MEASURING UP

A Consultative Paper regarding the Fire Service Inspectorate in Scotland October 1999

ANNEX C - PRINCIPAL INSPECTION

85. The steps the Inspectorate might expect to see followed by a brigade using a planning framework are shown in Illustration 1. The detailed nature of each functional activity is partly described in existing guidance (in this regard the document ''Expectations'' produced by HMFSI for England and Wales and the draft Benchmarking documents of CACFOA have some relevance) and by individual authorities setting their own targets. Inevitably, however, a new and more detailed comparability and assessment guide will be required if self-assessment is to provide direction towards the desired outcomes. This is a significant activity which needs to be undertaken in the near future.

Illustration 1 - Fire Service Outcome Assessment

1. Identify the Desired Outcome

2. Establish Accountability

3. Establish Appropriate Information Sources

4. Seek Out Inhibitors

5. Set Standards of Quality

6. Identify and Allocate Resources

7. Confirm Actual Outcome

8. Agree the Achievement Targets

9. Implement the Delivery

10. Measure the Actual Achievements

11. Report the Achievement Level

12. Reassess the Desired Outcome

86. Reviewing achievement will in this way concentrate upon those aspects of performance which are critical to overall service delivery. Since a framework process concentrates upon outcomes, rather than inputs and outputs, the setting of targets becomes highly important. Setting targets may involve public consultation or survey. The Inspectorate realises that in many brigades public consultation is likely to present practical challenges and that the use of existing public consultation arrangements made with other bodies, for example, constituent member local authorities of the fire authority, would be sensible. In this way realistic and demanding improvement targets may be set.

87. Overall the Inspectorate process would seek to assess all the main functions of a brigade. Two specific functions could, subject to further consultation, be examined jointly, either in the field or through joint discussions away from the brigade. These are performance to meet workplace safety and financial stewardship [ Financial stewardship includes, in this context, management arrangements and value for money studies.] (Health and Safety Executive and Accounts Commission).

88. An illustrative list of major functions is shown in Illustration 2.

Illustration 2 - Functional Review Areas

Management

• Organisational Structure and Accountabilities
• Culture and Community Awareness
• Goals, Vision and Business Planning
• Administrative Effectiveness
• Business Risk Management
• Communication
• Information Management
• External Support

Finance

• Revenue Budget Planning and Management
• Capital Expenditure
• Delegation Process
• Financial Reporting
• Debtors and Payments Systems

Operational Risk Management

• Assessments and Prioritisation
• Operational Resource Deployment
• Response Arrangements
• Fire Safety Assessments
• Inspection and Enforcement Efficiency
• Community Safety Activity

Human Resources

• Establishment
• Recruitment, Retention and Development of Staff
• Skills Improvement and Assurance
• Safety
• Diversity
• Industrial Relations
• Availability and Health
• Workplace Environment

Material Resources

• Appliances
• Equipment
• Premises
• External (eg Water Supplies)

89. In any brigade the Inspectorate would expect to find clear individual and team responsibilities by conducting a staged review of the whole business process. The practical arrangements may involve a detailed and formal visit over a number of days in the first year followed by routine monitoring and informal visits in the second and third years. This would then enable the cycle of delivery and outcome achievement to be followed through progressively promoting the view that "Efficiently performing fire brigades are those which successfully plan and achieve defined outcomes."

90. Approaching the inspection of brigades in the way outlined will provide, it is believed, a more comprehensive and in-depth system than the current method. It is apparent however that such inspections could only be conducted on a far more infrequent basis than is currently undertaken, hence the suggestion that principal inspections be conducted within a 3-yearly cycle. The inspection would follow that currently undertaken within a 5-stage process.

• Stage 1 - Information Gathering using the statistical return. This would be considered by the Inspectorate and brigade together with any identified areas of co-operative working, that is involving the Accounts Commission or the Health and Safety Executive. (The involvement of the Accounts Commission or Health and Safety Executive in this preliminary stage might redefine the following stages.)
• Stage 2 - Information Analysis would then enable a focus, on those areas which might receive particular attention during the inspection, to be identified. These would relate to good practice areas and others requiring improvement which were to receive closer examination.
• Stage 3 - Following analysis and in the light of any comments received from other agencies, the inspection process would be detailed. This would enable both the brigade and the Inspection Team to concentrate on those areas in which they feel greatest benefit could be derived during the inspection. Any wider views that were obtaining at the time, either informed through thematic inspections or issues of general concern relating to the fire service together with those of the fire authority and Brigade Management Team, would be fed into the inspection process at this stage.
• Stage 4 - The inspection would then be conducted to enable the analysis to be confirmed or areas identified to be examined in detail. By having undertaken the pre-analysis work the brigade and the Inspector would be in a position to discuss with the Management Team and Fire Authority, together with any other external agencies, any particular issue arising.
• Stage 5 - Following the inspection process a report would be prepared which would be subjected to joint consideration prior to publication. The report would contain an agreed action plan as previously indicated to show how any matter was to be taken forward. The final document produced as a result of the inspection would be communicated to the Minister responsible, the Scottish Executive, the Firemaster and to the Chief Executive or Clerk (of the Joint Fire Board).

Performance Monitoring

91. Following any principal inspection it is envisaged that there would be routine performance monitoring conducted during the intervening years. The nature of this review would depend upon the findings of the principal inspection and any thematic analysis undertaken in year. The intention, therefore, would be, using the action plan as a guide, to follow up on any improvements so that achievements might be recorded and progress generally monitored. The performance assessment would also enable changes within the brigade or the Fire Authority, together with any national issues, to be considered for impact upon the original action plan.

92. During these visits, which would be undertaken in a less formal setting than the principal inspection, advice would also be offered from any other national work that had been undertaken by the Inspectorate.

Thematic Inspections

93. It is considered that a key factor in the development of the service would be the introduction of thematic inspections. Such inspections by focusing attention on perceived areas of concern or gathering information on good practice so that it may be shared amongst brigades, help develop and shape, for those issues which are important to be considered within a wider forum, policy and improvement.

94. The encouragement of inter-brigade co-operation, in this way, is particularly relevant within the terms of Modernising Government and Best Value initiatives and thematic inspections also provide a useful method of dealing with emerging issues before they reach a proportion which is either damaging or requires significant resources.

95. The process of identifying areas for thematic inspection would be determined by the Fire Service Inspectorate, having taken account of current information derived from routine contact with brigades or through national forums. Frequently it is anticipated that thematic inspections could involve a range of skills, not just those of the Inspectorate, since it would be important to bring together the right range of expertise.

96. Thematic inspections would not necessarily involve inspection of every brigade and may, in the process, initially comprise questionnaires which help identify the subject area. Thereafter the level of inspection and discussion within individual brigades would be determined by the Inspectorate in the light of any further information necessary. The published reports would be made available to all brigades and to the SCFBAC.

Specific Inspections

97. There will be cases when it is necessary for an inspection to be undertaken into particular aspects of specific cases which may relate to one or more fire authorities. Invariably such inspections will be ad hoc and specifically tailored to meet the identified need.

98. The actual process to be followed will be determined by the individual circumstances and will need to be conveyed to the brigade involved in advance of the inspection process. In a similar way the Reports made under these arrangements will be used primarily with the authorities concerned, although it would include reporting to the Minister and members of the Scottish Executive.