The Fire and Rescue Scrutiny Committee met on 10 January 2025 to discuss the call-in of a Cabinet decision regarding new duty systems and shift pattern adjustments for Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service (GFRS). The committee also received updates on GFRS's capital investment, procurement activities, and performance data for the second quarter of 2024-25.

Call-in of Cabinet Decision on GFRS Duty Systems

The committee considered the call-in of a Cabinet decision made on 4 December 2024 concerning proposals for a new day staff duty system at Cinderford and adjustments to Wholetime shift patterns. This decision was called in by five members of the council, citing grounds that the Cabinet Member failed to take account of a relevant matter (the wishes of the scrutiny committee) and acted contrary to the Council's Constitution by not properly considering consultation with others, specifically the views of the scrutiny committee.

Councillor Jeremy Hilton, Chair of the committee and lead signatory for the call-in, highlighted that the Fire and Rescue Scrutiny Committee's recommendation to defer the decision had not been raised at the Cabinet meeting. He explained that committee members had received significant correspondence from firefighters opposing the proposed shift changes.

Councillor Dave Norman, Cabinet Member for Fire, Community Safety and Libraries, responded by stating that he had thoroughly briefed his Cabinet colleagues on the extensive 10-month consultation process. He asserted that the views of scrutiny were considered by Cabinet, evidenced by the addition of a recommendation for the Chief Fire Officer to review the impact of the shift pattern changes within six months of implementation. He also noted that the issues raised by firefighters had already been articulated in the Cabinet report and Equality Impact Assessments.

Following debate, the committee voted on whether the grounds for call-in had been met. The call-in failed, with four members voting to reject the grounds and three in support. Consequently, the committee resolved that the grounds for call-in were not met.

Despite this, Councillor Hilton proposed that the Fire and Rescue Scrutiny Committee hold a special meeting with the Fire Brigades Union to consider evidence from GFRS staff regarding their concerns about the shift pattern changes. He suggested that a report of these findings be presented to Cabinet to inform any amendments during the implementation phase.

Update on GFRS Capital Investment, Buildings, Appliances and Equipment

Mike Hammond, Head of Logistics and Resources for GFRS, presented an update on capital projects. Key points included:

• Fire Appliances & Equipment: The contract for 10 medium-sized fire appliances has been signed with Angloco, with the first vehicle due in March 2025. Build meetings are ongoing. Specifications for an Incident Command Unit and a HIAB Crane Unit are complete, with tenders to follow. An Aerial Ladder Platform tender has been awarded to Angloco, with completion expected in September 2025.
• Light Fleet Vehicles: Several vehicle projects are progressing, including a Community Safety Vehicle that is built and awaiting final decal design, and seven officer response vehicles that are now operational. Officer decisions are pending for 4x4s and 26 small electric vans, with delivery expected this financial year for some, and in 2025/26 for others due to charging infrastructure limitations. A workshop van project has been moved to 2025/26 due to capacity issues. An ICT Van is also nearing final evaluation.
• Operational Equipment: Progress is being made on PPE, with contracts awarded and orders placed. Treadmills have been delivered to stations. Natural Occurrence Gas (Nat Og) equipment, including gas monitors, smoke curtains, and reach poles, has been received. A scheme for Thermal Imaging cameras has been re-profiled to 2025/26 due to capacity constraints. Station Charging Systems are underway, with physical work commencing in December.
• Fire Stations & Property: The Stroud Community Fire Station Access scheme is being developed to meet GFRS and financial expectations, but the start on site is likely to be delayed, with expenditure carried forward to 2025/26. Progress on the ECR Mobilising Upgrade is being made, with the implementation of an interface between Gartan and Vision. The allocation for the Multi Agency Incident Transfer (MAIT) system is subject to Home Office project progress.

GFRS Procurement Processes and Activities

Mike Hammond also presented an overview of GFRS procurement processes and activities. The report highlighted:

• SAPOne Programme: This council-wide transformation of procure to payment processes is underway, aiming to improve capacity, capability, and provide training. The procurement team is actively involved in testing the new system.
• Public Procurement Act 2023: This new legislation will introduce further requirements for contract management, social value delivery, and future opportunities.
• Team Structure: A Contracts Officer role has been added to the procurement team, with recruitment for a second part-time officer underway to create one full-time equivalent role. Both members of the GFRS procurement team have completed advanced practitioner training for the Procurement Act 2023.
• Contract Management and Efficiencies: The team is working with the GFRS finance team to develop contract management and efficiency monitoring. The report stressed the importance of good contract management to avoid costs and missed opportunities.
• Future Projects: The team is centralising contract documentation and investigating a Contract Risk Register. Training requirements for managers are being assessed to ensure they are equipped to manage procurements and contracts effectively.
• Pipeline Contracts: Key upcoming procurements include the NFCC National Fire Fighter PPE project, with a framework expected to be awarded in January 2026, and the replacement of Breathing Apparatus, planned to commence procurement in late 2025/early 2026. Work has also begun on exploring a reprocurement strategy for Pensions Administration, with a new contract start date of April 2026.

GFRS Performance Data Q2 2024/25

Mark Preece, Chief Fire Officer, provided an overview of GFRS performance data for Quarter 2 2024/25. It was noted that overall performance had improved in several areas:

• Site-Specific Risk Information (SSRI) visits: Delivery was behind target at the end of Q2, but showed improvement from the previous quarter and was within tolerance.
• Average Response Times to Dwelling Fires: Performance improved to 8 minutes, exceeding the target of 9 minutes and showing improvement on the previous quarter and comparator groups.
• Fatalities from all fires: There were no fatalities in Q2, meeting the target of zero.
• Rate of Safe and Well visits: The rate of visits improved to 1.49 per 1,000 population, exceeding the target and comparator group average. Visits to vulnerable individuals remained high.
• Rate of Dwelling fires: The rate was lower than the seasonal target and the previous year, with the majority being accidental.
• Risk-Based Inspection Programme Audits: Delivery was behind the scheduled target for the 2023-26 programme, but the service expects to be back on track by December 2024.

The Chief Fire Officer expressed confidence that performance would continue to improve due to increased staff recruitment, although acknowledged that response times are influenced by incident location and recent fatalities would affect future data. The Service is also looking into ways to further improve response times and increase the target rate for Safe and Well visits.

Work Plan

The committee's work plan was updated to include an item on the impact of devolution on GFRS and an update on the HMICFRS visit progress for the March 2025 meeting.

Future Meetings

The committee noted the dates of future meetings.