M. Pearson CLERK TO THE AUTHORITY SERVICE … · SERVICE HEADQUARTERS THE KNOWLE CLYST ST GEORGE ... absence within Fire Control and non-station based ... Service compared with other

M. Pearson

CLERK TO THE AUTHORITY

To: The Chair and Members of the Human Resources Management and Development Committee (see below)

SERVICE HEADQUARTERS THE KNOWLE CLYST ST GEORGE EXETER DEVON EX3 0NW

Your ref : SS/SY/HRMDC/March 12 Date : 9 March 2012 Telephone : 01392 872200 Our ref : Please ask for : Sam Sharman Fax : 01392 872300

Website : www.dsfire.gov.uk Email : [email protected] Direct Telephone : 01392 872393

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

(Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority)

Monday 19 March 2012

A meeting of the Human Resources Management and Development Committee will be held on the above date, commencing at 10:00 hours in Conference Room B in Somerset House, Service Headquarters to consider the following matters. M. Pearson Clerk to the Authority A G E N D A

1. Apologies 2. Minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2012 attached (Page 1). 3. Items Requiring Urgent Attention

Items which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as matters of urgency.

4. Declarations of Interest

Members are asked to consider whether they have any personal/personal and prejudicial interests in items as set out on the agenda for this meeting and declare any such interests at this time. Please refer to the Note 2 at the end of this agenda for guidance on interests.

PART 1 – OPEN COMMITTEE

5. Assessment & Development Centre (ADC) Technical Assessment - Update Report of the Director of People and Organisational Development (HRMDC/12/4) attached (page 4)

6. Absence Management and Health of the Organisation

Report of the Director of People and Organisational Development (HRMDC/12/5) attached (page 15)

7. Draft Equality Plan 2012/16 And Consultation Report Report of the Director Of People And Organisational Development (HRMDC/12/6) attached (page 22)

8. Exclusion of the Press and Public

RECOMMENDATION that, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) to the Act, namely information relating to contemplated consultations in connection with any labour relations matter arising between the Authority and its employees.

PART 2 – ITEMS WHICH MAY BE TAKEN IN THE ABSENCE OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

9. Redundancy Compensation Rates Report of the Director of People and Organisational Development (HRMDC/12/7) attached (page 24).

MEMBERS ARE REQUESTED TO SIGN THE ATTENDANCE REGISTER

Membership:- Councillors Cann (Chair), Bown, Boyd, Brooksbank, Burridge-Clayton, Horsfall and Wright

Substitute Members Members are reminded that, in accordance with Standing Order 36, the Clerk (or his representative) MUST be advised of any substitution prior to the start of the meeting.

NOTES

1. ACCESS TO INFORMATION Any person wishing to inspect any minutes, reports or lists of background papers relating to any item on this agenda should contact Sam Sharman on the telephone number shown at the top of this agenda.

2. DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS BY MEMBERS What Interests do I need to declare in a meeting? As a first step you need to declare any personal interests you have in a matter. You will then need to decide if you have a prejudicial interest in a matter. What is a personal interest? You have a personal interest in a matter if it relates to any interests which you must register, as defined in Paragraph 8(1) of the Code.

You also have a personal interest in any matter likely to affect the well-being or financial position of:- (a) you, members of your family, or people with whom you have a close association; (b) any person/body who employs/has employed the persons referred to in (a) above, or any firm

in which they are a partner or company of which they are a director; (c) any person/body in whom the persons referred to in (a) above have a beneficial interest in a

class of securities exceeding the nominal value of £25,000; or (d) any body of which you are a Member or in a position of general control or management and

which:-

you have been appointed or nominated to by the Authority; or

exercises functions of a public nature (e.g. a constituent authority; a Police Authority); or

is directed to charitable purposes; or

one of the principal purposes includes the influence of public opinion or policy (including any political party or trade union)

more than it would affect the majority of other people in the Authority's area.

Anything that could affect the quality of your life (or that of those persons/bodies listed in (b) to (d) above) either positively or negatively, is likely to affect your/their “well being”. If you (or any of those persons/bodies listed in (b) to (d) above) have the potential to gain or lose from a matter under consideration – to a greater extent than the majority of other people in the Authority’s area - you should declare a personal interest. What do I need to do if I have a personal interest in a matter? Where you are aware of, or ought reasonably to be aware of, a personal interest in a matter you must declare it when you get to the item headed "Declarations of Interest" on the agenda, or otherwise as soon as the personal interest becomes apparent to you, UNLESS the matter relates to or is likely to affect:-

(a) any other body to which you were appointed or nominated by the Authority; or (b) any other body exercising functions of a public nature (e.g. membership of a constituent

authority; other Authority such as a Police Authority); of which you are a Member or in a position of general control or management. In such cases, provided you do not have a prejudicial interest, you need only declare your personal interest if and when you speak on the matter. Can I stay in a meeting if I have a personal interest? You can still take part in the meeting and vote on the matter unless your personal interest is also a prejudicial interest. What is a prejudicial interest? Your personal interest will also be a prejudicial interest if all of the following conditions are met:-

(a) the matter is not covered by one of the following exemptions to prejudicial interests in relation to the following functions of the Authority:-

statutory sick pay (if you are receiving or entitled to this);

an allowance, payment or indemnity for members;

any ceremonial honour given to members;

setting council tax or a precept; AND (b) the matter affects your financial position (or that of any of the persons/bodies as described in

Paragraph 8 of the Code) or concerns a regulatory/licensing matter relating to you or any of the persons/bodies as described in Paragraph 8 of the Code); AND

(c) a member of the public who knows the relevant facts would reasonably think your personal interest is so significant that it is likely to prejudice your judgement of the public interest.

What do I need to do if I have a prejudicial interest? If you have a prejudicial interest in a matter being discussed at a meeting, you must declare that you have a prejudicial interest (and the nature of that interest) as soon as it becomes apparent to you. You should then leave the room unless members of the public are allowed to make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter by statutory right or otherwise. If that is the case, you can also attend the meeting for that purpose.

You must, however, leave the room immediately after you have finished speaking (or sooner if the meeting so decides) and you cannot remain in the public gallery to observe the vote on the matter. Additionally, you must not seek to improperly influence a decision in which you have a prejudicial interest. What do I do if I require further guidance or clarification on declarations of interest? If you feel you may have an interest in a matter that will need to be declared but require further guidance on this, please contact the Clerk to the Authority – preferably before the date of the meeting at which you may need to declare the interest. Similarly, please contact the Clerk if you require guidance/advice on any other aspect of the Code of Conduct.

- 1 -

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE (Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority)

23 January 2012

Present:- Councillor Cann (Chair), Bown, Brooksbank, Burridge-Clayton, Horsfall and Wright Apologies:- Councillor Boyd *HRMDC/23. Minutes

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 11 November 2011 be signed as a correct record.

*HRMDC/24. Declarations of Interest Members of the Committee were asked to consider whether they had any personal/personal and prejudicial interests in items as set out on the agenda for this meeting and to declare any such interests at this time. No interests were declared.

*HRMDC/25. Absence Management and Health of the Organisation The Committee received for information a report of the Director of People and Organisational Development (HRMDC/12/1) that set out the progress made with absence management, including an update on aspects linked to the overall health of the organisation. The areas set out within the report included:

Sickness absence performance 2011/12;

Detailed breakdown of long term sickness;

The main reasons behind sickness absence;

Levels of stress and referrals to counselling;

Staff turnover;

Discipline and grievance cases;

Collective relationships with unions.

The Human Resources Manager stated that the current actual level of sickness absence (to the end of November 2011) was 5.33 days/shifts lost per person as compared with the same period in 2010/11 when it was 5.12 days per person. Although the Service was not achieving the same level of absence as in 2010/11, this had been improving throughout the year and was due to lower levels of absence within Fire Control and non-station based Uniformed staff.

- 2 -

Attention was drawn to the point that there had been another increase in long terms sickness levels for November and December 2011 but that this appeared to be back on track in January 2012. Members of the Committee enquired as to how the Service compared with other local authorities and fire services nationally. The Human Resources Manager commented that the Service was above the average for the public sector but did not perform as well as the private sector. The results of a national survey reflected that sickness in other sectors tended to reflect the same reasons for absence namely, mental health and musculoskeletal issues. In terms of the levels of stress and referrals to counselling within the organisation, it was noted that this had increased again within Somerset although it was recognised that the figures included the counselling sessions held as a result of the M5 motorway road traffic collission in November 2011. The Service was drilling down into the information to obtain the categories for referral for counselling which may give more explanation to report to the Committee in due course.

*HRMDC/26. Retained Duty System: Outcome from the Part Time Workers Regulations Employment Tribunal The Committee received for information a report of the Director of People and Organisational Development (HRMDC/12/2) that set out the position in respect of the payment of compensation to firefighters as a result of the outcome of the case raised under the Part Time Workers Regulations at an Employment Tribunal. It was noted that Popularis, the company engaged to deal with the payments to staff, would be in a position shortly to issue settlement offer letters to individuals. There had been £643,000 set aside in the Reserves for current personnel together with those leavers who had made a claim. It was envisaged that a further £900,000 may be needed to cover the issue of pensions and provision had been made for this although this matter had not yet been concluded.

*HRMDC/27. Strategic Workforce Planning The Committee considered a report of the Director of People and Organisational Development (HRMDC/12/3) that set out the workforce planning activity being undertaken by the Service to ensure that it had the correct staffing capacity in place to deliver the corporate objectives. RESOLVED

(a) that the Committee includes this matter as a standing agenda item for future meetings, and;

(b) subject to (a) above, the report be noted.

*HRMDC/28. Exclusion of the Press and Public RESOLVED that, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public were excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) to the Act, namely:

Paragraph 3 - information relating to the financial or business affairs of the Authority; and

- 3 -

Paragraph 4 – information relating to any consultations or negotiations or contemplated consultations or negotiations in connection with any labour relations matter arising between the Authority and its employees.

*HRMDC/29. Review of the Redundancy Multiplier

(An item taken in accordance with Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 during which the press and public were excluded). The Director of People and Organisational Development reported that the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority had agreed a multiplier to be used in the event of either compulsory or voluntary redundancy situations and that this was subject to review on an annual basis. The Committee discussed the basis on which the multiplier may be reviewed, whereupon Councillor Bown moved (and Councillor Burridge-Clayton seconded): “that the Director of People and Organisational Development be requested to undertake further research in respect of the redundancy multiplier offered by other fire and rescue and local authorities with a view to the submission of a report on potential options being submitted to a future meeting of the Committee”. This was carried unanimously. RESOLVED that the Director of People and Organisational Development be requested to undertake further research in respect of the redundancy multiplier offered by other fire and rescue and local authorities with a view to the submission of a report on potential options being submitted to a future meeting of the Committee.

* DENOTES DELEGATED MATTER WITH POWER TO ACT

The meeting started at 14.00hours and finished at 14.55hours

- 4 -

REPORT REFERENCE NO.

HRMDC/12/4

MEETING HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

DATE OF MEETING 19 MARCH 2012

SUBJECT OF REPORT ASSESSMENT & DEVELOPMENT CENTRE (ADC) TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT - UPDATE

LEAD OFFICER Director of People and Organisational Development

RECOMMENDATIONS That the Committee notes the approach taken in line with the principles of Technical Assessment and endorses:

(a) The pass mark, and;

(b) The IFE equivalent level for Supervisory level technical assessment – to be Level 3 Certificate.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report provides an update on the progress of technical assessment being introduced to replace stage 1 of the ADC, including the findings of a recent pilot which included 32 candidates. The outcome is that the assessments will be run on a paper-based exam basis, to include longer questions in addition to multi-choice, to increase the depth of questions and responses required. Recommendations on the level of passmark and IFE equivalence are included as outlined above.

This represents part of the process of evolution of ADC’s, which has recently included fundamental changes to validity periods and in-band processes.

The recommendations above were approved by the SMB on 14th February 2012.

RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS

Potential future revenue from onward sale of technical assessment to other services.

Time taken to mark the technical assessments replaces previous time required to mark Stage 1 (PQA based assessments) – and therefore is not anticipated to increase overall.

DEVON & SOMERSET

FIRE & RESCUE AUTHORITY

- 5 -

EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT

ADCs are open to all operational staff regardless of duty system, gender, age etc. These proposals do not affect the existing way in which ADC processes are managed, and individual needs and reasonable adjustments will continue to be accommodated within any part of the ADC process.

APPENDICES Appendix 1 – Examples of Technical Assessment questions

Appendix 2 – Reading List

LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS

Report HRMDC/11/4 to Human Resources Management & Development Committee on 11 April 2011

- 6 -

1. BACKGROUND 1.1 Service Management Board previously approved plans to streamline the Assessment &

Development (ADC) process and to introduce a technical assessment to replace the existing Stage 1 (February and June 2011). This approach was endorsed by the Committee at its meeting on 11 April 2011 (Minute *HRMDC/30 refers). The Training and Development Department have since developed a set of technical assessment questions to meet this need.

1.2 Over the past few months, Training & Developpment has made significant changes to

the ADC process overall, including removing the validity criteria, significant changes to in-band ADC requirements and development and piloting of the streamlined ADC tools. New toolkits will be used at Supervisory level for the first time in February/March, where the benefits outlined (resource savings, reduced pressure on assessors and applicants) will begin to be seen.

1.3 Technical Assessment is being introduced to meet an immediate service delivery need,

satisfying the requirements for improved firefighter safety and with a view to being able to provide a consistent and effective product that could be marketed across to other Fire & Rescue Services if appropriate. This paper focuses on the next steps for technical assessment

1.4 This report outlines:

a) the findings of the trial assessment carried out in December 2011;

b) the planned format for the technical assessment process to be carried out in February 2012;

c) provides a recommended pass mark for SMB approval; and,

d) provides a recommendation of the link to the IFE framework (at the Supervisory ADC level) for SMB approval.

2. THE PRINCIPLES 2.1 The key principle for the assessment is to use operational technical knowledge as a

measure to select suitable staff for progression to the more costly ADC. In addition successful completion of the Technical Assessment would allow for individuals to ‘act up’ to the next level on completion of the necessary risk critical training courses to achieve the Service’s statutory response obligations.

