PAPER C
Committee: FULL
COUNCIL
Date: 21 MARCH 2007
Title: FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE – OPTIONS APPRAISAL REPORT
REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR
SAFER COMMUNITIES AND FIRE AND RESCUE MODERNISATION
PURPOSE
1.
To
inform the Council of the Options Appraisal Report and other supporting
information that has been requested to enable it to reach a decision on the future
of the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service.
OUTCOMES
2.
This
report considers three options with regards to the future of the Isle of Wight
Fire and Rescue Service. They are:
·
Option
1 – Status Quo
The Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue
Service remains part of the Isle of Wight Council (IWC). Subsequent to the consultation process and
the production of the Appraisal of Options Report (Appendix
A), further opportunities have arisen for joint working arrangements between “Blue Light”
services and other Public Sector partners on the Island. This option provides the Chief Executive of
IWC with the authority to pursue these opportunities, as any such arrangement
would drive further efficiencies and build capacity within the service to
deliver modernisation.
·
Option 2 – Increased collaboration with Hampshire
Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS)
Retain the Isle of Wight Fire
and Rescue Service within the Isle of Wight Council, however agree to a
formalised structure of collaboration with HFRS.
·
Option 3 – Full combination (merger) with HFRS
Commence negotiations with
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service with a view to forming a new combined
service.
3.
As
a result of the decision taken, the residents and visitors of the Isle of Wight
will receive a high-quality service that meets the requirements of the Fire and
Rescue Services Act 2004, The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and The Crime and
Disorder Act (Section 17) as directed in the Fire and Rescue Service National
Framework.
BACKGROUND
4. Appraisal of options for greater
collaboration or full merger with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service. (Appendix
A)
In March 2006, after consulting with
the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the Isle of Wight
Council undertook the production of a report that presents three Options for
the future:
·
Status Quo
·
Increased
collaboration with HFRS
·
Full
combination (merger) with HFRS
5. A
project leader from the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives’
(SOLACE) was appointed to carry out
the research and produce a final report on behalf of the Isle of Wight Council.
6. Following acceptance of the completed
report by the Monitoring Board (Department of Communities and Local Government)
and the Modernisation Board (Isle of Wight Council) the Council and HFRS
embarked upon a 12-week public consultation period commencing 1 November 2006
7. The Council commissioned Opinion
Research Services (ORS) to carry out this work on their behalf. On the conclusion of the Consultation Period
(31 January 2007) a report on the results of this consultation was prepared and
is attached as Appendix B.
8.
A fact-finding visit to
Devon and Somerset FRS, who have agreed to a ‘voluntary combination’, took
place on 29 and 30 January and a report on the findings is attached as Appendix
C. In summary, the findings of the
report are as follows:
·
Both authorities support
the scheme as they see it as being mutually beneficial.
·
The Combined Service
will commence from 1 April 2007.
·
Population: Devon 1.1m; Somerset 450,000.
·
Both Authorities are
equal partners under a new combination order.
·
Constitutional
arrangements are dealt with through a Member Steering Group. A Shadow Authority has also been established
based on electoral roll numbers – Devon 11; Somerset 8; Plymouth 4; Torbay 2.
·
There was no
comprehensive public consultation, however DCLG carried out stakeholder
consultation.
·
The new combination is
being managed via a Project Board with equal numbers of officers from both
authorities. The project has ten
workstreams (2 people for each task).
·
Transitional costs are
being funded 2:1, Devon:Somerset. The
transitional costs are projected to be £1,054,000.
·
Complete re-branding of
the service costing £200,000 will be undertaken.
·
A consultant has been
engaged to assist in identifying critical tasks in order to meet the target
date.
·
Main benefits for
Somerset stated as increased managerial capacity and release of potential in
retained stations; there are currently insufficient funds available from the
Council to complete modernisation agenda.
STRATEGIC CONTEXT
9. The
Isle of Wight Council is the only Unitary Council in England that is
responsible for its Fire and Rescue Service.
Grant funding allows for this and any shortfall is funded through
council tax receipts.
10. The Fire and Rescue Service, as
a department of the Isle of Wight Council, currently contributes to the
achievement of the Island objectives contained within the Corporate Plan and
the Local Area Agreement. The Fire and
Rescue Service clearly makes a contribution to all 5 corporate objectives. Some examples of this contribution are:
Sustainable regeneration and
development of the Island – through its environmental protocols and memoranda of understanding
with the Environment Agency.
Improving the health and
well-being of Island communities – through its work on the Injury Prevention Forum,
Co-Responder Scheme, etc
Creating safer and stronger
communities –
through its prevention, protection and response policies, Integrated Risk
Management Plan (www.iwfire.org) , work
with other Island organisations and agencies and the emergency services.
