Independent recognition
of improvement in fire and rescue service welcomed by Fire Minister
COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (078) issued by The Government News Network
on 5 April 2007
Results of the
Fire and Rescue Service performance assessment released today by
the Audit Commission were welcomed by, Angela Smith Minister for
the Fire and Rescue Service.
The results show that the majority of Fire and Rescue Authorities
are improving strongly or well since the Commission's
Comprehensive Performance Assessment nearly two years ago. No
authorities have failed to improve since 2005.
Eighty-five per cent of Fire and Rescue Authorities have also
been assessed as performing strongly or well in the management and
use of their financial resources. All are delivering value for money.
The Audit Commission's report also says that the service has
increasingly worked well with partners on community fire safety
initiatives. Good results have been achieved in increasing home
fire risk assessments and reducing arson. They have also
contributed effectively to crime reduction and road safety through
working with children and young people.
Fire and Rescue Minister Angela Smith said:
"These results demonstrate the extent to which Fire and
Rescue Authorities have embraced the improvement agenda since the
assessment in 2005. Overall, the picture is encouraging with many
authorities, even at the top end of the performance spectrum,
striving for continuous improvement. However, it is clear that
there is more work to do in some areas and we will continue to
work closely with those fire and rescue authorities to ensure a
culture of improvement becomes embedded."
However, the Commission's report highlights that the gap
between the FRAs performing strongly and those performing
adequately is widening. Equality and diversity issues remain an
area where all fire and rescue authorities need to take further
action. The workforce in most fire and rescue services does not
represent the community they serve and thus they are less able to
engage with the communities most at risk from death and injury.
Angel Smith continued:
"The Audit Commission's report acknowledges that the
service has made unsatisfactory progress on equality and
diversity. It is vital that all fire and rescue authorities take
action without delay to ensure equality and diversity is part of
everything they do. The Department is working with the service to
develop strategy that will improve the service for all."
The Audit Commission scorecards cover three assessment areas:
* Use of resources
* Direction of travel (improvement since
2005)
* Service assessments (includes planning to deal with
fires and arson etc).
In each there are four possible scores from inadequate/below
minimum requirements to performing strongly/well above
requirements. This information builds on the 2005 scores.
Notes to Editors
The Audit Commission have today published the results of three
assessment processes they have undertaken for fire and rescue
authorities in 2006-7. These are published in the form of a
scorecard for each Fire and Rescue Authority.
The scorecards will give each authority's CPA score, and
then a score for direction of travel, use of resources and will
repeat the service assessment score published on 22 February 2007.
The scoring system used for the purposes of each of the
assessments is as follows:
Score Description Assessment judgement
1 Below minimum requirements Inadequate
performance/improvement
2 At only minimum Adequate
requirements performance/improvement
3 Consistently above minimum Improving/Performing well
requirements
4 Well above minimum Improving/Performing strongly
requirements
Use of resources looks at financial accounting and reporting
arrangements, how well the FRA plans and manages its finances and
whether the FRA achieves value for money. The assessment is scored
from 1 (inadequate performance) to 4 (performing strongly).
Direction of travel states how well the FRA has performed since
the baseline CPA in 2005 and whether or not it is expected to
continue to improve. Scores are given in one of four categories
ranging from not improving adequately or not improving to
improving strongly.
Service assessments were published on 22 February 2007 and
combined an Operational Assessment of Service Delivery (OASD),
which looked at process, capacity and planning with a range of
performance indicators. These looked at how the service is
delivered and covered issues such as the number and types of
fires, deaths, injuries, false alarms and arson attacks.
Fire and Rescue Performance Assessments build on Fire CPA 2005.
The assessments sit alongside the CPA judgement of poor, weak,
fair, good or excellent and give additional information about how
well FRAs prevent fires, deaths and injuries as well as how
prepared they are to respond to emergencies, how well their
services are improving and whether they provide value for money.
The Audit Commission is responsible for the overall performance
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 corporate assessment
rating of excellent, good, fair, weak or poor. Inspectors looked
at issues like leadership, staff training, performance and budget
management against priorities and the way the Fire and Rescue
Service works within the community to make it safer and prevent
fires from happening in the first place. The last full CPA
assessment was July 2005.
Both Kent and Merseyside FRAs were assessed as
'Excellent' in Fire CPA 2005. This entitles them to a
standard package of 'freedoms and flexibilities',
including an inspection holiday. As a consequence, both
authorities have chosen to opt out of service assessment process
but they do have scores for the direction of travel and use of
resources assessments.
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