Peterborough and Cambridgeshire fire service seeks feedback on new four year plan

All fire and rescue services have to produce a document called an Integrated Risk Management Plan which contains information about its local community, the risks and opportunities the service faces and how it plans to manage them. This culminates in a list of priorities that the service will focus on over the next four years.

The draft plan has been agreed by the county’s fire authority and is now out for consultation.

Chief fire officer Chris Strickland said: “The plans set out what we think are the priority areas for us to concentrate on to improve our service or to manage the key risks we have identified.

“For example, one risk for us is the ageing population. Our historic data shows that the majority of deaths as a result of fire in the county have been residents aged over 65 with an additional form of vulnerability such as a disability affecting their ability to escape. This has always been a priority area for our fire prevention work and will remain so, exploring other opportunities to identify where vulnerable residents are within our communities so we can visit them and identify any fire risks in their homes.”

The list of priorities also includes improving firefighter training facilities, implementing new emergency call handling technology into the control room, developing mental health support for staff, continuing to develop how on-call firefighters are used to improve operational response and to explore other opportunities to positively influence young people.

Mr Strickland added: “Many of the priorities are further developing areas we have been concentrating on over the last few years. Through a series of government commissioned inspections we have been found to be one of the best fire and rescue services in the country but we know there is always improvement we can make.

“New technologies, potential collaborations, identified best practice and societal changes all provide new risks or opportunities for us to evaluate and evolve our service.

“We have carried out some detailed consultation with a number of focus groups across the county but would like to give everyone the opportunity have a say and let us know what you think.

“We’d like to know if you think there are key risks or opportunities missing and if you think our priorities seem about right or again, if you think there is something else we should be focusing resources on.”

The consultation is open until January 24, 2020 to allow any changes to be made before it presented to the fire authority in February for sign off.

The draft plan is available to read on the fire service’s website at: https://www.cambsfire.gov.uk/media/2581/cfrs-548583-v2-draft_irmp_2020-2024.pdf and the online feedback form can be accessed at: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NSXMC2S.