Annual Business Improvement Plan 2022/2023

Why is this important?

We know there are many benefits to having a healthy workforce. The health and wellbeing of our staff has and will remain a priority area for us and is reflected in the Wellbeing Strategy we have developed. Our aim is to do what we can to help our staff enjoy longer, healthier and fulfilled lives, while reducing our sickness levels.

A key area of work over the next 12 months is to embed the objectives within our Wellbeing Strategy to ensure our staff have good health and wellbeing, which will help them to undertake their duties effectively and keep you and your community safer.

One of our key areas of learning from our COVID-19 response has been remote and agile working. As a result of the pandemic, we had to change the way worked instantaneously. Whilst in some areas, this was never going to be a long-term change, in others, we recognised the benefits for both our staff and our organisation. With the first phases of a long-term plan in this area well under way, in 2022, we will focus our attention on enabling agile and remote working practices across the organisation, where appropriate.

We want staff to have the confidence and space to grow and develop, enabling them to fulfil their potential and reach their career goals. Providing development opportunities for staff not only ensures they have the right skills to undertake their role, but also creates an environment where staff are empowered and encouraged to get involved in the work of the wider Service. Effective people management and development will ensure we are maintaining a high performing culture and continuing to provide professional and effective services to you and our communities.

What are we going to do?

We are going to:

• Continue to deliver our Wellbeing Strategy.
• Embed flexible working practices that work for both our staff and the communities we serve.
• Empower our staff, involving them in the design and delivery of our services.
• Develop our staff, ensuring they have the skills and knowledge needed to deliver the services we provide to our communities.

How will we know we have improved?

• Higher levels of staff engagement and involvement.
• Reduced sickness levels across the Service.
• Wider engagement in agile working practices, where possible.
• An increase in participation at available training courses for both our operational and non-operational staff.

Why is this important?

Our staff are our most valuable asset. The people who work and volunteer for us work hard to deliver the best possible services to our communities. We want to ensure that our staff are equipped and trained to be able to perform their roles to the best of their ability and encourage them to reach their full potential.

We aim to recruit, develop, and retain a highly skilled, bilingual, and diverse workforce that represents the communities we serve. Our approach will identify and maximise the potential of our workforce and maintain a high performing culture, whilst making the most effective use of public funds.

What are we going to do?

We are going to:

• Educate our communities on the broad range of roles on offer within the Service.
• Promote the benefits of working for the Service.
• Make sure we attract and recruit people with the right values and skills for the role.
• Review our current recruitment, retention and succession planning arrangements.
• Embed a new staff appraisal process.

How will we know we have improved?

• A greater knowledge and understanding of the roles available within the Service.
• An increase in the number of and calibre of candidates applying to work for the Service.
• Identification of further opportunities for training and development.
• Increased job satisfaction, staff morale and staff retention.

Why is this important?

Making a positive difference to the diverse communities we serve is extremely important to us. Every fire we attend has a cost to people, places, and our environment, so prevention, wherever possible, is a priority for us. We want to continue working with our partners to identify opportunities to deliver agreed mutually beneficial objectives, as we know that working closely with our partners not only helps to avoid the duplication of services, it is also a better use of public funds and provides multiple benefits to our communities.

We recognise that as a large organisation we can have a considerable impact on the economy and environment and are committed to ensuring that we do our moral duty to maximise these benefits to the communities we serve, whilst enhancing our contribution to the local economy and reducing costs to society.

Adapting and diversifying our activities to better meet the needs of our communities and improving the way we meet the needs of the people that work, live and visit our communities, will help to make them as safe and as successful as possible.

What are we going to do?

We are going to:

• Explore opportunities to widen the delivery of social benefits to our communities.
• Consider the impact and benefits of our community-based initiatives and partnership working.
• Incorporate Social Value criteria into our Procurement processes, where appropriate.
• Explore ways to enable our departments to buy from local Small and Medium Enterprises.
• Continue to support the outcomes of engagement with our partners, including at Local Resilience Forums, Public Services Boards and other forums.

How will we know we have improved?

• Improved relationships with our communities and partners with higher levels of engagement and participation.
• Positive evaluation of the initiatives being delivered.
• An increase in the purchase of items and services from Small and Medium Enterprises.
• Information sharing opportunities being utilised from our engagement with partners to the benefit of our communities.

Why is this important?

Effective partnerships with individuals and groups within our communities is essential to supporting the work that we do and help us to achieve the best possible outcomes. We want to make sure that we engage and interact with all individuals and groups to give them the opportunity to help design and shape the services we provide, as well as to promote what we do and what assets and initiatives are available within our local communities.  

We want to make a positive difference and recognise that this can be achieved by continuing to build on existing relationships, while looking for opportunities to develop new partnerships, which will help us make the most effective use of our assets for the benefit of all.

What are we going to do?

We are going to:

• Explore further recruitment opportunities aimed at young people in our communities.
• Continue to promote and encourage the use of our Fire Stations and other assets for community benefit.
• Continue to embed our volunteering strategy, encouraging further opportunities throughout the Service.

