Information

1 Welcome and introductions.

Attendees:
PFCC Danielle Stone (DS)
DPFCC Marianne Kimani (MK)
Jonny Bugg (JB)
Paul Fell (PF)
Stuart McCartney (SMc)
CFO Nikki Watson (NW)
ACFO Phil Pells (PP)
ACFO Jim Powell (JP)
Leanne Hanson (LH)
ACO Paul Bullen (PB)
Nick Alexander (NA)
Sam Ashby-Clarke (SAC)

Apologies
Vaughan Ashcroft (VA)

2 Minutes and decisions of previous meeting

The Minutes were agreed and the OPFCC Performance Director provided an update on the work relating to Section 106 funds and suggested this should be raised at the Public Safety Board. The Assistant Chief Officer then noted regular updates relating to this area of work would now be delivered.

3 PART 1

Fleet Management
The Commissioner noted her concerns relating to this issue and sought clarification on the factors behind the problems being encountered. The Chief Fire Officer updated the meeting and explained a Gold Group on fleet management had been established which meets weekly and brings all teams involved together. The Commissioner asked if this issue had an impact on regional responses. ACFO Pells responded and noted there was not just one issue to resolve, however the service’s ability to respond and appliance availability was not impacted. The Chief Asset Officer then provided an in depth briefing on appliance availability and fleet management and explained the difference between fleet availability and appliance availability. She then set out the work being undertaken with suppliers in relation to dealing with ongoing defects on vehicles which is then fed into the Gold Group.

ACFO Pells assured the Commissioner that the Service now had a plan on this issue going forward. The Chief Asset Officer also explained how the design specification and procurement processes have been reviewed to deliver better long-term reliability for the fleet. ACFO Pells also noted that the business continuity plans have been refreshed to support this work.

The Commissioner asked who was overseeing this issue on a day-to-day basis. The Chief Asset Officer explained that this was part of her role and set out what was being delivered to improve fleet management. She noted that better communication and oversight across the service was being delivered and a daily report on vehicle defects was helping the service to plan more effectively. She did note the difficulties in recruiting technicians; however, work was ongoing to meet this challenge. The Chief Finance Officer then provided an update in relation to the budget management relating to the fleet and the costs relating to outsourcing maintenance and the pressure of keeping older vehicles on the road. The OPFCC Performance Director noted that the concerns related to the number of vehicles available to meet demand. ACFO Pells responded and noted that the service has 28 pumps on the run and the ongoing review work will address any issues. The Commissioner was assured that the Service had a good understanding of the issue and was working to deliver solutions to the challenges that had been identified.

Assurance Statement
The Commissioner expressed her concerns in relation to some of the reasons that had been provided by the Chief Fire Officer as to why there were so many defects arising from some vehicles in the fleet, mainly in relation to emission controls and asked how we had got to this position. The CFO explained that this was a matter being explored by legal with the suppliers and was being resolved.

Despite this the Commissioner was assured by the responses she received that the core issues had been identified that action was underway to effectively resolve these and that there was no risk at this time to either public safety or appliance availability levels.

4 PART 2

Emergency Cover Review
The Commissioner noted her concerns relating to this issue, borne out of the length of time it had and was taking the service to progress what were agreed recommendations arising from the emergency cover review. She accepted that data was being refreshed but made the point that with the new data progress needed to be swift to avoid it going out of date again.

ACFO Powell responded and noted that it was the intention to ascertain what will be done in relation to the delivery of the CRMP by the end of this calendar year. This will take the form of a timed plan for which adopted recommendations will be delivered when, within years 3 to 5 of the life cycle of the CRMP.

The Commissioner noted the challenges of the estate and whether this created deployment issues. In response ACFO Powell explained the need to examine the data and the impact the new site in Kettering will have on it. He explained the Service have adopted a data led decision making process to help build in future growth within the estate. The Chief Fire Officer also explained that the service needs to challenge previous assumptions as this work progresses. ACFO Powell explained that there were frustrations, but it was important and work was ongoing. The OPFCC Performance Director noted that the service cannot deliver on old data and asked if an update could be provided in July. ACFO Powells confirmed the July deadline and explained that work was ongoing. The OPFCC Performance Director highlighted that it would be difficult to deliver recommendations in a quicker manner but was assured that delivery work was being undertaken. The Commissioner asked if the service had all the digital technology it needed to deliver and who had oversight on this issue. ACFO Powell responded and explained the service had a programme of work and how it was being delivered. He also noted that a new governance approach was helping to capture these issues much more effectively.

Assurance Statement
The Commissioner thanked the Chief Fire Officer for this paper but made the point that she still had some concerns over the timeliness of delivery in relation to this project and that the pace for any ongoing work needed to be swifter. She was assured by the commitment from the Chief Fire Officer and her team to this. The Commissioner stated that she was more assured by the promises made to provide a refined timescale for years 3 to 5 of the CRMP. She also made the point that at this point the recommendations from the initial SCR work had been agreed between the service and the Commissioner and any decision to amend or adapt these needed to go through due process and agreement with her.

HMICFRS Document Review
ACFO Powell provided an update and explained the Service was able to meet the request and were in a good place before submission to HMICFRS. The Deputy Commissioner asked the service what would happen if documents could not be found. ACFO Powell responded and explained that different Fire and Rescue Services have different titles for documents or policies, therefore it was common practice to liaise with national colleagues to understand what was required for submission. He also explained that HMICFRS could request other materials, but the service could also provide additional information to their formal submission of documents.

Assurance Statement

The Commissioner was fully assured that this part of the HMICFRS Round 4 inspection process was in hand and that there was a comprehensive plan to deal with it effectively, and that the Chief Fire Officer had assured her that all required documents would be delivered by the deadline of 29th May 2026.

5 AOB

No further business was raised.