2.2 In determining the structure of the assessment an analysis was carried out into the

various assessment systems i.e. written answers verses multiple choice and paper based assessment verses electronic systems such as the services Classroom Performance System (CPS). In addition the structure of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) examinations has been looked at for comparison and equivalency and an initial attempt has been made to mirror the style of syllabus for those examinations. Please note that we are aware that significant further work is required to fully look at the possibility of re-integrating IFE exams into the service. This brief report does not address this element in detail.

- 7 -

3. QUESTION DEVELOPMENT 3.1 The potential number of applicants that may apply from Firefighter to Crew Manager is

estimated to be 60-100. Based on this figure it was considered that a meaningful assessment of an individual’s technical knowledge would require a number of questions at a level and quality sufficient to meet the principles of assessment without being too onerous to mark by the Workforce Development team.

3.2 As such, the Selection and Development Group with representatives from Service

Delivery agreed a mixture of multiple choice and both short written and longer written answers. On this basis, a paper was written using both existing questions from within our internal training department assessment processes and by development of additional question banks that have been written in line with the available syllabus materials. The questions are of a style that are not DSFRS specific and therefore can be easily referenced to both standard operating procedures and legislation and could be used in other FRS. The sample questions for technical assessment are set out in Appendix ! of this report, together with a syllabus/reading list at Appendix 2 for information.

3.3 The assessment paper was split into two with part 1 consisting of multiple choice

questions and part 2 written answers. 4. TRIAL ASSESSMENT 4.1 32 firefighters took part in a number of trial assessments in December 2011. They

completed a written paper and in addition were asked to complete a feedback form outlining their view of the process, questions, format, the amount of preparation undertaken etc.

4.2 A reading list was published on the intranet 6 weeks in advance of the first assessment,

providing links to all of the source documents and pinpointing specific chapters etc where appropriate.

4.3 The candidates completed a written paper, including 40 multiple choice questions and a

number of short and long answer questions overall, taking between 50 and 90 minutes. The questions were categorised into 3 key areas; Operational, Incident Command and Other (Legislative etc).

4.4 The feedback on the process was extremely positive, with all participants welcoming the

introduction of technical assessment as part of the promotions process. 4.5 There were individual concerns over accessing the extensive reading material remotely

(at home) and efforts will be made to ensure all future participants are aware of how to access the materials from a variety of different sources. Interestingly, no one showed any concern about being ‘given’ the time to study and neither did anyone raise the question of payment or reward.

4.6 During the trial it was soon established that the benefits of electronic multiple choice

questions (quick to mark and administer) were outweighed by the qualitative feel of longer questions.

- 8 -

4.7 Incident Command multi-choice questions were answered very well by all candidates irrespective of their previous level of Incident Command training with the minimum score achieved being 9/13 (69%). However, there were some areas of concern in subjects such as High Rise, Radio Procedure and the legislative obligations of the Service under the Fire Services Act. Breathing apparatus and branch lines were also poorly answered and these issues will be fed back into the training delivery teams for the necessary improvement.

4.8 The learning the Service can take from performance in particular areas of operational

knowledge will become an important part of the new process. This can be used to provide a snapshot of the organisation learning cycle.

5. PLANNED FORMAT 5.1 Based on the outcomes of the pilot, the planned format of the February Technical

Assessment is:

Written (paper-based) assessment

Mix of multi-choice, short and long answer questions

3 key sections – Operations, Incident Command and Other (including Legislation etc) 5.2 Candidates will have up to 1¼ hours (75 minutes) to complete the paper. 5.3 It will be held under exam conditions. 5.4 Based on our experience of marking longer questions, the Workforce Development

Team will in future schedule a markers week to ensure all papers are marked and feedback reports compiled for a quick turnaround.

6. THE PASS MARK 6.1 The overall results (scores) for the pilot assessment are summarised in the attached

table:

Overall Score achieved by candidates (%) - range

Number of Candidates Scoring in this range

% of candidates Scoring in range

% Candidates successful if passmark set at min of range

85%-100% 0 0% 0%

80%-85% 3 9% 9%

75% - 80% 3 9% 19%

70% - 75% 2 6% 25%

65% - 70% 3 9% 34%

60%-65% 6 19% 53%

55% - 60% 4 13% 66%

50% - 55% 5 16% 81%

45% - 50% 3 9% 91%

40% - 45% 2 6% 97%

35% - 40% 0 0% 97%

30% - 35% 1 3% 100%

6.2 In determining the pass mark a the Service needs to ensure operational competence and

that the assessment is a robust test of knowledge.

- 9 -

6.3 What pass marks are set elsewhere?

Across our courses/development programmes the Service typically sets a passmark of 70% (for multichoice questions).

Other Services using similar sorts of technical assessment have typically been setting a passmark in the region of 50% - 60%.

The IFE examination process pass mark is 40% 6.4 Given that approximately 35% of our staff did no preparation for this assessment (and

therefore if they had, the Service would expect significantly higher scores), and our aspiration for excellence, together with the range and type of questions being set, it is recommended that an overall score of 70% across all parts of the paper be required.

6.5 25% of the pilot group achieved this level, and it is believe this is achievable (whilst

stretching) for everyone if staff put in the pre-work. 7. EQUIVALENCY/VALIDITY 7.1 Although the validity of the ‘ADC’ itself (or stage 2 as formerly known) has now been

extended indefinitely (subject to ongoing performance and competence in role), in earlier papers it is proposed that technical assessment would need to be retaken every year, to provide currency of knowledge and ensure ongoing technical competence. We have communicated out to staff that they would need to be successful in the technical assessment prior to each occasion that they apply for an ADC.

7.2 The Institute of Fire Engineers examinations are formal examinations held on an annual

basis that require a level of commitment and study that should be acknowledged within DSFRS’s selection process. Analysis of the IFE structure identifies the following cross mapping:

Level 2 (formerly Preliminary exam) – FF level

Level 3 Certificate (formerly Intermediate exam) – CM level

Level 3 Diploma (formerly Graduates exam) – WM level

Level 4 Certificate (formerly Members exam) – SM level 7.3 Recommendation: On this basis completion of the level 3 certificate should allow a

candidate to progress direct to the Supervisory ADC. 7.4 It is also recommend that in order to maintain currency, the Service sets some time limit

on the currency of the IFE exams. The suggestion is that the IFE exams need to have been completed in the past 2 years (or longer if evidence is provided by the candidate of ongoing CPD).

7.5 More detailed analysis needs to take place to determine the equivalency at SM level.

Any equivalency will only be supported within two years of achievement of the qualification in line with Accreditation of Prior Learning.

7.6 Additional work is underway to look at inclusion of IFE qualifications as potentially an

essential element of the person specification, thus requiring candidates to achieve the above levels prior to application for the next role. By placing the emphasis at person specification it overcomes issues of competency and pay. Any formal proposals for this will be presented to SMB for future consideration.

- 10 -

8 FIRE CONTROL STAFF 8.1 Although the original intent was for Fire Control staff to have a set of technical questions

(similar to operational staff) ahead of the full ADC, due to the pressures on control resources to deliver the combined control room, resource has not been available to develop an appropriate question set. Additionally, due to the ongoing resource requirements of creating and delivering technical question sets, for relatively small numbers of staff, the Service is planning to use the ‘sift’ for Control staff consist of the Simulated Exercise (Simex) used previously. Stage 2 will be exactly the same as for other operational staff, with the same passmark etc applied.

9 NEXT STEPS 9.1 Supervisory Management ADC

The first Supervisory ADC including Technical Assessment for stage 1 has been advertised (13th Jan).

The assessment will take place between 20th and 27th February.

Marking will be completed by 9th March

Agreement of who will go through to stage 2: w.c. 12th March. 9.2 Middle Management ADC:

Development of technical assessment questions – by early March

Quality Assurance: March

Use as part of the next ADC process – late April 10. RECOMMENDATIONS 10.1 It is recommended that the Committee notes the approach taken in line with the

principles of Technical Assessment and endorses:

(a) The pass mark

(b) The IFE equivalent level for Supervisory level technical assessment – to be Level 3 Certificate.

JANE SHERLOCK Director of People and Organisational Development

- 11 -

APPENDIX 1 TO REPORT HRMDC/12/4 Example Technical Assessment Questions Stage 1 Supervisory ADC 1. Example Multichoice Questions Note: A correct answer on each multichoice question is worth 1 mark. 1.1 What is the minimum cooling period for an acetylene cylinder that has been involved in fire and shown signs of decomposition? A. 12hrs B. 6hrs C. 24hrs D. 36hrs 1.2 Which factor is common in all potential backdraughts? A. Vented compartment B. Slow burning fuel C. High energy flammable gases D. Limited Ventilation 1.3 In relation to conducting a rescue from a lift which of the following answers correctly identifies a shear trap?

A. A risk of being caught between a moving lift and a landing opening B. A risk of being caught between a lift counter balance weight and structures within the lift shaft C. A risk of being caught in moving machinery in the lift motorway D. Both A and B 1.4 In relation to carrying out a rescue from a silo, what is meant by the term bridging? A. A phenomenon whereby the seemingly solid contents are in fact merely a bridge over a void as the contents have been emptied away from below. B. Using ladders in a horizontal method to bridge across a void C. A phenomenon where the contents of the silo have become compacted to form a solid surface D. Using an aerial appliance to gain access to an upper level of the silo

- 12 -

2. Example Short Answer Questions: Note: A correct answer on each short answer question will be worth different numbers of marks according to the complexity or detail required in the answer. This will be specified on the final question paper. 2.1 The use of handheld communications is potentially hazardous in the following situations: 1. Hospitals 2. Incidents involving explosives 3. Rtc’s where vehicles are fitted with SRS Briefly explain what restrictions on radio use should be put in place for each of these incident types. (12 marks) 2.2 FRSs operate a system for notifying environment agencies of incidents they are attending that have the potential to cause environmental pollution. Give 5 examples of when the environment agency should be informed of fire service actions:- (5 marks) 3. Long Answer Example Question Finally there will be a scenario question similar to the one below, this question is designed to give you the opportunity to show your depth of knowledge and thought processes when dealing with a small incident. Marks for each part of the question will be provided in the paper. You are officer in charge of the first attendance at a fire in a small guest house, (2 floors, 20m square) you have a crew of four and a second appliance is on its way. You are greeted by the owner who says a fire has broken out in the kitchen fryer and there is still a guest in the first floor room number 3. She gives you a plan. The building is ventilated and there is smoke issuing from several windows and the front door. 3.1 There is a risk of which fire phenomenon occurring at this incident? Describe the phenomenon in your own words and list the signs and symptoms: (10 marks) 3.2 If you were to commit a crew before the second pump arrives what procedure would you instigate? What are the criteria that must be met for that procedure and what are its limitations? (10 marks) 3.3 Which acronym would you use to brief the crew? Give an example of a simple brief for this incident using this Acronymn. (12 marks)

- 13 -

3.4 Write an informative message for this incident, assuming you have committed a crew. In addition, state which acronym you would use to assist you with a building fire informative. (10 marks) Post fire you notice that one of the fire escapes was padlocked. 3.5 It is determined that the locked door is a breach of fire safety legislation, which piece of legislation is it a breach of? Who enforces that legislation? (4 marks)

- 14 -

APPENDIX 2 TO REPORT HRMDC/12/4 Reading List: Technical Assessment A full list of reading material and links can be found on the intranet on the following page: http://intranet/Departments/Training/SupervisoryLevel.asp The syllabus covers:

Incident Command System

Fire Safety

Environmental Protection

Equality & Diversity

Health Safety and Risk Assessment

Breathing Apparatus and Fire Fighting

Legislation

Hazardous Materials

Electricity

Transport

Pumps & Water Supplies

Water Rescue

Working at Height

Specific Risks

http://intranet/Departments/Training/SupervisoryLevel.asp

- 15 -


HRMDC/12/5



SUBJECT OF REPORT ABSENCE MANAGEMENT & HEALTH OF THE ORGANISATION


RECOMMENDATIONS That the report be noted.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The progress with Absence Management has been included as a standing item within the Human Resources Management and Development (HRMD) Committee agenda. This report includes an update of the Service performance for absence levels. In addition, the Committee have sought to consider wider aspects which are linked to the overall health of the organisation.


EQUALITY RISK & BENEFITS ASSESSMENT

The Absence Management policy has had an equality impact assessment.

APPENDICES None


None

DEVON & SOMERSET


- 16 -

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Absence levels have previously been identified as a key measure as they affect the

efficiency and the effectiveness of the Service. The Human Resources Management and Development (HRMD) Committee have therefore determined that this measure will be monitored and reviewed as a standing item. The Service has also taken a wider view of the general Health of the Organisation but these measures are generally longer term and having reported on them in January 2012 it would seem sensible to next review these in the financial year 2012/13.

2. 2011/12 ABSENCE PERFORMANCE 2.1 The current actual level for 2011/12 is 6.55 days/shifts lost per person compared with the

previous year when it was as at an average of 6.60 days per person. This rate has been improving throughout the year from a poor start when we were 12.7% worse than the previous year to where we are now at a point of being 0.8% better than last year.

All Staff – Sickness Rates per Person – by Month

Actual 11/12

Previous Year 10/11

% variance on previous year

Apr-11 0.73 0.64 (15.1%)

May-11 0.70 0.53 (32.8%)

Jun-11 0.57 0.59 4.2%

Jul-11 0.60 0.64 7.2%

Aug-11 0.66 0.64 (2.5%)

Sep-11 0.61 0.63 2.9%

Oct-11 0.68 0.71 0.0%

Nov-11 0.67 0.73 2.2%

Dec-11 0.70 0.82 14.1%

Jan-12 0.63 0.67 6.5%

Feb-12

Mar-12

YTD 6.55 6.60 0.8%

- 17 -

2.3 The Service can break down the figures by staff category and the rates for Uniformed,

Control and Support staff are shown below.

Uniformed Staff Sickness Rates by Month 2011/12

Support Staff Sickness Rates by Month 2011/12

- 18 -

Control Staff Sickness Rates by Month 2011/12

3. DETAILED BREAKDOWN OF LONG TERM SICKNESS 3.1 The monitoring of long term sickness i.e. those over 28 days, is reported on a monthly

basis and includes those who are long term sick and those on restricted duties.

