Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service
Annual statement of assurance 2022 - 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

In 2022/23 our key objectives were:

  • Deliver Safe and Well Visits to 13,000 homes to provide advice, install smoke alarms and other safety equipment, targeting 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 on improvement included:

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

During the year:

  • We conducted 13,913 Safe and Well interventions supporting a total of 14,489 people
  • 47.15% of our Safe and Well interventions were delivered to people over 65 and 39.59% were delivered to people who considered themselves to have a disability
  • We delivered 33 Data Intelligence Community Engagement (DICE) activities targeting the most vulnerable in our communities. We also undertook 26 Community Reassurance and Engagement (CRaE) activities following serious fires in locations across Nottinghamshire. Through these activities, our crews and prevention teams visited a total of 7055 properties
  • We delivered Safety Zone events to 2,657 year 5 and 6 pupils, 310 teachers and parents from across the City and County
  • We delivered 104 fire, road or water safety initiatives
  • We supported 64 national safety campaigns
  • We continued to deliver our Firesetter programme and conducted 128 interventions with young people who had shown an interest in setting or playing with fire

Other Highlights

We explain in our CRMP how our prevention work is vital to reducing the number and impact of emergency incidents. Through 2022/23 we have used our understanding of our communities to target our efforts where they are needed most.

Supporting Vulnerable Individuals

Our targeted Safe and Well visits offer advice on factors which increase vulnerability to fire and injury. This includes advice on stopping smoking, alcohol addiction, preventing falls, keeping warm in winter and general fire safety.

We have continued to educate and train our partners to recognise the risks of fire and make appropriate referrals, using the ‘CHARLIE-P’ profile.

Community Engagement

Our community engagement activities help raise awareness, reduce risk and prevent incidents.

In communities which have experienced a serious fire we carry out Community Reassurance and Engagement (CRaE) visits. We offer Safe and Well visits to residents alongside general fire safety advice to help prevent similar incidents from occurring.

We also proactively target communities most at risk from having a fire through our Data Intelligence Community Engagement (DICE) visits.

Integration and Collaboration

We have continued to work closely with a wide range of partners and community organisations to identify those most at risk and keep them safe. This included being an active member of the Safeguarding Board and the Violence Reduction Partnership.

We have supported the ‘Safer Streets’ programme led by Nottinghamshire Police in the city of Nottingham. Using funding provided by the police, we have assigned two fire appliances as ‘safe spaces’ for women if they feel vulnerable while out at night. The vehicles carry messaging which highlights them as ‘safe spaces’. Enhanced safeguarding training has been provided to crews of the designated appliances.

We continue to play an active role in the Nottinghamshire Road Safety Partnership where we work with partners to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads. These intervention activities include the `Biker Down` and ‘Operation Highway` initiatives.

Similarly, we work as part of the Nottinghamshire Water Safety Partnership to help keep people safe near water.

As part of a schools-based education programme we participate in an initiative called ‘Safety Zone’. The programme is held at Ashfield fire station, Ranby House and Holme Pierrepoint and involves partners including Nottinghamshire Police, British Transport Police, Western Power, The Dogs Trust, Royal National Lifeboat Institution, VIA (County road safety team) and East Midlands Ambulance Service. Safety Zone delivers a range of interactive education sessions based on:

  • Fire safety in the home
  • First aid and CPR
  • Knife crime
  • Railway safety and safe travel
  • Water safety and drowning prevention
  • Electrical safety

Fire Investigation

Our fire investigation team works alongside the police and forensic experts to collect and examine evidence and determine the likely origin and cause of a fire. As well as providing expert opinion to the coroner, police and insurance companies the team also provide advice to property owners on future safety measures.

During 2022/23 we recruited two specialist fire investigation dogs and their handlers to detect the use of ignitable liquids at fire investigations. The Dog Unit is based in Nottinghamshire, but also provides support across Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. The Dog Unit also provides mutual support and training to the West Midlands Fire Service Dog Unit. Our specialist fire investigators investigated 157 serious fires across the County during 2022/23.