Improving outcomes for children
and young people
– through its school safety education programme, Young Firefighters’ Scheme,
work with other agencies to reduce incidences of arson and malicious false
alarms, LIFE Scheme, etc
Being a high-performing, cost
effective council – through efficiency savings and reductions in revenue budget, improved
value for money initiatives and highly-regarded financial management processes.
11. The Fire and Rescue Service National Framework
sets out the requirements under modernisation and is the basis of the
Integrated Risk Management Plan that is updated annually following a robust
period of consultation.
12. As
part of the IWC, the FRS contributes towards Gershon efficiency savings and
strives to improve value for money.
However, the FRS undergoes separate performance assessments by the Audit
Commission and the recent Use of Resources and Direction of Travel Assessment
score will be announced in April. The
FRS has the added advantage of sharing best practice within the IWC, whilst also
gaining capacity and expertise through its association with the Fire and Rescue
Service’s South East Regional Management Board (RMB).
OPERATIONAL IMPACT
13. The Operational Case forms part of the Options Appraisal
Report (Appendix A) and is detailed on pages 22 – 32.
14. The Options Appraisal Report illustrates
potential benefits from the option of a
merger, however also states that the status quo continues to provide assurance
that front line services deliver an adequate emergency response. The Audit Commission has recently assessed
the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service as performing adequately. This is based on two elements, operational
assessment of service delivery (performing adequately) and performance information
(performing well). Performing
adequately is an improvement on the 2005 rating of “poor”.
15. As stated previously, further
opportunities for improving the capacity of the Isle of Wight Council Fire and
Rescue Service for modernisation, whilst delivering efficiency savings, have
arisen since the final draft of the Options Appraisal Report was delivered in
September 2006. This has the effect of
making a number of the conclusions in the report with regards to the status quo
option obsolete.
16. Of paramount importance to a Fire and
Rescue Service is operational safety through service delivery. Neither the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue
Service nor the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service are prepared to allow deterioration
in service delivery as a result of the selected option.
CONSULTATION
17. A
comprehensive and robust process of consultation was undertaken over 3 months
from 1 November to 31 January and was conducted by the Fire Services Consultation
Association’s contracted provider, Opinion Research Services (ORS).
18.
The
full report is published on the Council’s website and has been distributed to
all Libraries. Regular notices were
printed in the County Press to inform residents and businesses of the issues
being considered and the meeting dates.
19.
Invitations
were sent out to 208 named stakeholders and the Chamber of Commerce and Tourist
Board sent notices to their Island members via email newsletters.
20.
When
the assessment score for the FRS Operational Delivery was announced, this was
published as widely as possible on the instructions of the DCLG.
21.
A
total of 17 meetings were held and 3,500 letters were submitted to the Council.
22.
50,000
questionnaires were printed, 45,000 of which were inserted into the County
Press. An online version was made available on the website together with a
download facility. Hardcopies were
issued on request. All questionnaires
had a Freepost address directly to ORS Ltd.
23.
A
full report, setting out the process and the results, accompanies this paper as
Appendix B.
24.
The
conclusions of the report are as follows:
“The extensive public
consultation process:
Overwhelmingly rejected the prospect
of a merger of the Isle of Wight and Hampshire FRSs. Reasons quoted were:
·
Fear
of the loss of local democratic control
·
Consider
an extra £24.77 per year (Band D) to be a reasonable additional cost for
keeping the Island’s own FRS
·
Believe
that transitional costs will be substantial
·
Fear
a merger would lead to service cuts and redundancies on the Island
·
Blame
the police forces merger for a deterioration in services to the Island
·
Fear
that loss of the IWFRS might be a precedent for the loss of other services
·
Do
not want to be part of a greater
Hampshire
Overwhelmingly endorsed the
status quo as the only worthy option, while recognising the IWFRS has room to
improve its management and value for money.
In addition to the points above, consultees added the following points:
·
Feel
the IWFRS deserves the chance to put its house in order
·
Believe
it has the capacity and commitment to do so following management changes
Considered collaboration to be
preferable to a merger – but to be so far behind the status quo that it was not
considered a practical possibility.
Consultees quoted the following regarding this option:
·
Consider
collaboration to be a back-door to future merger
·
Believe
it will bring few, if any, tangible benefits
·
Felt
the Options Appraisal report is very vague about how any formal arrangement
would work in practice
In summary, this large and
detailed public consultation exercise has demonstrated almost unanimous views in
the responses. While the focus groups
showed that opinion on the Island is more diverse than the forums, public
meetings and opinion survey would suggest, there still remains no doubt that
Island opinion is against a merger and strongly in favour of the status quo
(subject to making necessary improvements) – while largely ignoring (or
dismissing) collaboration as at best ambiguous and at worst a back-door route
to merger.”
