The NFCC Community Risk Programme (CRP) have published some guidance and tools to support services, more will follow over the coming months. These tools and guidance help services in developing CRMPs as well as in achieving the Fire Standard and are available online. You can out more about the CRP and its work on the NFCC website.
Approved Standard
Take a look at the Fire Standard that was published following your feedback to the consultation.
Consultation
Desired Outcome
| You Said | We Did |
|---|---|
| Fire and Rescue Services objectives are wider than preventing and reducing fires and other incidents. | This is recognised and there will be a suite of Fire Standards addressing all areas of activity which when seen together should address all objectives for services. However, we have made some changes and referencing the services’ broader role in supporting the wider economic wellbeing of its community. |
| The Fire Standard did not emphasise the importance of collaborative work that takes place with partners and stakeholders to deliver services | We have made reference to partners, collaborative and cross-border working, where applicable and relevant. |
| The continual evaluation of a fire and rescue services activities is essential to understanding the effectiveness and the delivery of its CRMP and to help identify and mitigate any emerging or changing hazards. | We have emphasised the importance of ongoing evaluation to both assess the effectiveness of a service’s CRMP and to identify and mitigate any emerging or changing hazards. |
| Risks and hazards are not always local, there maybe risks that are national or span across borders. | We have modified the language to incorporate local, regional and national risks. |
To Achieve The Fire Standards
| You Said | We Did |
|---|---|
| It’s important to clarify decisions about resource deployment should be made on the prioritisation of risk levels. | We have included prioritisation as a key element of resource deployment decisions |
| The CRMP Fire Standard could be more explicit regarding how services should be mindful and support relevant equality legislation with references to Equality Impact Analysis requirement for any key service delivery changes. | We have revised the wording of the [section/s] to ensure that organisational decisions and the measures implemented support equality, diversity, inclusivity, are non-discriminatory and are people impact assessed. |
| All Service’s should be working to the same/ similar set of ‘risk groups’ and these could be defined by the standard to ensure a consistent approach. | The NFCC Community Risk Programme have developed a Definition of Risk and Glossary of risk related terms to help in this regard and we have aligned the language in the Fire Standard to that. |
Expected Benefits of the Fire Standard
| You Said | We Did |
|---|---|
| Many benefits listed are subjective and would be difficult to quantify and measure | We have reviewed the benefits section in its entirety and amended each benefit to ensure they are measurable and will be focussing on improving that in the next few Fire Standards. |
| There are benefits of working in collaboration and the expertise, resources, and resilience that this brings to a fire and rescue service should be stated. | We have added an additional benefit which describes the benefit of collaborative working. |
Implementation
| You Said | We Did |
|---|---|
| HMICFRS will assess the Service’s approach to community risk management during the next inspection. Will further detail be provided so that services can assure themselves that they are achieving the standard? | In conjunction with services, we have developed a self-assessment tool to support you with the implementation and achievement of the Fire Standard. Further guidance to support community risk management planning is in development and will be published over the coming months, you can find updates on the work of the Community Risk Programme on the NFCC website. The CRP is working closely with the HMICFRS who are aware that guidance and tools to support the production of CRMPs are in development and will be released to services as and when they are finalised. The expectations on services in relation to the CRMP Fire Standard will take this into consideration. |