Information

Welcome and introductions.

 

Attendees:

PFCC Danielle Stone (DS)

Marianne Kimani (MK)

Jonny Bugg (JB)

Louise Sheridan (LS)

Stuart McCartney (SMc)

CFO Nikki Watson (NW)

ACFO Phil Pells (RP)

ACFO Jim Powell (JP)

ACO Paul Bullen (PB)

Nick Alexander (NA)

AM Mick Berry (MB)

 

Minutes and decisions of previous meeting

 

• DS welcomed everyone to the meeting.
• Apologies were received from Vaughan Ashcroft and Paul Fell

 

 

PART 1

Legal Sex & Ethnicity Representation at of NFRS

 

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service is on an improvement journey relating to its culture and issues of equality, diversity and inclusion. Reflective of this journey is the inclusion in the HR workforce balanced scorecards of data relating to legal sex and ethnicity representation of the service.

The Commissioner has been provided data in relation to this which is contained within a set of slides provided to her.

The Commissioner requires a formal presentation of this data, with an explanation of what the data sets represent and mean along with an explanation of and understanding of any changes or trends that are articulated within the data.

 

• ACO Paul Bullen provided the Commissioner with a comprehensive overview of the work that has been delivered in relation to the identification of protected characteristics and the introduction of relevant support measures.

• A key aspect to this work has been the introduction of new systems to help collect the data and analyse the data to help understand and improve the corporate culture within the service.
• Changes to recruitment and to the wider Fire and Rescue estate were also being introduced to deliver a more focussed approach to help best support frontline services.
• The Commissioner was pleased that the service had a higher percentage of female firefighters compared to the figure nationally and wanted to see them more visibly within the community.

 

Assurance Statement:

 

The Commissioner was assured that the work being delivered by the Service will address many of the issues raised by HMICFRS in relation to cultural weakness that identified in the last inspection.

The Commissioner was encouraged by the anecdotal evidence of success and work in progress to further analyse the data to identify markers of success. The development of support groups and joint working were also singled out for praise as evidence of ongoing cultural improvement which will benefit the service in the long term.

 

On call availability

Data suggests that the applinace availability for on call stations in the County varies considerably.

The Commissioenr would like a presentation of the availability of all on call stations over the past 12 months, indvidually and collectively, to include any trends or changes in that avialability over that time period.

The Chief Fire Officer should as a part of this presentation present their understanding of the reasons for both any varinaces betweeen locations as well any changes or trends in differeing levels of availability, plus the work that is ongoing to value the role of a retained firefighter and to increase the appliance avaialbility at these locations.

 

• Mick Berry introduced the item and provided the Commissioner with a comprehensive oversight of the complexities of managing the On Call availability.
• He noted this was a national issue as the training needs for both Whole Time and On Call Firefighters was the same which presented a challenge to the service.
• The Service now enjoyed much greater access to data which will be used to determine the new CRMP which will mean the Service will have the appliances to meet the identified risks across the county.
• The Commissioner asked how many On Call Firefighters are full time.
• Mick Berry agreed to supply the OPFCC with the figure. He also explained the challenges in retaining On Call Firefighters and data is being captured to better understand this issue.

Action – MB to provide the Commissioner with the number of on call firefighters who are also full-time fire firefighters.

 

Assurance statement:

The Commissioner was assured that managing the mix between Full Time and On Call Firefighters was a challenge to the service and that long term strategic decisions will have to be taken to help manage corporate risks.

The Commissioner was assured that high levels of availability were being maintained and that the Service have strong processes in place to monitor and control this.

The Commissioner however felt more work could be undertaken with local employers to highlight the value of allowing staff to undertake the role of on call firefighter and that collaborative work helps make communities feel safer.

