Record of Consultation
Draft Community Safety Plan
2006 – 2007
Revision A – 06/03/06
Revision B – 10/03/06
1Introduction
1.1Purpose of report
1.2Methodology
2Draft Resource Plan as part of the Community Safety Plan 2006/07
3Consultation Process
3.1Internal Consultation
3.2External Consultation
4Consultation Response
4.1Community Safety Plan – General Overview
4.2Proposal No. 1 – Introduce a Community Safety Team
4.3Proposal No. 2 – Introduce New Emergency Response Attendance Standards.
4.4Proposal No. 3 – Change the Officer Duty System
4.5Proposal No. 4 – Reduce Aerial Appliances from 3 to 2
4.6Proposal No. 5 – Reduce the number of firefighters at Hemel Hempstead, St Albans and Stevenage from 13 to 12 per watch
4.7Proposal No. 6 – Change the crewing arrangements at Watford
4.8Proposal No. 7 – Change the Wholetime Shift to 12 hours
4.9Proposal No. 8 – Increase the Establishment at Bishops Stortford and Hitchin Fire Stations
4.10Proposal No. 9 – Close Bovingdon Fire Station
4.11Proposal No. 10 – Close Radlett Fire Station
4.12Proposal No. 11 – Amend the Day-Crewing Arrangements at Royston
5Conclusion
5.1Internal
5.2External
6Glossary
7Appendices
1Introduction
1.1Purpose of report
During July 2005 Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service published its Resource Plan which was subsequentlycontained in the draft Community Safety Plan 2006/2007. This document has been produced to advise Hertfordshire County Council Cabinet and other interested parties of the findings of the consultation, in relation to the Resource Plan proposals.
The consultation was carried out in two stages:
- From July 2005 to September 2005, this consisted of information sharing to all Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service staff and those involved in the process of delivering and implementing the Community Safety Plan 2006/2007.
and
- A 12-week formal consultation process which started in October 2005 and closed on 31st January 2006, extending internal consultation but predominantly focusing on external stakeholders.
1.2Methodology
The internal consultation used the following methods:
- Station and watch visits by Principal Officers.
- Roadshows at various locations and dates across the county.
- Ask the Chief e mail facility.
- Internal newsletters, press releases and publications.
The external consultation used the following methods:
- Postal survey via Herts Direct newspaper.
- Individual letters to key stakeholders.
- Press releases to all local newspapers.
- Article placed in the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry newsletter and on their web site.
- Meetings and presentations with district and parish councils.
- Focus groups – 4 across the county – Cheshunt, Harpenden, Hatfield and Letchworth. These were subsequently cancelled on MORI’s advice due to the proximity of thegroups in relation to the Buncefield incident.
- Via the Internet through Fire and Rescue’s section of Herts direct.
- Meeting with the Race Equality Council at Watford.
- Topic and Scrutiny Group with a separate report detailing their findings.
2Draft Resource Plan as part of the Community Safety Plan 2006/07
Following ODPM guidance Hertfordshire County Council’s Cabinet agreed on Monday 17th October 2005 that the fire service should now officially seek views on its draft Community Safety Plan 2006-2007 – Appendix A
The main proposals for consultation were:
- Introduce a Community Safety Task Force.
- Introduce a new Emergency Response Attendance Standard.
- Change the officer duty system to ensure an appropriate number of officers are available at all times.
- Reduce the number of Aerial appliances from 3 to 2.
- Reduce the number of firefighters at Hemel Hempstead, St Albans and Stevenage from 13 to 12 per watch.
- Change the crewing arrangements at Watford by only crewing the second fire engine for the busiest 12-hours of the day.
- Change the length of the Wholetime Shift to 12 hours, from the existing 9 and 15 hours.
- Increase the establishment at Bishops Stortford and Hitchin Fire Stations by 2 firefighters per station.
- The closure of Bovingdon fire station.
- The closure of Radlett fire station.
- Amend the day-crewing arrangements at Royston to provide fulltime cover during Monday to Friday working hours, rather than the current seven day a week arrangement.
3Consultation Process
3.1Internal Consultation
The following section gives details of the process that was carried out to consult with all employees employed by Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service.
3.1.1Principal Officer Briefings & Visits
Principal Officers attended a number of briefings and station visits before the proposals became public on the 4th July 2005. The purpose of these visits was to inform the personnel that would be directly affected and to ensure that they were briefed of the proposals at the earliest opportunity to reduce the amount of rumour and hearsay.
