Fire and Rescue Service (Charges) (Jersey) Order 2012

Information about the publication of Ministerial Decisions

A formal published “Ministerial Decision” is required as a record of the decision of a Minister (or an Assistant Minister where they have delegated authority) as they exercise their responsibilities and powers.

Ministers are elected by the States Assembly and have legal responsibilities and powers as “corporation sole” under the States of Jersey Law 2005 by virtue of their office and in their areas of responsibility, including entering into agreements, and under any legislation conferring on them powers.

An accurate record of “Ministerial Decisions” is vital to effective governance, including:

demonstrating that good governance, and clear lines of accountability and authority, are in place around decisions-making – including the reasons and basis on which a decision is made, and the action required to implement a decision
providing a record of decisions and actions that will be available for examination by States Members, and Panels and Committees of the States Assembly; the public, organisations, and the media; and as a historical record and point of reference for the conduct of public affairs

Ministers are individually accountable to the States Assembly, including for the actions of the departments and agencies which discharge their responsibilities.

The Freedom of Information Law (Jersey) Law 2011 is used as a guide when determining what information is be published. While there is a presumption toward publication to support of transparency and accountability, detailed information may not be published if, for example, it would constitute a breach of data protection, or disclosure would prejudice commercial interest.

A decision made 24 February 2012:

Decision Reference: MD-HA-2012-0015
Decision Summary Title :	Signing of the Fire and Rescue Service (Charges) (Jersey) Order 2012		Date of Decision Summary:	23 February 2012
Decision Summary Author:	Executive Officer Home Affairs		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	n/a
Written Report Title :	Fire and Rescue Service (Charges) (Jersey) Order 2012		Date of Written Report:	20 February 2012
Written Report Author:	Chief Fire Officer		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Fire and Rescue Service (Charges) (Jersey) Order 2012.
Decision(s): The Minister made the Fire and Rescue Service (Charges) (Jersey) Order 2012.
Reason(s) for Decision: Article 15 of the Fire and Rescue Service (Jersey) Law 2011 enables the Minister, by Order, to set charges for certain actions taken by the Fire and Rescue Service and to specify the persons who may be charged. The imposition of the charges are at the discretion of the Chief Fire Officer. The services for which charges can be imposed are – (a) the provision of technical fire safety advice, and technical assistance in connection with such advice; (b) humanitarian services, such as rescuing persons and giving them medical aid otherwise than in an emergency, helping persons to gain access to places, and rescuing animals; (c) things done or provided under Article 13 of the Law; and (d) responding to a malfunctioning automatic fire alarm, when there is not an emergency.
Resource Implications: The charges for the provision of services will be introduced in line with Financial Direction 4.1.
Action required: The Executive Officer, Home Affairs to forward the signed and sealed Order to the Publications Editor at the States Greffe.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Home Affairs
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Fire and Rescue Service (Charges) (Jersey) Order 2012

Ministerial Report

To: Senator I. Le Marquand, Minister for Home Affairs

Senator L. Farnham, Assistant Minister for Home Affairs

S. W. Austin-Vautier, Chief Officer, Home Affairs

From: Chief Fire Officer M. James

Date: 20th February 2012

Subject: Fire & Rescue Service (Charges) (Jersey) Order 2012

1. Purpose

1.1 The purpose of this report is to apprise the Minister of the current charging arrangements and the proposed future charges for the recovery of the direct and indirect costs under Article 15 of the new Fire and Rescue Service (Jersey) Law 2011.

1.2 This report also seeks approval for the new charges which are contained within the Fire & Rescue Service (Charges) (Jersey) Order 2012

2. Background

2.1 The Service has for many years charged for some non emergency activities under Article 9 (c) of the Fire Service (Jersey) Law, 1959 which allows the Minister for Home Affairs:

“to employ the Fire Service personnel and equipment for purposes other than fire-fighting purposes for which it appears to the Committee to be suitable, and to make such charge as may be determined for any

services rendered in the course of such employment or use.”

2.2 The types of non emergency activities that a charge could be levied for includes pumping out basements or contaminated wells, gaining access to premises for persons locked out, clearing up hazardous spillages that pose no danger to people or the environment. These types of activities are not emergencies they are more humanitarian and are currently termed ‘Special Services’. The Service also has a number of other charges relating to fire safety activities such as the provision of property searches, fire reports and interviews with fire officers.

2.3 The Service already has rigorous policies in place which explain the rationale for deciding whether an activity should be charged for or provided as part of the Service’s normal emergency response. In reality these charges are used infrequently because if there isn’t an emergency the Service does not like to commit a fire engine and crew to non-emergency work. On average these charges generate approximately £1000 per year using the agreed scale of charges (see appendix A). This is already budgeted for within the Service income allocation.