2011/12 Number of staff Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

Uniformed 21 20 14 12 17 14 13 18 16 11 9

Retained 26 22 19 17 13 20 19 22 28 19 17

Support Staff 8 9 6 6 6 4 4 6 6 2 2

Total 55 51 33 38 34 38 36 46 50 38 28

Long-term Sickness 2008 to February 2012 – Number of Staff

- 19 -

3.2 The Long term sickness can then be further broken down for staff with absences that

have been ongoing for a period longer than 6, 12, 18 and 24 months.

Feb-12 Number of staff >6 mths >12 mths >18 mths >24 mths Total

Uniformed 1 0 0 0 1

Retained 2 1 0 1 4

Support Staff 0 0 0 0 0

Total 3 1 0 1 5

Long-term Sickness – Number of Staff with greater than 6 months sickness

4. REASONS FOR SICKNESS ABSENCE 4.1 The graph below show the reason categories for sickness. The ‘Other’ category includes

sickness relating to neurological (headaches/migraines) and Gastro intestinal (sickness/diarrhoea whilst) ‘Various’ includes colds, flu and dental. Both of these categories increased from September to December but have seen a decrease during January.

- 20 -

5. MENTAL HEALTH 5.1 It is recognised that there is a close link between wellbeing and personal performance.

People who feel well will generally perform better than people who do not feel well. 5.2 The Service has counselling contracts in place and the number of sessions is shown

below. An individual will have multiple sessions to assist them with their mental health issue.

Devon Counselling

No of Sessions

2007/8 134

2008/9 180

2009/10 237

2010/11 261

2011/12 (Apr – Dec) 130

Somerset Counselling

No of Sessions

2007/8 176

2008/9 143

2009/10 153

2010/11 304

2011/12 (Apr – Feb) 431

- 21 -

6. CONCLUSION 6.1 For the year to date, the Service absence levels are lower than the same period in the

previous year. The Health of the Organisation continues to be an important aspect of the wider issues that should be considered by the Service and Authority on our journey to excellence.

JANE SHERLOCK Director of People and Organisational Development

- 22 -


HRMDC/12/6



SUBJECT OF REPORT DRAFT EQUALITY PLAN 2012-16 AND CONSULTATION REPORT


RECOMMENDATIONS That the Committee:

(a) notes the contents of the Consultation Report, and;

(b) approves the Equality Plan 2012-16, amended as appropriate in line with the outcome of the consultation, and commends it to the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority for endorsement and adoption.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Equality Act 2010 creates nine legally protected characteristics, namely:

Age, Disability, Gender reassignment, Marriage and civil partnership, Pregnancy and Maternity, Race, Religion and Belief, Sex and Sexual orientation.

It also created a new Public Sector Equality Duty, from April 2011. This plays a key role in ensuring that public bodies incorporate fairness into all policies and working strategies to meet the needs of everyone.

The duty states that, in relation to the protected characteristics above (with the exception of marriage and civil partnership in relation to 2 and 3) public authorities must give due regard to the need to:

1 Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other prohibited conduct

2 Advance equality of opportunity

3 Foster good relations between people by tackling prejudice and promoting understanding.

DEVON & SOMERSET


- 23 -

We are working hard to incorporate these duties into our work; making people safer, working with partners to tackle societal inequalities and ensuring our employees fulfil their potential.

Our specific duties require us to publish equality objectives to help us meet the general duty by 6 April 2012. The equality plan, Safer Lives, brighter futures, is a strategy meet this requirement and to assist the organisation to meet its Corporate Target, to attain the Excellent level of the Fire and Rescue Service Equality Framework by 2014.


No new money requirements have been identified, with the exception of the assessment fee and expenses for the Excellent level of the Fire and Rescue service in 2014, approximately £6,300. Some actions are already planned and have been built into existing budget requirements or are changes to ways of working and continuous improvement to existing and planned processes. There is no financial (cash) impact on existing projects. Actions will be programmed into business plans over the next four years by the responsible managers.

EQUALITY RISK AND BENEFITS ANALYSIS

There are no risks of discrimination or disadvantage for a particular characteristic in this plan.

There positive benefits across all protected characteristics, described in the plan.

APPENDICES Appendix A - Draft Equality Plan 2012-2016: Safer lives, brighter futures (page numbered and enclosed separately).

Appendix B - Draft Equality Plan: Consultation report March 2012 (page numbered and enclosed separately).


Equality Act 2010

Equality Framework for Fire and Rescue Services

1

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service

Safer lives, brighter futures

Draft Equality Plan 2012-2016 (January 2012)

Foreword

Equality is about giving everyone a fair chance to fulfil their potential - and for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service it means working

to ensure people in communities and our workforce have equal opportunity, access and treatment in employment and services. But it's not

about treating everyone the same, it's about making sure people get equal and fair outcomes, which means we need to tailor what we do to

take account of diversity.

Diversity highlights different backgrounds and different skills, ideas, perspectives and experiences. Difference comes in many forms - older

people, young people, people living with disabilities, men and women, different races, religions, beliefs and sexual orientations. Diversity

applies to us all. An organisation that provides a fair, safe and harmonious environment which promotes diversity can ensure that these

differences between people improve creativity, morale and performance within the organisation.

We are committed to providing excellent prevention, protection and response services to make people in Devon and Somerset safer. To do this

efficiently and effectively, our employees need to be able to recognise, understand and respond to the needs of all the communities we serve.

2

The Equality Act 2010 creates nine legally protected characteristics, namely:

Age, Disability, Gender reassignment, Marriage and civil partnership, Pregnancy and Maternity, Race, Religion and Belief, Sex and Sexual

orientation.

It also created a new Public Sector Equality Duty, from April 2011. This plays a key role in ensuring that public bodies incorporate fairness into

all policies and working strategies to meet the needs of everyone.

The duty states that, in relation to the protected characteristics above (with the exception of marriage and civil partnership in relation to 2 and 3)

public authorities must give due regard to the need to:

1 Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other prohibited conduct

2 Advance equality of opportunity

3 Foster good relations between people by tackling prejudice and promoting understanding.

We are working hard to incorporate these duties into our work; making people safer, working with partners to tackle societal inequalities and

ensuring our employees fulfil their potential.

This plan will help us achieve this, and that is why we’ve called it: Safer lives, brighter futures.

3

Introduction

In 2011 we attained the Achieving level of the Fire and Rescue Service Equality Framework. This framework, developed by Government,

details criteria relating to equalities performance at three levels: Developing, Achieving and Excellent. We underwent a robust peer review of

written evidence and focus groups and interviews with employees, other Government agencies we work with and representatives from the

community and voluntary sector. You can read in detail about how we are improving outcomes for communities and for people who work for us

in our Self-Assessment.

The review gave us a clear direction for moving forward, to meet the requirements of our equality duty and the Excellent level of the revised

Equality Framework for Fire and Rescue services. The Excellent level has criteria against which we are measured to see if we are making a

positive difference to the lives of communities and our workforce. We support the vision of the Equality and Human Rights Commission:

A society built on fairness and respect. People confident in all aspects of their diversity.

We aim to meet the Excellent level of the Framework in 2014. This plan outlines how we will meet this aim and our equality duty. It aims to

improve our equality outcomes and ensure that equalities remain embedded in all we do, ensuring fair and equal working practices and tailoring

our services to meet the needs of communities.

Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service Corporate Strategy 2011 – 2014 and the National Framework

Our ongoing Mission, which describes our fundamental purpose, is:

• Acting to Protect and Save

Our enduring Vision, our view of the future to which we contribute, is:

• Devon and Somerset – a safer place for people, communities and businesses.

http://www.dsfire.gov.uk/AboutUs/EqualityandDiversity/documents/EqualityFrameworkforFRSSelfAssessment2011.pdf

4

The three Strategic Principles by which we will abide are to:

Work with people, communities, businesses and partners to make Devon & Somerset a safer place to live, work and visit.

Respond to local, regional and national emergencies with the appropriate skills and resources.

Work hard to be an excellent organisation.

The corporate strategy and this equality plan support the priorities of the (draft) National Framework for Fire and Rescue services:

identify and assess the full range of fire and rescue related risks their areas face, make provision for prevention and protection activities

and respond to incidents appropriately

work in partnership with their communities and a wide range of partners locally and nationally to deliver their service; and

be accountable to communities for the service they provide.

Our Commitment

“Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service work with partners, communities and individuals to prevent emergency situations and to

provide a response to fire, major flood, and road traffic collision emergencies. Our people engage with these partners, communities and

individuals on a daily basis, with the goal of preventing loss of life and injury. The principles of equality are intrinsic to the way we work at

DSFRS, from assessing risk and delivering services to recruiting and developing our people.

Assessing the needs of the individuals in communities and our workforce is key to our success and to the effectiveness of our service delivery.

We aim to ensure this ethos influences all the functions which support our services of Protection, Prevention and Response. We are working to

build a workforce of the best people from all our communities to enable us to share a better understanding of individual needs and help us to

deliver the best possible service.” Lee Howell, Chief Fire Officer

5

Key equality commitments

Publish our equality information including employee profile, annually from January 2012

Engage with communities and our people in developing key equality objectives

Publish our key equality objectives and strategy every four years from April 2012

Use our Equality Risks and Benefits Analysis tool to analyse our activities and decisions and publish the results

Maximise all potential to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations

Embed equality objectives into our business plans and processes

Review the progress of equality objectives quarterly, and publish the results

Deliver equalities training to our workforce

Aim to meet the Excellent level of the Fire and Rescue Service Equality Framework in 2014.

Accountability

Our people, representative bodies, other agencies we work with and communities are involved in the development of this plan. All the

objectives are evidence based and measurable and informed by information from staff and community surveys and the Equality Framework

Assessment. In driving this strategy forward, our Corporate Equalities Group will hold the organisation to account for its completion. The action

plan will be reviewed annually and additional actions to meet the objectives may be included. In addition to their areas of responsibility in the

plan, each member of our Senior Management Board will be responsible for a priority under the strategy. We will report progress bi-annually to

the Authority, and publish the report on our website. The Equality Framework for Fire and Rescue Services has been built into our corporate

strategy as an indicator of success and is considered the best way to attain a thorough assessment of how we are meeting our duties.

http://www.dsfire.gov.uk/AboutUs/WhatWeDo/OurCorporatePlan.cfm?siteCategoryId=2&T1ID=10&T2ID=123


6

About us

Core Values

7

Organisational Structure

Our Chief Fire Officer, Deputy Chief Fire Officer and Senior Management Board of directors oversee the strategic direction of the Service. The

Service Improvement Group is a group of senior managers who monitor performance and drive continuous improvement. Service Delivery

Group informs and links strategy and performance to service delivery.

There are several other groups driving service improvement and engagement with employees, including the Corporate Equalities Group. We

also have an established women’s network, Women’s Action Network Devon and Somerset and are establishing a lesbian, gay and bisexual

network in conjunction with Devon and Cornwall Police’s Gay Police Association.

The Community and Workplace Equalities team has three members, a team manager, a Community and Workplace Equalities Officer, and the

Officer for the Community and Voluntary Sector.

The Authority

The Authority is made up of 25 Members appointed by the four constituent authorities, Devon County Council, Somerset County Council,

Plymouth City Council and Torbay Council. In addition, there are currently three Independent Members of the Standards Committee. The

equality and diversity champion member is Cllr Sara Randall-Johnson. The Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Authority operates under a

committee structure and equalities is currently under the governance of the Human Resources Management and Development Committee.

Our Workforce

We have 85 fire stations, the second largest number in England, and 2,300 committed and dedicated staff. The extensive rural aspect of our

counties means that the majority of our operational workforce - 1,229 - are retained and usually have a primary occupation in addition to fire

fighting. 513 of our operational personnel on stations are wholetime, and we have 17 volunteers. We have corporate staff and uniformed staff

with a wide range of professional skills delivering our business support functions. Service headquarters is in Exeter, and we have two major

http://www.dsfire.gov.uk/AboutUs/WhoWeAre/OrganisationStructure.cfm?siteCategoryId=2&T1ID=9&T2ID=5

8

administrative centres in Taunton and Plymouth, where we also have a training centre. Our Training Academy is developing new sites and

facilities, and we also have a national resilience station at our headquarters.

Our counties and communities

Within the two counties of Devon and Somerset, which cover 10,000 sq kilometres, the population of 1.6m is focused in the principal cities and

towns of Plymouth, Taunton, Torquay, Exeter, Bridgwater, Barnstaple and Yeovil. The remainder of the population lives in widely spread,

relatively small towns and villages and extremely rural locations. This situation presents challenges were response times are critical, and

makes the targeting of vulnerable groups, who may be doubly disadvantaged by the impact of living rurally, all the more important.

The local labour market for Devon and Somerset indicates that as of January 2012 the unemployment rate of the South West is at 6.5%,

significantly lower than the 8.5% average for the UK. Furthermore this figure is lower than the previous quarter but up on the previous year.1

Devon and Somerset as a whole has a gender representation similar to that of the UK with a male:female ratio of 49:51. Although this ratio is

fairly parallel across most wards within the region, there are some anomalies, such as Lydford with a male:female ratio of 61:39.2

According to the Office for National Statistics Census 2001 there is a large disparity in the average age of different communities within Devon

and Somerset3. For example the median average age of population of West Somerset is 48, whereas the median average age of population in

less rural Torbay is 35. The 2010 estimates show a similar picture where, for example the percentage population of persons 65 years and over

within the Plymouth Unitary Authority area is at 15.6%, whereas the same figure within the West Somerset area is almost double that at 29.9%.

Furthermore, the young person population estimates are similarly diverse between areas. For instance in West Somerset the percentage

population of persons aged 0-15 was estimated at 13.8%, as opposed to Mendip where the same figure is at 19.4%.4

1 A07: Regional summary of labour market headline indicators1, Labour Force Survey, 2012

2 2010 Ward Population Estimates for England and Wales, mid-2010 (experimental statistics) ONS 2011

3 KS02 Age structure, Office for National Statistics, 2005

4 Mid-2010 Population Estimates: Selected age groups for local authorities in the United Kingdom, ONS, 2011

9

In 2001 non White-British representation in the area was 3.0%5. Although new data is awaited from the most recent survey, the estimated non-

White British representation in 2009 was 7.2%6, showing that the estimated figure had more than doubled in less than ten years. Furthermore

the Office for National Statistics Census 2001 showed that this number varied significantly between urban areas and non-urban areas. For

example the non-White British representation within the urban areas of Exeter was 5.3%, whereas the representation within the non-urban

areas of North Devon was 2.4%. This representation is largely evenly split throughout the sub groups of the non-white British population. The

only group contrary to this is ‘White: Other White’ which consists predominantly of white persons born overseas in Europe. This sub group has

a much higher percentage (2.3% in Exeter) population.

