Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing
Scottish Fire Conference 2009
Crieff Hydro
February 4, 2009
_____________________________
I am pleased to be here today with such a broad range of people from across the Fire and Rescue service community.
I want to celebrate the many positive developments across Scotland's FRSs.
I also want to think with you over the next few minutes about how, working creatively and together, we can build an even more effective service for the Scottish public.
The Ministerial Advisory Group agreed in December the following high level aspirations:
- a service which works proactively and in partnership across the public, private and voluntary sectors towards a safer and stronger Scotland
- a Scotland as free as possible of fire-related deaths, injuries and fatalities
- a Scotland which is prepared to deal with the consequences of any emergency because the FRSs are planning and exercising together with the Government and other agencies on the basis of a clear view of the risks, roles and shared responsibility
- a service which is highly skilled and demonstrates best value for public money
Good progress is being made on all of these fronts. But there is still a great deal to be done before we can claim to be anywhere near where we want to be.
We also reached an important agreement at the Ministerial Advisory Group in December on roles and responsibilities of national and local government. This takes full account of the concordat with local government.
With this agreement in place there is less need for discussion about who should do what as we strive to get closer to our high level aspirations. In 2009 I want to see even more focused, practical, joined up work on key tasks in the interests of all our communities.
Challenges and Priorities
Let me say a little about what we in Government see as the big challenges and priorities for Scotland's Fire and Rescue Services and for us in Government as we work together.
Fire safety of course remains your core business. The long term trend in fire casualties and deaths is down. But the increase last year highlighted the fact that far too many lives are still lost to fire. We must continue to work hard to ensure that the downward trend is resumed.
I am grateful to Brian Sweeney for taking on the Community fire Safety study. This is a really good opportunity to look at what is working particularly well in terms of prevention, and at ways of ensuring that good practice is reinforced and replicated appropriately, especially on a multi-agency basis.
I hope that a result of the study will be that reducing fires and fire deaths is seen as an important task by all local authorities in their single outcome agreements. The report should be read by wide audience. It would be a pity if it was regarded as a solely fire and rescue matter.
The current economic crisis will shape the future for all of us. Successive governments in Scotland have ensured that funding for the FRSs has been maintained. Expenditure per head of population is around 30% higher than in England. There is some justification for this because of geographic and other factors. But you don't need me to tell you that the public expenditure outlook is very bleak indeed, especially from
2010-2011 onwards
The Scottish Government's overarching priority is to get Scotland's economy back to a level at which it can generate wealth. To help us to achieve this all public services will have to look innovatively at the scope for reducing expenditure whilst continuing to improve the effectiveness of frontline services.
The Audit Scotland reports on Scotland's FRSs in 2007 and 2008 made some substantial recommendations in relation to governance, scrutiny and evaluating performance. The recent Audit Commission report in England highlights similar challenges south of the border. In many respects the challenges the auditors have laid down are being addressed as we speak. A great deal has been achieved - but we cannot afford to be complacent.
More collaborative arrangements between services and with other agencies both local and national must be part of the solution going forward.
As well as tackling the economic crisis a priority for the Government is to build our collective resilience to a wide variety of threats and hazards. The policy of the Scottish Government is to treat the most extreme scenarios which risk assessment shows are possible as the benchmark for Scotland's overall preparedness. The most serious challenges we face, in no particular order, are:
- extreme weather
- pandemic flu
- utility failure in the widest sense including failure of fuel supplies
- terrorism, including attacks on crowded places, possibly with chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear devices
I am grateful for the contribution the service is already making towards Scotland's overall preparedness for dealing with all sorts of incidents. It is important that FRSs are able to respond collectively to national emergencies as well as to local ones. Scottish Resilience will be working with all the services to ensure that delivery plans match Government assessment of national risks and that capability can be maintained.
The review of Integrated Risk Management Planning is another major task in 2009. The introduction of IRMP in 2005 was a massive shift in culture and practice. It is important that we learn lessons from the first 3-4 years. We all need to look carefully at the balance between setting national standards for intervention and allowing practice to be determined locally. I am pleased that Brian Fraser has embarked on the review and I look forward to seeing the outcome.
Training for FRS staff remains a key priority for the Government. It is important that we continue to assure Scotland's population that all firefighters, whole-time and retained, are being trained throughout their careers to common national standards, and that potential leaders are being identified and developed as early as possible. We also need to ensure that appropriate national quality assurance arrangements are in place.
I welcome the co-operation which is taking place between Scottish Resilience and CFOA in the Workforce Development Group. I look forward to this continuing to develop.
I am also very pleased at the influence the Scottish Government has played in FRSs across the UK becoming members of `Skills for Justice' alongside other sectors. This will help to improve still further the standards and consistency of training at all levels in the service.
Firelink will be rolling out over the next year and beyond. The project has not been without its challenges. But the benefits will be very significant, reflecting the scale of our investment.
Firelink will replace a patchwork of legacy systems with a new single, digital, wide-area radio communication system for the FRSs in Scotland. The single system will mean that firefighters will be able to communicate across FRS boundaries within Great Britain and to other blue light services.
The new system will also enable the more effective deployment and management of resources on a local, regional or national level on a day to day basis as well as in emergencies.
The National Conversation is a priority for the Government in 2009 - and an opportunity for all of us. Of course relations with FRSs across the UK will continue to be important. However I want Scotland's FRS community to contribute to our National Conversation: to think imaginatively about how Scotland can take even more responsibility for our own resilience.
Celebrating success and working together
I have focused so far on what is happening at a national level. I was pleased to be able to see for myself many examples in 2008 of FRSs responding locally in different ways to the challenges we face. For example:
- The opening of St Andrew's fire station and launch of Fife's youth engagement strategy
- I was delighted to be able to visit Maryhill in Strathclyde where I launched the Government's new fire safety advertisement designed to support the 8 services in their work to promote fire safety in the home
- I was able to talk to staff in most of Scotland's control rooms during 2008. The response to our consultation on the minimum standards of resilience in control rooms showed real enthusiasm and imagination
- I met front-line staff in Bo'ness in Central the day before bonfire night. I know what a challenge 5 November represents to all of you. I was impressed with the planning which goes into preparing for it.
I know that there are many, many other examples of very good practice. That is why I am looking forward to visiting each of Scotland's FRS areas in 2009 to hear for myself what is being done to improve safety for the people of Scotland.
I want to see our concordat with local government bearing fruit as I continue to build relationships with conveners and Board members as well as with COSLA.
It is crucial that national and local government work together closely in the interests of the public. That is why we have committed additional money this year to help with the increasing costs of firefighter pensions.
I am also looking forward to meeting front line staff during my visits. I want to pay tribute to the thousands of folk who are working hard each day across the service to make our communities safer.
In any field of public service people who are on the front line have the most direct knowledge of how matters are working and how practice can be improved. It is essential that all those with responsibility for the service listen to the workforce and work with them putting aside any personal differences.
That is why Scottish Resilience are arranging a conference for Retained Duty System staff later in the year. People who make themselves available as firefighters in addition to their primary jobs form a crucial part of our service in Scotland. We want to recognise the commitment of staff and their employers. And we want to hear from them about any ways in which Government can help.
Conclusion
Our watchwords in 2009 will continue to be partnership and collaboration: between all those working in and for our FRSs; between FRSs and other agencies, both locally and nationally; and between the FRSs and Scottish Government.
We need to share evidence, ideas and good will.
I know that only by working together can we make Scotland a stronger and safer country.