The States of Jersey Fire & Rescue Service's Annual Performance Report for 2007.

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A decision made (19/06/2008) regarding: The States of Jersey Fire & Rescue Service's Annual Performance Report for 2007.

Decision Reference: MD-HA-2008-0028
Decision Summary Title :	Fire & Rescue Service – Annual Performance Report 2007		Date of Decision Summary:	19 May 2008
Decision Summary Author:	Chief Fire Officer Mark James		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:
Written Report Title :	States of Jersey Fire & Rescue Service – Annual Report 2007		Date of Written Report:	19 May 2008
Written Report Author:	Chief Fire Officer Mark James		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: The States of Jersey Fire & Rescue Service’s Annual Performance Report for 2007.
Decision(s): The Minister approved the publication of the Fire & Rescue Service’s Annual Performance Report for 2007.
Reason(s) for Decision: The Service last published an Annual Report in 2002. In 2003 the Service incorporated the annual report information into the newly introduced Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP). This decision was made to rationalise the Service’s publications and to reduce the workload. The difficulty with including the annual report within the IRMP is that the aim of the IRMP is to set out the Service’s Corporate Plan for the coming year not report on performance of the previous year. Additionally the IRMP is only produced in full every three years supported by a yearly action plan. This has resulted in the Service’s performance not being clearly communicated with our stakeholders and the public. The UK Fire & Rescue Service is still required to produce an Annual Performance Report in addition to their IRMP. The Performance Report summarises how the Service has performed against national indicators and provides comparative data. The States of Jersey Fire & Rescue Service is funded by the public it should therefore clearly communicated its performance to them. The re-introduction of the Annual Performance Report will not only summarise what the Service has achieved in the previous year but also how it compares to similar UK Fire & Rescue Services. This will serve to better explain the activities of the Service and clearly communicate our performance to our stakeholders and the public of Jersey.
Resource Implications: Associated printing costs of approximately £100
Action required: The Chief Fire Officer to arrange for publication of the Service’s Annual Performance Report 2007.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

The States of Jersey Fire & Rescue Service's Annual Performance Report for 2007.

Report

To: Senator W Kinnard, Minister for Home Affairs

From: Chief Fire Officer – States of Jersey Fire & Rescue Service

Date: 19 May 2008

Subject: Fire & Rescue Service Annual Performance Report 2007

1. Purpose

1.1 The purpose of this report is to advise the Minister of the completion of the Service’s Annual Performance Report for 2007 and to provide additional information in supporting the decision making process in relation to the document’s publication.

2. Background

2.1 Until 2002 the Fire & Rescue Service’s (FRS) published an annual performance report that detailed its activities for the previous year. In 2003 the Service adopted the new Integrated Risk Management Planning process and it was therefore decided to rationalise the Service’s publications by incorporating the annual performance information into the Service’s new Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP).

2.2 Since adopting this strategy for Service publications a number of limitations have become apparent. The IRMP is primarily a forward looking Corporate Plan that details the Service’s strategy for the next three years. It is difficult to include the annual report information in the IRMP for the following reasons:

The IRMP is published in Nov/Dec prior to the commencement of the following year before the current annual performance report year has finished and therefore can be reported on.
The full IRMP is only published every three years as opposed to the yearly annual performance report.
Including the annual performance report information in the IRMP can make the document both confusing and very large.
The IRMP is focussed on strategic objectives as opposed to the annual performance report that includes both strategic achievements and operational activities.

2.3 Since the introduction of Integrated Risk Management Planning the UK Fire & Rescue Service has still been required by the UK Government to publish an Annual Performance Report in addition to their IRMP. The Performance Plan summarises how the Service has performed against national indicators and provides comparative data with other Fire & Rescue Services.

2.4 The Service’s has implemented a new Corporate Communications Strategy aimed at better informing the public and stakeholders of its role and the activities undertaken. The publication of an Annual Performance Report will clearly explain how the Service has performed against it’s own corporate objectives for the year and those of the States. It will also outline the key activities undertaken in the year and how it compares to similar UK Fire & Rescue Services.

2.5 It will be noted from the 2007 Annual Performance Report that the total number of emergency calls (1,558) has remained constant with previous years. In 2007 there was a 12% increase in property fires when compared to 2006 but a slight reduction in the number of accident dwelling fires (79 in 2006 compared to 77 in 2007) along with associated injuries and that similar to 2006 there were no fire deaths. When compared to Fire & Rescue Services in Guernsey, the UK South West and the Isle of Wight, Jersey has more accidental fires in dwellings but less deliberate fires. It was also cheaper per head of population than both Guernsey and the Isle of Wight.

3. Recommendation

3.1 It is recommended that the Fire & Rescue Service Annual Performance Report for 2007 is approved and published and that this document is updated and published annually to provide clear performance information on the activities of the Service to the public and its stakeholders.