11/2021 Risk and Resource Model Options Development and Extension to the Integrated Risk Management Plan 2016/17-2020/2021 for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

DN 11/2021      Date 16 July 2021

 The Commissioner has decided to

(a) commission further work on the Integrated Risk Management Plan (‘IRMP’) and extend the current IRMP, known as the Community Safety Plan 2016/17-2020/21, to September 2022; and

(b) adopt a Publication Strategy in respect of the Risk and Resource Model (‘RRM’) programme for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service;

The Publication Strategy takes immediate effect and remains in place until the publication of a new RRM.

Background

Every Fire and Rescue Authority must produce an Integrated Risk Management Plan (‘IRMP’), in accordance with the Fire & Rescue National Framework for England. In North Yorkshire, preparation of the IRMP is delegated to the Chief Fire Officer.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is currently developing a new IRMP (to be known locally as the Risk & Resource Model or ‘RRM’). Risk profiling work has been completed. Resource options are being developed that will define how prevention, protection and response resource and activities can be used to best mitigate the defined risk across the county in an affordable way that delivers value for money.

This is an ambitious programme of work, originally scheduled to be completed by May 2021. However, the Commissioner is satisfied that it is appropriate to reschedule the work, taking account of the following factors

• the Commissioner will consult the public of North Yorkshire and York about the strategic priorities for fire and rescue during the period August to October 2021.
• these public priorities will be set out in a Fire & Rescue Plan that will set out the overall strategic priorities and direction for North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service.
• it is vital that the Risk & Resource Model similarly commands public support and the confidence of both the public and key stakeholders.
• consulting the public and stakeholders on the Fire & Rescue Plan and the Risk & Resource Model in a way which overlaps, is likely to be confusing for the public and stakeholders and is not considered to be an appropriate sequence.
• on the recommendation of the Chief Fire Officer, the Commissioner is in any event not satisfied that the quality and extent of the available data is sufficiently robust to underpin the resource options for the RRM. It follows that further time will be required to arrive at resource options which the Chief Fire Officer can recommend to the Commissioner and which can, in turn, form the basis of public consultation.
• external factors have influenced the smooth progress of the programme to date, including but not limited to the availability of data, the capacity to analyse it and changes to working practices during the global pandemic throughout 2020 and 2021.
• in addition, responsibility for the delivery of the IRMP will shortly transfer to the incoming Interim Chief Fire Officer. The Commissioner expects the Interim Chief Fire Officer to renew the approach to the work and to identify a clear and robust time, cost and quality approach to the RRM programme.
• the Commissioner is mindful that the Government will shortly consult upon options for the reform of the Fire & Rescue sector and considers it important that the Risk & Resource Model takes account of the challenges and opportunities that reform will present.

The Chief Fire Officer and the Managing Director of Enable North Yorkshire have committed to completing the Risk & Resource Model by 1 March 2022. Regular milestone updates will be provided to the Commissioner throughout the remaining stages of the project, via the Executive Board. An outline programme proposal will be presented for the Commissioner’s approval at the Executive Board in July 2021, with a full revised programme plan to follow in August 2021.

The Commissioner expects the Service to progress in the meantime with its programme of change in respect of aspects of the Risk and Resource Model – and with other aspects of Ambition 2025 – prioritising those changes which will improve NYFRS service to the public but do not affect fire cover arrangements. The Commissioner will consult the public on the totality of the RRM after 1 March 2022 and in particular, will seek public and stakeholder engagement in relation to any proposals which materially affect the service delivery resource profile.

No decision has yet been made on the options to take forward to public consultation.

The RRM Publication Strategy (appended) documents the intention to proactively publish:

• the risk profile methodology on which the resource options are based;
• the options development and appraisal;
• the incoming Commissioner’s decision concerning the options to take forward to public consultation; and
• the report, the RRM itself, the plan for implementation and all appendices, following both
  • the completion of public consultation; and
  • the adoption and publication of the RRM

This decision is taken so that the consultation can be structured in accordance with the Gunning Principles[1] and work can be fully completed and released in a manner consistent with the Commissioner’s obligation to publish a record of decisions of significant public interest. The appropriate time to do so is time, when all options have been fully formulated, consulted upon, assessed and considered.

A nine month extension to December 2021 of the current Community Safety Plan 2016/17- 2020/21 was agreed by the former Commissioner’s Decision Notice on 15 March 2021 https://www.northyorkshire-pfcc.gov.uk/decision-notices/08-2021-irmp/.  It is now estimated that a new RRM will be in place from September 2022, allowing greater time for the development of the resource options and for the reasons set out above, to include a robust 90-day public consultation period.

The Commissioner has asked the Chief Fire Officer to provide assurance of the operational viability of an extension to the current Community Safety Plan. The Chief Fire Officer has accepted the timescales set out in this Decision Notice for the forward progress of the RRM programme and will set out a revised risk assessment in respect of the extension to the current IRMP, along with mitigation measures and risk controls which can be brought into effect during the period of the extension. The revised risk assessment will be received formally at the Executive Board in July 2021.

Decision Record

The Commissioner has decided to

(a) commission further work on the Integrated Risk Management Plan (‘IRMP’) and extend the current IRMP, known as the Community Safety Plan 2016/17-2020/21, to 30 September 2022; and

(b) adopt the appended Publication Strategy in respect of the Risk and Resource Model (‘RRM’) programme for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service;

The Publication Strategy takes immediate effect and remains in place until the publication of a new RRM.

Philip Allott
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire

Statutory Officer Advice

Legal, Management and Equality Implications

The work to recast the timescales for the production of the IRMP (Risk & Resource Model) amounts to a significant governance issue and has been noted within the Annual Governance Statement accordingly.

Scrutiny and assurance in respect of the forward progress of the programme, alongside the risk mitigation measures in respect of the extension of the existing IRMP, will be an area of additional focus for the PFCC and the Statutory Officers throughout the remaining life of the programme.

Overall: having read this Decision Notice and having considered such information as has been provided at the time of being asked to express this view, the Commissioner’s Monitoring Officer is satisfied that this Decision Notice does not ask the Commissioner to make a decision which would (or would be likely to) give rise to a contravention of the law.

Financial and Commercial

The extension of the current Community Safety plan does not have any immediate impact on the financial plans that are currently in place, nor the Medium Term Financial Plan that was approved in February 2021, as there were no assumptions made within these financial plans about the impact that of a new Risk and Resource Model.

The Service does have a clear ‘Ambition’ that will require a ‘save to invest’ approach to be taken to deliver many of the ambitions within it. The ability to make the required changes to enable this investment to take place are likely to be delayed as a result of the new timeframes set out within this Decision.

Appendix I

Publication Strategy – North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Fire and Rescue Authority

Risk and Resource Model Options Development

Version	Date	Authorised By (Name and Position)	Signature
1	23 June 2021	Simon Dennis Chief Executive, Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire