Our Annual Business Improvement Plan is designed to help deliver our vision, mission, values and Commitments. This Plan has been developed to recognise the challenges we face as a Service. We want to be able to respond quickly, flexibly and collaboratively to these challenges in order to deliver the best possible services to the communities we serve.
To help us achieve our vision and the Commitments we outlined within our Strategic Plan 2022-2027, we have developed five Improvement and Well-being Objectives which we will aim to deliver over the next twelve months. This Plan sets out why we have chosen to prioritise these Improvement and Wellbeing Objectives, how we will deliver them and how the improvements will benefit our communities.
Our commitments
Commitment 1
We are committed to recruiting, retaining and developing a highly skilled workforce.
Commitment 2
We are committed to supporting the health, wellbeing and prosperity of the communities we serve.
Commitment 3
We are committed to minimising our impact on the environment.
Commitment 4
We are committed to improving the way we work through organisational learning.
Improvement and Well-being Objectives
Objective One
We will develop a positive experience for our people, ensuring that well-being is a priority, and we create a diverse workplace that is attractive to join and provides opportunities to develop and progress.
This objective aligns to the following Commitments:
Find out more about Objective One
We know there are many benefits to creating a positive experience for our people, which is why the health and wellbeing of our people remains a priority area for us. Our aim is to do what we can to help our people enjoy longer, healthier and fulfilled lives, by creating an attractive workplace which provides opportunities for individuals to develop and progress.
We want our people 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 our people not only ensures they have the right skills to undertake their role, but also creates an environment where people 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.
Our people 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 people 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.
We are going to:
- Undertake a robust programme to review how we can improve the recruitment and retention of On-call firefighters.
- Explore alternative agile working practices and arrangements that support our people.
- Introduce a new Appraisals process which will ensure our people have the support to gain the skills and knowledge they need.
- Undertake an exercise to identify what makes working for the Fire and Rescue Service an attractive proposition to support recruitment and retention activities.
- Make sure we attract and recruit people with the right values and skills for the role and that are representative of the diverse communities we serve.
- Higher levels of engagement and involvement with our people, getting involved to help shape the Service.
- Reduced sickness levels across the Service.
- 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, morale, and retention of our people.
Objective Two
We will explore new ways to positively impact the long-term social and economic benefits our business has on our communities.
This objective aligns to the following Commitments:
Find out more about Objective Two
We recognise that as a large organisation we can have a considerable impact on the economy 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. We are committed to promoting value for money, through strong governance, robust management of finances and risk, the review of service delivery arrangements, monitoring of service performance and ensuring that services are accessible to all who can benefit from them.
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.
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 are going to:
- Undertake a robust review of our existing community safety initiatives to establish if they address the current and future needs of the communities we serve.
- Consider the impact and benefits of our community-based initiatives and partnership working arrangements.
- Evaluate and measure the outcomes of our partnerships, engagements and collaborative working arrangement to ensure they not only deliver improvements for our Service but also our communities.
- Utilise our duties as a statutory partner on Public Services Boards to play our part in delivering wide ranging benefits to our communities.
- Continue to promote and encourage the use of our Fire Stations and other assets for the benefits of our communities.
- Improved relationships with our communities and partners with higher levels of engagement and participation.
- Information sharing opportunities being utilised from our engagement with partners to the benefit of our communities.
- Regular use of our Fire Stations and assets by partner organisations and communities to hold meetings and community events and Higher levels of engagement between our Fire Stations and local communities.
Objective Three
We will work towards becoming Net Zero by 2030.
This objective aligns to the following Commitments:
Find out more about Objective Three
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 achieving net zero carbon emissions 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 outcome 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 help to improve our employees’ health and mental wellbeing.
We are going to:
- Introduce an Environmental Impact Assessment tool.
- Continue to work with partner agencies to explore opportunities to measure the amount of water being used at operational incidents.
- Utilise engagement with our people to gather feedback on how our carbon reduction aims are working.
- Continue to explore ways in which we can procure environmentally friendly goods and services.
- Agree an improved baseline dataset and identify specific carbon reduction initiatives to deliver our vision of net zero.
- Educate our people, to further support their understanding of Carbon neutrality and how they can help us achieve it.
- Continuing to see a reduction and levelling off in our annual carbon and water usage.
- An improved baseline data set will enable us to develop initiatives which will contribute towards the Welsh Government’s ambition of achieving a carbon neutral public sector.
- Improvements and learning being made to the way in which we manage operational incidents to protect the natural environment.
- Feedback from external bodies, our people, and external stakeholders on our performance against our aspiration to work towards becoming Net Zero.
Objective Four
We will embed opportunities to capture, communicate and implement all aspects of organisational learning, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
This objective aligns to the following Commitments:
Find out more about Objective Four
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 people and reduce the risk to our communities.
Embedding 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 people.
We are going to:
- Continue to develop and embed a mechanism to capture and record all non-operational learning across the Service.
- Explore the ways in which organisational learning and business assurance is communicated across the Service.
- Ensure that all learning and lessons learnt are captured and fed into future planning arrangements and corporate projects.
- Embed and communicate external learning and promote the wider benefits throughout the Service.
- Identify a mechanism to capture and collate information on both the positive and negative learning experiences from our activities.
- Positive learning experiences being shared across the Service to help continuous improvement and organisational learning.
- Improvements to our practices and procedures for the benefit of our people and communities.
- Increased levels of communication and engagement with our people on organisational learning outcomes.
- Positive feedback from our people on the changes and improvements that have been made.
Objective Four
We will continue to undertake a baseline data exercise to support alignment of planning and financial strategies and inform the development of community risk management focussed improvements, objectives and initiatives.
This objective aligns to the following Commitments:
Find out more about Objective Five
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.
We are going to:
- Prepare for the changes to the National Framework for Fire and Rescue Services (Wales) and make the necessary changes to our planning processes.
- Continue to review the data that we hold, determine its validity, and refresh it where required.
- Continue to work with our partners to understand what data they collect and determine its effectiveness for our own use.
- Continue to 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.
- 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.
Alternative Versions
Our documents are also available in accessible formats. If you would like this information in an alternative language or format, including audio, please contact us on: 0370 6060699 or email: mail@mawwfire.gov.uk.
Strategic Plan 2022-2027
Our Strategic Plan 2022-2027 sets out our vision for the future, “to be a World Leader in Emergency Response and Community Safety”, and is designed to deliver our vision, mission and values. The Commitments highlighted within this Plan will be delivered through the provision of an Annual Business Improvement Plan, which will highlight what we will do in the coming business year.
