Your Views Wanted On Fire Service Plan

A new plan detailing what the fire service in Cambridgeshire plans to do over the next three years to improve its service to the community is now out for consultation.

The Fire Authority has spent the last few months looking at potential risks and incident data as well as examining opportunities for improvement. The result is a new three year Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP).

The document is a legal requirement placed on the fire service by central government and it details how the service will balance prevention, protection and response activities to reduce the impact of risk on communities in a cost effective way.

The main risks and opportunities identified by the Fire Authority are; an ageing population; reliance on the on-call service; workforce reform; and collaboration with other emergency services and local partners.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Rick Hylton who has been leading the piece of work, explained: “Our new risk plan sets out what we are going to do over the next three years to mitigate risk and take advantage of opportunities to ensure we continue to deliver a cost-effective and continuously improving service.

“The fire service is changing and becoming even more pivotal in keeping communities safe. Our role is expanding from putting out fires and attending road traffic collisions. We have already started to trial co-responding at some of our rural fire stations where our firefighters attend medical emergencies and our safe and well visits now cover much more than fire safety – we cover other areas that help a person stay safe and well in their home such as crime prevention, slips and trips hazards, alcohol dependency and warmth and nourishment.”

Sir Peter Brown, Chairman of the Fire Authority said: “Collaboration with our emergency service partners is a key opportunity moving forward and we are already meeting with senior police and ambulance colleagues on a regular basis to review areas where working together makes sense, through sharing of buildings and knowledge, enhancing resilience or bringing efficiency savings. Our plan is a balance of mitigating risk and taking the opportunities that will help us have a greater impact on keeping our communities safe.”

The document is available to read in the Consultations section of the Service's the Cambs Fire website. With the document is a link to a short online survey. Consultation closes on June 1, 2017. Focus groups across the county are also being planned to explore some of the areas highlighted in the plan in greater depth.