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Fire and rescue services ‘good’ and will ‘do better’ |
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The Audit Commission’s report, Fire and Rescue Performance Assessment for 2007 has decreed that the fire and rescue services of England are doing ‘good’ and will ‘do better’. The report outlines the scores and analysis of performance in England’s fire and rescue authorities and shows that all fire services have improved the safety of their local communities since last year’s report.
CFOA President Steve McGuirk said his association is pleased with the overall performance. “There is consistent improvement in performance throughout the service. The improved performance is over the range of activities carried out by a fire service from management systems, to call handling, public safety initiatives and rescue operations. This progress in our performance is against a back drop of the continuing major modernisation programme and the expansion of our rescue role, including the rescue of over 3,000 individuals in last summer’s floods.” However, CFOA McGuirk said that CFOA is “surprised and disappointed” that the Audit Commission was unable to identify any fire service performing ‘strongly’ in providing ‘value for money’. “More than two thirds of services are meeting their efficiency targets and the Service nationally has been using efficiencies to fund the extensive change programme,” he told FIRE. “Indeed the Service as a whole exceeded government set targets for savings.
He said that CFOA agrees with the Audit Commission that the Fire and Rescue Service needs to do more to improve its track record on tackling equality and diversity issues. “The association has made a considerable contribution to the proposed new national strategy on diversity which is due to be published shortly,” he said. “CFOA hopes and expects that the Audit Commission will be given a more significant role measuring performance in diversity to drive that agenda forward. “Official statistics show that deaths and injuries are at their lowest since the 1950s. There is a drop of 20 per cent in the number of fires recorded in the last five years, a decrease in the number of home fires and an overall six per cent decrease in the number of primary fires on the previous year. These statistics are a clear demonstration of just how effective fire safety strategies are.” He added: “CFOA is satisfied with the findings of the report, but there is no room for complacency. There is still a lot that can be done to improve the safety and quality of life of the most vulnerable members of our communities. Local partnerships respect and value their fire and rescue services as a source of innovation and practical delivery of initiatives with at risk groups and we, as an association, want to continue to build on that reputation. “We expect that the very tight financial settlements on fire services for the years 2008-11, and public services in general, will lead to more collaborative partnerships for the benefit of our local areas but we are concerned that such tight financial settlements could slow or even jeopardise the improvements that this report shows.”
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