Agenda item

(To receive a report from Mark Baxter, Chief Fire Officer, which invites the Committee to consider a report regarding the Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Technical Response Unit Refresh, which is the subject of a decision by the Executive on 5 October. The views of the Committee will be reported to them as part of their consideration of this item)

Consideration was given to a report from Mark Baxter, Chief Fire, which invited the Committee to consider and comment on the Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Technical Response Unit Refresh, prior to a decision being considered by the Executive on 5 October 2021.

The Chairman invited Mark Baxter, Chief Fire Officer to present the item to the Committee, remotely via Teams.

The Committee was advised that Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue (LFR) provided a number of technical response capabilities to assist in delivering its operational response.  It was highlighted that when responding to emergency situations LFR sometimes had to attend environments and incidents where the capabilities carried on a fire appliance were not suitable or adequate to resolve the situations and therefore there was a requirement for additional capabilities to ensure successful outcomes were delivered.

It was highlighted that the Community Risk Profile 2020/2024 had identified that additional capabilities were required to support the rescue of large animals, support other agencies in repositioning or removing large patients to access better medical care, allow operations to be conducted in water, support the response to incidents involving large transport and provide alternative rescue methods for incidents in commercial or industrial settings.

The report highlighted that to ensure that the service was prepared for its known and future risks an assessment of the services known risks had been conducted within the County and a review had been done on the operational response to incidents involving those capabilities over a five-year period.  It was highlighted further that the findings had highlighted that in order for LFR to provide a sustainable response in the future; the response model needed updating to meet the demand.  It was highlighted that capital investment was needed to upgrade vehicles and equipment.

Full details relating to the reasons for change were detailed within the Executive report.

The Committee was advised that a total budget of £1,208,000.00 had been allocated to purchase replacement vehicles, replacement boats and supplementary equipment for the new heavy rescue and large transport requirements and the new command support function.  Details on the revenue savings were summarised on page 77 of the report.

During consideration of item, the Committee raised some of the following points:

·       Clarity was sought around FRS legal requirement to respond to incidents that involved large animal rescue, bariatric response, technical road response, heavy rescue as well as to flooding incidents (water response) for which FRS was not funded.  It was clarified that the FRS had a statutory duty to respond to fires and Road Traffic Collisions and, under the Civil Contingencies Act, to respond to significant emergencies within the County of Lincolnshire and beyond.  It was noted that when an incident was attended, the requirements would not be known until the point of these being assessed, therefore, it was necessary that appropriate resources and training were available at all times for the staff to enable them to provide a good quality service to the public.  It was emphasised that water rescue was the most significant type of incident where, despite not having a statutory duty to respond to flooding incidents, FRS had the duty to respond to large scale events that went beyond the scope of single agency response to the incident.  The Committee noted that information and risk data accumulated historically indicated that what was required was low level water, static and floodwater technical rescue equipment that allowed for Fire Crews to reach incidents swiftly.  In relation to bariatric equipment, it was reinforced that these were pertinent to fire incidents (among others) where the people involved were classed as bariatric;

·       Reference was made to risk data (page 121 of the report) that indicated that the County had 98 farms at which an unknown number of animals resided. It was clarified that there were farms across the County of Lincolnshire classed as high-risk areas.  High-risk areas were identified through historical data including demographics of the County; where known facilities, such as storage located on farm premises and other concurrent factors that increased the risk of a fire hazard.  This was not however, an indication that these farms were routinely operating in a high-risk environment;

·       In relation to technical rope rescue required for operating below ground level, Members enquired if there were many incidents in the County where these were employed.  It was clarified that there had not been any such rescues however, the service had improved other capabilities in this response which could be used in this type of incident;

·       In reference to Command Support Provision comments (page 133) Members sought assurance that appropriate station support was in place.  Assurance was given that FRS had all assets required allocated at the appropriate stations, in appropriate locations, based on levels of risk.  In relation to the comment raised that Sleaford station was losing some of its technical skills, the Committee noted that the level was seen as being technically higher than that delivered at every Fire Station.  It was reported that the proposal aimed to deliver command support from low level to complex incidents and the proposed structures and equipment allowed for this to be completed.  It was clarified that capability would not change, however, what differed was the ability for command support to be implemented from the very first attendance which also enabled greater geographical coverage across the County;

·       Members reiterated that shifting resources, specialisms, and equipment to where these were needed more imminently was reducing activity at already quiet stations.  Assurance was given that the initial assessment accounted for all operational activity over a five-year period.  Preventative and protective work carried out in line with a number of incidents across the County had improved the way in which local businesses were managing their own risks; this had reduced operational activity.  Confidence was placed in the allocation of assets across the County, which could then manage future demand.  It was noted that a flexible model operated already, which allowed for resources to be moved within the County as required;

·       It was emphasised that Lincolnshire FRS had some of the most excellent fire appliances and equipment in the Country.  It was noted that Lincolnshire FRS was conscious that it needed to ensure it had sufficient people resources to enable the appliances and equipment to be available.  Assurance was also given that skilled human resources were allocated to operate vehicles and advanced technological equipment acquired at this moment in time; 

·       Members requested further information around the Capital Plan of circa £1.2m allocated to the project.  The breakdown of proposed expenditure combined, covered the replacement of seven (7) vehicles, four (4) boats and funding of the Command Support Unit - among other - as per the needs described throughout the report.  Rather than requesting like-for-like replacements of vehicles, it was proposed that FRS would pull the Capital replacement programme and subsequently would proceed with tenders recognising that there was £1.2m ceiling to look at procuring the proposed assets after the existing Capital programme was utilised; and

·       Members asked that the final comment on page 135 of the report [“What is vitally important (…) within the job function.”] be noted as one representing a substantial percentage of the survey respondents.  It was recognised by officers that a comprehensive spending review would be put forward to the Home Office and the government in request of additional funding to support FRS to deliver its statutory duties including its public protection and prevention statutory duties, which would satisfy these comments.  Assurance was given that current and future resourcing would be utilised in the most effective, advantageous and efficient manner.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee unanimously supported the recommendations to the Executive as detailed on page 66 of the report pack.

2.    Tat the comments listed above be forwarded on to the Executive in relation to this item.