Agenda item

6.1     Fire and Rescue Service

          LSO David Farries referred to the publication on 3 October 2016 of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Strategic Plan 2016 – 2019.   There was potential to bring a presentation to the next meeting of the Board to give a general overview of the strategic plan which had been pulled together after the consultation period where people thought that changes should be made to the Service.  He thanked Members for their support and thanks were also given to full Council for agreeing to the proposal to extend the SFRS local fire plan.   A process was in place to review the current plan.  He was involved in an off station structure review which related  to staff not working on the front line and referred to the potential for other delivery models.   SFRS were looking to the position and funding from the Scottish Government.   If there was no increase in funding the current method would be difficult to maintain if the current service model was used.   There was evidence to support a transformation change of the service.   Many changes had taken place since the 1940s/1950s in particular severe weather, terrorism, hazardous materials all of which had resulted in the work of fire officers having changed considerably over the years.   In the Scottish Borders fire stations were in prime positions which meant there was the ability to reduce risk in the area which was not necessarily about  fire.  He referred to the difference the SFRS had made in communities and spoke of the out of hospital cardiac arrest initiative.    There was a need to look at duty patterns and to adapt the role of firefighters to give them a broad flexible role within the community taking into account the amount of funding available.  LSO Farries needed to ensure that the SFRS role in the Scottish Borders was sustainable and how the importance of the service could be enhanced to society as a whole.   He then went on to discuss the bonfire period and advised that the SFRS had attended 970 incidents of which 326 were bonfire related.  He was pleased to report that only one of the incidents was in the Scottish Borders.   In referring to reports in the media about acts of violence to firefighters across Scotland at that time, he said this was completely unacceptable and advised there were no reported incidents of such a nature in the Scottish Borders.  Members noted that there would be good dialogue with Cosla about the transformation of the SFRS and discussed the budget pressures and funding packages.  

         ADJOURNMENT

         The meeting adjourned at 10.50 a.m. and reconvened at 11.10 a.m.

6.2    There had been circulated copies of the SFRS Performance Report covering the period 1 April to 30 September 2016.  In summarising the report, Group Manager A. Girrity advised that with regard to Priority 1: Reduction of Dwelling Fires, the SFRS had attended 44 dwelling fires in comparison to 58 for the same Year to Date (YTD) reporting period last year, this represented a 24% decrease.   Three of these fires had been started deliberately with one occurring in the last quarter.   Cooking continued to be the most common cause accounting for nearly 60% of all accidental dwelling fires.   Priority 2: Reduction in Fire Fatalities and Casualties, the report noted that there had been11 fire related casualties in this YTD reporting period,  this was an increase of two compared to the same period last year.  The last quarter accounted for six of these casualties with all suffering smoke inhalation and receiving first aid from the SFRS at the scene.  One casualty required rescuing by firefighters in breathing apparatus.  One casualty also attended hospital as a precautionary measure.   These figures included one fatality in April at Hawick.    Priority 3:  There had been 60 deliberate fires in this YTD reporting period, a decrease of 17 in comparison to the same reporting period last year, there was also a slight decrease in comparison to the previous quarter.   Galashiels and District suffered the highest incidence of this type of fire (14) with Jedburgh and District next with eight.   Priority 4: Reduction in Road Traffic Collisions (RTCs) indicated that the SFRS attended 48 RTCs, compared to 45 for the same reporting period last year.   It was positive to note that comparison to the previous quarter showed a 45% decrease.   There had been 41 RTC related casualties in the YTD period with four of these being fatalities.   There were three non-fatal RTC casualties during the last quarter.   During the YTD period, the SFRS used Hydraulic Rescue Equipment on 15 occasions to extricate casualties.   Priority 5 related to the Reduction of Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals and it was noted that there had been 430 Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals during this quarter, representing an increase of 23  incidents compared to the same reporting period last year.   Members discussed the junction at the Borders General Hospital and Dr Steele advised she would ask Accident and Emergency at the Borders General Hospital for any statistics they might have relating to accidents in that area.

6.3     There had been circulated copies of the report on Prevention and Protection Activities. In referring to home fire safety visits Group Manager Gourlay advised that most of the resources were going into higher risk premises.   In regard to unwanted fire alarm signals, a champion had been appointed at Galashiels who would visit premises which had had false alarms.   697 home fire safety visits had been delivered during this reporting period.   Another pilot being undertaken in the Scottish Borders was to deliver Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training to households which would be started in Galashiels in February/March 2017.   Three fire stations across Scotland were involved in this pilot; the others were Arbroath and Cumbernauld. 

          DECISION

          NOTED the report and that Dr. Steele bring back to a future meeting any statistical information on accidents taking place at the junction leading to the Borders General Hospital.