The Fire & Rescue Service Scrutiny Committee are scheduled to meet to review performance, planning and resources. The committee will look at performance data for the first quarter of 2025/26, consider responses to recommendations from previous meetings, and discuss the committee's work programme. They will also review entries in the council's forward plan that are relevant to the committee's remit.

Performance Report Quarter 1 2025/26

The committee is scheduled to review two reports relating to performance in the first quarter of 2025/26.

The first, the Fire and Rescue Service Strategic Performance Report Quarter 1, is a report by the Interim Chief Fire Officer, Gary Ball, that provides a context to the Performance and Assurance Framework (PAF). The PAF includes monitoring of service performance against core measures that provide an indication of organisational performance and alignment to the delivery of the Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP). The report covers data from 1 April to 30 June 2025.

The report notes that an annual review of the core measures was undertaken before April 2025 to ensure that the service continues to use those most effective in indicating performance. As a result, the core measures and targets detailed in this report may differ from those reported in the previous year. Of the 30 measures, 27 had a green status, one was amber and two were red.

The report highlights areas of significant improvement and success, including:

• A reduction in accidental dwelling fire casualties
• Safe and Well visits delivered to households containing at least one vulnerability or risk factor
• The number of Fire Safety Order¹ audits delivered
• The percentage of successful prosecutions under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005²

The report also highlights measures with a red and amber status, including:

• Very high risk safe and well visit referrals contacted within one working day
• Adequate crewing on all wholetime frontline fire engines
• Adequate crewing on all retained frontline fire engines

The second report, the Performance and Resources Report Quarter 1, is a report by the Executive Director of Law, Assurance and Insight setting out the corporate performance, finance, workforce, risk and capital programme positions as at the end of June 2025. The report notes that 100% of measures are reporting as 'green', 0% as 'amber' and 0% as 'red'. The Fire and Rescue Service is projecting a balanced budget as at the end of June.

The report includes information on the development of the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) consultation, the conclusion of the wholetime recruitment process and the service's annual Staff Conference in June.

The report also includes a summary of the Corporate Risk Register.

Responses to Recommendations

The committee is scheduled to note the responses to recommendations made at the meeting held on 20 June 2025.

The recommendations and responses include:

• A request for the chairman to discuss with officers whether the data for core measure 20 may be analysed so that comparison between quarters may be made. The response indicates that a meeting has been scheduled for 5 September with the chairman to share how CM20 is calculated and analysed and answer any additional questions on the data.
• A request for data related to the casualties and an analysis for core measure 3 to be provided. The Head of Prevention provided a response at the Fire & Rescue Service Scrutiny Committee meeting regarding the specific circumstances of the accidental dwelling fires (ADFs) and the council is currently reviewing the data and how they report casualties.
• A request for clarity by reviewing the title and commentary of core measure 22. Following discussions at the Fire & Rescue Service Scrutiny Committee meeting, the council has revised the title and description of this measure.
• A request that the identification of significant risks and collaboration with other services on those risks be included in the Community Risk Management Plan preparation work report. The National Framework for Fire and Rescue Services requires the council to identify and update their understanding of all foreseeable risks. The Service's Strategic Assessment of Risk will be published alongside the next CRMP following the full consultation.

Work Programme Planning and Possible Items for Future Scrutiny

The committee is scheduled to agree its draft work programme, highlight any further possible items for future scrutiny, and review the Forward Plan entries relevant to its remit.

The draft work programme includes the following items:

• Fire and Rescue Service Strategic Performance Report
• Quarterly Performance and Resources Report
• Community Risk Management Plan Update
• Budget Scrutiny
• Update on Retained Firefighter Report
• Community Risk Management Plan 2026-2030

The Forward Plan of Key Decisions includes the following items relevant to the committee:

• West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service Procurement of Officer Pool Vehicles for Statutory Operational Management Duties
• Community Risk Management Plan 2026-2030