Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 09/11/2005 11:03

Cornwall County Fire Brigade has drafted its main objectives for 2006 / 2007. They outline the priorities of Cornwall County Fire Brigade for 2006 / 2007 and how it will continue to work on prevention and protecting the people of Cornwall.

Chief Fire Officer Matt Littmoden explains: "The Brigade is consulting on these objectives before it publishes its annual Service Plan so that it can reflect the needs of its staff, the local community and its stakeholders"

The Government requests that all UK Fire Authorities undertake a fundamental review of how they provide their services. The drafted objectives are the product of our third annual review.

In partnership with Opinion Research Services, who have been awarded a consultation contract from the Fire Service Consultation Association, the Brigade will be ensuring that it gets the most out of its consultation.

Opinion Research Services will be organising and facilitating three focus groups*. They will also be facilitating one stakeholder event*

This first stage of consultation will take place during November and December 2005. Once these sessions have been completed the feedback will be used in the production of a summary leaflet of the revised proposed objectives which will be made available to staff and the general public in December - the second stage of the consultation process.

This second stage of consultation will close on 24th January 2006. The final draft of the Service Plan will not be finalised until after the March 2006 budget setting process.

The draft objectives fall under three categories this year; objectives that can be achieved within existing resources, objectives that can be achieved within existing resources with reduced efficiency / outcomes and objectives we cannot achieve within existing resources.

Some of these draft objectives include:
1. Objectives that can be achieved within existing resources:
„X Continue 4 year strategy to fit smoke alarms in the homes of vulnerable people (started in 2004)
„X Work with partners to reduce road traffic collisions in the County
„X Work on the merging of Fire Control to one regional fire control
2. Objectives that can be achieved within existing resources with reduced efficiency / outcomes:
„X Make recommendations for the development of fire safety education for 14 ¡V 16 year olds (Only some of the pilot projects could be achieved)
„X Integrate training in dealing with terrorist attacks into core training programme (Initiative will not be achieved within stated timescales and we will not be able to support our regional partners)
3. Objectives we cannot achieve within existing resources
„X Work with the Arson Task Force to implement arson reduction initiatives (Initiative will not be progressed which has an impact on the amount of arson attacks, the community and firefighter¡¦s safety)


„X Maintain the Phoenix Project (Impact on positive youth engagement and anti-social behaviour)
„X Maintain number of wholetime firefighters (current establishment will not be maintained)
„X Maintain Co-Responder Scheme (medical assistance provided by fire crews on the Lizard will cease resulting in greater risk to the community)

To communicate these draft objectives at this early stage a summary leaflet has been produced which can be viewed on the Brigade website www.cornwall.gov.uk/fire

Chief Fire Officer Matt Littmoden added: "Cornwall County Fire Brigade will continue to provide a fire and rescue service that makes the people of Cornwall's lives and property safer, and not just from fire.

Executive Member Ken Yeo, Portfolio Holder for Public Protection said:
"I wholeheartedly support the community safety initiatives that Cornwall County Fire Brigade undertakes outside its core business. Unfortunately the impact of the modernising the fire service and complying with central Government directives, such as the Regional Fire Control Centre and the National Fire Service Radio Scheme, will have a significant impact upon the budget and will affect what Cornwall County Fire Brigade can realistically achieve next year and in the future"