 

Secondary Fires

 

1. Secondary fires include many different incident types and locations.
2. For example, these include a large number of ‘domestic’ related secondary fires such as bin fires, wheelie bin fires, common bin area fires, loose refuse including bonfires and domestic fences/trees/allotments Also included in secondary fires are outdoor and green spaces such as Tree scrub, grassland/pasture/grazing, hedges, wasteland and scrubland, baled crops. Playground skips and small “other buildings can also be involved in secondary fires.
3. Secondary fires can be accidental, or deliberately started. Some fires may have been intentional and controlled to begin with, for example a bonfire or campfire that becomes unsafe.
4. Because of the variety of incident types and causes it is not possible to draw conclusions from the overall data set.
5. However, the impact of daily temperatures and rainfall has a direct correlation with secondary fires due to the outdoor nature of many of them and the seasonal social behaviours that accompany warm weather and lighter evenings (such as gardening and bonfires, use of BBQs, young people lighting campfires in greenspaces)
6. An example of this correlation is evident when looking at March 2025 data gathered since the previous report. Met office data shows that March 2025 was the sunniest on record for England, the sixth driest recorded with high maximum temperatures. Our NFRS secondary fire data for March 2025 shows this is the highest March volume for 4 years.
7. 2025 is predicted to be a warmer than average year by the Met Office and so we are focused on this across all our different preventative workstreams.
8. Due to direct correlation with weather and seasonality, work strands to prevent and minimise these types of fires are varied across Community Risk Groups and the Prevention team, including seasonal domestic fire safety advice, derelict and void buildings risk assessments, Firesetter Interventions addressing deliberate fires, rural engagement with landowners and farmers and wildfire preparations, and lastly education with children and young people. In addition, there is a need for capable guardians/outreach in key green spaces. Much of this work is done in partnership with community safety partners and feeding our data into Community One.
9. Several LSOAs in both Northampton and Corby, are current areas of focus for deliberate secondary fires.

 

Primary accidental dwelling fires

 

1. Our data shows reducing volumes in February and March 2025 with April figure not yet complete so cannot be included. However, 27 incident records completed so far for April.
2. This is in line with the trend usually seen this time of the year with lower volumes until March before rising again in April.
3. This is a repeating trend however fire causation data does not identify useful patterns to understand why this takes place. Traditionally the trend has been associated with the Easter period with occupiers spending more time within their properties over extended holiday periods.
4. Social media campaigns are used around Easter to promote DIY safety, electrical safety and safe cooking.
5. The Home Fire Safety Visit programme places emphasis on cooking and electrical wiring which account for the largest volume of accidental dwelling fires.
6. As part of the Home Fire Safety Visit programme, the Prevention team provide community education to target groups, and training to partner agencies (including domiciliary care provider)s to ensure a flow of person centred HFSV referrals to target risks.
7. As part of our universal offer, the NFCC/Safelincs “Online Home Fire Safety Checker” is promoted so that more able occupiers can complete their own risk assessment and receive online advice or be referred to NFRS if needed.
8. Lone occupiers continue to feature within our risk matrix with 55% of ADFs involving single occupancy households, this is factored into our targeting of education and incoming referral pathways.

 

PART 2

Fire Standards

 

The Commissioner requires a formal assurance report in relation to the Fire Standards relating to Code of Ethics, Leading and Developing People and Leading the Service.

This report should focus on how the Chief Officer Team is able to demonstrate they have implemented those standards and how they are able to demonstrate that the benefits expected under those standards are being achieved

 

• Assistant Chief Fire Officer provided Jim Powell provided a briefing on the work being delivered by the service in relation to meeting Fire Standards.

• He explained how the Service uses workshops and gap analysis to generate service actions to ensure alignment with the published Fire Standards.
• He assured the Commissioner that he felt Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue were demonstrating good practice and understanding of delivering compliance of Fire Standards which was subject to ongoing development.

 

Assurance Statement:

 

The Commissioner welcomed the update and was assured by the approach and attitude taken by the service in understanding their compliance with Fire Standards.

She noted this work was being delivered in the wake of recent events and change in the service which was good to see.

The Commissioner suggested that the Service link in with the Deputy Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner on future work to take advantage of her professional experience which will provide further assurance in relation to Fire Standards.

 

AOB

No further business was raised.