The same disparate representation is apparent across Devon and Somerset when it comes to schools data on pupils of non-white origin. For

example in 2007 the non-white pupil population in Plymouth stood at 6.5%, whereas in West Somerset where it is far more rural, the figure

stood at 0.6%.7

The religious demographics of Devon and Somerset are predominantly consistent with the rest of the country. As of the 2001 Census 75.3% of

the population was Christian and 23.7% put either no religion or did not say. The remaining 1% of the population is split up fairly evenly

between remaining religions. This contrasts slightly from the National figures where 1.9% of the population were Muslims.8

Over the past five counts the total number of Gypsy Traveller caravans has steadily increased, consisting of roughly 15% of all caravans in

England. However the number of caravans on unauthorised sites in the South West makes up almost 24% of unauthorised caravans in

England. This proportion is fairly evenly spread throughout the region with Devon consisting of 14% of all caravans and Somerset consisting of

20%.9

5Ethnic group, Office for National Statistics, 2004

6Population Estimates by Ethnic Group Rel.8.0, Office for National Statistics, 2011

7 National Curriculum Assessments at Key Stage 1, 2 and 3 by Ethnic Group in England, ONS, 2010

8 Religion, Office For National Statistics 2004

9 Count of Gypsy and Traveller caravans on 28th July 2011, Strategic Statistics Division, 2011

10

In Devon and Somerset as a whole the percentage population of disability allowance claimants stands at 5.1%, a statistic consistent with the

national figure of 5.2%. This figure is similar across the majority of the local authorities in the region. The only anomalies to this are the two

Unitary Authorities of Plymouth and Torbay, two of the least rural areas of Devon and Somerset, where this figure was greater at 6.8% and

7.2% respectively.10 There are people with disabilities who are not accounted for under this measure however, and it is estimated that 1 in 5

people in the Southwest are disabled.

The Devon and Somerset Local Authority’s rank in the English Index of Multiple Deprivation vary greatly, predominantly following a trend of, the

more urban: the more deprived. The ranks range from 61 for Torbay to 215 for East Devon, out of 326 at County level in England (326 being

the least deprived).11

10

Disability Living Allowance Claimants, Office for National Statistics, August 2010 11

The English Indices of Deprivation 2010: County Summaries, Department for Communities and Local Government, Indices of Deprivation 2010

11

Equality information and improvement

Making the Connections, the 2009-2012 single equality scheme

Our single equality scheme for 2009-12 has been largely completed and the actions outstanding have been incorporated into this plan. The

scheme has delivered some notable improvements in our equality performance and the final outcome report on Making the Connections will be

published. The actions we are carrying forward are indicated in the plan.

Making the Connections and the overview, Considering Needs, enabled us to make significant progress on equality matters. This was not only

in terms of the actions themselves, but also by increasing awareness and embedding equalities as part of our business and culture.

Fire and Rescue Service Equality Framework Assessment Feedback

An external peer assessment against the Framework in November 2011 identified our key strengths and areas for consideration. All areas for

consideration are addressed in the plan. To see our equality information, please look at our ‘Achieving’ assessment narrative and supporting

documents.

What was good?

The assessors found:

Clear and demonstrable leadership and commitment from the Service Management Board and the Authority

Equality risks and benefits analysis methodology

Rigorous monitoring of Equality and Diversity data by Members

Employee recognition of commitment and support for equalities

A sophisticated approach to developing and using a wealth of data to identify high risk groups within local community plans


12

Good examples of partnership working

The service is held in high esteem by the community and voluntary sector

The developing Community Advocates model and recruiting volunteers from communities

Good welfare, fitness and support facilities for employees

A strong staff supporter network

Our Representative Bodies feel engaged and effectively communicated with

Good progress on lesbian, gay and bisexual issues and Stonewall Diversity champions membership

Participatory budgeting – empowering communities to decide where money is spent.

Where can we improve further?

The assessors suggested we consider:

More strategically planned partnership working with communities

More use of data in planning activities and assessing equalities risks and benefits

More work needed to promote our core values

Whilst staff survey figures around bullying and harassment have improved, more work is needed to define and eliminate bullying and

harassment in our workforce

Greater involvement of the community and voluntary sector at a strategic level

Equality and diversity training review in line with the Equality Act 2010

Refresh support for our women’s network

Workforce diversity and progression for under-represented groups.

13

Equality Objectives

Our equality objectives and action plan for 2012 – 2016 follow the themes of the revised Equality Framework for Fire and Rescue Services:

Knowing your communities

Leadership, partnership and organisational commitment

Community Engagement and Satisfaction

A skilled and committed workforce

Each theme has evidence based and measurable objectives identified and the action plan will help us to deliver those objectives. This plan

supports the commitments in our Corporate Plan and all actions are embedded in relevant business plans.


Mapping and targeting vulnerable groups

We produce risk maps and Local Community Plans for each of our station grounds. Risk groups, in relation to dwellings, are prioritised and are

focused on the UK Fire and Rescue Service’s nationally identified definitions of vulnerable people with regard to fire safety. Importantly, further

groups are identified by local studies carried out by Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service, Dorset Fire & Rescue Service and Exeter

University, using our incident data, Police Crime Data and community profiles. Risk groups are located using a population profiling tool. We

also build relationships and partnerships with other agencies such as Health, the Police and Community and Voluntary sector organisations to

help us reach those most at risk. We consider how lifestyle risks are linked to protected characteristics and other factors such as poverty and

isolation and this informs the targeting of our prevention services. To read more detail about this work, read our self-assessment.


http://www.dsfire.gov.uk/YourArea/Index.cfm?siteCategoryId=12


14

Our assessment feedback tells us that we have good information which we are using in a sophisticated way to reach the most vulnerable

people, but we can do more to use our community data and the relationships we have built, and to evaluate and review our activities so we can

evidence where we are making a difference.

Outcome: Increased awareness of fire and road safety and reduced risk and incidents through the delivery of

targeted services, developed with a greater understanding of our diverse communities.

Objectives:

1 To develop strategic working relationships with key community and voluntary sector partners

2 To expand and develop effective data sharing with key agency partners

3 To evidence the outcomes and benefits of community safety initiatives with vulnerable groups.

We will be able to measure the success of these objectives by:

Increased personal and on-line consultation involvement

Improved outcomes for local communities where there is community and voluntary sector involvement

Increased awareness of our activities amongst the community and voluntary sector

Attendance of community and voluntary sector at Corporate Equalities Group meetings and events

Improved quality of Equality Risks and Benefits Analyses.

15


Our assessors found evidence of strong leadership and organisational commitment to equality and diversity. Our Human Resources

Management and Development committee members are robust in consideration of equality data and performance. The Service is a corporate

member of Networking Women in the Fire Service, National Disabled Fire Association (which three of our employees established and won a

national award) and the Asian Fire Service Association. We demonstrate our commitment to diverse communities at a range of local and

national annual events, including Respect and Pride festivals. In addition to Equalities training we host quarterly open house seminars,

delivered by the community and voluntary sector, for interested employees, members and partners. These have included Gypsies and

Travellers, Learning Disabilities and a Women’s development event.

This year the Senior Management Board, along with lesbian, gay and bisexual equality champion firefighters, raised the rainbow flag on IDAHO

day (International Day Against Homophobia). The service is a Stonewall Diversity Champion and the leadership support for this community and

our LGB colleagues is measured annually with the Stonewall Equality Index. Our aim is to be in the top100 employees and in our second year

we have achieved 158th from a starting position in 2010 of 305th.

Our assessment feedback tells us whilst we have strong examples of local partnership working, we need to ensure we can evidence the

difference we have made to the diverse communities. Community and voluntary sector organisations have told us that they would like to be

more closely involved at a strategic level. The Excellent level of the Fire & Rescue Service Equality Framework requires us to evidence that

mitigating actions we put in place following equality risks and benefits analysis are delivering desired outcomes, for employees and

communities. Whilst we are working with different groups to foster good relations in the community and our workforce, we need to do more,

particularly with under-represented groups, for example where our community and voluntary sector partners have told us about a rise in racist

incidents in communities. We will expand our work around domestic violence and do more to tackle other forms of hate crime. We will improve

our people’s awareness of human rights and promote our Core Values.

http://www.dsfire.gov.uk/News/Newsdesk/PressReleaseArticle.cfm?ReleaseID=588&siteCategoryId=3&T1ID=26&T2ID=36

http://www.dsfire.gov.uk/News/Newsdesk/PressReleaseArticle.cfm?ReleaseID=588&siteCategoryId=3&T1ID=26&T2ID=36

16

Outcome: Reduced risks, better life chances and good relations for all our communities by analysing equality

considerations in our work, communicating effectively and working with others.

Objectives:

4 To set and communicate our equality priorities

5 To meet the Excellent level of the Equality Framework by 2014

6 To develop and improve our approach to all forms of hate crime

7 To develop employee awareness of how human rights should be considered

8 To promote and embed our core values in the organisation

9 To involve representative bodies more directly in equality performance monitoring

10 To improve organisational accountability for equality performance

11 To reach the Stonewall workplace index top 100 by 2014

12 To be successful in the next ‘Two Ticks’ review which measures our employment practices for disabled people.

We will be able to measure these objectives by:

A robust process for planning and evaluating activities being in place and used by all

Employees identify and raise the possibility of hate crime at incidents/investigations

Having a number of stations as third party hate crime reporting points

Being able to identify where hate crime preventative work may be targeted with partners

Equality Risks and Benefits Analyses are produced where human rights have been clearly considered

Increased customer satisfaction and improved staff survey and index results

17

Measuring awareness and ownership of our core values

Regular scrutiny and publishing of equality performance.

Community engagement and satisfaction

Every year our Corporate Plan is reviewed, with key stakeholders and the community invited to comment over a 12 week consultation period.

Initial Equality Risks and Benefits Analyses of key proposals were publicly available as part of the consultation and this led to a full exploration,

with disabled people, of one of the proposals.

We ask people, through our Quality of Service questionnaires, about the service they have experienced, after domestic and non-domestic

incidents, home fire safety visits and fire safety checks and audits. At the end of each financial year a full report is produced, including

benchmarking results with other Fire and Rescue Services. All surveys and consultations are published here. An activity in the Draft Corporate

Plan 2012/13 - 2014/15 seeks to improve community involvement in planning safer communities. To achieve this we are looking to establish

new ways to meet with our communities to involve them in planning how we match our resources to risk, including community safety activities

and to share information, data and neighbourhood influence.

We are the first Fire and Rescue Service in England to be a lead or major partner in a Participatory Budgeting event. This directly involves local

people in making decisions on the spending priorities for a defined public budget. This means engaging residents and community groups,

representative of all parts of the community, to discuss spending priorities, make spending proposals and vote on them.

Under this theme, our assessment told us that to reach Excellent in the Framework we need to do more to involve at risk groups in the design

and delivery of our services. It also revealed that we need to improve how we promote and share our good practice to other Fire and Rescue

Services.

Outcome: Reduced risk for all communities through involving them in designing and developing our services and

listening and acting on feedback.

http://www.consultationfinder.com/devon/devonfireandrescue



http://www.participatorybudgeting.org.uk/news-and-events/news/devon-and-somerset-fire-rescue-service-the-first-to-lead-on-pb-in-the-country

18

Objectives

13 To involve members of at risk groups in the design and delivery of prevention services

14 To ensure the customer satisfaction data we collect is relevant and sufficient

15 To ensure that individual needs are considered in preparing our response procedures

16 To promote good practice in service delivery, employment and training and promote across the sector.


Improved evaluated outcomes in targeted services

Number and diversity of community members volunteering to be community safety advocates

Equality Risks and Benefits Analyses based on relevant evidence, which improves service design

Communication differences are accounted for in response protocols

Increased good practice sharing and learning from Fire and Rescue Services and other organisations.

A Skilled and committed workforce

Strategic workforce planning is built into the organisation’s Corporate Plan and Business Plans. Our Human Resources function is undergoing

a comprehensive review and the approach to workforce planning will be considered as part of that review. Under the current system, the

Service has a Corporate Plan which incorporates our mission, vision and our strategy. This includes our 3 strategic principles, of which the third

is “To work hard to be an excellent organisation”. Our commitment within this principle is to make Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service

one of the best organisations in the UK in which to work.

The People and Organisational Development plan and Making the Connections, the 2009-12 Equality Scheme, achieved outcomes on key

equality issues, for example, a recruitment code of practice underpinned by Equality and Diversity law and principles, specific welfare support

19

mechanisms for lesbian, gay or bisexual staff, reviews of maternity and paternity policies, appraisals which include assessment of our Core

Values, exit interviews and a bullying & harassment policy. As women are under-represented in our workforce we have also developed a

women’s network and an lesbian, gay and bisexual staff support group and champions.

Improved outcomes for employees include: an increased take up on flexible working and job share, improved work-life balance, a reduction of

stress related illness and improved career paths for part-time workers, such as our Retained staff who can now transfer both ways between

duty systems. We have also ranked 158th in the Stonewall workplace equality index this year, out of 363 significant UK organisations.

Our Staff survey results for 2010 show, compared to 2008, that the proportion of employees who reported that they would be complimentary

when speaking about us as a provider of services and as an employer has increased by 28 percentage points (52% in 2008, 80% in 2010).

We believe that diverse teams are the most effective and create the best working environments. We want to ensure we offer equality of

opportunity in employment and more closely reflect our communities in our workforce. Over the last few years, there has been a relatively low

turnover of staff and therefore limited opportunity to increase diversity in the organisation. The last wholetime recruitment process of summer

2009 saw an increase in the number of applicants who identified as being from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. The Labour

Force Survey (a quarterly sample survey of households living at private addresses in Great Britain) in 2008 indicated that the local BAME

working age population across Devon and Somerset is 5.29%. However, variation in local areas is significant, being for example 13% in Exeter,

5.6% Mendip and 1.2% in North Devon, and 0% in Sedgemoor. With high retention in wholetime stations and external recruitment currently in

rural retained stations with very low Black, Asian and minority ethnic populations, recruitment is challenging and an increased effort on positive

action is to be concentrated on retained areas. The current percentage of all Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff is 1.18%.