Listed below is the schedule of the briefings and visits
Event / Officer / DateService Executive Board / CFO DCO ACO Wallace ACO Day ACO Mills ACO Hazeldine / Tuesday, June 21 2005
Radlett Crew Briefing / CFO / Monday June 27
Representative
Bodies Briefing (FBU/FOA) / DCO ACO Mills / Tuesday, June 28
Middle Managers Briefing / CFO DCO ACO Wallace ACO Day ACO Mills ACO Hazeldine / Tuesday, June 28
Watford – White and Red watches / DCO / Tuesday, June 28
Briefing Bovingdon Fire Station / CFO / Tuesday, June 28
St Albans Fire Station briefing- White and Red watches / Principal Officer / Tuesday, June 28
Watford Fire Station – Green watch / CFO Officer / Wednesday, June 29
St Albans – Green watch / Principal Officer / Wednesday, June 29
Royston Fire Station / DCO / Wednesday, June 29
Stevenage Fire Station- White and Green watches / Principal Officer / Wednesday, June 29
Hemel Fire Station – White and Green watches / Principal Officer / Wednesday, June 29
Stevenage Fire Station – Red watch / Principal Officer / Thursday, June 30
Hemel Hempstead Fire Station – Red watch / Principal Officer / Thursday, June 30
Stevenage Fire Station– Blue watch / Principal Officer / Friday, July 1
Hemel Hempstead Fire Station – Blue watch / Principal Officer / Friday, July 1
Watford Fire Station- Blue watch / CFO Officer / Friday, July 1
All other stations / Group Managers / Monday, July 4 – Monday, July 11
General letter to HFRS staff / CFO / July 5
3.1.2Stations
All 32 fire stations within Hertfordshire were sent a copy of the Draft Resource Plan in July 05. This was to give all station personnel the opportunity to read the plan and forward their views.
3.1.3Roadshows
Resource plan consultation roadshows were organised to gain the views of Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service’s employees, a number of dates were organised to allow staff from all watches, retained, day workers and non-uniformed to attend. The following dates were arranged:-
Friday 16th September 2005, 14:00hrs at SHQ, Hertford.
Monday 26th September 2005, 14:00hrs at Watford Fire Station.
Tuesday 27th September 2005, 14:00hrs at WelwynGarden City Fire Station.
Tuesday 4th October 2005, 19:00hrs at Longfield site, Stevenage.
Friday 7th October 2005, 14:00hrs at Longfield site, Stevenage.
Wednesday 12th October, 19:00hrs at Watford Fire Station.
Wednesday 7th December, 18:00hrs at SHQ, Hertford
Personnel wishing to attend were asked to select a date and forward their nomination to DCO’s PA by 9th September 2005.
Unfortunately due to a nil response for the 27th September and 4th October it was decided to cancel these dates.
A special roadshow was organized for consultation with the Officers on Wednesday 7th December 2005, 14:00hrs Service Headquarters.
The meetings were chaired by CFO Wilsher with DCO Yates acting as support officer.
3.1.4Flexi-Officers Rota Open Evening
32 officers attended an open evening which was held for all flexi-duty officers to discuss proposal No3 – “Change the officer duty system to ensure an appropriate number of officers are available at all times” the date was Wednesday 9th November, 18:30hrs at Service Headquarters.
3.1.5Ask the Chief
‘Ask the Chief’ is a communication channel via e mail that is available to all HCC employees although it is primarily directed at fire and Rescue Employees.
Personnel that have any issues they would like to raise or questions to ask can contact Roy Wilsher at
Whenever possible, the question and the CFO responses will be published within five working days.
The questions and responses via ‘Ask the Chief’ are listed in Appendix B.
3.1.6In Focus
‘In Focus’ is a monthly newsletter of Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, which is distributed via connect and a hard copy sent to all locations. A special edition copy was published in August 05 – Appendix C.
3.1.7Team Talk
Team Talk is designed to keep County Council Staff in touch with organisational developments, current news and campaigns withinHertfordshire County Council.
It is sent out weekly to every member of staff via e-mail and should be used as a briefing tool at team meetings.
The following Team Talk briefing article was published on Monday 31st October 2005:
Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is officially seeking views on its Draft Community Safety Plan 2006 - 2007.
Members of the public and firefighters are being asked for their opinions on the proposals in the draft plan, as part of a 12-week consultation.
The section of the community safety plan which deals with resources was written following two years of extensive research by fire officers. Risks, call out patterns and attendance standards have been recorded, monitored and analysed. The service now has a clear of view of the resources needed for preventing and responding to emergencies.
Although the service will always need an effective emergency response, the proposals are to shift more of its resources towards prevention and protection to help achieve its vision of creating a safer community.
