Dorset and Wiltshire 2021/22

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service is outstanding at making best use of its resources.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was good in its 2018/19 assessment.

Fire and rescue services should manage their resources properly and appropriately, aligning them with the services’ risks and statutory responsibilities. Services should make best possible use of resources to achieve the best results for the public.

The service’s net budget for 2022/23 is £61.05m. This is a 4.4 percent increase from the previous financial year.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

The service has an impressive approach to allocating its resources to meet its strategic objectives

The service’s approach to financial and workforce planning is outstanding, including allocating staff to prevention, protection and response. The staffing levels across all functions are monitored monthly. They continue to reflect and are consistent with the risks and priorities identified in its CSP. The service has a predominantly on-call workforce, and we were pleased to find that it has improved its on-call availability, and prioritises recruitment and retention of its on-call staff.

Plans are built on sound scenarios. They help make sure the service is sustainable and are underpinned by financial controls that reduce the risk of misusing public money. We were impressed in the way the service approaches its risk planning and uses its resources effectively. For example, the service reviewed the way it was delivering its road safety activities and changed the staffing model to make sure it was more effective, and was providing value for money. Since our last inspection, the service introduced a dedicated team that makes sure optimal crewing is achieved and opportunities for efficiency are realised. This team provides cover seven days a week, which has resulted in further efficiency savings.

There is a comprehensive dashboard ensuring the service delivers value for money

We were impressed with the comprehensive value-for-money dashboard the service has created. It outlines:

• cashable savings (money that can be reinvested);
• non-cashable savings (doing more with the same resources);
• cost avoidance savings (avoiding future costs); and
• savings to the wider public (saving to its partners).

The dashboard uses unit costs from official sources, such as the Department for Transport, as well as some developed locally to show savings. The inspection team was shown several examples of the dashboard across the different functions. The service can demonstrate what the return on investment is for every pound invested. For example, the dashboard shows the savings the service has achieved by reducing its attendance to automatic fire alarms. Wholetime staff didn’t respond to 392 automatic fire alarms between 2018/19 to 2020/21. Each incident is recorded as taking one hour, which covers travel times, investigation and recording the incident. The dashboard shows the reduction saved 392 appliance hours resulting in a non-cashable saving of £106,569. The service has also used the dashboard to demonstrate improvements in its environmental impact. The value-for-money dashboard is aligned to its strategic priorities.

The performance dashboards are impressive

We are pleased to see that the service’s arrangements for managing performance clearly link the use of resources to its CSP and strategic priorities. The service has further developed its ‘How’s My Team Doing?’ tool into an impressive performance dashboard, which is easy to navigate and provides operational staff in each of the 50 stations a clear summary of their performance. The dashboard is refreshed daily. It shows:

• the number of safe and well visits completed and if there are any overdue;
• response information, such as turnout times and incidents attended;
• SSRI completed, scheduled or overdue; and
• HR-related information, such as the number of exit interviews completed.

There is a clear ‘hours worked’ area, which allows wholetime operational staff to monitor the hours they have worked on specific activities. There is an expectation from the service that wholetime operational staff commit to approximately 40 hours per tour of duty in prevention, protection and response activities. The dashboard is being further developed for other areas of the service.

The service has saved £1.67m annually from duty systems since Dorset and Wiltshire and Swindon fire authorities combined in 2016. The service has previously evaluated its duty systems to see which ones are the most effective. The service has various shift patterns available, including stations crewed by wholetime staff during the day, stations crewed day and night, and job-share options. The service has changed shift start times to avoid shift changes at known peak times. The service told us that most wholetime staff favoured the traditional shift system of two days and two nights and they found this to be the most productive. The service has a predominantly on-call workforce. The service introduced a new pay model, which is a single contract that pays for the individual’s availability per hour, replacing the four separate previous contracts available. We look forward to seeing how this develops in the future.

Flexible working has been reviewed and we spoke to corporate and fire control staff who appreciated the flexible working arrangements the service offers.