Results:
3,482 completed questionnaires
2,510 (75%) chose Status Quo as
‘best option’
577 (17%) chose Collaboration
242 (7%) chose
Combination/Merger
34 people attended 4 focus groups
Overall more people favoured
the Status Quo, with Collaboration a close second. There was no support for Merger.
344 people attended 11 public meetings
All the meetings showed
overwhelming support for the status quo – while acknowledging, in some cases,
that the service should improve.
68 people attended 3 stakeholder forums
The business, voluntary and statutory
sector stakeholders expressed overwhelming support for the status quo – whilst
acknowledging in many cases that the service had to demonstrate the capacity to
improve and should be ready to collaborate informally with whoever can assist.
56 people attended 2 employee forums
The staff forums were
unanimously opposed to the prospect of a merger with Hampshire and saw no
advantages in formal collaboration. The
status quo was their preferred option.
Representations
3,318 standardised letters
(treated as a petition) were received in favour of the Status Quo
41 members of the public wrote
to support the Status Quo
19 organisations from across
the Island reported the views of their members as representing the view of
their communities. All supported the
Status Quo option.
Andrew Turner, MP wrote to
express his concern over the loss of democratic control of the service and
acknowledged the “significant improvements that have been made recently”.
A submission was received from
the Fire Brigade Union stating support for the IWFRS remaining as a “stand
alone FRS under local democratic control, modernising and generating efficiency
to progress and develop the service”.
25.
In
addition to the above, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority conducted their own
consultation exercise, the results of which were provided to the Isle of Wight
Council on 14 February 2007 and are attached as Appendix D. The summarised findings of this exercise are
that Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service would not support formal collaboration,
however they would be prepared to enter into negotiations on the option of
merging the two services, only if the Isle of Wight Council wished to pursue
this option.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
26.
The
financial case forms part of the Options Appraisal Report (Appendix
A) and is detailed on pages 16 – 22.
In summary:
27.
Under
Option i, any efficiency savings as a result of a modernised service could be
utilised by the Council, either by reinvesting in their Fire Service or other
priority service areas. During the
2005/2006 and 2006/2007 financial years, the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue
Service contributed savings of £600,000 to IWC budgets.
This option provides authority
for the Chief Executive of the Isle of Wight Council to pursue the opportunity
of joint working arrangements between “Blue Light” services on the Island and Public
Sector partners. Any such arrangement
would drive further savings in the service whilst also building capacity to
deliver modernisation.
28.
Under
Option ii, formalised collaboration with Hampshire FRS, the savings are not
clear as this would depend on the collaboration issues and the effects on the
council of services currently delivered by them being provided by HFRS or
Hampshire County Council. This option
could lead to savings in staff costs for both the FRS and the Council if
current back-office services are provided by Hampshire as a consequence of
compatible requirements. An example of
this could be the administration of the Fireman’s Pension. The opportunities for any Service Level
Agreements pursued under this option will be assessed under best value
principles, although it is recognised that the governance of Service Level
Agreements could be complex. Hampshire
Fire and Rescue Authority have no wish to pursue this option.
29.
Under
Option iii, the case for a combined scheme explains that, whilst it is not
possible to forecast full transitional costs at this stage due to lack of
information on final structure in the case of a combined service, it has been
calculated to produce savings of £24.77 on Band D council tax per household as
a result of the re-distribution of budget costs over a far higher population
(Hampshire and the Isle of Wight).
These savings are based on 2006 / 2007 budgets. A merger would only be implemented in April
2008, by which time the savings stated above would not be current. This introduces further uncertainty as to
the level of savings that will be achievable.
It should also be noted that, once the services had merged, any future
savings would be apportioned between the two authorities with a minimal
percentage being attributable to IWC.
The arrangements for future
funding of IWC (currently the Revenue Support
Grant including Area Cost Adjustment) in a merger situation are still to be
clarified by the Government therefore the net effect this might have in future
years cannot be estimated. The
implications of this are that any potential savings to the Isle of Wight
Council generated by a merger could be offset by a reduction in Revenue Support
Grant from the Government.
LEGAL
IMPLICATIONS
30.
Whilst
the Government has encouraged the production of this report, the final decision
is the responsibility of the Isle of Wight Council. The Fire and Rescue
Services Act 2004 states:
2.
Power to create combined fire and rescue authorities
(1) The Secretary of State may by order make a scheme constituting a
fire and rescue authority for the combined area of two or more existing fire
and rescue authorities.
