Towards 2020 Variable Crewing Project: Review of the Day-Crewed duty system This is a Technical Appendix to the 2013 Safety Plan

Transcription

1 Towards 2020 Variable Crewing Project: Review of the Day-Crewed duty system This is a Technical Appendix to the 2013 Safety Plan

2 Contents Contents... 2 Introduction... 4 Project Assumptions... 4 Scope of Review... 5 Background... 6 Current Working Hours... 7 Calculation methodology and rationale... 9 Leave entitlement Base Option: Existing arrangements Description SWOT Analysis Current Costs Housing & Housing Allowance Activity on day-crewed stations Scope for change Area 1: Aligning positive hours to demand Area 2: Self-rostering Area 3: Reduce crew numbers Area 4: Split shift options Area 5: Consolidated Pay Option 1a: Increase and align positive hours of day-crewed stations to demand and risk profile of the area Description Indicative costings SWOT Analysis Option 1b: Increase and align positive hours of day-crewed stations to demand and risk profile of the area and reduce workforce to six per watch Description Indicative costings SWOT Analysis Option 2: Apply self-rostering to day-crewed stations with 13 staff Description Indicative costings SWOT Analysis Option 3: Apply self-rostering to day-crewed stations with 12 staff Description Indicative costings SWOT Analysis Option 4: Apply self-rostering to day-crewed stations with 11 staff Page 2 of 51

3 Description Indicative costings SWOT Analysis Option 5: Apply self-rostering to day-crewed stations with 10 staff Description Indicative costings SWOT Analysis Option 6: Implement split-shift arrangements on day-crewed fire stations Description SWOT Analysis Single 24 hour duty periods SWOT Analysis Single 24 hour units with exchange facility under local arrangements SWOT Analysis Split Positive and On Call shifts SWOT Analysis Smaller six hour split shifts Summary tables of working hours Evaluation Recommendations Appendix 1 Example criteria for self-rostering Page 3 of 51

4 Introduction 1. In 2012 Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority commissioned a project to explore different ways of using staff to provide emergency cover. This followed previous work to establish the locations fire engines were required to meet risk, demand and isolation factors across the County. This work was published in 2011, and is available on our website. This new project, referred to as the Variable Crewing Project, is designed to identify the most effective and efficient ways of staffing all fire engines across Kent and Medway. The project is divided into a number of workstreams which allow each of the Authority s duty systems to be challenged in turn. 2. This document outlines the options identified that relate to the day-crewed duty system by drawing on findings from analytical reviews and comments and suggestions received from focus groups with day-crewed firefighters. Staff working this duty system have been given the opportunity to challenge, verify and review data and information throughout the process by means of a series of visits to their stations. The review addresses current activity levels, working practices and conditions of service applied to the firefighters at day-crewed fire stations. 3. An impact assessment specific to this element of the project has been completed and considered when developing options. This allows a comparison between the options presented and the strengths and weaknesses of the current day-crewed duty system. 4. Throughout this document reference is made to positive, standby and on-call hours. Positive hours are those where a firefighter is actually at a fire station or with the crew on the fire engine in the local area. Standby and on-call hours are those where firefighters respond from nearby homes to emergency calls. They travel to the fire station, collect the fire engine and then travel to the incident, within five minutes of being alerted. The Authority currently has a mechanism in place to provide housing or support for housing costs close to staff at day-crewed fire stations to ensure sufficient cover. The hours are differentiated by the way in which payment is calculated, this is explained later in the document. Project Assumptions 5. The following assumptions have been made when conducting this work: The review extends to all nine fire stations currently working the day-crewed shift system; Current operational procedures are followed; The five minute turn-in condition for on-call cover remains; Levels of staffing are based on current establishment figures and may not reflect the actual numbers of firefighters currently based at fire stations The review uses data from the period 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2012 and Crewing fire engines with four firefighters is used when examining staffing levels. Page 4 of 51

5 Scope of Review 6. The review has been commissioned as part of the Variable Crewing project to review the current day-crewing duty system as operated at nine fire stations across the County. The review focused on: Continuing to match resources to risk, demand and isolation as defined by the Review of Emergency Response Provision; Ensuring an effective and efficient system of work for the delivery of the Authority s services is in place; To ensure the service delivery model reflects the operational requirements of the stations within their operational clusters; To consider value for money principles at all stages; and To maintain effective interoperability between duty systems on all stations, examining the potential to make each day-crewed station self-sufficient in terms of crewing. 7. This review assesses the suitability of the day-crewed duty system in being able to deliver emergency cover as set by the Review of Emergency Response Provision and if considered necessary develop and implement a series of recommendations for alterations to the duty system. The outcomes will be applied to all firefighters working the current day-crewed duty system. 8. The project will not: Determine the levels of emergency cover required in the area; nor Look at the mechanics of disposing any assets (if recommended) 9. The review sought early and on-going engagement through discussions with: Firefighters at day-crewed stations; Accredited representatives; KFRS Managers; and Other fire and rescue services. Page 5 of 51

