You can use the translation service powered by Microsoft Azure to translate NFRS pages into a variety of other languages.

Please note:

This will refresh the page.

Translations cannot be guaranteed as exact and may include incorrect or inappropriate language. We cannot control the quality or accuracy of the Microsoft service.

In an emergency call 999
For general enquiries call 01158388100
Monday - Friday -

2022-23 Annual Delivery Plan

Introduction

Welcome to our Annual Delivery Plan for 2022/23, the first year of our Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) 2022 - 2025. This plan outlines the work we will do this year towards delivering our commitments to our communities.

The months ahead will be a period of transition for the Service, with Chief Fire Officer Craig Parkin taking up post in April, and the move into our new headquarters at Sherwood Lodge completing in the summer. This will bring changes for our staff and new opportunities to work alongside our colleagues in Nottinghamshire Police.

We look forward to receiving our inspection report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), detailing the findings from their inspection visit last Autumn. We believe this will recognise the hard work we have done to improve the performance of the Service since their last visit, as well as providing recommendations to help progress our journey to becoming an outstanding service.

Within the fire sector, further development of national fire standards is expected to continue alongside other initiatives designed to raise standards and increase consistency of practice across all fire and rescue services. A Government ‘White Paper’ proposing further reforms of the sector is also expected to be published this year.

Looking more widely, the economic climate combined with uncertainty around longer-term funding from Government, presents us with a financial challenge in the short term. We will need to make some savings this year and plan to identify potential savings which can be implemented in future years, to ensure we deliver a sustainable, balanced budget whilst continuing to put the needs of our communities first.

Our development priorities this year are focused on:

  • Improving our ability to target and engage those in our communities who will most benefit from our services
  • Developing the ‘community first’ ethos in our culture, reflecting the national Core Code of Ethics in our values and behaviours
  • Reviewing our workforce and ways of working to identify the changes we need to make to ensure the Service is fit for the future

More information about these, and the other actions we are taking in relation to each of our strategic goals, are contained within this plan.

You can find more details about our long-term ambition and our strategic goals in our CRMP, which is also available on our website.

We will provide updates on our progress against this Annual Delivery Plan throughout the year, and we will provide a full report on our progress and performance in our Annual Statement of Assurance which will be published in the Summer of 2023.

Strategic goal 1: We will help people stay safe from fires and other emergencies

This goal focuses on our statutory duty to prevent fires and other emergencies from happening.

Our key objectives for this year are:

  • Deliver Safe and Well Visits to 13,000 homes to provide advice, install smoke alarms and other safety equipment. We will target those people at higher risk, with a particular focus on those over 65 years old or who consider themselves to have a disability
  • Develop our understanding of communities and the people who live in them, to help target and engage with those most at risk in an inclusive way
  • Ensure all staff complete the mandatory safeguarding training needed for their roles, and that we make safeguarding referrals in line with the various Safeguarding Boards expectations
  • Deliver fire, road and water safety education activities to those most at risk in the community
  • Provide training and education to our partners on how to recognise the risks of fire and make appropriate referrals to us in line with our CHARLIE profile

Our focus for improvements this year are:

  • Upgrade our computer systems to improve our ability to target our activities towards those people at the highest risk
  • Improve our methods and processes for evaluation, to ensure our activities are delivering the greatest benefits

Strategic goal 2: We will improve fire safety in the buildings people live and work in

This goal is focused on our statutory duties to enforce fire safety regulations.

Our key objectives for this year are:

  • Complete 1,200 fire safety audits, targeting high risk buildings
  • Complete 500 business safety checks on business premises
  • Continue to work as part of the Joint Audit and Inspection Team with Nottingham City Council staff, to inspect multiple-occupation residential buildings
  • Promote fire safety through business engagement and networks
  • Proactively work with building owners to reduce call outs to false alarms and people trapped in lifts

Our focus for improvements this year are:

  • Update our systems and processes in line with changes to new fire safety legislation
  • Implement the new high-rise residential building audits for buildings over 11m tall
  • Complete the training of operational staff to enable them to carry out business safety checks

Strategic goal 3: We will respond immediately and effectively to emergency incidents

This goal focuses on our statutory duty to respond to emergencies.

