Agenda item

To consider a report

29.1     DCFO Hopkinson submitted the Quarter 2 2018/19 performance report and the Group discussed the exception reports for the eight indicators that were RAG rated Amber or Red.

29.2     SOC Evans reported that PI01 (primary fires) had missed its target by 4%. However, due to the seasonal variety of primary fires, with a greater number of incidents historically occurring in Quarters 1 and 2, it was hoped that this indicator would reach its target by year-end. Performance was higher than both Quarter 2 2017/18 and the 5 year average, with the number of all categories of fire decreasing.

29.3     This was evidenced by the performance against PI05 (accidental dwelling fires) which was currently exceeding its target by 18%.

29.4     PI04 (deliberate fires) had also missed its target; however, like PI01, the majority of these fires occurred during the summer months and it was anticipated that the rate of deliberate fires would decrease in Quarters 3 and 4. Performance against this indicator had also improved in comparison to Quarter 2 2017/18 and the five year average. This was recognised as an achievement, given the long, hot summer during which more deliberate fires would be anticipated.

29.5     DCFO Hopkinson advised that consideration was being given to reporting performance against these indicators in a different way that was more reflective of seasonal variation and expected performance, rather than a linear target divided evenly amongst the quarters. If changes were made, an algorithm could be run against historic data to provide the five year average and other comparative data. The targets for 2018/19 would be set at the Group’s next meeting in March 2019.

29.6     It was noted that PI04 measured the Service’s definition of “deliberate fires”, the majority of which would not be incidents of arson. It was suggested that the word “arson” be removed from the target to clarify this.

29.7     SOC Jeffery advised that PI08 (average response time to primary fire incidents) had missed its target and the average response time at the end of Quarter 2 was 11.8 minutes. 73% of the incidents related to non-addressable locations. There had also been a step-change in performance against this indicator from 2016/17 to 2017/18 and the reasons for this were being investigated.

29.8     SOC Jeffery reported that PI11 (average call handling time to mobilise to primary fires) had missed its target by 36%. Whilst recognising that 60 seconds was a challenging target, there were also two calls of 401 seconds and 215 which had increased the average significantly. Both of these related to outdoor fires.

29.10   PI09 (average response time to dwelling fires), which measured response time to the fires posing the greatest risk to life, had exceeded its target.

29.11 It was suggested that performance against the response indicators may be related to the introduction of the new mobilising system which measured calls from point of connection rather than at incident creation. The Service had adopted this particular measure for comparative purposes as it was similar to that used to prepare nationally published statistics.

29.12   In relation to PI14 (number of “false alarm, good intent” mobilised to), SOC Jeffery reported that over 51% of these mobilisations in Quarter 2 were to controlled burns or fires on open ground. Performance against this indicator would continue to be monitored to identify if this was a trend or the result of the unusually warm and dry weather conditions.

29.13   SOC Evans advised that PI16 (number of fire safety audits/inspections completed) had missed its target as a number of additional inspections had been undertaken to multi-storey cladded buildings following the Grenfell disaster. This had resulted in the routine audit programme being temporarily suspended. The programme had also been affected by vacancies and secondments in the specialist fire safety inspection team. This was being addressed, however, the specialist qualifications required in order to undertake this work did take time to achieve, so performance against this indicator may be affected for the remainder of the performance year.

29.14   The Chair noted that the number of road traffic collisions attended by the Service continued to increase. There was a time lag on the data relating to people killed or seriously injured in these collisions. SOC I Evans advised that the Service had recently been granted access to collision data from Highways England and this was being used to inform community risk management.

RESOLVED:

That the progress made on the Service Delivery Performance be acknowledged.