6 Background 10. The day-crewed duty system is one of three working patterns operated by the Authority for firefighters and provides 24/7 availability through a blend of positive, standby and oncall cover. There are nine day-crewed stations across Kent (there are none in Medway) each with two watches of seven firefighters. Each watch is comprised of five firefighters, one crew manager and one watch manager, referred to as a watch strength or establishment of seven staff. Throughout this document, this composition is generically referred to as firefighters. At the time of writing, some watches on day-crewed stations are running below these levels through recent retirements or long-term sickness. Every day-crewed fire station has an on-call fire engine attached to it, although this is out of scope for this review. 11. The system is already considered good value for money; it provides experienced full-time firefighters at night, but on a cheaper basis than the fire stations where staff are on station 24/7, since around half the numbers of firefighters are needed to keep the fire engine available. Smaller numbers of staff are also advantageous in keeping the overall training requirements down for specialist vehicles like the animal rescue unit or our highvolume pumps, which need specialist training to use. At night and some other times the fire engines at day-crewed stations are subject to a time delay in leaving the station to attend emergencies, as the firefighters are responding from their homes nearby. This is similar to conventional on call units, but slower than the turnout time associated with wholetime shift stations in the larger towns of Kent and Medway. This is a cost benefit relationship that has existed in this and many other fire and rescue services for many years. Some firefighters provide their own local accommodation for which they are paid an allowance; others live as tenants in housing owned by the Authority. 12. The distribution of the special appliances at day-crewed stations which perform a variety of specialist functions is summarised in Table 1. Table 1: Fire engines, special appliances and staff numbers at day-crewed stations Station Fire engines Special Whole-time On-call appliances Number of day-crewed firefighters 1 Deal Faversham Herne Bay Larkfield Sheppey Sevenoaks Sittingbourne Tonbridge Whitstable Numbers of day-crewed firefighters refers to establishment figures, and may not reflect actual numbers of firefighters working at the station at the time of publication of this document. Budgets are based on establishment figures. Page 6 of 51

7 Current Working Hours 13. Firefighters operating the day-crewed duty system work on a 4 on 4 off basis. Firefighters provide a mix of positive and on-call cover over a continuous 96 hour period, resulting in an eight week rota. Table 2 below illustrates the division of positive (P), standby (S) and on-call (O) hours and how cover varies during a typical week. Between Monday and Friday staff provide positive cover (at the fire station) between 09:00 and 13:00 hours and 14:00 and 18:00 hours and are on standby between 13:00 and 14:00 hours and on-call 18:00 and 09:00 hours. At weekends firefighters generally provide positive cover between 09:00 and 13:00 hours and are on standby up to 18:00 when they then go to on-call for the remainder of the day 2. This adjustment was made historically to compensate firefighters for attendance at an average of two drill evenings per eight week period, training with colleagues from the on-call sections based at the stations. It is recognised that on some day-crewed watches firefighters choose to remain on station during lunch breaks, effectively providing positive hours cover instead of standby. This may be for various reasons such as heavy daytime traffic affecting response times to station or simple personal preference. Outside of these working times firefighters are not on duty, which is known as a rota day (R). 14. Local arrangements exist to allow sufficient rest periods during the 96 hour period of continuous duty that day-crewed firefighters currently undertake. For example, if an incident occurs and progresses through the night, discretion is given to the supervisory officer to set a later time to report to the station for positive hours the following day. 15. According to the National Schemes of Conditions of Service (Grey Book 6 th Edition) daycrewed duty hours comprise of an average of 42 hours positive cover per week where 35 hours are provided on station and 7 hours on standby from home 3. Standby cover is different to on-call cover in that it is paid at the same rate as positive cover. In this Authority, day-crewed staff currently work an average of 24 positive hours per week, (table 2) and are allocated an additional 18 hours 4 per week at positive hours rate to provide standby cover at wholetime pay rates. The review explores the potential for movement in this ratio towards the Grey Book provision. 16. Where changes to the day-crewed system are proposed, the extract below from the Fire Services National Schemes of Conditions of Service (SOCOS) (Grey Book 6 th Edition) sets out the framework for negotiations: 2 Local arrangements have developed over time which means that at some stations, comparatively small amounts of time are spent on the station on positive hours. 3 National SOCOS 6 th Edition 2009, Section 4 paragraph 8 4 The 18 hours standby cover is provided between the hours of 05:00 and 09:00 on the second, third and fourth day of every shift rotation, the 13:00 and 18:00 on weekend shifts and 13:00 and 14:00 on every shift. Page 7 of 51