A copy of the plan, which outlines all the proposals, can be obtained by calling 01923 471399 or view it online at Written responses can be sent to The IRMP Project Team, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, Old London Road, Hertford, SG13 7LD.
3.2External Consultation
The following section gives details of the process that was carried out to consult with people that live and work within Hertfordshire, district and local authorities, business stakeholders, Members of Parliament, and representative bodies.
3.2.1Representative Bodies
The following representative bodies were written to:
Fire Brigades Union (FBU)
Fire Officers Association (FOA)
UNISON
Retained Firefighters Union(RFU)
A copy of the letter can be viewed in Appendix D
ACO Mills met with the Fire Brigades Union and the Fire Officers Association prior to the Resource Plan document being sent to Members on the 11th July 2005. His intention was to ensure that they knew about the proposals first hand and that they could then support their respective membership. The initial views of the representative bodies were received and responded to. Additionally all scheduled meetings where the resource plan was discussed have been minuted and are attached in Appendix D
3.2.2Public
The Community Safety Plan was published on 17th October 2005. Twelve requests were received from members of the public for a copy of the Draft Community Safety Plan 2006-2007; a list of the requests can be viewed in Appendix E.
3.2.3Libraries
A copy of the draft Community Safety Plan 2006 -2007 with a covering letter was sent to all 55 libraries within Hertfordshire – Appendix F
3.2.4Hard to Reach Groups
A number of hard to reach groups had been identified and targeted.
- Minority Ethnic Community of Watford.
- Minority Ethnic Community of Hitchin.
- Gypsy/Travelling Community.
A meeting and presentation was arranged with the Race Equality Council at Watfordon the 7th December 2005.
The North Herts Minority Ethnic Forum in Hitchin was written to – no response was received. Appendix G
The traveling community was contacted through HCC Gypsy Services Manager Mr Norbert McCabe. He was given 250 copies of the Herts Direct newspaper for distribution to all HCC fixed travellers sites. – Appendix G
3.2.5Website
There were 626‘hits’ on the County Council’s website at The website was updated regularly to provide the public with the latest information about our services, plans and achievements.
Total ‘hits’ for main site and fact sheets.
Oct-05 / Nov-05 / Dec-05 / Jan-06 / TotalMain Site / 133 / 191 / 201 / 101 / 626
Draft Community Safety Plan - 2006/07 / 77 / 95 / 126 / 71 / 369
Watford Fire Station Fact Sheet / 44 / 56 / 85 / 36 / 221
Radlett Fire Station Fact Sheet / 38 / 40 / 56 / 33 / 167
Bovingdon Fire Station Fact Sheet / 36 / 51 / 93 / 40 / 220
Royston Fire Station Fact Sheet / 39 / 37 / 46 / 27 / 149
3.2.6Members of Parliament
All Members of Parliament for Hertfordshire were written toas part of this consultation, see appendix H. All MP’s were also contacted in July 05 to invite them to a personal briefing by the CFO. Two MP’s accepted this invitation, Ms Claire Ward, MP for Watford and Mr Mike Penning, MP for Hemel Hempstead.
List of MP’s written to:
MP for Broxbourne - Charles Walker (Conservative)MP for Hemel Hempstead - Mike Penning (Conservative)
MP for Hertford and Stortford - Mark Prisk (Conservative)
MP for Hertsmere - James Clappison (Conservative)
MP for Hitchin and Harpenden - Peter Lilley (Conservative)
MP for North East Hertfordshire - Oliver Heald (Conservative)
MP for South West Hertfordshire - David Gauke (Conservative)
MP for St Albans - Anne Main (Conservative)
MP for Stevenage - Barbara Follett (Labour)
MP for Watford - Claire Ward (Labour)
MP for Welwyn Hatfield - Grant Shapps (Conservative)
The irmp.project e mail address was used as a communication channel to allow members of the public and/or the business community to forward their comments on the Draft Community Safety Plan 2006-2007.
Fifteen enquires were received and responded to. A full list of correspondence can be seen in Appendix I.
3.2.8District Councils
A copy of the draft Community Safety Plan 2006-2007 with a covering letter was sent to all 10 DistrictCounty councils within Hertfordshire. – Appendix H
1 / Broxbourne2 / Dacorum
3 / East Herts
4 / Hertsmere
5 / North Herts
6 / St Albans
7 / Stevenage
8 / Three Rivers
9 / Watford Central
10 / Welwyn and Hatfield
A number of consultation meetings were held at different venues and dates. These meetings were attended by either the CFO or DCO or both, along with a local officer.