We, along with all other UK Fire and Rescue Services, are working to increase the percentage of women in operational roles. Our most recent

whole time recruitment campaign saw an intake of 2 female firefighters in a cohort of 24, or 12%. However, overall, women make up only

3.35% of our operational workforce.

20

The Equality Framework Assessment recognised our achievements in the workplace and reinforced our own assessment and recognition of

areas in which we need to consider, including workforce diversity, progression and retention of women, bullying and harassment, reviewing our

equalities training, and ensuring any workforce planning includes Equality Risks and Benefits Analysis.

Outcome: A workforce that more closely reflects and understands the diversity of our communities and a

workplace culture of respect where employees are treated fairly and enjoy working with us.

Objectives

17 To increase the number of women applying for senior roles in the operational (Firefighting) and non-operational workforce

18 To complete the equal pay action plan

19 To increase the attraction and recruitment percentage of people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities

20 To increase the attraction and recruitment of women into the operational workforce

21 To ensure workforce planning is considered using Equality Risks and Benefits Analyses

22 To embed zero tolerance with regard to bullying and harassment

23 To improve levels of diversity monitoring disclosure

24 To improve employee satisfaction with work/life balance

25 To improve how we highlight, monitor and tackle stress and stress related illness

26 To embed 2012-16 equality objectives into the Personal Performance and Development process

27 To implement and embed the new equalities training policy.

28 To improve equalities in the Service and Nationally in the Fire and Rescue Service for Transgender people by raising

awareness and developing policy and guidance

29 To promote key messages about disability and operational firefighting in recruitment

30 To ensure the needs and views of disabled people are considered in community and workplace activities


21

Monitoring attraction, recruitment, progression and retention rates demographically

Completion of the equal pay action plan

Completed and published Equality Risks and Benefits Analyses

A reduction of witnessed and experienced bullying and harassment in staff survey and through formal and informal reporting

A decrease of ‘prefer not to say’ in diversity monitoring

Increased satisfaction with work/life balance in staff survey

Further decrease of stress related illness

Evidence of equality outcomes in Personal Performance and Development reviews

Percentage and evaluations of employees trained under the updated equalities training policy.

22

Equality Action Plan


Objective/s Action How it will be measured Who is

responsible

When it will be

completed

1/3 To establish and maintain a

community/workforce data

hub for employee access

Data hub on intranet complete and

accessible

Standard approach to data search

and presentation

Staff know how to find data they need

Data evident in Equality Risks and

Benefits Analysis

Lifestyle risks linked to protected

characteristics identified in Equality

Risks and Benefits Analysis.

Assistant Chief Fire

Officer (Service

Delivery Support)

Director of

Corporate

Services

2013

3 Evaluate and review all

community safety activities

incorporating Equality Risks

and Benefits Analysis

principles

Evaluation and review policy

embedded and completed for all

activities

Outcomes published

Reviews of evaluation outcomes


Officer (Service

Delivery Support)

2013

23

inform Group plans.

3 Include deliberate fires

linked to hate incidents in

our fire statistics

Clear links where deliberate fires are

linked to hate incidents (e.g.

domestic violence) in our

performance reports

Data on communities affected

available to inform partnership work.


Officer (Service

Delivery Support)

2014

1 To evaluate all agency

Partnerships using a new

Community and Voluntary

Sector partnership

protocol

Community Safety partnerships

evaluated and reviewed

Equality standards, i.e. our core

values and human rights form part

of the evaluation protocol


Officer (Service

Delivery Support)

2014

2 Develop data sharing

protocols with key agencies

and voluntary sector to

enable more targeting of

those at risk

Data sharing protocols in place

Improved access to vulnerable

people.


Officer (Service

Delivery Support)

2014


24


responsible

When it will be

completed

4/5/10 Develop, maintain and

report progress on the

equality priorities in the

Equality plan 2012-16

Scrutiny by Corporate Equalities

Group

Published progress and outcome

reports.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012-16

4/5/9/10 Develop the Corporate

Equalities group to include

a challenge and review

function

Quarterly reporting on equality

performance from Corporate

Equalities group

Community and voluntary sector

involvement.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012

5/6 Develop a Hate crime

policy

Policy completed and promoted

Some stations set up as Hate Crime

third party reporting centres: NOW

REMOVED FOLLOWING

CONSULTATION

Hate crime awareness training, to

include race, disability, homophobic

and domestic violence, delivered in

conjunction with safeguarding training.


Officer (Service

Delivery Support)

2014

25


responsible

When it will be

completed

5/10 Deliver Equality Risks and

Benefits Analysis training

to all members

Increased scrutiny and challenge on

papers and proposals

Improved awareness of the

methodology and requirements of

equality analysis before decision

making.

Chief Fire Officer

2013

4/5 Continue to deliver

quarterly open house

awareness seminars on

specific equality issues

Quarterly awareness seminars

planned and delivered

Greater awareness & evaluation

Better quality Equality Risks and

Benefits Analyses

Improved relationships with delivering

community and voluntary sector

groups

Greater involvement, consultation &

feedback.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012-2016

26


responsible

When it will be

completed

5/6 Develop human rights e-

learning package and

awareness event

Training package in place

100% of employees completed

package

Good attendance at event including

Authority members

Evidence of Human rights

consideration in Equality Risks and

Benefits Analyses

Understanding of Human Rights

evidenced in employee survey.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2014

4/5/10 Establish four

Community Forums,

geographically spread

across the two counties,

for monitoring equality

progress and for

ongoing consultation

Access available to expert community

advice on high risk Equality Risks and

Benefits Analyses

6 monthly Review of Equality plan

progress

Corporate Plan consultation, policy

development and service design and

delivery input.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development/

Director of

Corporate Services

27


responsible

When it will be

completed

5 To review consultation

arrangements to allow

for more creative

solutions

Number active on consultation. Director of People

and Organisational

Development/

Director of

Corporate Services

2014

1/5 To develop, launch and

promote a community and

voluntary sector

partnership policy,

protocol and register

Policy developed and number of


partners listed

Range of protected characteristics

represented

Evaluated activities with partnerships

(using the Evaluation toolkit).


Officer (Service

Delivery Support)

2013

5 Develop an ‘Engaging

with the community and

voluntary sector’

workshop for service

delivery

Peripatetic workshop designed and

delivered

Increase in local community and

voluntary sector relationships

Increase in evaluated community and

voluntary sector partnerships.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2013

28


responsible

When it will be

completed

4/5/7 Develop, with community

and voluntary sector

involvement, a range of

guides and contacts for

key communities for

Service delivery/support

and partners

Number of guides developed

Better quality equality risks and

benefits assessments

Improved outcomes in targeted

campaigns

Improved customer satisfaction

following Home Fire Safety Visits,

compliments and complaints.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012 - 2016

5/6 Develop Group level

relationships with

community and voluntary

sector organisations

representing Black, Asian

and minority ethnic

communities

More targeted and evaluated activities

with these communities in line with

local plans

Partnership protocols in place

Black, Asian and minority ethnic

Community Advocates recruited

Increase in Black, Asian and minority

ethnic applicants.


Officer (Service

Delivery)

Group managers

2013

29


responsible

When it will be

completed

5 Develop a Community

Use strategy for stations

Community stations in areas of

greatest risk frequented by a range of

community groups

Improved engagement at a local level

Capital programme informed by

community use strategy.


Officer (Service

Delivery Support)

2016

5/10 Ensure representative

bodies, Women’s Action

Network Devon &

Somerset and the lesbian,

gay and bisexual support

network are included on

the Corporate Equalities

Group

Attendance and participation by

representative bodies.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

5 Embed Equality Risks and

Benefits Analysis

methodology in Project

development, process

design, policy

development through

training, coaching and

Better quality Equality Risks and

Benefits Analyses produced and

published

Higher percentage of Equality Risks

and Benefits Analyses involving


Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012

30


responsible

When it will be

completed

example articles Internal audit of process.

5 Monitor and assess our

outcomes in terms of the

Public Sector Equality

Duty using the Equality

Framework for Fire and

Rescue Services

Meet the Excellent level of the

Equality Framework by 2014

Chief Fire Officer

2014

5/7 Roll out a new equality

training policy

New training policy rolled out by April

2012

Percentage of employees trained

under revised policy.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2014

5 New policy design

process with Equality

Risks and Benefits

Analysis embedded as a

sub process

Equality Risks and Benefits Analysis

embedded in new policy design

process (already in existing process).

Director of

Corporate Services

2012

5/10 Integrate equalities into

the internal audit process

Equalities an aspect of all internal

audits

Brought forward from Making the Connections

Director of

Corporate Services

2014

5 Review our instant Instant translation service for Assistant Chief Fire 2013

31


responsible

When it will be

completed

translation services emergency response embedded. Officer (Service

Delivery)

5 Develop and roll out

British Sign Language and

Makaton emergency

response flash cards

Flash cards embedded for use in

response situations.


Officer (Service

Support)

2013

12 Maintain our Two Ticks

status and promote key

messages about

disability and

operational roles in

recruitment

Performance on Two Ticks monitored

and reviewed and Two Ticks

maintained.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012 - 2016

5/10 Review Employment data

collected to address any

gaps

Employment data collected is

reviewed and any gaps in what is

expected by Equality and Human

Rights Commission addressed

Collection processes put in place.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2013

4 Regularly communicate

equality priorities,

commitments and

Number of articles published

Increased interest in equality priorities

Director of People

and Organisational

Development/

2012-2016

32


responsible

When it will be

completed

activities to our people

and local communities

Increased understanding of our

activities Increased consultation

interest from CVS and currently under-

represented groups.

Community version of the new

Equality plan developed and

promoted (in the style of

‘Considering Needs’)

Director of

Corporate Services

8 Review Core Values

with employees

Wider awareness and ownership of

Core Values demonstrated at

interviews, Personal Performance &

Development and through staff survey

results.

Improved Bullying and Harassment

statistics in staff survey

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2013

5/10 Embed 2012 new

procurement policy and

equality guidance

Policy completed and rolled out

Guidance distributed.

Director of

Corporate Services

Procurement

manager

2012

11 Continue to be Stonewall

Diversity champions and

Ranking in index (top 100 by 2014) Director of People

and Organisational

2014

33


responsible

When it will be

completed

enter the workplace index

annually

Lesbian, gay and bisexual staff survey

feedback

Size and strength of lesbian, gay and

bisexual network

Action plan completed

Lesbian, gay and bisexual champions

Higher lesbian, gay and bisexual

identification in diversity monitoring.

Development/


Officer (Service

Delivery)

(senior equality

champion)

5/8 Continue to provide

support and attendance

for Respect, Pride,

Networking Women in the

Fire Service and consider

other annual festivals and

events

Community feedback, attendance and

evaluation

Increased awareness demonstrated at

Personal Performance &

Development.

Chief Fire Officer/

Deputy Chief Fire

Officer

2012-16

5 Promote suitably sized

and positioned community

stations for religious

festival celebration

Number and range of groups using

suitably sized and positioned

community stations for celebrations

such as Eid and Divali.


Officer (Service

Delivery)

Group Managers

2012-16

34


responsible

When it will be

completed

5/6/7 Deliver specific Race

training to local staff in

areas of increased

diversity in partnership

with Race Equalities

Councils

Evaluation, Personal Performance &

Development, local community

feedback, third party reporting at

station.


Officer (Service

Support)

2012

Community Engagement and Satisfaction


responsible

When it will be

completed

13 Develop a process for

involving target

community and voluntary

sector groups in

campaign and

intervention design and

delivery

Targeted campaigns developed with

representatives of target group

Improved outcomes for target groups


Officer (Service

Delivery Support)

2013

35


responsible

When it will be

completed

13 Recruit and train

community volunteer Fire

Safety advocates

including from Black,

Asian and minority ethnic

communities, disabled

and Deaf communities

Volunteer community advocates

delivering Fire Safety advice in their

own communities.


Officer (Service

Delivery Support)

2014

15 Equality Risks and

Benefits Analyses to be

carried out on operational

rescue protocols

Existing policies reviewed using


methodology

Training scenarios to include groups

with different communication needs

Guidance for operational staff and

communities developed, e.g. Deaf

(BSL) flashcards for use in emergency

situations.


Officer (Service

Delivery Support)

2016

13 Design and roll out multi-

lingual welcome posters

for Community Stations

Posters designed and displayed and to

include British Sign Language posters.

This action has been brought forward from

Making the Connections

Director of

Corporate Services

2012

36


responsible

When it will be

completed

13 Promote use of

community stations in

target areas on website

Increased use from target risk groups

Increased use from community groups

Director of

Corporate Services

2013

14 Standardise equality

monitoring collection

Standardised across diversity

monitoring for workforce and

community data

Include the Humanist’s

religion/belief recommendation

question is “Do you regard yourself

as belonging to any particular

religion or belief?” Yes/no, followed

by a list of religions/beliefs for

those who answer yes.

Director of

Corporate

Services

Ralph Howle

Director of People

and

Organisational

Development

Michelle

Smitham/Steve

Pope

2012

14 Review satisfaction data

collected

Relevant and useful information

collected which is demographically

analysed where relevant and informing

policy and procedure.

Director of

Corporate Services/


Officer (Service

Delivery Support)

2012-14

37


responsible

When it will be

completed

13/14 Develop and promote

interactive single issue

‘mini surveys’ for website

Number of people completing mini

surveys.

Director of

Corporate Services

2014

13 Expand our ‘Flaming

Good Ideas’ suggestion

scheme to communities

Community members able to make

suggestions, minor and major, which

will be assessed using the current

mechanism and adopted if beneficial

Ideas reported in a ‘You said, we did’

section on website.

