Community Risk Management Plan 2021-2025

Our Plan serves as both an information source for our communities and a planning tool for ourselves. It outlines the risks within our communities and the measures we take to manage and mitigate those risks. The Plan also details the standards you can expect from us when we respond to emergency incidents. We regularly consult with our staff and communities during the review or refresh of our Plan, and this feedback enhances our understanding of risk and informs our planning.

Our latest consultation highlighted that our communities are increasingly aware of environmental issues and share concerns that events such as flooding and wildfires are becoming more frequent. We were also reminded of other local threats, such as coastal erosion. The Plan provides assurance regarding our capability whilst also addressing our environmental impact, including our fleet of vehicles and buildings. The public recognised our evolving role, particularly our work in supporting medical response in rural areas, and strongly endorsed the continuation and development of this additional service.

As a service we strive to continuously improve through effective practices. Promising Practice involves implementing strategies that have shown positive, measurable outcomes through careful observation and monitoring. Innovated Practice explores new methods that, whilst not yet formally evaluated, show exciting potential for improving outcomes. Good Practice includes strategies that have been successfully integrated into our Business as Usual (BAU) operations, consistently delivering improved performance and positive results.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) conducted its last inspection of our Service from the end of 2021 into 2022, rating us as ‘Good’ across all three inspection pillars.

This rating means we are Good at preventing and responding to emergencies, Good at efficiently spending money, and Good at looking after our people. The inspection praised our efforts to keep communities safe from fire and to create a fair and inclusive workplace. These findings represent an improvement from our last routine inspection in 2018, which indicated a need for further development in workforce training and increasing diversity.

In 2023, we collaborated with an independent third-party organisation to conduct a staff engagement exercise. This provided staff with an anonymous way to give feedback on the Service, helping to form new recommendations for ongoing improvement in workforce development and recruitment. Our goal is to conduct another staff engagement exercise within the next 18 months to 2 years. This will allow us to measure feedback, implement new actions, and maintain continuous staff engagement. Our Service is scheduled for its third inspection in the latter half of 2024.

We continue to collaborate with partners within our communities to pool resources and achieve better outcomes for the public.

An example of this is data and intelligence sharing to align resources to the most vulnerable. This collaborative work focuses on “place” rather than individual organisations, and we participate in the Place Board within each Local Authority area, alongside a wide range of partners from other Emergency Services to the Community and Voluntary Sector. Our Plan is comprehensive, providing a detailed picture of the risks we face and our professional capability to prevent, protect and respond.