2.4 More recently the Fire Service has introduced a Workplace Fire Safety Training program aimed to provide greater awareness and provide advice on actions to be taken by the staff of companies and other commercial workplaces. This training is supported by the Jersey Safety Council and last year it was selected as a finalist in the UK’s Fire Excellence Awards for the ‘Best Training Initiative’. The scale of charges for Workplace Fire Safety Training is shown in Appendix B.

3. Ability to Charge

3.1 The new Fire and Rescue Service (Jersey) Law 2011 provides the Minister with the authority to make provision by Order specifying actions taken under the Law, or under any other enactment, for which the Chief Fire Officer may charge a person.

3.2 Article 15 states that an Order for charges can only be made for the following actions:

3.2.1 Provision of technical fire safety advice

This covers the existing charges for property searches, workplace fire safety training and interviews with Fire Officers. It also introduces a new charge for professional fire safety advice given to business and trade that are not covered by the Fire Precaution (Jersey) Law 1977 and technical assistance in connection with such advice such as premises inspections;

3.2.2 Humanitarian services

This covers non emergency incidents where members of the public or animals are, or could be, suffering from personal distress or severe inconvenience and the Service may be able to provide humanitarian assistance. The type of Humanitarian Services that the Service responds to is detailed in Article 6 of the Fire & Rescue Service (Emergencies and Humanitarian Services) (Jersey) Order 2012. The charges for Humanitarian services are based on full cost recovery and the existing charges for these types of incidents.

3.2.3 Other events or situations

This covers specific arrangements for actions to extinguish a fire or rescuing person at sea taken under Article 13 of the Fire and Rescue Service (Jersey) Law 2011. This relates to the Service’s role in the UK Fire & Rescue Marine Response (formally MIRG). The agreement with the UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) is that the costs of any response off Island will be fully funded. This part of the Order provides the power to charge for the total costs incurred in providing a marine response.

3.2.4 Malfunctioning automatic fire alarms

This is a new charge (based on the current humanitarian charge for an appliance and crew) for responding to a malfunctioning automatic fire alarm, when there is not an emergency. This will act as a deterrent if we continue to receive repeated calls to a defective fire alarm and the occupiers does not take steps to prevent the false alarms. The UK is also currently amending its legislation to allow Fire Services to charge for this event.

3.3 The new Fire & Rescue Service (Charges) (Jersey) Order 2012 sets out the charges, which are based on the existing charges/cost recovery under the four specific areas. For each area the Order specifies the actions taken for which a charge my be made, the amount or rate of charges and the classes of person who may be charged.

3.4 The rational for the charges specified in the order are detailed in Appendix C. It is based on full cost recovery for direct, indirect and associated costs of provided that service.

4. Recommendations

4.1 The Minister is recommended to approve the Fire & Rescue Service (Charges) (Jersey) Order 2012 to enable the States of Jersey Fire & Rescue Service to charge for actions set out in Article 15 of the new Fire and Rescue Service (Jersey) Law 2011.

Appendix A

SCALE OF CHARGES 2011

	Type Of Service	2011 (£)
1.	Chargeable Special Services

1.1	Light Portable Pump and Operator	132
1.2	Light Appliance and Crew (1/2)	195
1.3	Standard Appliance and Crew (4/5)	263
1.4	Aerial Ladder Platform and Crew (2)	327
1.5	Appliance and Fire Safety personnel re: access/road width investigations	210
	Note 1: Charges for vehicle related services are per hour or part hour commencing from leaving station and ending at time of return to station.
	Note 2: Charges for vehicle related services include the use of all equipment carried as normal complement.
	Note 3: A charge will be made for any other expenditure incurred (e.g. materials supplied or repairs to appliances and equipment directly attributable to the service rendered).

2.	Personnel Services
2.1	Interviews with Officers	97.50
2.2	Interviews with other uniformed personnel	63.50
2.3	Attendance at courts/inquests (all uniformed ranks)	Gratis
	Note 4: Charges for Personnel services are per hour or part hour.

