Agenda item

A presentation will be made by Dawn Docx, Deputy Chief Fire Officer.

That the presentation be noted.

The Chair welcomedDawn Docx, Deputy Chief Fire Officer of North Wales Fire and Rescue Service and Gary Brandwick, Senior Fire Safety Manager and invited them to give a presentation about the work of the Fire and Rescue Service.

                        The presentation covered:

• Performance information and statistics for the service from 2006-2012
• The role of fire prevention schemes such as home safety checks
• Financial performance and the challenges of budget reductions
• New demands placed on the service such as the increased demand for flood search and rescue assistance and increased collaborative working.

            The Chair thanked the Deputy Chief Fire Officer and Gary Brandwick for their informative presentation and invited members to raise questions.

            Councillor P. Shotton asked if the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service would undertake a full risk assessment if subject to further reviews.  The Deputy Chief Fire Officer said that a sub committee of the Fire Authority regularly met to discuss options about budgets and the associated risks.  Risk assessments formed part of all decisions made.  She added that North Wales Fire and Rescue Service had already done a lot of work regarding efficiency savings and that they were the only service in the UK to have a joint control room with the police.

            The Chief Executive, as clerk to the Fire Authority emphasised that there was limited  ‘room for manoeuvre’ for further reduction of fire service budgets through change and modernisation. If the budget reduction expectations continued there would come a point where the requirement for an adequate and sustainable budget to ensure that fire prevention, community safety and fire and incident response work could be assured, would become a national discussion.

            Councillor  R.J.T. Guest said that whilst it was good to see a reduction in deaths associated with fires, he was disappointed to see that accidental home fires had not been significantly reduced (4% reduction).  The Deputy Chief Fire Officer in response said that over the past 10 years, all incidences of fire had reduced by 40% in North Wales and reduction of deaths was their main focus.

            Councillor R.G. Hampson asked about the number of retained fire stations and the criteria that would be employed should financial circumstances dictate possible closures. The Deputy Chief Fire Officer said that there were 36 retained fire stations and that it would be responsibility of the Fire Authority to approve the criteria.

            The Chair, as a member of the Fire Authority offered the assurance that such measures would be a last resort.

            Councillor A.I. Dunbar asked if the Deputy Chief Fire Officer could convey the thanks of the committee to staff at the Deeside Fire Station who raised £3000 for charity with the 5 November event.  He asked if the Phoenix Project would be offered at various locations in Flintshire.  The Deputy Chief Fire Officer said that she would pass on his comments to the staff at Deeside.  The Phoenix Project was supported by a Welsh Government Grant and whilst the grant remained in place, the scheme would be retained.

            Councillor P. Shotton spoke about a recent presentation he had attended at Mold Fire Station for the Phoenix Project and said that he was very inspired to hear about the positive experiences of the young people who had taken part in the project.

            Councillor B. Lloyd asked how the recent recruitment drive for retained personnel had progressed and asked why the rate of pay for North Wales staff differed to South Wales.  The Deputy Chief Fire Officer explained there had been more expressions of interest this time, which was positive, given that the exigencies of the service could impact on family and working life, which was one of the reasons why staff left the service.  The salaried scheme in South Wales had been successful to a degree, although they acknowledged the need for change in the future.  In North Wales, retained fire fighters received a fee for drill nights and each incident attended.

            The Chief Executive said that one of the retained fire fighters in a recent advertising campaign was an employee of Flintshire County Council; it was important for Flintshire and public bodies to promote such opportunities for public service.

            Councillor R.J.T. Guest asked if the service still required staff to live/work within 5 minutes travel time to the fire station.  The Deputy Chief Fire Officer said that the five minute rule applied to either home address or work address at the time of fire cover.

            The Chief Executive thanked Deputy Fire Officer Docx and Gary Brandwick for their presentation.

            The Chair conveyed his thanks for their attendance and presentation on behalf of the Committee.

RESOLVED:

That the presentation be noted.