ieseCheshire Fire and Rescue has been rewarded for its reduction in emergency interventions with the Improvement and Efficiency (iESE) Fire and Rescue Project of the Year award.

The awards which took place in Westminster on last week recognise the transformation in local public services from councils, police, fire authorities and their private and third sector partners.

Cheshire has employed a strategy over a number of years to develop a range of interventions designed to reduce risk significantly and reduce the need for emergency intervention. This has seen a range of positive outcomes, not least a reduction of 70% of injuries in fires and a reduction of 41% in house fires.

>This is a similar model to that which the government is attempting to implement nationally, investing in prevention and not designing services to just deal with crisis.

165 nominations were received in total for these awards with 27 public sector projects selected to compete for nine awards. Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service won the Fire and Rescue Project of the Year award with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service second and Gloucestershire third in this category.

Evan Morris, Head of Community Fire Safety at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "I am delighted that our organisation has won this award and am especially thrilled to be recognised as a leading Fire and Rescue Service.

"This is a significant achievement and reflects the hard work invested by our staff and volunteers. Our aim is always to deliver an excellent fire and rescue service, ensuring that the communities of Cheshire remain safe.”

Some of the campaigns and initiatives which helped secure this award are:
· Home Safety Targeting of 330,000 homes being visited since 2002/3
· Data sharing agreement with the NHS
. Delivering a comprehensive road safety programme.
· Dementia and Deaf advocate roles within the Service
· Multi-Agency Risk Assessment work for domestic violence
· Snow Angels cold weather planning partnership
· Youth Engagement activity

The iESE is owned, led and governed by councils and is a not-for-profit social enterprise that helps public bodies throughout the UK deliver improved services at lower cost.

Posted 10/3/2013 by richard.hook@pavpub.com