3.	Administrative Services
3.1	Copy of Fire Reports (FDR1, Fire Investigation etc.)	132
3.2	Property Search	97.50

4.	Fire Safety Training
	See Separate Sheet

Appendix B

SJFRS Workplace Fire Safety Training 2011 Pricelist
Price per person	Discount	Cost
1 x course (eg: Fire Awareness or Fire Extinguishers or Fire Marshal)	0%	£50
2 x courses (eg: Fire Awareness + Fire Extinguishers)	5%	£95
3 x courses (eg: Fire Awareness + Fire Extinguishers + Fire Marshal)	10%	£135

Group bookings	Saving	Cost
Book 10 people on courses & get one place free (based on 1 x course per person)	£50	£500
Book 10 people on courses & get one place free (based on 2 x courses per person)	£95	£950
Book 10 people on courses & get one place free (based on 3 x courses per person)	£135	£1350

Outreach Course (min 10, max 18 people)	Saving	Cost
Book Outreach Course & get 1 place free (based on 1 x course per person)	£50	£500+
Book Outreach Course & get 1 place free (based on 2 x courses per person)	£95	£950+
Book Outreach Course & get 1 place free (based on 3 x courses per person)	£135	£1350+
Bespoke Fire Marshal Course - Above course costs + Preparation visit & trainer preparation work @ £93.25 per hour (Usually approx 2 hrs, price on application)

Appendix C

Rational for Charges in the Fire & Rescue Service (Charges) (Jersey) Order 201-

Introduction

To comply with States of Jersey policy, the Fire and Rescue Service has adopted the “user pays” principle as set out in Financial Direction 4.1 (section 5.15) in its calculation of the charges specified in the Fire and Rescue Service (Charges) (Jersey) Order 201-.

In the main, charges are driven by staff costs which account for 88.8% of the annual revenue budget; however the initial purchase and maintenance costs of specialist machinery / vehicles feature highly when consideration is given to the composition of appropriate charges. Furthermore with public safety as the Service’s primary concern, high levels of expertise must first be achieved and then sustained within areas such as Fire Safety and Fire Prevention. This core requirement also draws heavily upon the Service’s finances and is understandably a major contributory factor when assessing the actual hourly cost of staff.

For ease of reference, charges can be divided into the following groups;

Attendance of Fire and Rescue Service vehicles with personnel
Provision of specialist guidance and advice relating to fire safety and fire prevention
Use of premises and / or facilities
Production of documents, photos, tapes and sundry records

1. Attendance of Fire and Rescue Service vehicles and personnel

These charges are based on an hourly rate and take into consideration the following;

Specific type of vehicle involved
Number of operational personnel required to accompany the vehicle
Requirement to secure back up personnel to maintain operational efficiency
Vehicle and equipment costs

2. Provision of specialist guidance and advice relating to fire safety and fire prevention

This group includes inspection of public and commercial premises, production of fire / incident reports / documentation / records, interviews with personnel and the provision of fire safety / prevention advice through individual or group guidance / training.

2a. The charges for the inspection of any commercial, trade, professional or public premises are based on the new area (square metre) related charge, similar to the charges for premises requiring a Fire Certificate under the Fire Precautions (Jersey) Law 1977. The amount of work completed to inspect and produce a report is very similar to a Fire Certification inspection. The charging rate by the square metre is a fair and accurate way of recovering the costs associated with the work undertaken and having a floor area of 100 square metres or more, applies a charge which is scaleable in line with overall floor area. In this way, larger premises which require a greater amount of activity from Fire Safety Officers in conducting inspections, developing requirements for fire precautions and producing a report attracts a larger fee.

2b. The charges for the provision of technical fire safety advice are based on an hourly personnel rate taking into consideration the following.

Specialist training courses to develop staff expertise
Managerial / administrative support
Continued investment of financial and staff resources to ensure future standards of fire safety advice to the community are maintained

2c. The remaining area within this group is the provision of fire safety training. The fees for attending a fire safety training course are based on a combination of the following criteria in the structure of their charges;

Specialist training courses to develop staff expertise
Managerial / administrative support
Purchase / depreciation costs of bespoke courses trailer
Vehicle use (where appropriate)
Required attendance of 2 training officers for training courses
Advertising expenditure
Equipment purchase / maintenance
- Continued investment of financial and staff resources to ensure future standards of fire safety advice to the community are maintained

3. Use of Fire and Rescue Service premises / facilities for provision of fire safety advice described in Article 2

The ongoing needs of the Service to maintain standards require constant use of its meeting and training rooms. The charges specified in this order take into account;

Costs of cleaning, maintaining and insuring the premises
Staff costs for preparation and guidance on use
Costs that would be incurred by the Service of hiring alternative premises if its own facilities were unavailable as a result of on site interviews as specified.

4. Production of documents, photos, tapes and sundry records

The issue here is not so much the production of the item required but;

Cost of completing the original document by a qualified officer.
Administrative time taken to copy / transfer the information into a similar / different format.

The actual charges are detailed in Parts 1, 2, & 3 of the Schedule to the Fire & Rescue Service (Charges) (Jersey) Order 201-.