How will we know we have improved?

• Increased opportunities available within the Service to attract and recruit young people.
• Regular use of our Fire Stations by partner organisations and communities to hold meetings and events.
• Higher levels of engagement between our Fire Stations and local communities.
• An increase in the number of volunteers recruited by the Service to enable us to support both Service initiatives and that of our partners.

Why is this important?

We know that minimising our impact on the environment and enhancing the ways we can improve it is the right thing to do. Working towards becoming a carbon neutral organisation will help us to reduce our impact on the environment and enable us to become a more sustainable Fire & Rescue Service.

Becoming more aware of the direct and indirect impact we have on our environment  will help us to reduce our carbon footprint. Whether it is changing the way we deliver our operational activities, undertaking initiatives for energy conservation or working with suppliers with carbon neutrality in their ethos, we need to play our part to protect our planet and safeguard future generations

We want to work with our communities to understand their environmental needs in order to have the right level of impact and ensure the best outcomes for all. Encouraging and enhancing the natural environment, biodiversity and habitats on our estate will both promote a healthy ecosystem, improve local air quality as well as to help to improve our employees’ health and mental wellbeing.

What are we going to do?

We are going to:

• Undertake a data gathering exercise to establish our carbon footprint baseline.
• Identify opportunities to capture and monitor our carbon usage, including that of our suppliers.
• Develop agile working arrangements supported by staff engagement initiatives that promote a reduction in carbon use within the workplace.
• Explore opportunities to measure the amount of water being used at operational incidents.
• Undertake initiatives to encourage the formation of wildlife habitats across our estate.
• Utilise staff engagement to gather feedback on how our carbon reduction aims are working.
• Work with partners to enable them to support and deliver upon our environmental strategy. Educate our firefighters to make decisions at operational incidents that go further in minimising our environmental impact.

How will we know we have improved?

• Seeing both a reduction and levelling off in our annual carbon and water usage.
• Successful data capture and monitoring of our usage to enable us to develop initiatives which continue to reduce our carbon footprint. Improvements being made to the way in which we manage operational incidents to protect the natural environment.
• An increase in wildlife habitat and biodiversity initiatives across the Service’s estate.
• Feedback from external bodies and external stakeholders on our performance against our Environmental Strategy.

Why is this important?

Organisational learning is key to what we do as a Fire and Rescue Service. It helps us to shape our future practices and procedures, implement safer ways of working for our staff and reduce the risk to our communities.

Exploring opportunities to capture, communicate and implement all aspects of organisational learning will ensure that we maximise opportunities to work efficiently and effectively whilst implementing safer ways of working for our staff.

What are we going to do?

We are going to:

• Continue to implement our learning from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Continue to implement and embed the outcomes from our Operational Learning Group.
• Identify a mechanism to capture and record all non-operational learning across the Service.
• Explore additional mechanisms for communicating and implementing organisational learning and business assurance.

How will we know we have improved?

• Improvements to our practices and procedures for the benefit of our staff and communities.
• Increased levels of communication and engagement with staff on organisational learning outcomes.
• Positive feedback from staff on the changes and improvements that have been made.
• Implementation of a mechanism to capture non-operational learning, which will assist with business improvements and future planning.

Why is this important?

As a Fire and Rescue Service, we are innovative, ambitious and keen to maximise our potential and the impact we can have on the safety of the communities we serve.

Fire and Rescue Services in Wales and indeed across the UK, are going through a period of change as a result of wide-ranging reviews on a number of regulations, legislations and statutory duties. We are keen to be proactive to not only influence the outcomes of any reviews. but embed them in such a way that improves our prevention, protection and response arrangements and in turn the longer-term health, safety and well-being of the communities we serve.

Safeguarding our communities has and always will be one of our main priorities. By playing an active role in influencing the outcomes of any reviews, we ensure we are at the forefront of the changes we need to make to keep you and your communities safe.

We direct our prevention, protection and response resources to provide the greatest possible return on investment and minimise the overall impact of the foreseeable risks we face.

What are we going to do?

We are going to:

• Review the current data that we hold, determine its validity, and refresh it where required.
• Work with our partners to understand what data they collect and determine its effectiveness for our own use.
• Undertake a robust analysis of any data we collect and hold to better understand the current and future risks within our communities.
• Maintain dialogue with our operational staff and the unions that represent them to ensure we make best use of their local knowledge and professional judgement in any future decision making.
• Use the information we collate from this exercise to understand where to base our people and resources.
• Review our compliance against current legislation, ensuring we continue to adhere to their requirements.
• Implement the requirements of any new legislation placed upon us.
• Work with our partners to review our current prevention, protection and response arrangements to enhance the way in which they are delivered for the benefit of our communities.

How will we know we have improved?

• Undertaking a baseline data exercise will help to ensure we are planning for the longer term and anticipating now, any future changes to our communities.
• The data will influence the development of a Community Risk Management Plan, which will help to continue keeping our communities safe by having the best people, in the right place, with the best equipment and resources.