CONSULTATION MEETINGS WITH LOCAL COUNCILS
Council / Date / Officers AttendingThree Rivers District Council / 10 October 2005 / CFO DCO
Stn O Parkhouse
Aldenham Parish Council / 31 October 2005 / CFO DCO
DO Oram
Flaunden Parish Council / 4 November 2005 / DCO ACO Mills
ADO Smith
Bovingdon Parish Council / 7 November 2005 / CFO ACO Hazeldine
ADO Smith
Watford Borough Council / 15 November 2005 / CFO DCO
DO Robinson
Royston Area Committee / 16 November 2005 / CFO DCO
DO Drakes
Royston Town Council / 21 November 2005 / DCO ACO Day
DO Drakes
Hertsmere Borough Council / 28 November 2005 / CFO DO Harold
DO Oram
Watford Rural Parish Council / 7 December 2005 / DCO
Stn O Parkhouse
WatfordRace Equality Council / 7 December 2005 / CFO
Stn O Bassett
Mary Thomson
Barley Parish Council / 9 January 2006 / DCO
DO Harold
3.2.9Other Fire Services
Seven Fire Services were consulted for their views on our Draft Community Safety Plan 2006-2007.
1 / London2 / Buckinghamshire
3 / Essex
4 / Bedfordshire
5 / Cambridgeshire
6 / Norfolk
7 / Suffolk
See AppendixJ for a copy of the letter sent out.
3.2.10Focus Groups
The Authority planned to conduct 4 structured focus groups in areas that represented a broad range of the population of Hertfordshire. To ensure impartiality MORI were commissioned to facilitate this work. We proposed to hold focus groups in Harpenden, Letchworth, Hatfield and Cheshunt between 10th and 25th January 2006.
Due to the major incident at the Buncefield Oil Depot at Hemel Hempstead MORI advised that these should be cancelled.
It was considered by MORI that coverage in the local and national press meant that some residents’ views regarding the fire and rescue service in Hertfordshire may potentiallybe different to how they felt before the fire, particularly since some of the media focus has been directed at the resourcing of the service in Herts.
Since the focus groups would need to take place in early to mid January to ensure inclusion in the decision-making process, the incident will still be fairly fresh in people’s minds. There was, therefore, a possibility that discussion in the groups would have been dominated by the current mood and not focused on the issues that needed to be debated MORI’s advice was accepted.
3.2.11Herts Direct
Herts direct is an internet based information system run by the County Council which is available for all people to view via the internet. All the information regarding the Draft Community Safety plan is available to view by members of the public at
A copy of the web page is attached in Appendix K.
3.2.12Herts Direct Newspaper
Herts Direct is a quarterly publication that is produced by HCC. It is delivered free to all Hertfordshire residents’ (450,000 households). This was used as a tool to communicate, and seek resident’s views on the proposed changes through a postal survey. In order to ensure independence the responses to the survey were processed by MORI on behalf of HCC.
A copy of the Herts direct newspaper is attached in Appendix L.
3.2.13Business Stakeholders
In addition to previously mentioned stakeholders twenty two business and key stakeholders were identified and sent a copy of the Draft Community Safety Plan 2006-2007 asking for comments
1 / Herts Constabulary2 / BHAPS
3 / Herts Chamber of Commerce
4 / ROSPA
5 / Environment Agency
6 / Emergency Planning/HESMIC
7 / Network Rail
8 / National Trust
9 / English Heritage
10 / ODPM Support Team
11 / Audit commission
12 / DISH
13 / BME Groups
14 / ODPM
15 / MountPrison, Bovingdon
16 / Government Office East
17 / Johnson Matthey, Royston
18 / HSE
19 / Watford Racial Equality Council
20 / North Herts Minority Ethnic Forum
21 / Local Government Information Service
22 / Age Concern
A meeting was arranged with Tim Hutchins Chief Executive of Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the 20th October 2005. As a result of this meeting he agreed to publish a half page article in their newsletter and on their web site outlining the Draft Community Safety plan 2006-2007. This newsletter will reach approximately 5000 businesses in Hertfordshire.
See Appendix M for a copy of the newsletter.
4Consultation Response
4.1Community Safety Plan – General Overview
4.1.1Internal Consultation
4.1.1.1Frequently Asked Questions
Members of Service Executive Board visited a number of stations and watches over the consultation period and have been asked a number of similar questions. To address these concerns the following FAQ’s were published in ‘In Focus’ on September 05.
Q. Will 24-hour shift fire stations retain beds for resting during the night stand-down periods?
A. Yes. At this time we have no intention of removing the beds. However we as an organisation must keep an open mind on this issue as other authorities have evidence to demonstrate that mobilisation whilst staff are asleep takes an average of 1 minute longer than when awake.