Fire Authority reflects on three years of improvements

Members of the Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham Combined Fire Authority have today (22 July) approved Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue’s Annual Statement of Assurance (ASoA).

The report produced by the Service, highlights the progress it has made in the last year, and ensures progress against the Service’s Strategic Plan.

The report was the last ASoA against the Service’s Strategic Plan for 2019-2022, which was replaced by its new Community Risk Management Plan in April this year.

Over the past three years, key highlights of the Service’s activities include:

• Attending over 28,000 emergency incidents.
• Reaching every emergency incident in an average of 7 minutes 52 seconds – below its target of 8 minutes.
• Completing over 26,000 Safe and Well Visits to elderly and vulnerable members of the community
• Rescuing almost 4,000 people from either buildings, vehicles, water, confined spaces or heights.
• Moving to a new joint headquarters with Nottinghamshire Police, and investing in a new state-of-the-art station at Worksop, and a new tri-service station at Hucknall.
• Completing all of the recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
• Creating a Joint Fire Control with Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service.
• Being recognised as one of the leading employers in the UK for LGBT+ inclusion in the workplace.
• Sending firefighting equipment to support Ukraine and Croatia.
• Providing support to communities during the pandemic – this included administering over 75,000 vaccinations, completing nearly 500 urgent care shifts for EMAS, and helping to build over 20 testing centres.
• Completing a Fire Cover Review to help understand which parts of the county are most at risk of fire and other emergencies.
• Investing in new equipment including smoke curtains to protect the spread of smoke to escape routes, and implementing new National Operating Guidance which ensures safe and effective working.

Chief Fire Officer Craig Parkin, said: “I am immensely proud of our performance last year, and what we have been able to achieve for our communities over the past three years.

“We will continue to make the best use of our resources to keep people safe, and we are already working towards achieving the goals of our new Community Risk Management Plan, which outlines our long-term ambition to be an outstanding fire service.

“Later this month we expect to receive an independent report on our performance from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.

“This will give us a really good insight into our performance since 2019, and identify how we can continue to improve how we serve our communities.”

Councillor Michael Payne, Chair of the Combined Fire Authority, said: "It is a real pleasure to have seen the Service achieve what it has over the past three years.

“We, as Members of the Fire Authority, are delighted with the progress of the Service and remain in awe of the efforts of all of its firefighters and staff to do their upmost for those that they serve.”

Our Annual Statement of Assurance can be found under our Service Plans.