8 the following duty system shall continue to operate until replaced or supplemented locally by new systems under the following terms; Duty systems will need to meet the requirements of the fire and rescue authority s Integrated Risk Management Plan (in Kent this is known as the Safety Plan). Any proposed system should be discussed with the recognised trade unions and be based on the following principles: 1) Basic working hours should average forty-two per week (inclusive of three hours of meal breaks in every twenty-four hours) for full-time employees. Hours of duty should be pro-rata for part-time employees. 2) There should be at least two periods of twenty-four hours free from duty each week. 3) It should comply with relevant United Kingdom and European law, Including the Working Time Regulations 1998, and Health, Safety and Welfare at Work legislation. 4) It should have regard to the special circumstances of individual employees and be family friendly. Where, following discussion, there is no agreement between the Fire and Rescue authority and recognised trade union over a proposed duty system (and it does not accord with the principles of any of the existing national duty systems at paragraphs 7 to 16 below) the difference can be referred by either party to the NJC s Technical Advisory Panel. The Panel will be chaired by an Independent Expert (appointed on a three-yearly basis by the NJC), who will be assisted by the Joint Secretaries. The Panel will seek to broker an agreement between the parties, but where that is not possible it will make recommendations. The Panel s recommendations will ensure that the duty system follows the four principles set out at paragraph 3 above and is compatible with the deployment of resources that the fire and rescue authority has determined is necessary to implement its Integrated Risk Management Plan. This process will be concluded within one month of reference to the Panel, or longer with the agreement of the parties. The parties will decide their responses to any recommendations from the Panel within fourteen days of receipt. Day-crewed duty system (para eight SOCOS) The hours of duty of full time employees on this system shall be an average of forty two per week. The rota will be based on the following principles: 1) An average of thirty-five hours per week shall be worked at the station 2) An average of seven hours per week shall be on standby at home. Employees are required to respond to any emergency call received during this standby period. 3) Employees on this system may be requested to undertake retained duties outside the hours at (1) and (2). 4) There shall be at least two complete periods of twenty-four hours free from any duty each week 5) One hour per day shall be specified as a meal break. Account shall be taken of meal breaks interrupted by emergency calls. Page 8 of 51

9 Calculation methodology and rationale 17. The following section details the methodology for the calculation of hours worked on station, on standby and on call in the day-crewed system, for the purposes of assessing feasibility and compliance with the National Schemes of Conditions of Service. It is important to understand the methods and calculations used as they will be consistently applied through the options appraisals later in this document. 18. Table 2 illustrates current working arrangements of day-crewed stations. Table 2: working hours over an eight week cycle on day-crewed fire stations Mon Tues Wed Thus Friday Sat Sun TOTALS P S O P S O P S O P S O P S O P S O P S O P S O All Week R - - R - - R Week 2 R R - - R Week 3 R - - R R Week 4 R - - R - - R Week 5 R - - R - - R - - R Week R - - R - - R - - R Week R - - R - - R - - R Week R - - R - - R - - R P Positive hours S Standby hours O On Call hours TOTAL(S) Average hours per week Any emergency incidents which day-crewed firefighters attend during their on-call hours are paid through a disturbance payment per call out and an additional hourly rate for work undertaken. The rates are detailed in Table 3. Table 3: Pay rates for day-crewed firefighters when working under their on-call contract Role Disturbance payment Hourly rate Firefighter Crew Manager Watch Manager Page 9 of 51

10 20. For the purpose of evaluating and calculating hours as part of the review, the hours in this eight week cycle have been multiplied out to annualise the hours, as a basis for option appraisal calculations. These are shown in the Table 4. Table 4: Annualisation of current working hours Positive hours over 8 weeks (from table 2) Number of 8 week cycles per year (365 56) Total number of positive hours worked 192 X 6.52 = 1,251(rounded down) Average hours per week Number of weeks per year (365 7) 24 X = 1,251(rounded down) 21. Table 5 shows the annualisation of the potential hours workable under the National Schemes of Conditions of Service. Table 5: Annualisation of SOCOS working hours Positive hours over 8 weeks (35 x 8) Number of 8 week cycles per year (365 56) Total number of positive hours worked 280 X 6.52 = 1,825 (rounded down) Average hours per week Number of weeks per year (365 7) 35 X = 1,825 (rounded up) 22. Table 6 shows the annualisation of 42 positive hours per week, i.e. with no standby hours. This working arrangement falls outside of the National Schemes of Conditions of Service. Eliminating standby hours brings the number of positive hours worked on daycrewed stations in line with wholetime shift firefighters who also work an average 42 hour week over a similar 8 week cycle. It must be recognised that shift firefighters are guaranteed rest periods outside of these hours, whilst day-crewed firefighters switch to on call arrangements at during the nights over their 96 hour duty, so remain close to the station in order to attend operational incidents that occur during these times. Table 6: Annualisation of 42 hour week Positive hours over 8 weeks Number of 8 week cycles per year Total number of positive hours worked 336 X 6.52 = 2,190 Average hours per week Number of weeks per year 42 X = 2,190 Page 10 of 51

11 23. A proportion of a day-crewed shift is to provide on-call cover for which firefighters are provided with an additional allowance 5. Firefighters also receive a supplementary payment (known as turn-out fees ) and hourly pay if they are required to perform firefighting duties during an on-call period. This fee is paid as a retrospective claim, and is administratively burdensome for the Authority. Turnout fees do not apply when firefighters are called during the standby hours explained in paragraph 15. Leave entitlement 24. Currently firefighters are entitled to 42 days annual leave per year. This is comprised of twenty five days of annual leave, five scale B days, three long service days (after five years service), eight public holidays and one Christmas concessionary day. 25. The 25 days of annual leave is divided into three blocks, one of 14 days, one of six days and one of five days. These blocks cannot be separated which means that some of the leave days are taken when firefighters are rostered to be on a rota day (i.e. would be off duty anyway). This anomaly was allowed for when the number of leave days for this duty system was agreed. If the block booking system was not in use, it is possible to reduce the annual leave allowance by the nine rota days taken as annual leave, without affecting the hours worked by firefighters. 26. The following tables show how annual leave is used on rota days. Table 7: 14 day annual leave block D D D D R R R R D D D D R R 27. During the 14 day annual leave, six will always be non-working days, and therefore the 14 day annual leave represent eight shifts absent not During the six day annual leave, two will always be non-working days; therefore the six day annual leave represent four shifts absent not six, as shown below. Table 8: Six day annual leave D D D D R R 29. During the five day annual leave, one will always be a non-working day; therefore the five day annual leave represents four shifts absent not five. 5 On-call allowance for a day-crewed firefighter is 1,438 per annum. For crew managers this rises to 1,595 and for watch managers 1,783. Page 11 of 51

12 Table 9: Five day annual leave D D D D R 30. The remaining leave days can all be taken as single days, or be booked in blocks of up to four days in a row. 31. In summary, for firefighters working the day-crewed duty system, 42 days of annual leave account for 33 rostered duty periods. The balance is used up when they are not scheduled to be on duty. Page 12 of 51

13 Base Option: Existing arrangements Description 32. All technical appendices to the Safety Plan have a base option, against which any proposals can be compared. The following section evaluates the impact of making no changes to the existing day-crewed systems, so stations would carry on working the current patterns with no changes to watch structures. The evaluation is in the form of a SWOT analysis, summarising strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats associated with the current day-crewed system. Page 13 of 51

14 SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Existing system has the Limits the flexibility in Potential to increase positive benefit of staff familiarity contractual offers which can hours on station, leading to Gives a stable workforce be made to firefighters. positive impact on attendance Firefighters at day-crewed times during busiest periods which makes placing special stations are permitted to go and at weekends appliances at these stations a home for lunch breaks, sensible move, as skills do leading to longer attendance not need regular refreshment times to any incidents that due to new entrants to the occur during this time station Provides experienced firefighters during on-call periods Good value for money compared with wholetime shift fire stations The system is not selfsufficient and creates the need for detachments from other stations to cover absences. There is contractual weakness regarding night time on-call cover for the fulltime fire engine although it has never surfaced as a problem to date Current duty system does not ensure firefighters are covering at stations rather than from home during periods of high activity. Day-crewed housing stock is deteriorating; repair and maintenance costs are increasing Recruitment into the system is needed to maintain current establishment levels Makes no contribution to the overall requirement for the Service to generate 10m of savings in the next three years, which may force the removal of other fire engines from the fleet Page 14 of 51

15 Current Costs 33. The current budgeted cost of the day-crewed system across the nine stations is 5,961,919 for the financial year ending 31 March This includes wages, retaining and turnout fees associated with the on call element of the system, allowances and employer costs (National Insurance and pension contributions). Expenditure on premises, utilities, vehicles etc is excluded from this figure. Housing & Housing Allowance 34. Historically the day-crewed system has had associated housing or financial allowances 6 to guarantee that local crewing and response times can be maintained. Day-crewed firefighters therefore are a mixture of tenants with the Authority acting as landlord, and occupants of private housing within an accepted distance of their fire station. 35. The Authority currently has 57 houses at eight of the nine day-crewed fire stations 7, 44 of which were occupied as at 31 August The varied locations of the stations mean that some stations lend themselves well to firefighters occupying private housing, others less so. In 2011 the Authority decided that, as a principle, it would move away from providing day-crewed housing for new entrants to the duty system. The rationale for this decision is outside the scope of this review, but its implications for future service delivery cannot be ignored. As a landlord, the Authority has confirmed as part of the Review that remaining tenancies will be managed sensitively without evictions or notices to quit being served on staff. Activity on day-crewed stations 36. Datasets regarding incidents in areas and mobilisations by day-crewed vehicles have been prepared for the review, in consultation with firefighters at stations in a series of visits. The analysis of activity for day-crewed stations and vehicles are provided as appendixes at the end of this document. Activity is defined as the incidents that have occurred in the geographical area served by the station, and the individual mobilisations undertaken by the fire engine at the station in its own area or anywhere else. The two sets of analysis are distinct from each other as incidents may occur that are dealt with by fire engines from other areas. Additionally, the number of specialist appliances located at day-crewed stations means that they respond to incidents across the County. The analysis shows in detail the nature of the incidents and the times of day and days of the week when they occur. Standby moves when fire engines are directed to other stations to provide cover in other areas are also included. This information will be used to assess the suitability of the crewing models in the context of optimising the times when firefighters are on positive hours at the fire station and therefore can respond more quickly to a greater number of emergencies. 6 Housing Allowances is 3,363 per annum for All day-crewed housing has been disposed of at Herne Bay fire station Page 15 of 51

16 37. Incidents are broadly categorised into life threatening and non-life threatening. It has only been possible to make this distinction since the revision to the Authority s incident recording system in April This is important contextual information, as it shows that current on-station times do not always match the demand patterns in various locations. On-station times also do not reflect seasonal variations in risk due to economic factors, such as tourism bringing large numbers of visitors to an area. The review explored the opportunity to match local crewing to local demand in individual areas, rather than a one size fits all approach across Kent and Medway. 38. The following charts show the combined incident profiles for the day-crewed station grounds for the period from April 2009 to December 2012, analysed by life or non life threatening categories by time of day. All incidents combined, analysed by what day of the week they occurred between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2012 are also shown Non Life-threatening incidents by time of day Day-crewed station grounds Hour of day Page 16 of 51

17 Incidents Variable Crewing Project: Day-Crewed Review 140 Life-threatening incidents by time of day Day-crewed station grounds Hour of the day Incidents on station ground by day of week Day-crewed station grounds Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday 39. The individual data analyses of incidents and mobilisations for each station have been published as separate documents. These will be used to inform local negotiation on establishing the best fit of positive hours working against demand. Links to each of the documents are listed overleaf. Page 17 of 51

18 type Link Deal Incidents attended on station ground Jan 2006-Dec Mobilisations anywhere in the County Jan 2006 Dec Faversham Incidents attended on station ground Jan 2006-Dec Mobilisations anywhere in the County Jan 2006 Dec Herne Bay Incidents attended on station ground Jan 2006-Dec Mobilisations anywhere in the County Jan 2006 Dec Larkfield Incidents attended on station ground Jan 2006-Dec Mobilisations anywhere in the County Jan 2006 Dec Sevenoaks Incidents attended on station ground Jan 2006-Dec incidents.pdf Mobilisations anywhere in the County Jan 2006 Dec Sheppey Incidents attended on station ground Jan 2006-Dec Mobilisations anywhere in the County Jan 2006 Dec Page 18 of 51

19 Sittingbourne Incidents attended on station ground Jan 2006-Dec Mobilisations anywhere in the County Jan 2006 Dec Tonbridge Incidents attended on station ground Jan 2006-Dec Mobilisations anywhere in the County Jan 2006 Dec Whitstable Incidents attended on station ground Jan 2006-Dec Mobilisations anywhere in the County Jan 2006 Dec Page 19 of 51

20 Scope for change 40. There are a number of reasons for wanting to change how the day-crewed system operates. The data on activity presented above is one, and the following section sets out further the business case. However, there is no specific link between aligning positive hours to demand and other proposals around crewing. The former could be achieved without the latter. However, the review considers a system referred to as self-rostering as a much more efficient way of working for the Authority, has benefits for firefighters working on day-crewed stations, and can also contribute towards the requirement for the Authority to save 10m over the coming three years. Furthermore, if self-rostering is adopted and proves successful at day-crewed stations, the same principles could be applied to whole-time shift stations in the future. Area 1: Aligning positive hours to demand 41. There are some areas within the system which we want to address that should improve how quickly we get to incidents. The most important one is the times that firefighters are on station. Activity between 18:00 to 20:00 is generally higher and this corresponded with the time when staff have already gone home and are working on call. This makes attendance times longer when we are busiest, which does not make sense. Although not all the stations follow this activity pattern, the majority do, and so we want to move the on-station times so that staff are on station when demand is at its highest. 42. The options detailed later in this document look to change the number of positive hours firefighters are actually on station, ensuring that they are there when activity or perceived risk requires it. With this in mind the Authority is also proposing to rename the duty system to Demand Crewing. 43. Currently all day-crewed staff end their positive hours at 18:00 hrs. In some instances it may not be demand that drives the on-station hours, but the relative risk of an area and its isolation. An example is Deal, where demand is relatively low, but sadly a number of serious house fires have occurred here in recent years resulting in casualties and some fatalities. Potential Working Hours 44. In theoretical crewing models, each individual is contracted to work either 1,825 positive hours per year working a 35 positive hour week, staying within the current National Schemes of Conditions of Service or 2,190 based on a 42 positive hour working week, the same number as shift firefighters(tables 4 and 5). A distinct area of the review focussed on calculating the working hours necessary to keep a fire engine available on positive hours cover by crewing the fire engine with four personnel. Page 20 of 51

21 45. It is recognised that there will be an initial impact on watch managers implementing new ways of working. Staff engagement, sharing emerging best practices and support from group and central management should be an important element in the transition to any new self-rostering model. Area 2: Self-rostering 46. Self-rostering is a method of providing enough firefighters to crew a fire engine based on a principle of local management arrangements. As long as certain criteria are met, the hours that an individual firefighter works will be primarily managed through local discussion with their colleagues, rather than central imposition. It allows staff flexibility around the days they work each week within agreed parameters and managed through the existing workforce planning system. The concept of self rostering is that it can be managed locally by the supervisory managers with the watch manager having overall responsibility. 47. There are a number of fire and rescue authorities using different forms of self-rostering to crew fire engines. These include Mid & West Wales, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and Merseyside. The models used in these areas have all been examined as part of this review, by way of site research, conversation or exchange of documentation. The findings are summarised as: One of the Authorities was specifically selected for research as they employ the same workforce planning system as this Authority. One Authority has successfully implemented self-rostering on their day-crewed stations, giving the watch manager autonomy to roster staff for work as long as certain criteria are met. This has allowed them to reduce their workforce but has given their staff the flexibility around when they work. Other Authorities have taken the opportunity to look at start and finish times with their crews staying some stations until 22:00 as this was when demand was higher, although as stated earlier changing positive hours and a self rostering duty are not dependant on one another. Among other criteria, to ensure the safety and welfare of crews, Authorities have limited the number of continuous days any crew member can work to a maximum of five continuous days. Rostered training days have been introduced, enabling the whole station to train together, rather than just on duty staff. This allows for efficient specialist training to take place without any detriment to service delivery. Page 21 of 51

22 Resilience Working Principles 48. Resilience is the means by which self-sufficient crewing will be achieved at day-crewed fire stations. This section explains the mechanism of how resilience operates in conjunction with self-rostering. There are two types of distinct shifts associated with the concept of resilience in the self rostering model; Banked Shifts 49. Banked Shifts are the hours (converted to shifts) shown in Tables that are in excess of those required for crewing a fire engine. These shifts originate from the annualisation of a 42 or 35 positive hour working week as shown at the top of each table. They have therefore already been paid for by the Authority and so are held as a balance banked, to be used up when staff attend prearranged station-based or external training, medicals or other abstractions when not rostered for crewing duty. In this sense, the concept of watch based training will be superseded by section based training. This creates opportunities to take training, regular medical testing and other activities to the station, producing large scale efficiencies compared against current practices. Resilience shifts 50. Resilience shifts refer to a number of days during the year when staff will be required to be within a five minute response of their base station for the first positive hour of the working day, in order to respond to any last minute crewing issues that arise. For the rest of the duty period the resilience crew member will be expected to remain fit for duty, but with a longer one hour response time to their base station if required. 51. In the event of a crewing shortfall that is remedied by the nominated resilience crew member, the positive, standby and on-call hours they complete is deducted from their balance of both banked shifts and resilience shifts. If the crew member is not required at any time during their resilience period, their time is only deducted from the balance of resilience shifts against their name. 52. Balances of banked shifts and resilience shifts should be agreed at the start of each leave year. Although not expected, in the event of staff overrunning their allocated number of banked shifts, any additional hours worked due to training or resilience arrangements will be paid as flat rate additional pay. At the end of the leave year, any banked shifts left in the balance of individuals will be written off prior to resetting the arrangements at the beginning of the next year. 53. Tables 10 to 13 at the end of the option appraisals demonstrate the relationship between the number of staff on a self-rostered section and provides examples of the numbers of firefighters required to crew a day-crewed fire engine, from a base position of the annual number of positive hours they would be contracted to work. The tables Page 22 of 51

23 quantify the options considered during the review and show the interdependencies between the following variable elements of each, namely; The number of firefighters employed at a station The number of annual positive hours they work in a week (35 or 42) The length of each daily period of positive hour working 54. Explained simply, the tables show different numbers of firefighters in the system, different lengths of positive hours in a shift, and the number of banked shifts generated by each option. The elements of the relationship are simply defined as: The greater the number of staff working the same length of positive hour shift, the more banked shifts are generated; The shorter the positive hour shift applied to a fixed number of staff, the greater the number of banked shifts generated The smaller the number of staff on a section, the greater the number of resilience shifts per person per year are required to be scheduled Area 3: Reduce crew numbers 55. The Authority has proposed the formal removal of the ridership factor 8 (although in practice it has not been used for several years). It is now looking to crew fire engines in day-crewed areas with four firefighters. This, combined with proposals for self rostering, makes it possible to reduce the number of firefighters at each day-crewed station, with no impact on the service which members of the public receive. One of the mechanisms which can achieve this is to amalgamate the existing two watches at daycrewed stations into one. 56. The Review has examined extending the duration of positive hours on station up to a maximum of 12 hours per shift. The rationale for not extending the research beyond this duration is rooted in statutory requirements around suitable break periods and the National Schemes of Conditions of Service that outline a 42 hour working week applicable to positive hours. The Authority has also already implemented 12 hour shift working at its Control Centre and gained useful knowledge and experience in shifts of this duration as part of that project. 57. The Review did not examine reduction of sections to below ten firefighters. Early calculations identified that the hours an individual would need to work to maintain 8 Currently for each position available on an appliance riding at standard crewing (five), we employ 1.42 staff, this is to cover sickness, training etc. Page 23 of 51

24 constant availability of the fire engine over a working week would exceed the constraints explained in the previous paragraph. Area 4: Split shift options 58. The concept of splitting shifts worked by firefighters has been considered as there may be advantages or benefits for staff as well as the Authority. Splitting shifts is a generic concept that can be applied to both the current day-crewed system or any new proposals made by the review team in the options appraisals contained in this review. An evaluation of splitting shifts can be found in the options appraisal section of this document. A split shift ensures positive cover for the duty period, but not necessarily by the same firefighter, nor for a continuous period. 59. The forms of shifts that were considered are: 60. Each shift consisting of an agreed period of positive hours at the fire station covering the day followed by on-call hours covering the evening across a 24 hour period. (24 hour period simply split between positive hours and an on call element) 61. A single 24 hour duty of positive and on call hours as above, allowing enough flexibility for firefighters to interchange for short periods, to be managed locally as short term periods of exchanged duties. 62. Separation of the positive hour and on call elements of working for example the nominated driver for the positive hour period finishes duty at the end of a positive hour shift and is replaced by another firefighter for the subsequent on call duty period. 63. Splitting the positive and on call hours of a 24 hour period into smaller units, e.g. 6 hour periods to be populated by firefighters under a self rostering system. Area 5: Consolidated Pay 64. Currently firefighters working the day-crewed system are paid through a claim based method for each period of activity they undertake whilst in their on-call duty period. These claims are then processed by employees in our finance team. The 2013/14 budget contains an allowance of 241k in respect of turnout and attendance fees. The intention is to consolidate this element of pay into a single payment thereby modernising the arrangements for pay and removing the need to process claims. Consideration is being given to consolidated pay which reflects the variable levels of activity for each station. 65. Pay consolidation is a complex area that requires a fair balance between a suitable remuneration for the disturbances and work that are undertaken by day-crewed staff, Page 24 of 51

25 against generally decreasing incident rates and demand reduction initiatives such as recent changes in the way we respond to calls from automatic fire alarms. Extending positive hours and matching them to demand rates will also reduce the number of turnout fees that are claimed, although in the short term prior to any pay consolidation this may be offset by claims for turnout and attendance made for incidents attended during times that are currently deemed as standby hours for which claims are not made under the base option explained earlier. 66. It is likely that local rates of consolidated pay will need to be arranged for individual stations, or that banding of pay rates will be set at certain levels of activity. Whatever methodology is determined, full negotiation with representative bodies will be necessary to agree suitable levels of pay, along with implementation timescales. Page 25 of 51