Director of

Corporate Services

2013

15 Develop human rights

guidance

Guidance developed (in conjunction

with training package)

Human Rights considerations detailed

in Equality Risks and Benefits

Analyses.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2013

16 Establish regular use of

our website for sharing

good practice and the

Chief Fire Officers’

Increased case studies on site

Increased interest from other services

and reciprocal visits

Recognition from Chief Fire Officers’

Director of

Corporate Services

2012 and ongoing

38


responsible

When it will be

completed

Association notable

practice site and forums

Association.

13/15 Ensure key corporate

publications are

converted to an Easy

Read format

Easy Read Corporate plan and

Equality plan

Publications using ‘Total

Communication’

Director of

Corporate

Services

2012 and ongoing

15 Provide signposting to

counselling services

and support networks

on website following

large incidents

Have you been affected by this

incident? On each large incident

page on website

Director of

Corporate

Services

2013

39

A skilled and committed workforce


responsible

When it will be

completed

17 Implement positive action

aimed at increasing the

number of women in senior

roles

Increase of women applying and

attaining senior roles.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2014

17/19/20 Review positive action

strategy and investigate

high performing Fire and

Rescue Services in

workforce diversity and

incorporate benchmarked

targets and good practice

Positive action strategy reviewed

and new strategy developed.

New intelligent targets to 2016 in

place

Regular monitoring by corporate

equalities group, Community

forums, rep bodies and Service

improvement group and Human

Resources Management and

Development Committee

Director of People

and

Organisational

Development

2013

21 Ensure workforce planning

decisions use Equality Risks

and Benefits Analysis

methodology

Equality Risks and Benefits Analyses

published which outline any

disadvantaged group.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012-16

40


responsible

When it will be

completed

19/20 Embed positive action toolkit

for retained recruitment

Increase in applications from women

and Black, Asian and minority ethnic

communities.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012

19/20 Roll out and promote

Recruitment Code of

Practice to managers

Managers understand equality

aspects of recruitment.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

Steve Pope

2012

19/20 Develop a strategy for

engaging local employers in

retained recruitment

Local employers hosting recruitment

evenings and promoting vacancies.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2013

19/20 Develop an interview skills

workshop for communities

where we are recruiting and

target in conjunction with

positive action toolkit

Interview skills workshops designed

by Human Resources and delivered

by senior managers

Increase in recruitment from Black,

Asian and minority ethnic

communities.

This action has been carried forward from

Making the Connections.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development/

ACFO Service

Delivery

2014

41


responsible

When it will be

completed

19/20 Investigate and report

retention demographically

Information on leavers by gender,

ethnicity etc. and reasons

investigated to identify any cultural

aspects which need to be addressed.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012

29 Co-ordinate and host a

national Disability in the Fire

Service conference with

National Disabled Fire

Association

Event held

Increase in Fire & Rescue Services

supporting National Disabled Fire

Association

This action has been brought forward from

Making the Connections.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2014

17/19/20 Review efficacy of exit

interview policy

Improved information about reasons

for leaving captured.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012

5/19/20 Re-run diversity monitoring

for all staff

Diversity monitoring information

updated and applied to analysis of

employment data.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012

42


responsible

When it will be

completed

5/19/20 Develop electronic process

for collecting diversity

monitoring

Electronic process ready for Personal

performance and Development 2012

Director of

Corporate Services

2012

5/21/30 Personnel officers and

senior managers/policy

authors to complete

Equality Risks and

Benefits Analysis training

All personnel officers and senior

managers /policy authors to

undertake Equality Risks and

Benefits Analysis training.

This action to be embedded in

Equality Training Strategy

Director of People

and

Organisational

Development

2012 and ongoing

24 Ensure action plans are

developed under each

theme following staff survey

analysis

Action plans in place and monitored

by staff survey steering group.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2013

17/20 Develop a forward plan for

the women’s network

WANDS action plan developed. Director of People

and

Organisational

Development

2012

43


responsible

When it will be

completed

17/22/23 Develop 2012-13 action plan

for lesbian, gay and bisexual

staff following Stonewall

feedback

Action plan developed and delivered

Increase in 2013 index results.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012

30 Scope the development of a

staff disability group with

National Disabled Fire

Association

Disability group established if

benefits identified.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2013

30 Develop a dyslexia

policy/guidance

Policy live Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012

24/30 Continue to support the

well@work group

Well@work continues to promote

good work/life balance, healthy

eating etc. and scrutinise health of

the organisation reports.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012-16

24 Incorporate relevant

questions on working

environment criteria in to

staff survey

Gaps in working environment

questions identified and addressed.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2013

44


responsible

When it will be

completed

19/20 Evaluate Welfare vehicle for

equality considerations

Welfare vehicle evaluated using


methodology.


Officer (Service

Delivery)

2012

30 Review and promote all

aspects of Dyslexia support

Dyslexia support, screening,

adjustments and support group

reviewed and promoted.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2013

18 Implement the Equal pay

action plan

Action plan implemented and

monitored regularly.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2013

22 Hold bullying and

harassment seminar

Evaluation of event Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2013

22 Increase frequency of

reporting staff

witnessed/experienced

bulling and harassment

More regular monitoring of staff

survey questions relating to bullying

harassment

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2014

45


responsible

When it will be

completed

22 Review and promote

bullying and harassment

policy

Policy reviewed and launched

Evaluation of event

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012

26 Review Personal

Performance and

Development process to

improve inclusion and

evaluation of individual

equality objectives

Individual equality objectives

detailed, monitored and evaluated.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2013

21 Equality Risks and Benefits

Analysis methodology used

to review each training

school offering

Equalities embedded in all training. Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2013

27 Promote additional

community specific training

to relevant teams

Community specific training offered

on Training Needs Assessment to

eligible employees to meet business

need

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2012

46


responsible

When it will be

completed

21/30 Include disabled people and

people with different

communication needs in

training scenarios

Training scenarios produce learning

points for developing policy and

procedure which meet the needs of

disabled people/people with a range

of communication needs.

Director of People

and Organisational

Development

2013

28 Develop Transgender

policy and guidance,

including an engagement

guide and hosting an

awareness seminar

Policy develop and promoted

Guide developed

Seminar delivered

Trans issues identified in Equality

Risks and Benefits Analysis

Any lifestyle risks identified

Increased engagement and

positive feedback

Director of People

and

Organisational

Development

2013

28 Explore National adoption

by Chief Fire Officer’s

Association of policy and

guidance

Adopted as good practice by Chief

Fire Officer Association

Used by other Fire and Rescue

Services

Director of People

and

Organisational

Development

2014

47


responsible

When it will be

completed

22 Review Bullying and

Harassment investigation

procedure

Trained investigators

Satisfaction of reported incidents

improved

Director of People

and

Organisational

Development

2014

Safer Lives, brighter futures: Draft Equality plan 2012-16

Consultation Report: March 2012

2

1 Background

1.1 To comply with the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty we are required to produce

and publish new equality objectives by 6 April 2012. This also coincides with the end date of the

Single Equality Scheme, Making the Connections, which is 31 March 2012. The purpose of the

objectives is to identify what we need to achieve in order to satisfy the aims of the general equality

duty which are to:

Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited

by or under the Equality Act 2010

Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic

and people who do not share it

Foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those

who do not share it.

1.2 The Service has committed to achieving the Excellent level of the Fire and Rescue Service

Equality Framework by 2014, so the agreed objectives must help us to reach that goal.

1.3 Guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission states that equality objectives should

be specific and measurable and developed through engagement with the public and with employees

and other key stakeholders.

2 Summary of feedback

2.1 In the four community focus groups a number of positive comments were made about the Service

and our community engagement. These included the following comments:

There is a huge amount of respect for the fire service in the community

The fire service is seen as a role model in the community

The fire service has a trusted brand – trusted by communities

The fire service is trying to understand communities unlike many other public sector bodies

Clear distinctions are made in the community between fire and police and fire are more trusted

Some individual employees are doing great community work in their areas

The fire service are on a positive direction of travel

Work to develop a lesbian, gay and bisexual network is seen as a positive step

Support for Exeter Pride has been good

Community Safety days are seen as positive events.

2.2 Across all the consultation, internal and external, a number of the objectives and actions in the

plan were given support and emphasised as being particularly important. These included:

3

Importance of continuing partnership working

Continue with community engagement work, ensuring resources are allocated

Considering individual needs in response operations

Encouraging more women to apply for operational roles.

2.3 A number of issues were raised as requiring further development and have been put forward as

proposed amendments to the draft plan. These are detailed in the draft plan in bold. In brief, the key

amendments are as follows:

We propose including three new objectives:

To improve equalities in the Service and Nationally in the Fire and Rescue Service for

Transgender people by raising awareness and developing policy and guidance

To promote key messages about disability and operational firefighting in recruitment

To ensure that the needs and views of disabled people are considered in community and

workplace activities.

We will incorporate the following into the action plan to help meet the existing objectives:

We will ensure through an evaluation protocol that Community and Voluntary Sector groups we

want to engage with meet our own equality standards, core values and human rights.

We will establish four voluntary Community Forums, geographically spread across the two

counties, for regularly monitoring equality progress and for ongoing consultation

We will ensure that key corporate publications are produced in ‘Easy Read’ formats

We will introduce a standard approach to equality monitoring incorporating consultation advice

We will review internal bullying and harassment investigation arrangements

More clarity has been added to the plan around the review of the positive action strategy which

will include regular monitoring of the diversity of the workforce in terms of attraction,

recruitment, progression and retention, with benchmarked targets to be set against the highest

performers in the Service nationally.

2.4 Although the proposal of a Hate Crime policy was widely supported and remains in the plan, the

only removal from the plan, following consultation is the preparation of some stations as third party

Hate Crime reporting centres.

3 Methodology

3.1 The Community & Workplace Equalities team developed a consultation and engagement plan

which allowed for a consultation period of six weeks from Monday 23 January to Friday 2 March 2012.

Draft objectives were prepared, drawn from a number of sources including:

Review of the objectives in Making the Connections

4

Peer assessment report following their visit in November 2011

Requirements of the Excellent level of the Fire & Rescue Service Equalities Framework

Equality monitoring data from Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service, the south west and

nationally.

3.2 A full version of the draft Equality Plan was produced, together with a summary version that just

contained background information and the draft aims and objectives.

The objectives of the consultation and engagement programme were to provide an opportunity for

stakeholders to:

provide feedback on the draft equality objectives

suggest new or alternative objectives

propose ideas and solutions for how the objectives could be implemented

indicate their interest in remaining involved in developing and monitoring equality and diversity

activities.

3.3 A feedback form was made available which asked four questions:

1. How far do you think the draft objectives will help us to understand and consider individual needs in

delivering our services and therefore achieving our aim of making the area safer for all?

2. Are there any objectives that should be added or amended?

3. What actions or activities could we carry out in order to achieve the objectives?

4. Are there any other comments you would like to make?

5. Would you be interested in getting more involved in our equalities work? If so, please provide your

contact details and we will be in touch.

3.4 Stakeholder contact

The following individuals and groups were invited to discuss and comment on the draft plan:

Internal

External

Senior Management Board

Service Delivery Group

Service Improvement Group

Corporate Equalities Group

Community/representative groups at four

focus groups held in Bideford, Plymouth,

Taunton and Service HQ

5

Representative Bodies

All employees

Internal networks:

Well@work group, WANDS (Women’s Action

Network Devon & Somerset), Gay Fire

Association

Key partners e.g. Police, Ambulance

General public

Other Fire and Rescue Services via the

Chief Fire Officers Association discussion

forum

Equality networks including Devon Equality

Partnership

The five peer assessors

Asian Fire Service Association

National Disabled Fire Association

3.5 The draft documents, feedback form and information about timescales and how feedback could be

provided was made available on the Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service website. Feedback

could be provided by email, post, telephone and fax. There was a link from the home page to the draft

documents throughout the six week consultation period.The consultation documents were also

available from Devon Consultation Finder.

3.6 The Community & Workplace Equalities team sent emails to all their community contacts, directing

them to the draft documents on the website and inviting them to attend one of the four community

focus groups. The same email was also sent to groups, requesting that they forward it to their own

community contacts.

3.7 Publicity

A press release was issued at the start of the consultation period which resulted in several newspaper

and online articles and one local radio interview. The news story also appeared on the Devon &

Somerset Fire & Rescue Service website and on the Facebook page. It was also publicised on

Grapevine, the online network for people from different cultures living in Devon.

Notification of the consultation was automatically attached to the bottom of all external emails sent by

Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service employees.

Internally, the consultation was publicised on the Intranet, in the weekly Service Update and through

posters.

3.8 Responses to the consultation

A total of 22 people attended the four community focus groups which each lasted for an hour and a

half and were held in Bideford, Plymouth, Taunton and Service HQ. They included representatives

from the following organisations:

6

Bideford Bay Children’s Centre

Citizens Advice Bureau

Community Foundation (Village Agent Project)

Devon County Council (Learning Disabilities)

Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service

Exeter Pride

Gender Trust

MIND

Plymouth City Council (Social Inclusion Unit)

Plymouth & Devon Race Equality Council

Plymouth People First

Police Independent Advisory Group

Probation Service

Somerset Race Equality Council

Teignbridge District Council

Transgender Advisor

The discussion groups encouraged responses around four questions:

How can we understand our communities better?

How can we develop our approach to hate crime awareness and reporting?

What steps can we take to improve the diversity of our workforce?

How can we ensure that individual needs are met in response operations?

3.9 Three people living with learning disabilities attended the Plymouth focus group. Separate

materials were made available for them including a consultation document that used simple language

and pictures. They considered three questions:

1. Firefighters spend a lot of time talking to people to explain how to stop fires from happening. They

also explain what you should do if a fire starts near to where you are. What would be the best way for

you learn all about this?

2. If you wanted to speak to the Fire Service about something to do with fire and how safe you feel,

what would be the best way for you?

3. A hate crime is where one person harms another person because they think they are different. This

could be by harming them or by name calling, bullying etc. If you, or a friend, were upset by name

7

calling or bulling, who would you tell about it? Would you think about talking to a firefighter, for

example by going to a nearby fire station?