The service has considered the contribution it will make towards the national productivity target (using an extra 3 percent of national wholetime firefighter capacity to carry out additional prevention and protection work). At the time of the inspection, the service was awaiting more guidance from the National Fire Chiefs Council before it commits to any specific targets.

The service has an outstanding IT infrastructure in place

The service has seen the benefits of sound investment in its IT infrastructure. During our inspection, staff spoke positively about the IT in place. The service had invested in Microsoft Office 365 well before the pandemic. This allowed staff, including on-call firefighters, to access systems remotely from all devices, including mobile phones and laptops. We were told by the service that working remotely has generated savings in the region of £120,000 per year.

We are pleased to see the service has digitalised most of its activities. For example, most staff complete records of safe and well visits and site-specific risk information visits directly on to the risk-information tablet. This reduces the need for paper-based systems, improving efficiency. We were also pleased to find that the service has used its existing resources and expertise to create and maintain its IT applications in-house. This includes, among other things, the performance dashboard and the value-for-money framework.

The service collaborates effectively with others

We are pleased to see the service meets its statutory duty to collaborate, and routinely considers opportunities to collaborate with other emergency responders. Collaborative work is aligned to the priorities in the CSP and is held on a central register. It includes:

• leading collaborative procurement to replace mobile data terminals resulting in efficiency savings across the sector;
• the NFSP with Devon and Somerset FRS and Hampshire and Isle of Wight FRS, which has resulted in cashable savings;
• prevention partnerships;
• activities carried out with South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, including co-responding; and
• sharing several premises with partner organisations.

We found that the service comprehensively monitors, reviews and evaluates the benefits and results of its collaborations. This was an area for improvement we identified in the last inspection. In its value-for-money dashboard, the service could clearly demonstrate what benefits and results the collaboration brings. For example, by sharing its estates with other partners, the service generates £151,000 per year. The service has a benefits tracker in place to make sure the collaborations are providing value for money.

The service has effective continuity arrangements in place

The service has good continuity arrangements in place for areas where threats and risks are considered high. These threats and risks are regularly reviewed and tested so that staff are aware of the arrangements and their associated responsibilities. For example, each year the service looks ahead at the context it works in, using external sources such as the Business Continuity Institute, to provide assurance the current arrangements are effective.

We visited the service’s control room. There is a secondary control room on the same site, which had been used recently due to flooding. As part of the NFSP, the service regularly tests its ability to take calls from neighbouring fire services.

The service makes excellent use of savings

There are regular reviews to consider all the service’s expenditure, including its non-pay costs. And this scrutiny makes sure the service gets value for money. The service told us it had made annual savings of £6.6m in the 4 years after Dorset and Wiltshire and Swindon fire authorities combined in 2016 and it has made a further £1.3m savings annually since.

The service has made savings and efficiencies, which haven’t affected its operational performance and the service it provides to the public. For example, technical rescue resource has been rationalised from a service-wide provision to a three-station model, which demonstrates the service is matching its resources to risk. Since our last inspection, a restructure occurred leading to further efficiency savings.

The service is taking steps to make sure important areas, including estates, fleet and procurement, are well placed to achieve efficiency gains through sound financial management and best working practices. This is demonstrated through the value-for-money dashboard where procurement and contract management are considered in all activities and compared against other similar-sized fire and rescue services. The service has invested in a new asset management system to make sure all equipment is effectively managed. When significant projects are completed, an evaluation is routinely carried out and the service reviews the actual savings and efficiencies made compared to initial projections.

The service has a resourcing and savings programme that looks at where further savings and efficiencies could be achieved. The service:

• costed all functions and budgets across all departments;
• introduced zero-based revenue budgeting and reduced expenditure where appropriate;
• conducted a review of prevention, protection and response activities that involved staff and its representative bodies; and
• proactively engaged with all staff who suggested further saving opportunities across the service.

