Office of Northamptonshire
Police, Fire and Crime
Commissioner
Office of Northamptonshire
Police, Fire and Crime
Commissioner
Introduction
The creation of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire was finalised when the responsibility for the Fire and Rescue Service was transferred from the County Council on the 1st of January 2019. This was made possible by the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire (Fire and Rescue Authority) Order 2018 which represented one of the biggest changes to the delivery of emergency services in the county.
The move means that the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner can now be held to account for the performance of the Fire and Rescue Service. The PFCC holds the Chief Fire Officer to account in the same way as the Chief Constable. The day-to-day business of the Fire Service remains the responsibility of the Chief Fire Officer and his team, however the PFCC works closely with the chief officers of both services to look at how they can collaborate and work together to improve the frontline services.
Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue currently employ approximately 527 firefighters and staff who deliver services throughout the county. The Service also has:
The Chief Fire Officer (CFO) is responsible for the operational delivery and is aided by two Assistant Chief Fire Officers (ACFOs), an Assistant Chief Officer shared with Northants Police and a number of Senior Managers who come together to form the Fire Executive Group’
The ACFO – Community Risk oversees the day to day running of the operational side of the service (operational support and service delivery). In addition, they take the lead on the Retained Duty System (RDS) review, flexible rostering project and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspection programme. They oversee the Protection team which aims to drive down risk in non-domestic premises.
This is achieved through a risk-based inspection programme of non-domestic premises under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRO) 2005. They provide advice and guidance to building developers, owners, occupiers, and employees on regulations and fire safety legislation including the enforcement of sports grounds legislation.
They also oversee the Prevention team which includes personnel from NFRS and Northamptonshire Police. They work on programmes and projects to ensure fire, road and community safety messages are delivered to the public and co-ordinate Home Safety Checks for customers in the county. The
All communications and media for the Service are overseen by a joint Head of Communications who supports both the OPFCC and the Fire and Rescue Service. Corporate Communications has reactive officers who provide media information for any major or serious incidents and set up media interviews with senior officers. They also have proactive officers who promote the vital work NFRS is doing to educate and inform residents about fire safety and prevention.
The ACFO Corporate Services oversees Organisational development, Fire Service Operations Policy, Operational assurance, Training, Health & Safety, Strategic Planning, business performance processes, Service Assurance, internal audit (including Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspection programme) and Information Management. This role performs the duties of Brigade Investigating Officer and Senior Information Risk Owner. They also perform the Principal Equality, Diversity & Inclusivity and Wellbeing roles within the Service, chairing the EDI board, Health and safety Committee and the Wellbeing boards. Another responsibility of the role is to lead on commercial activity in Service largely through the Development of the Fire training site at Chelveston and is SRO for other large projects. They are a member of the National Operations Coordination Committee on behalf of the East Midlands region and Chair the Regional Operations Coordination Committee.
The Service Information Team provides a comprehensive support service to all customers of NFRS. They manage corporate service information and the fire publication scheme on the Service’s website, as well as co-ordinating the administration of internal documents, forms and letters throughout NFRS. They also co-ordinate responses to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and handle customer interaction.
Operational Support comprises of the following departments:
The Training and Development team provide relevant training courses and utilise our Command and Development Centre (CDC), based at Daventry. They offer advice and assistance to NFRS and Northamptonshire Police staff as necessary.
The Joint Operations Team has responsibility to support the response to operational emergencies. This responsibility is detailed within the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, the Emergency Services Order 2007, the National Framework document, the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and by the Fire Authorities decisions. This team structure develops the department capability to enhance support to strategic and tactical co-ordinating groups and is made up of personnel from both NFRS and Northamptonshire Police.
Service Delivery comprises of the following departments:
The CRGs manage the 22 fire stations which are crewed by both Wholetime (full time) Duty System (WDS) and Retained (on call) Duty System (RDS) personnel. The stations are split into 2 risk areas; North and West, each headed by a CRG Manager. They provide emergency response to incidents as well as carrying out prevention activities within the local community. Fire Control provide a 24/7 response to emergency calls, mobilising personnel, appliances and equipment to incidents.
Assistant Chief Officer Enabling Services (Police and Fire)
Enabling Services contains the following teams:
These services are increasingly shared jointly with Northamptonshire Police with joint heads of departments for each of the functions now in post.
The Fleet, Engineering and Equipment team manages vehicles and operational equipment as and when required for the Fire and Rescue Service. They also undertake maintenance, repairs and inspections for NFRS and Northamptonshire Police. The Water Officer oversees the maintenance of a number of the county’s hydrants. The Facilities team maintain all fire stations and manage access control across Northamptonshire.
The ICT team maintain the computerised, radio and telephony systems for NFRS. In addition to this, they support a variety of bespoke databases and implement a number of project solutions.
Further Information
Further details about the work of the Fire and Rescue Service can be found at:
www.northantsfire.gov.uk
www.twitter.com/northantsfire