Their comments have been included in the table of feedback below, however they provided their

responses in pictorial form:

3.91 In addition to the community focus groups we received three individual responses from:

8

Devon Humanists

Independent Transgender Advisor

Disability Forward

3.92 Internally, the Corporate Equalities Group considered the draft plan on 29 February. Attendees

were:

Amy Clack

Dave Church

Hazel Elderfield

Jonathan Chalk

Louise Doherty

Malcolm Carmichael

Martin Carnell (Fire Officers Association)

Miranda Marklew

Nik Brock (Unison)

Sean Cook (Retained Firefighters Union)

The group discussed issues around:

Core Values

Understanding our communities

Collection and use of internal and external data

Hate crime awareness and reporting

Bullying and harassment

3.93 A separate response to the consultation was received from the Fire Brigades Union.

3.94 All the responses to the consultation have been summarised in the following table, together with

responses from the Community & Workplace Equalities Manager.

9

Draft Equality Plan

Consultation Feedback Report

Comments Source Response

Partnership working:

Page numbers refer to the Equality Plan

Continue to participate in and develop partnerships, joined-up working and other networks. Be prepared to share data with trusted partners. Move away from silo thinking and look for holistic solutions, for example, could other agencies carry out brief home safety visits and report concerns to FRS.

Community Focus Groups

Objectives in the ‘Knowing our Communities’ section of the plan make developing partnerships and sharing data strategic imperatives. Within this a volunteer Community Safety Advocates model is being developed.

Not all community and voluntary sector organisations have high equality and diversity standards. Sometimes the aims and agendas of organisations can lead to actions which do not respect the rights of other people. In partnership working the Service should seek to set the lead standard in equality and diversity or expect partners to demonstrate high standards of their own.

Devon Humanists As part of the action in the ‘Knowing our communities’ section; to develop a partnership protocol for Community and Voluntary Sector Groups we will ensure that our equality standards are laid out and questions asked of groups we want to engage with to ensure they meet our core values and human rights. This is now reflected in the plan on page 23.

Understanding our communities:

Ensure that we have enough time, resources and skills to build and maintain relationships with community groups, particularly those with protected characteristics. Are infrequent, ad-hoc visits enough to change behaviours? To be effective these relationships need to be developed over time and require resources and commitment.


Our Targeting and Evaluation will ensure that our engagement is proportionate to those most at risk, and we will continue to build our knowledge and identify new risks with more sustained relationships. We have altered the equality action plan to include four regular Community Forums to monitor our equalities work and to help us identify any new risk factors and important links to community groups and networks (page 26) Using

10


the new protocol tool described on page 23, we will evaluate our existing relationships. We also use a project prioritisation tool which considers equalities and impact on society.

The Service needs to engage more with communities and be more creative about the methods used. To be inclusive we can’t expect people to come to us in the places we want and at the times most convenient for us.


We have altered the equality action plan to include four regular Community Forums to monitor our equalities work and to help us identify any new risk factors, improve consultation on our annual strategic objectives and identify important links to community groups and networks.(page 26) We will also develop and provide community engagement workshops for front line staff. We are currently reviewing our consultation arrangements to improve access.

The Participatory Budgeting pilots have been a real success and have involved the Service engaging with representatives from diverse groups. This is a new approach and it needs to be developed and expanded in order to reach more groups. The prospect of grants provides the honey pot but the events have led to new contacts being made and the Service facilitating networking between other community groups.


Evaluation of the Participatory Budgeting pilots will inform the next steps for this initiative.

There was real strength of feeling that community safety advocates should be recruited from within communities and surprise that this wasn’t occurring already. This will really help the organisation to understand and gain access to many different communities and reduce risk. This issue must be addressed.


Local Service Groups will now be looking to develop volunteers from communities with the support of the Community Safety department. We do have Community Advocates already, for example two Road Traffic Collision Advocates who are young women engaging with their peers in Road Traffic Collision Reduction Education work, this is particularly useful to have

11


credibility and access to the young women who statistically are more likely to be killed or seriously injured as passengers.

The Evaluation Toolkit developed and used by community safety is a positive initiative but needs expanding across the whole organisation to get maximum benefit.


This is an action in the plan, page 22, to embed evaluation and also to embed Equality Risks and Benefits Analysis principles in the evaluation toolkit.

We are getting better at collecting and sharing data internally but data sharing with external agencies is an issue due to our lack of security. This means that we don’t know as much about our vulnerable groups as we should do. There is a project underway to improve this but it is long term with maybe the possibility of a few quick wins. This ability to share data externally is a real priority.


The existing Information Governance project will improve the ability to share data with agencies such as the Police –it is one of the major project benefits, we will ascertain the timescales and report back to the Corporate Equalities Group. We are working with both the West Midlands FRS and Merseyside FRS in seeking to access data from the Department of Work and Pensions and PDCS. If we can secure this data it will enable us to overlap current data and accurately identify some of the most vulnerable in our communities.

There is inconsistency in the way we gather and use data across the organisation. Different groups use it to a greater or lesser extent and in different ways. There needs to be one standard across the organisation.


The action to create a data hub on page 22 will be expanded to include introducing a standard approach and include the Performance team in the approach.

People from public sector organisations often do not have the awareness or confidence in dealing with people from different faiths or from other diverse backgrounds. This could be due to not wanting to offend people from different cultures by saying or doing the wrong thing. However, this gets in the way of them providing a proper service. Employees need to have more exposure to people from diverse backgrounds to gain more confidence and understanding.

Devon Humanists Our new Equalities training policy includes the provision of quarterly seminars on specific communities, delivered by people from those communities. To date, Gypsies and Travellers and Learning Disabilities. We promote community and voluntary sector run courses, including deaf

12


awareness and understanding Islam. We produce a range of engagement guides, developed in consultation with the communities. In the future we will be working closely with the Plymouth and Devon Race Equality council to provide a secondment to that agency and specific race training for Plymouth watch managers. This is in response to reports of rising racism in the city of Plymouth. We will continue our seminars and expand them to other geographical areas of the service, and continue to work with communities to provide engagement guides. These actions are currently represented in the plan.(pages 28, 34, 35)

There is little written evidence of engagement with disability groups or staff when compared to other public bodies. Although there are certain groups, e.g. learning disability groups, that are engaging, others should be sought out.

Transgender Advisor We have created a new objective:

To ensure the needs of disabled people are considered in community and workplace activities.(page 20)

In the workplace and the community, we plan to expand our engagement with disability groups. We helped establish the National Disabled Fire Association in 2009 and continue to support and use the organisation as an advice and consultation partner. We have established a dyslexia support group, and the equality plan includes an action to scope the establishment of a disability staff forum (page 43).We also engage on a strategic and local level with disability groups but this needs to

13


be more sustained. We have altered the equality action plan to include four regular Community Forums to monitor our equalities work and to help us identify any new risk factors and important links to community groups and networks (page 26) and this will include disability groups in each of the four local forums across the service area.

Fire fighters spend a lot of time talking to people to explain how to stop fires from happening. They also explain what you should do if a fire starts near to where you are. What would be the best way for you learn all about this?

Visits to a fire station

Signs

Group talks

Home Safety Visits

Information using pictures, easy read and Plain English

Use simple, single words or symbols

DVDs

A DVD is being created by Plymouth People First on fire safety

Fire service to come out to group

Individual visit with family member or advocacy partner.

Feedback from three people with learning disabilities who attended the Plymouth focus group

We will produce easy read versions of our plans and Fire Safety advice. We are helping Plymouth People first to make a DVD on Fire Safety. Producing Easy Read versions of our literature is a now a new action in the plan, on page 38.

Effective communications:

When working with particular communities, we could give more thought to the most effective communication methods. Many people have poor literacy or language skills or other learning difficulties. We should be more familiar with alternative communication methods such as Talking Boards, Total Communication etc. and confident to use them when appropriate.


Producing Easy Read versions of our literature and exploring Talking Boards and Total communication is a now a new action in the plan, on page 38.

Getting the language right in communications, both internally and Devon Humanists We produced a readable, attractive and

14


externally, is crucial in helping people to understand equality and diversity. It is important to “make it real” for people.

relevant overview of the previous Equality scheme, ‘Making the Connections’, called ‘Considering Needs’, which was well received by communities and employees. We will be creating a similar version for this plan, and this has been added to the action plan, page 32. Our new Equalities training policy makes course content role relevant and uses Fire Service case studies. We use simple key messages in our Equalities communication to underline the business case to make equalities relevant.

If you wanted to speak to the Fire Service about something to do with fire and how safe you feel, what would be the best way for you?

Dial 999

Test smoke alarms

Have an escape plan

Know which way to go to get out of the building

Use the internet

Read information leaflets using pictures, easy read and Plain English

Do we have a special non-emergency number for fire like 101?


We have a non-emergency line for Home Safety Visit advice but we will consider the benefits of a non- emergency enquiry line. This is not in the Equality Plan but will be talked about at our Service Improvement Group. We will also ask other communities if this is a good idea.

Gender reassignment is one of the protected characteristics and, to date, we have not engaged with this community. We need to consider the best ways of doing that and ensure that we are aware of any particular lifestyle risks and that transgender people feel able to access all our services.


We began to explore lifestyle/hate crime risks with the local Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender advocacy charity Intercom Trust, but we recognise the need to engage directly with Trans people as it is a community we know little about. We aim to change this and will encourage Trans people to engage with us in a way that suits them, hopefully regularly on our

15


planned four local Community Forums (page 26).

There is a very serious gap in the Fire Service’s engagement with the Trans community – in fact until this week there is no evidence whatsoever that there has been any engagement with the Trans community. This appears to be a serious problem across the country and no coherent policy, or policy guidance exists. The only reference being made to Transgender is on www.idea.co.uk and this is mentioning the Sefton NHS project which is likely to be inappropriate to the Fire Service. If any policy does exist within the UK Fire Service it is not embedded, and is piecemeal, this is of very great concern. There needs to be comprehensive and very urgent liaison with the Transgender community if the Fire Service still intends to try for excellent status in 2013. At present I do not believe it will achieve it as there are other areas e.g. disability where the service needs to engage with its users more as well.

Transgender Advisor This has created a new objective for the plan:

To improve equalities for Transgender people in the Service and nationally in the Fire and Rescue Service by raising awareness and developing policy and guidance

(Page 20) We will, in partnership and consultation with the Trans community, develop an awareness guide and deliver a Seminar as part of our series of specific community seminars. This is reflected in the action plan on page 46. As this has been identified as a national problem, we will develop a Transgender policy for our service, and to be considered by the Chief Fire Officer’s Association as national good practice. This consideration has been added to the plan on page 46.

Equality monitoring:

Think about how you are asking people to provide this information. Saying it is a legal duty is not effective. It is important to explain why you are gathering the information and how it will be used. Make it real for

Devon Humanists We explain why we are gathering information in relevant terms, but we need to standardise this message and

16


people and their jobs and family relations.

the collection of equality monitoring across all functions of the service. This has been added to the plan on page 36.

In surveys or equality monitoring, asking the question, what is your faith, encourages people to provide answers that are not accurate and therefore distort the results and provide statistics that are not valid. For example, some people may state they are Christian because they identify themselves with a Christian culture, not that they have any particular religious beliefs. The Humanist’s recommendation is that the first question is “Do you regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion or belief?” Yes/no, followed by a list of religions/beliefs for those who answer yes. This approach has been adopted by the D&C Police and the results of the recent employee equality monitoring are now more consistent with the British Social Attitudes Survey.

Devon Humanists This is very useful feedback and will be adopted in a standardisation of equality monitoring across the service on page 36.

Considering individual needs in Response Operations:

In preparation for response, could awareness be raised, for example of mental health or learning disability issues that may affect a member of the public before, during or following an incident.


An action has been brought forward from ‘Making the Connections’ to consider these needs in operational response training (page 46). Each of our training school offerings are being reviewed with our Equality Risks and Benefits Analysis and an action resulting from these analyses will be to include these considerations in operational response training. We are also producing flash cards for Makaton and BSL users which will be available to operational crews.(page 31)

Following a major incident, could the outcomes be more effectively communicated to the public and to firefighters involved. Also, could we either offer or signpost further support to communities where an incident occurs, not just the families of those involved.


We will develop a signposting system on our website for those who may be affected. This has been added to the plan (page 38.)

17


Hate crime awareness and reporting:

The general view was that this is a serious, major issue and that we should work with others to increase awareness and reporting. Ideas put forward included:

Being very clear about our role and what, specifically, we can offer that others are unable to do.

Ultimately it is the role of the police to deal more effectively with hate crime. What can we do to support them in this.

The general view on having some fire stations as third party reporting centres was that it could be introduced, however, it may be seen as tokenism as it is unlikely that anyone would use this method. No individual or group was particularly enthusiastic about this idea.

If an arson incident is suspected as being linked to hate crime could we offer to report it.

Log incidents which we believe to have a hate crime link and monitor and share this data. The general view was that this is the main area we should be working on.

Training for employees on the prevalence of hate crime, what we can do about it and how we can encourage people to report it.

Increased role in signposting people to the right agencies.

Focus on what we can do to break the acceptance that hate incidents are unavoidable.


We will develop our awareness and training and recording around Hate Crime, but several sources of consultation have advised us to focus on this and we have removed the suggestion of using stations as third party reporting centres.(page 24) We will explore how can use our data management systems to record incidents with a suspected link to hate crime and will monitor and analyse the data.

The Somerset Hate Crime forum is one example of public sector and community and voluntary groups coming together around a single issue and the Service is represented on this group. They have commissioned a Community and Voluntary Sector organisation to plan and deliver a reporting process on behalf of the group and raise awareness.


This information will be used to develop our approach to Hate Crime. This is a specific project for Community Safety. (page 24)

Not in favour of fire stations becoming centres for third party hate crime reporting as there would be too many complications around making sure


We will develop our awareness and training and recording around Hate Crime, (page 24) but several sources of

18


someone was present, training etc. It was also felt to be unlikely that someone would use this route.

consultation have advised us to focus on this and we have removed the suggestion of using stations as third party reporting centres.

The Fire service still has an important position as role models to help with community cohesion and hate crime awareness, for example through initiatives such as Phoenix. We should use our brand more. Helping people to recognise the consequences of their actions and the impact it has on other people.


We will continue our work raising self esteem and improving life chances with projects such as phoenix and, for example, a planned secondment to Plymouth and Devon Race Equality Council aims to work with the local Football team as part of Football Association’s ‘Kick it out’ anti racism campaign.

