BY MARK NUTI
Our fire and rescue service has frequently been in the news these past few months, specifically about their Making Surrey Safer Plan. I’ve had the opportunity to speak to both the Cabinet Member for Surrey Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), Denise Turner Stewart, and Chief Fire Officer, Steve Owen-Hughes, so I would like to take this opportunity to explain some background and in turn, hopefully, help you feel safe.
Necessary Change
Let us revert to September 2018 when SFRS was inspected by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate for Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS). This was the first inspection of UK fire and rescue services in 13 years and the first ever conducted by HMICFRS. As many of you will already know, this rated the service as requires improvement overall, but was inadequate regarding efficiency of the service and was one of the three worst fire and rescue services in the country. The report highlighted that SFRS was not working efficiently and did not focus enough on prevention of incidents and protection of Surrey.
Detailed Research
The plan in place at the time included three station closures, firefighter redundancies and the use of smaller (van-style) fire engines. The new Service Leadership Team concluded that this plan was not sufficient in light of the report and researched five years’ worth of incident data, risk data (including from emerging risks such as the effects of climate change) which shows us information about our most vulnerable parts of the county and national and local risk registers.
Prevent Fires Happening
As a result, the Making Surrey Safer Plan was created which increases work completed by community and business safety teams. Improvements to these teams include the recruitment of two Rural Affairs Officers who will work with landowners to prevent wildfires, high rise inspections, school/young people education, a new Cadets scheme and more.
Better Use of Our Crews
There have been some changes to the service’s response model – which hadn’t changed in over 50 years and therefore hadn’t adapted to the change in our communities since the 1970’s. The research found that specific fire stations, which were being crewed 24 hours a day, were over resourced at the night when there were significantly less call outs and therefore wasting public money.
These changes are:
Phase 1, which was implemented in April 2020, saw Haslemere and Walton Fire Stations weekend day cover increased. It also saw one appliance from Camberley, Guildford, Fordbridge and Woking’s night-time cover removed.
Phase 2, which will be implemented by January 2021, see’s Banstead, Egham and Painshill Fire Stations night-time cover removed.
These areas will still have cover from neighbouring stations. Crews shift patterns have also changed/are changing, so they will work shifts from 7am to 7pm, to ensure adequate fire cover during busier periods
Experts Approve the Plan
Since the plan was proposed it has been scrutinised and assured by the National Fire Chiefs Council, reviewed by HMICFRS, externally verified by Cadcorp (a data specialist) and independently given full assurance by Brunel University London. Brunel University London have also given further assurance for Phase 2 separately, in light of recent findings such as the Grenfell Tower enquiry and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Always There for You
So where does that leave us, as Surrey residents, now? If you need to ring 999 for a fire and rescue incident, they will attend by sending the nearest fire appliance and will aim to be within their response target of 10 minutes (which has remained unchanged throughout this process).
You might also notice an increase in safety activities, such as firefighters visiting vulnerable neighbours or relatives to conduct Safe and Well Visits or your child/young person might be invited to watch one of their Safe Drive Stay Alive virtual productions which launch this month. Your support could be a key in keeping Surrey safe – follow their advice and share messages with the people around you.
The best way to keep Surrey safe is to prevent incidents from happening in the first place.