(2) A scheme under this section may be made only if it appears to the
Secretary of State that, in the interests of-
(a)
economy, efficiency and effectiveness, or
(b) public
safety,
there should be a single fire a
rescue authority for the combined area.
(3) A scheme under
this section may be made by the Secretary of state-
(a) to give effect to a
draft scheme submitted to him by the existing authorities in question, or
(b)
on his own initiative.
(4) A scheme under this section made as mentioned in subsection (3)(a) may
include any modification to the draft scheme which seem appropriate to the
Secretary of State after consulting the existing authorities in question.
(5) Before making a scheme under this section as mentioned in subsection
(3)(b) the Secretary of State must consult-
(a) the existing authorities in question,
(b)any local authority
all or part of whose area forms part of the combined area, and
(c) any other person he considers appropriate……
SUMMARY
31. This report considers the three options being presented in
light of operational impact, financial implications and consultation.
It is clear from the consultation process that public opinion on the Island is
largely in favour of retaining the Fire and Rescue Service as part of the Isle
of Wight Council. Whilst the analysis
of the financial implications has indicated that there is the potential for
savings to be generated from the option a merger, it is clear that there are
uncertainties as to both the level and deliverability of these savings. The Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service
recognises the need to change and to modernise the service. Whilst a number of improvements have been
made, it is accepted that there is far more to achieve.
OPTIONS
32. The Council can decide to:
i.
Retain the ‘Status Quo’ so that the Isle of Wight
Fire and Rescue Service remains part of the Isle of Wight Council. This option provides the Chief Executive of IWC with
the authority to pursue the opportunity of joint working arrangements between
“Blue Light” services and other Public Sector partners on the Island. Any such arrangement would build capacity
within the service in order to deliver modernisation of the Isle of Wight Fire
and Rescue Service and drive efficiencies across the service.
ii.
Retain the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service
within the Isle of Wight Council but agree to a formalised structure of
collaboration with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.
Hampshire
Fire and Rescue Authority have indicated that they would not support this option.
iii.
Commence negotiations with Hampshire Fire and Rescue
Service with a view to forming a new combined service.
RISK MANAGEMENT
33. Each
option has been assessed according to its contribution to the outcomes described in 2 above, with
consideration given to how cost effective and affordable each option is and
what risks are associated with each option.
34. Option i (‘Status Quo’)
The risk that the status quo would
not realise a high quality service and therefore not meet statutory duty is
unlikely.
The Service continues to modernise and improve and
this is reflected in the recent performance score, which completes the overall
Service Assessment score made available by the Audit Commission.
However, should the Service fail to continue to
modernise or improve, the impact could be high regarding the effect on service
delivery, reputation, meeting legal obligations and financial impact.
35. Option ii (Formalised collaboration with
HFRS)
The risk to this Authority, that the failure to agree
a formalised structure of collaboration with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service
is very likely.
The evaluation of the Hampshire Options Review indicated
that in their view, greater collaboration with its complexity of contractual
and governance arrangements, for no tangible operational benefit and marginal
improvement in achieving their strategic objectives, held little attraction.
The impact on this Authority and the effect on service
delivery, should formal collaboration only with Hampshire fail, would be high.
36. Option iii (A combined service)
From
the experience gained in assessing the current Devon and Somerset voluntary
merger, a key element in the success of such projects, is a positive commitment
of both parties to the chosen outcome.
The risk of failure rises considerably if there are unwilling partners.
The impact of the effect on the Service will be high,
if insufficient detailed analysis is not undertaken of the strategic,
operational and financial implications of being part of a new combined
Service. Similarly, there is a high
risk to continuity of service delivery, during any transitional period,
especially regarding critical incident command of the Island Service.
The impact on this authority
and the effect on service delivery should the combination option fail, would be
high.
|
RECOMMENDATIONS 37. Council Members are invited to make their
recommendation. |
BACKGROUND
PAPERS
There
are no background papers.
APPENDICES
Appendix
A – Options Appraisal Report
Appendix B – Consultation Report
Appendix
C – Report of Visit to Devon and
Somerset FRSc
Appendix
D - Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority Options Review: Results of Consultation
Contact Point: Stuart Love, Director of Environment
and Neighbourhoods, tel: 01983 821000 ext. 3633, email: [email protected]
Paul
Street, Acting Chief Fire Officer, tel: 01983 821000 ext. 8196
email: [email protected]
STUART LOVE COUNCILLOR
BARRY ABRAHAM
Director of Environment and Cabinet Member for Safer Communities
Neighbourhoods and
Fire and Rescue Modernisation