Our key objectives for this year are:

  • Deliver routine training and revalidation to maintain the skills and competence of operational staff
  • Respond to incidents within an average time of eight minutes
  • Work collaboratively with regional partners to improve the effectiveness of our response to incidents

Our focus for improvements this year are:

  • Review our initial firefighter training programme
  • Implementation of a new computer system to manage the rostering of operational staff
  • Implementation of the recommendations of the Special Appliances Review conducted in 2021
  • Assess the findings of the ongoing pilot to test alternate contracts for on-call firefighters and make recommendations for future implementation

Strategic goal 4: We will continue to support and develop our workforce and promote an inclusive Service

This goal focuses on inclusion and the development and wellbeing of our workforce.

Our key objectives for this year are:

  • Undertake community engagement and positive action to improve the diversity of applicants and appointees for roles at all levels of the Service
  • Reduce sickness absence and promote employee health and well being
  • Deliver a range of learning opportunities to increase understanding of inclusion issues across our workforce

Our focus for improvements this year are:

  • Undertake a strategic workforce review, across all departments, to determine the skills and capacity we need to deliver effective services
  • Enhance support and promotion of healthy lifestyles and wellbeing initiatives
  • Review of our Service’s standards of dress and replacement of duty rig uniform to ensure that it is inclusive and fit for purpose for all our staff

Strategic goal 5: We will continue our improvement journey to deliver an outstanding Service

This goal focuses on the continuous improvement of our services, systems and processes.

Our focus for improvements this year are:

  • Use our Strategic Assessment of Risk and Fire Cover Review to prioritise our services and align our resources to best effect
  • Develop an online repository of information about risks and communities for our public-facing teams
  • Develop our management information capability to better support performance management and decision making
  • Ensure service information is readily accessible to all service users including those with different needs or access requirements
  • Evaluate the consultation approach used in the development of our CRMP, to identify areas of improvement
  • Respond to the recommendations of public inquiries, sector learning and new fire standards as they are published
  • Improve the availability of key systems to increase the scope for mobile working

Strategic goal 6: We will manage and invest in our Service to ensure it is fit for the future

This goal is focused on financial and environmental sustainability.

Our key objectives this year are:

  • Move into the new fire station at Worksop
  • Complete the move out of Bestwood Lodge
  • Complete an options appraisal for the replacement of Eastwood fire station
  • Relocate the incident command training facility to Mansfield fire station
  • Procure new vehicles to replace those which have reached the end of their serviceable life

Our focus for improvements this year are:

  • Review our 10-year Capital Programme in the light of our Strategic Assessment of Risk
  • Revise governance and decision-making processes to take account of environmental sustainability considerations
  • Re-tender the cleaning and grounds maintenance contract

Our Performance targets for 2022/23

Our CRMP describes four pillars around which we measure our performance. Our high-level performance targets for each of these pillars are shown below.

Community Outcomes

  • Visit 13,000 homes to deliver Safe and Well visits
  • Complete 1,200 fire safety audits
  • Complete 500 business safety checks
  • Reduce the number of false alarms and lift rescues attended by 3% of 2021/22 levels
  • Reach incidents within eight minutes, on average, from the time the first fire engine is dispatched

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

  • 100% of new staff will complete mandatory EDI training within 2 months of joining
  • The Service achieves Disability Confident “Leader Status”
  • All fire stations undertake local positive action events to support recruitment

Professional and committed workforce

  • Average number of days lost through sickness absence is at or below 7 per annum
  • All essential firefighter and officer training is completed
  • All staff have an annual personal development review

Strong governance and financial sustainability

  • Deliver services within the £47.4m budget set for the year
  • Reduce gas and electric consumption by 5% compared to 2019/20