Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service
Annual statement of assurance 2024 - 2025

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 2024/25 our key objectives were to:

  • Deliver Safe and Well Visits to 15,000 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, using data from the 2021 Census, to help target and engage with those most at risk, in an inclusive way

Our focus for improvements included:

  • Develop our Prevention system (CFRMIS) to improve mobile working, the productivity of our staff and the customer experience, making self and partner referrals more accessible and improve ease of use
  • Implement a review of how we deliver Prevention services & activities via an improved department structure

During the year:

  • We completed 15,207 Safe and Well visits
  • 55% of Safe and Well Visits were delivered to people over 65 and 47% were delivered to people who considered themselves to have a disability
  • The Safety Zone programme reached 3,217 Year 5 and 6 pupils
  • We attended 571 fire, road and water safety initiatives
  • We supported 48 national safety campaigns
  • We processed 114 fire safety interventions to young people who have shown an interest in setting or playing with fire

We delivered 17 Data Intelligence Community Engagement (DICE) activities targeting the most vulnerable in our communities. We also undertook 14 Community Reassurance and Engagement (CraE) activities following serious fires across Nottinghamshire - through these activities, prevention teams, supported by crews engaged with 3,234 properties.

Research from Nottingham Trent University informed the development of a mapping tool (CEDFRAC) to identify areas where educational efforts can have the greatest impact. This tool will be tested in 2025–26 during Data- Led Community Engagement (DICE). The research was presented to the NFCC’s Academic Collaboration, Evaluation and Research Group (ACER) in March 2025.

We continued to develop the system we use to record and manage important safety information about buildings and people in our communities. We have reviewed how the Community Fire Risk Management Information System (CFRMIS) is used and how processes and functions could be improved to help our staff carry out their work more effectively. The project is set to continue into 2025/26 and is referenced later in this document.

The Prevention Department underwent a major restructure to refocus officer time on direct delivery. The changes also strengthened support from operational managers for local delivery and partnership work. The new Community Safety and Engagement Service includes two teams: the Persons at Risk Team (PaRT), responsible for Safe and Well visits and follow-ups with vulnerable residents; and the Community Engagement, Education and Partnerships Team (CEEP), which leads on engagement and education. They work closely with partners to support effective delivery.

Other Highlights

Our CRMP outlines the importance of our prevention work in reducing both the number and impact of emergency incidents. Throughout 2024/25, we have used our insight into local communities to focus our efforts where they are needed most, making the most of every opportunity to have a positive impact.

Engagement

The department restructure has enabled more support for frontline engagement activities. Over the past two years, crews have built stronger relationships with community groups, through our community befriending scheme, supported by guidance from and aligned with the Safer Communities Strategy.

Using research insights from In2People (an independent provider of HR and organisational development services) and work by Nottingham Trent University (which mapped demographics, incident data, and risk factors), the CEEP team is now forming long-term relationships with key community groups. These will include joint events, projects, and shared learning. As part of this work, a “Have a Go” day was held with Djanogly City Academy at Stockhill Fire Station in November 2024.

The CEEP team prioritises high-attendance events where key safety risks can be addressed and where underrepresented groups can be reached. When possible, they also support smaller, local events alongside crews.

Education

The team took over chairing the Nottingham Safety Education Partnership, bringing in new partners like the Canal and Riverside Trust and updating our “risky room” resource to improve delivery and evaluation of fire safety education.

A review of the Firesetter Programme in September 2024 led to its relaunch as Fire Safety Interventions, aligned with NFCC guidance. With trained staff now in place, 114 referrals have been processed so far.

Referrals from the Youth Justice Service for young people involved in minor driving offences were introduced, drawing on best practice from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue. Delivered one-to-one by CEEP officers, these sessions have already supported eight young people, with positive court feedback and more referrals expected.

The team also delivered interactive water safety sessions at Police Cadet events across Nottinghamshire, which will continue into the next year.

Partnerships

Community Advisory Group membership expanded from 6 to 9, now including representatives linked to the Sikh, Muslim, Black Majority Churches, minority-owned businesses, the Ukrainian Cultural Centre, and professionals from Police, Health, and Local Authorities. With the new team in place, safeguarding processes have been adjusted to improve how concerns are managed. New systems support learning from Serious Adult Reviews, Domestic Homicide Reviews, and Child Death Reviews.

District Station Managers now attend Community Safety Partnerships, allowing the wider team to take part in community safety and anti-social behaviour meetings. We now chair multi-agency risk assessment conferences for domestic abuse, which are held every two months. The Community Safety and Engagement team also contributes to key local partnerships, including:

  • Nottinghamshire Fraud Partnership
  • Tobacco Control Alliance & Illicit Tobacco Group
  • Violence Against Women and Girls Partnership
  • Serious Violence Reduction Partnership
  • Preventing Violent Extremism Partnership
  • Modern Slavery Partnership

Supporting vulnerable individuals

Partnership training on the Charlie P methodology was updated in July 2024. Our Charlie P tool is used to identify individuals most at risk from fire in the home and helps to evaluate key factors that may increase fire vulnerability.

To improve efficiency and engagement, sessions now run quarterly at Highfields and Mansfield and can be booked online by partners across the city and county. Bespoke training was also delivered to Nottingham City Housing staff, enabling them to carry out basic fire safety checks and refer more complex cases to us. This has led to fewer, but higher-quality, referrals.

Over the year, 8,628 referrals came from partners, and 1,439 were made by the public—an ongoing year-on-year increase that reflects growing confidence in our support for vulnerable people.

The introduction of PaRT Case Officers has strengthened quality assurance and ensured consistent attendance at high-risk review groups, multidisciplinary meetings, and hoarding panels.

Working with Nottingham Trent University, we evaluated Safe and Well data. Findings, presented at the ACER conference, showed SWV interventions are effective in reducing fire risk among individuals, whilst also highlighting areas for data quality improvement. These are now being addressed through the CFRMIS project.

Fire Investigation

The core work of the team involves investigating complex fire scenes, often alongside Police colleagues. A significant portion of their caseload involves fire-related deaths and incidents linked to criminal activity. These require extensive work both on-scene and post-incident, including fatal fire reports for H.M. Coroner, witness statements, and preparing evidence for judicial or civil proceedings.

Following investigations, the team often refers cases to internal departments such as Fire Protection and Persons at Risk teams to help safeguard vulnerable individuals. This can lead to immediate prevention actions by crews, including Safe and Well Visits (S&WVs) and addressing potential arson threats.

The team includes two fire investigation dogs and their handlers, who help identify ignitable liquids used to start or intensify fires. These dogs are a shared East Midlands resource, funded by Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and Derbyshire FRS, and can be deployed nationally. The handlers also deliver tier 1 fire investigation training to supervisory managers.

In 2024/2025, the team carried out 105 investigations across Nottinghamshire, including seven fatal incidents.