26 Option 1a: Increase and align positive hours of day-crewed stations to demand and risk profile of the area Description 67. This option involves a simple increase and re alignment of the number of hours that firefighters at day-crewed stations work positive hours on station. The increased hours during which turn-in times are faster is expected to improve response times during busy periods extending beyond 18:00, and at weekends during the daytime. This option is a generic principle underpinned by the calculations of hours in other areas in this document. The parameters of increase from the current nine hours period is unspecified, but incorporates a maximum of twelve positive hours per 24 hour period. 68. The option does not provide for any changes in number of staff at stations or the 96 hour duty period currently in use. Indicative costings 69. This option leaves the same numbers of staff at day-crewed stations. In altering the positive hours when people work to when demand is greatest across the late afternoon to early evening, some financial gains may be realised by a reduction in turnout fees. At some stations however, this may be offset by later starting times in the mornings, if calls are not covered by standby hours. However, these issues may eventually be resolved under a consolidated pay agreement. Any net savings or expense resulting from the changes will be insignificant in the context of the savings required by the Authority. Further analysis of this detail may be completed at a later stage or during the consultation process. 70. Effectively, this option offers little difference in budgetary terms as the base option of 5.96m Page 26 of 51

27 SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Ensures staff are available on Total positive hours worked station during the station s may exceed limits of National most active periods Schemes of Conditions of Easy to manage and audit as little change from current arrangements Has served the Authority well for over 40 years Existing system has the benefit of staff familiarity Built in resilience utilising the ridership factor Gives a stable workforce which facilitates placement of specialist equipment at these stations Provides experienced firefighters during on-call periods Service Extended shift times may require additional meal breaks Firefighters at day-crewed stations are permitted to go home for meal breaks, increasing attendance times during busy periods Limits the flexibility in contractual offer which can be offered to firefighters, and this may limit the number of potential applicants for posts on day-crewed stations Through recent retirements at several of the day-crewed stations, recruitment would be needed to increase numbers. The system is not selfsufficient and creates the need for detachments from other stations to cover absences. There is contractual weakness regarding night time on-call cover for the fulltime fire engine although it has not surfaced as a problem to date Makes little contribution to the overall requirement for the Service to generate 10m of savings in the next three years, which may force the removal of other fire engines Lack of staff engagement and resistance to proposals due to longer working days Page 27 of 51

28 Remaining day-crewed housing stock is deteriorating, repair and maintenance costs are increasing Page 28 of 51

29 Option 1b: Increase and align positive hours of day-crewed stations to demand and risk profile of the area and reduce workforce to six per watch. Description 71. Like Option 1a, this option involves increasing and re aligning the number of hours that firefighters at day-crewed stations work positive hours on station. The increased hours during which turnout times are faster is expected to improve response times during busy periods extending beyond 18:00 and at weekends during the daytime. In addition, one firefighter post would be removed from both watches on each daycrewed station. 72. Staff would carry on working their current continuous 96 hour duty patterns. Indicative costings 73. Reducing watch strength to six on each of the nine day-crewed stations will result in cost savings of approximately 694,800 per annum in base wages, national insurance, pension costs and retaining fees. Additional savings from housing and other allowances will also be generated. Page 29 of 51

30 SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Ensures staff are available on Total positive hours worked station during the stations may exceed limits of National most active periods Schemes of Conditions of Easy to manage and audit as little change from current arrangements Has served the Authority well for over 40 years Existing system has the benefit of staff familiarity Built in resilience utilising the ridership factor. Gives a stable workforce which facilitates placement of specialist equipment at these stations Provides experienced firefighters during on-call periods Results in financial savings through a reduction of 18 firefighter posts Reduction in establishment numbers complements current and future retirement profiles Service Extended shift times may require additional meal breaks Firefighters at day-crewed stations are permitted to go home for meal breaks, leading to longer attendance times Limits the flexibility in contractual offers which can be made to firefighters. The system is not selfsufficient and creates the need for higher numbers of detachments from other stations to cover absences. There is contractual weakness regarding night time on-call cover for the fulltime fire engine although it has not surfaced as a problem to date. Remaining day-crewed. housing stock is deteriorating, repair and maintenance costs are increasing. Resilience around staff absence and maintaining specialist knowledge is reduced. Lack of staff engagement and resistance to proposals due to longer working days Page 30 of 51