COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (021) issued by The Government News Network
on 31 January 2008
Results from the
Audit Commission showing that all fire services have improved
their performance in preventing fires and saving lives, were
welcomed today by Fire Minister Parmjit Dhanda.
The Fire Minister also welcomed the Audit Commission's
recognition that workplace diversity remains a major issue,
impacting directly on fire services' ability to carry out
fire prevention work. He called on everyone involved to work
together to improve this.
The independent report from the Commission recognises that fire
deaths are at their lowest level since the 1950s and praises the
Fire and Rescue Service's commitment to delivering community
safety initiatives, which are helping to reduce arson and, in
conjunction with the police, to improve road safety.
The report, which assesses the Service's performance since
the Comprehensive Performance Assessment in 2005, shows that all
authorities are on course to meet Government targets to reduce the
total number of deliberate fires by 10% by 2010.
However, it notes that more needs to be done to continue the rate
of improvement on prevention, with some authorities needing to
learn from the performance of the best, and for action on levels
of representation of women and minorities.
Fire and Rescue Minister Parmjit Dhanda said:
"These results show the high level of performance by all
Fire and Rescue Authorities, which has reduced fire deaths to
their lowest level in 50 years. The Commission rightly recognises
the achievements of the Service in helping to drive down fire
incidents, fire deaths and arson. It also acknowledges the
commitment of authorities to continuous improvement to meet the
needs of the communities they serve. However, more needs to be
done on diversity. We - that is central government, local
government, the service and the unions - must make it our mission
to collectively achieve better progress. We share the Audit
Commission's view that a more representative workforce makes
it easier for the service to connect with the different
communities most at risk from fire. Equality and diversity needs
to be embedded in every aspect of the Fire and Rescue
Service's work. We are currently consulting on a ten year
strategy to deliver improvement - we need a step change."
The Audit Commission scorecards cover three assessment
areas:
* Use of resources
* Direction of travel (improvement)
* Service assessments (includes planning to deal with fires and
other emergencies)
Note to editors
1. The Audit Commission have today published the results of three
assessment processes they have undertaken for Fire and rescue
Authorities in 2007-8. These are published in the form of a
scorecard for each authority.
The Audit Commission is responsible for the performance
assessment framework for the Fire and Rescue Service in England.
Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) for Fire was introduced
in 2005 when each authority was given a rating based on corporate
assessment. The Commission looked at issues like leadership, staff
training, performance.
More information about Fire CPA, individual FRAs and the new
performance framework can be found at http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/fire
2. The latest quarterly rolling update Fire Statistics Monitor:
Covering period up to 31 December 2006 published 14 December 2007
is at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/fire/stats-q42006
Also on the Department's website the latest annual
statistical bulletin, Fire Statistics United Kingdom, 2005, which
contains trends and analysis for the years 1995-2005 http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/fire/pdf/320258