There is effective strategic oversight by the senior leaders. The fire authority, which has a separate finance and audit committee, provides more scrutiny and oversight.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service is good at making the service affordable now and in the future.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was good in its 2018/19 assessment.

Fire and rescue services should continuously look for ways to improve their effectiveness and efficiency. This includes transforming how they work and improving their value for money. Services should have robust spending plans that reflect future financial challenges and efficiency opportunities, and they should invest in better services for the public.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

The service has a good understanding of its future financial challenges

Since combining Dorset and Wiltshire and Swindon fire authorities in 2016, the Government’s settlement funding assessment (baseline funding levels and revenue support grants) for the authority has reduced by approximately £5m.

The service has developed a sound understanding of future financial challenges. It plans to mitigate its main or significant financial risks. For example, the service has acted on the court ruling in the ongoing national firefighter pension dispute. The underpinning assumptions are relatively robust, realistic and prudent, and take account of the wider external environment and some scenario planning for future spending reductions. These include the rise in fuel and energy costs. The service forecasts budget deficits of £1.1m in 2023/24 rising to £1.8m in 2025/26. The service is working hard both locally and nationally to secure an increase in the flexibility of the council tax precept (the share of council tax proceeds allocated to the service).

We are pleased to see that the service has identified savings and investment opportunities to improve the service to the public or generate further savings. This is detailed in its value-for-money dashboard and the resourcing and savings programme. We were also pleased that the service involved its staff, getting a good response to a request for suggestions on how it can make further efficiencies. It made a video documenting what it had put into practice in response to those suggestions.

The service has a clear plan for its reserves

The service has a sensible and sustainable plan for using its reserves. Several earmarked reserves are held to mitigate financial risks, such as the insurance reserve, which mitigates any unforeseen ill-health retirements. The service plans to invest in its training centre and has invested in transformation projects which supports the delivery of its CSP.

Fleet and estates are linked to the community safety plan

The service’s asset management strategy, which includes fleet and estates, has clear links to its CSP. The strategy exploits opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness. For example, the service has extended the life cycle of some of its fleet vehicles and is investing £225,000 to support the installation of solar standby power equipment at 5 fire stations. The strategies are regularly reviewed so that the service can properly assess the impact on any changes in estate and fleet provision, or future innovation, have on risk.

The service has carried out an independent survey of all its estates. This includes the current building condition, the environmental options and the investment required to modernise the buildings. There is an internal system staff use to monitor and resolve any defects identified in its estates. However, the inspection team saw examples where some issues identified hadn’t been fixed. For example, we were told that there is an ongoing heating issue at a fire station and the drill tower had been decommissioned because required improvements had not been made.

Innovative systems have improved efficiency

The service actively considers how changes in technology and future innovation may affect risk. For example, the service has invested in a new recording system which records all staff (including corporate and fire control staff) competencies in one central system. This makes it easier for the service to monitor training records for all staff. It also seeks to exploit opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness presented by changes in technology. The service has used existing specialist staff to develop several systems, such as the operational effectiveness database and the value-for-money and performance dashboards.

The service has put in place the capacity and capability needed to achieve sustainable transformation, and it routinely seeks opportunities to work with others to improve efficiency and provide better services in the future.

Where appropriate, staff can work more flexibly. This reduces the service’s carbon footprint and improves efficiencies. The service is further investing in its technology and has plans to further strengthen its approach to incident command. It also continues to work closely with its neighbouring fire control partners.

The service is good at securing external funding and generating income

The service actively considers and exploits opportunities for generating extra income. It has:

• secured funding of £285,000 by collaborating with utility companies who provide carbon monoxide detectors;
• generated £151,000 per year from its estates; and
• secured the provision of £6,000 worth of heaters and extension leads from energy networks.

The service told us that since 2017 it has generated over £1m of grants income from prevention partners. It also received £457,000 from the Home Office to help offset the £570,000 direct costs of the major fire at Wareham Forest.