Awareness raising within the organisation was felt to be the way forward. It was felt that few people understand what hate crime is or would recognise it when it occurs. A direct link needs to be made for crews involved in incidents which are hate crime related.


This will form part of the Hate Crime awareness action page 24.

Speak to police first about what existing structures are in place for reporting and awareness raising.


This will be incorporated into the Hate Crime awareness action, page 24.

A hate crime is where one person harms another person because they think they are different. This could be by harming them or by name calling, bullying etc. If you, or a friend, were upset by name calling or bulling, who would you tell about it? Would you think about talking to a firefighter, for example by going to a nearby fire station?

We would not think about going to speak to a fire fighter

We would go to the police

We might talk to a trusted person at Plymouth People First

We might report it at a place where we see the Safe Place logo. (Keeping Safe initiative)


We want people to go to the police if they have been harmed. We are going to make sure firefighters know what hate crime is and can help to stop it, but people should report it to the police.

Diversity of the workforce:

Challenge the perception that it is not a role for women. This is a national Community Focus Please see the response to the Fire

19


issue so could we use influence at CFOA to have a national media campaign. Encourage use of volunteer advocates as this is likely to encourage more women. Tailor messages to audiences and hold taster sessions. Publicise the standards that are required of a firefighter so women understand that it can be a career for them.

Groups Brigades Union below.

At local authority level however, the Fire Brigades Union sought to make

sure that there is no backing off from the modest [recruitment of women

and black and minority ethnic] targets set in the Community & Local

Government strategy. We are clear that Fire & Rescue Authorities must

show commitment to making sure that the work to improve the

recruitment, retention and progression of Women and Black and Ethnic

Minority members continues.

The Union subsequently wrote to the Service seeking your assurance

that the targets would still be pursued and that the Fire and Rescue

Service, as a matter of urgency, will implement an effective monitoring

system. The targets within Devon & Somerset Fire 7 Rescue Service

were that by 2013 a minimum of 18% of new entrants to the operational

service to be women and 7.3%, would be from minority ethnic

backgrounds. The Service stated its commitment to these targets and

accepted the grant, which came with it.

The draft report outlines that to date the Service has a current

percentage of all Black, Asian and minority staff of 1.18% (page 18 Draft

Equality Plan). The draft report outlines that to date women make up only

3.35% of the operational workforce, which is currently below the national

average which is 4%.

Although the target date is 2013 it has to be said that the figures to date

represent a failure in travel by the Service. The targets were set out in a

full Governmental Strategy almost 4 years ago. The Service committed

to these targets and accepted a very large amount of finance when doing

Fire Brigades Union We welcome the considered feedback from the Fire Brigades Union and look forward to working more closely with them in equalities matters in the future, in line with the objective to work more closely together with representative bodies in the Equality plan (page 16). Since the Fire Service has moved to a more localised equalities agenda, informed by the new Public Sector Equality Duty, the commitment to recruit more women and Black Asian and Minority Ethnic communities has strengthened. We have developed inclusive literature, a film and a positive action toolkit which is being rolled out. We established a women’s network to help identify and address any cultural issues within the service which could impact on retention and progression. Due to the economic climate, which wasn’t foreseen when targets were set nationally, operational recruitment is largely in retained stations only, which limits the opportunity to refresh the workforce diversity. This makes the use of positive action in each and every recruitment drive even more crucial. We will be reviewing the positive action strategy to ensure it is embedded in the

20


so. To be so far from the target with only a year to go must put a

successful outcome in 2013 in doubt. Not only does the draft report fail to

offer a reassurance as to how the targets will be met it also fails to

properly address the issue in any substantial or meaningful way.

It is disappointing to see that in the draft equality plan under the heading

“Where can we improve further?” There is no consideration for

improving the policies and procedures within the Service which would

encourage more under represented groups to apply and help to retain

those already employed by the Service.

In order to support the recruitment and retention of women within the Fire

& Rescue Service it is important for the Service to incorporate the

appropriate, supportive policies. As has previously been stated the Fire

Brigades Union have written best practice documents on maternity,

paternity, adoption as well as facilities. The Service needs to engage

with the Union and work together to provide inclusive policies and

practices which will only better the conditions of service for their under

represented workforce.

The Union has concerns that the targets set out in the strategy have now

either been set aside by the Service or dismissed all together. We look

forward to receiving confirmation that this is not the case.

recruitment policy and code of practice and monitoring our workforce make up more regularly. This is reflected in the equality plan.(page 39) We have gone below the national average in terms of women in operational roles largely because of recent leavers from the retained workforce. Exit information did not reveal any cultural reason for the disproportionate number of women leaving, but it has been recognised that the exit strategy needs to be looked at to be able to analysis reasons for leaving in more detail. Our new positive action strategy will monitor attraction, recruitment, progression and retention, and return to work rates following maternity to give us the whole ’story’ around women in the operational service. The national target was that in 2013, the percentage of new joiners to the operational service who are women should be 18%. The government removed this target, but the Service is still committed to increasing the number of women in operational roles:

We still aim to look at our performance against this target in our 2013 operational recruitment, but we are working

21


to develop more intelligent targets by benchmarking with the highest performers in the Service Nationally.

This is likely to produce a more intelligent and challenging targets for the recruitment of women to 2016 which will be monitored by our Service Improvement Group and by the monitoring groups established to hold the organisation to account for its equality performance, the Corporate Equalities Group and the Community Forums.

The Black Asian and Minority Ethnic target, also set in a time of growth, is more challenging in the current economic climate. The Black Asian and Minority Ethnic diversity of the local working age population presented an average figure across Devon and Somerset of 5.29% in 2009, however, this ranges from 13% in urban areas such as Exeter, to almost 0% in some rural areas, such as Sedgemoor. This presents real challenges when turnover is low and most recruitment is in rural areas, within five miles or five minutes of a station. This means that each and every opportunity must be promoted using the positive action toolkit – literature and guidance on how to attract more applications for under-

22


represented groups. The service is still committed to achieving a reflection of the Black Asian and Minority Ethnic community in the workforce:

We will look at our performance across the workforce against the original national target in 2013

The recruitment of community advocates provides a good opportunity for us to increase the workforce diversity, by introducing the career opportunities through established community networks. A substantial piece of work we are undertaking with the Plymouth and Devon Race Equality Council will place an operational secondment in the charity to improve links with Black Asian and Minority Ethnic communities for fire Safety advocates and recruitment

We will reassess the working age population and set localised targets to meet the local community make up for 2016

The review of the Positive Action strategy will aim to capitalise on every recruitment opportunity

We will continue to monitor attraction, recruitment and progression for Black Asian and Minority Ethnic communities and

23


this will be monitored by the aforementioned groups

We will re-run our diversity monitoring to gain a more accurate picture of the make-up of the workforce

We look forward to working more closely with the Fire Brigades Union and other representative bodies in this matter, either through membership of our Corporate Equalities Group which will monitor performance of the objectives or by any other means most suitable to the union. We would like to reassure the Fire Brigade’s Union that the removal of national directives has not diluted the Service’s approach to Equalities; it has in fact strengthened and empowered the service to have its equalities performance externally assessed and to set a target to meet Excellent in the Equality Framework for Fire and Rescue Services in 2014.

Core Values:

Do employees know what the core values are? It is difficult to remember them all. Should they be more prominent e.g. displayed on coasters in the workplace? Subliminal messages are more likely to be effective. What is their value – we are not assessed against them, there is more emphasis on Personal Qualities and Attributes. We need to give more


An action to promote the Core Values has been amended to ‘Review the Core Values’ (page 32) This reflects the feedback that the current Core Values were nationally

24


examples to bring them to life e.g. show examples of how we value our people. They can appear negative as if suggesting we wouldn’t behave in this way in any case. There needs to be more recognition that we are already doing these things.

imposed and people don’t feel any ownership of them. The review project will look at each value in turn and determine how they can be used to set and uphold our own behavioural standards.

Is the link clear between core values and disciplinary procedures? There should be a direct link. The core values are emphasised for uniformed staff through Personal Qualities and Attributes but not so much for non-uniformed.


Personal Qualities and Attributes are in fact measured at Personal Performance and Development meetings for all staff. The link between disciplinary and Core Values will be explored in the review project.(page 32)

Difficult to demonstrate that we value equality when there are still different standards in Devon and Somerset following combination. Different standards in response plus in roles such as Control and Operational Response. Control roles seem to be open to firefighters but not the other way around. This sort of inconsistency undermines the core values and people lose faith.


It is important that the Core Values are demonstrated in how the Service behaves and the review project will examine any incongruent messages.(page 32)

Should we review the core values and possibly develop new ones with the involvement of all employees? This could be a possibility. It would be important to ensure that fire fighters really understood the need, importance and relevance of them. It could be a good time to review them as the Personal Qualities and Attributes need reviewing in line with Excellence. Also, are the current core values still relevant for a commercial environment? We could leave the core values but just use the four main headings and expand them with examples to make them meaningful. There are too many words at present. People should be encouraged to consider the consequences of actions/behaviours. Give examples of what happens when you get the core values right and what happens when you get them wrong.


An action to promote the Core values has been amended to ‘Review the Core Values’ (page 32) This reflects the feedback that the current Core Values were nationally imposed and people don’t feel any ownership of them. The review project will look at each value in turn and determine how they can be used to set and uphold our own behavioural standards.

Bullying & Harassment:

Issues with under-reporting. Some people could be reluctant to do so, particularly if it involves their manager. Some people have had bad


Bullying and Harassment is to be addressed with an awareness

25


experiences and feel they have not received appropriate support. campaign informed by the staff survey results 2010.(page 44,45)

The discipline investigation process does not encourage people to make a complaint. The process is woolly. Provide guidance for witnesses.


An action to review investigation arrangements has been added to the plan (page 47)

People carrying out the investigation and providing support have their own jobs to do so have limited time. There should be a separate investigation team with sufficient time and resources.


An action to review investigation arrangements has been added to the plan (page 47)

Command style management could be seen as bullying. Fine line between managing effectively and firmly and bullying. More clarity needed about what is effective management and what is bullying.


Bullying and Harassment is to be addressed with an awareness campaign informed by the staff survey results 2010. There should not be a fine line, bullying is very different to effective management and there is evidence that staff need more guidance on the definitions. This will form part of the campaign.(page 45)

Some confusing terminology – bullying, harassment, whistleblowing etc. People are confused – need clarity and what is acceptable/unacceptable behaviour.


Bullying and Harassment is to be addressed with an awareness campaign informed by the staff survey results 2010. There should not be a fine line, bullying is very different to effective management and there is evidence that staff need more guidance on the definitions. This will form part of the campaign.(page 45)

A positive step would be to publicise more widely the outcomes of discipline cases.


Bullying and Harassment is to be addressed with an awareness campaign informed by the staff survey results 2010 (page 45).There are sensitivities to publishing individual cases for both victim and accused in Bullying and Harassment cases.

Agreed that more training is required and that everyone should go Corporate Equalities The new Equalities training policy

26


through the equality and diversity e-learning package.

Group requires all staff to complete an updated Equality and Diversity e-learning package as a minimum.

Equalities training:

The Service not only needs to deliver equality training for the workforce as stated in its’ “key equality commitments” but also needs to provide training for managers in equality impact assessing policies. This cannot be a tick box exercise and managers need to have a full understanding of the equality impact assessment process. This should be embedded in all managerial training and the Service needs to highlight the extreme importance of this.

Fire Brigades Union We introduced a new methodology for Equality Impact Assessment, the Equality Risks and Benefits Analysis in 2011. We are currently delivering workshops to managers and policy authors. We will have completed six workshops, by April 1st with the next tranche planned for May/June. Evaluations have been very strong following training and we are already receiving much improved analysis. (page 42)This training is to be embedded in new manager’s induction training and as a result of your feedback we will now include it as a mandatory course for managers writing policy/developing project business cases in the new Equality training policy. We have developed lots of guidance for this process and it is embedded in the policy design process, project business cases and process re-engineering. It is also to be embedded in the Community Safety initiative evaluation toolkit.(page 22)

Work/life balance:

The Union has also previously raised concerns regarding the commitment of the Service towards a proper work/life balance and it is good to see that the service has now committed to improving this

Fire Brigades Union All new policy proposals are subject the Equality Risks and Benefits Analysis, which takes account of not only the

27


balance for staff. This objective must be embedded within initial policy making in order to ensure that proposals which would have an adverse effect on work/life balance, such as the recent “day crew plus” plan, are not proposed in future. The Union would also propose a review of policies, which include multiple contracts of employment within the service to ensure that they match the objective contained within the plan.

protected characteristics, but also associated caring responsibilities and ‘community considerations’ and human rights, which range from having a criminal conviction to part time working, rural living, etc. The Service encourages work/life balance through the Well at Work group and flexible working policies, giving employees greater choice about the hours they work and often where they work.

Equalities performance monitoring:

Disability:

On page 20 there is no Objective in relation to disabled people re recruitment or retention, the very least that might be included is to increase a culture of openness and transparency re disability. On page 27 nothing is mentioned in relation to disability although BAME and woman's network is, DSFRS might already have established community links with disabled people and their orgs and/or representatives involved in the Corporate Equalities Group in which case ignore my comment but if not it might be an idea to include an action on this.

National Disabled Fire Association

Two new objectives (page 20):

To promote key messages about disability and operational firefighting in recruitment has now been included.

(This will be reflected in the action to review the positive action strategy.)

To ensure the needs of disabled people are considered in community and workplace activities

In the workplace and community, we plan to expand our engagement with disability groups. We helped establish the National Disabled Fire Association in 2009 and continue to support and use the organisation as consultation partner. We have established a

28


dyslexia support group, and the equality plan includes and action to scope the establishment of a disability staff forum (page 43).We also engage on a strategic and local level with disability groups but this needs to be more sustained. We have altered the equality action plan to include four regular Community Forums to monitor our equalities work and to help us identify any new risk factors and important links to community groups and networks (page 26) and this we will aim to include disability groups in each of the four local forums across the service area.

Documents

M. Pearson CLERK TO THE AUTHORITY SERVICE … · SERVICE HEADQUARTERS THE KNOWLE CLYST ST GEORGE ... absence within Fire Control and non-station based ... Service compared with other