whether rewarding personnel for providing day time cover had been explored, it was confirmed that it had been but it would bring issues of disproportionate pay for the same job, and a lot of the hours that people were available were due to an individual's lifestyle.

·         It was commented that the co-responding by Fire and Rescue and LIVES added about 8-9% to EMAS's response times.  However, it was suggested that the Joint Ambulance Conveyance Project (JACP) had been a victim of its own success as retaining staff was difficult as this was taking up more of their time.  It was highlighted that systems were in place to manage availability on busy RDS stations as appropriate.

·         It was queried how Fire and Rescue could get across the message to the large employers of the benefits of releasing their staff to become retained fire fighters, and also if there was anything that councillors could do to help.  Members were advised that information was available on the website and would be circulated to the Committee.

·         There was always a dilemma between needing to recruit more people and response times, as if the distance requirements were relaxed too much in order to widen the opportunities for recruitment, there would be an effect on performance and response times.

·         In relation to 'hits' logged by the website, it was noted that the website was owned by the recruitment department, and they were able to collect the statistics.  It was also noted that there were live Facebook feeds, where information on the number of people watching could be collected.

·         It was noted that salary schemes for retained fire fighters had been used since 2000.  The longest running system was in South Wales, and while initially it appeared there were some benefits in terms of recruiting, the longer term benefits remained unclear.  Once a salary system had been introduced it was difficult to revert back to the previous system.

·         The Service had successfully piloted a bespoke RDS recruit course in partnership with Rase warehouse company to support Bardney fire station.  While this flexible approach worked well it was recognised that it was resource intensive.

·         It was commented that the previous year, it had been requested whether the Fire and Rescue Budget could be ring-fenced.  However, members were advised that while not ring-fenced, Fire and Rescue was a priority service and so its budget was protected to a greater extent.

RESOLVED

            That the progress against the action plan be noted.