Introduction

The National Fire Chiefs Council has developed a Strategic Framework which is intended to deliver a more consistent and standardised approach to community risk management planning (CRMP) across the UK. It is intended to assist in transparent and justifiable decision-making and help Fire and Rescue Services identify collaborative opportunities with partner organisations more easily.

This draft CRMP replaces our 2021-2024 Corporate Plan and articulates the risks facing our communities and describes how we will address those risks, and continue to prevent and respond to fires and other emergencies. This CRMP will be produced in consultation with the public, fire and rescue staff, local partners and representative bodies.

Once approved, this plan will cover the five years between 2024 and 2029 and will be supported by annual action plans that will set out what we aim to achieve each year, as well as annual assessments of our progress against those plans.

Maintaining our ability, through our dedicated firefighters, to provide an effective emergency response, requires a range of different staffing models or ‘duty systems’, which are explained in the section ‘Your Fire and Rescue Service’.

Currently we have guaranteed emergency cover at only eight of our fire stations, located predominantly along the A55 dual carriageway corridor in our region. Elsewhere in North Wales we rely on part time or on-call firefighters, but their availability during the day time is challenging.

We are working hard to recruit and retain these firefighters but we need to have guaranteed emergency cover in inland areas, to ensure that we can be certain of being able to provide a response crew within the optimum response times across the whole of North Wales. In an emergency, time is of the essence.

Through our Emergency Cover Review, we have been exploring scenarios for providing emergency cover in the future, with a view to improving existing cover. More details of the Emergency Cover Review can be found in the section ‘Our Five Principles’.

We continually strive to achieve the best culture within our organisation in accordance with our core values but recognise that no public service can afford to be complacent when it comes to ensuring the highest possible standards expected by our staff and members of the public. It is only right that we are held to account in this regard and importantly that we take on board any recommendations from others who have undergone culture reviews. The commitment to an open, inclusive and welcoming culture relates to us all.

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service is your fire and rescue service. We therefore want to hear your views about our proposals. Further details on the ways in which you can take part in our consultation can be found in the section ‘How to provide feedback’.

What is a Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP)?

Under the Welsh Government Fire and Rescue National Framework, one of the key objectives for Fire and Rescue Services in Wales is to continually and sustainably reduce risk and enhance the safety of citizens and communities.

A Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) aims to identify risks facing the community and describes how the Fire and Rescue Authority will manage those risks, and continue to prevent and respond to fires and other emergencies.

The Authority previously outlined its improvement and well-being objectives, as required by the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 and the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, in its 2021-2024 Corporate Plan.

In line with National Fire Chiefs Council development of the Community Risk Management Planning Strategic Framework and reflecting community risk, what we have previously referred to as corporate objectives have been replaced by a set of five Principles, through which, the Authority will continue to discharge its statutory obligations under the aforementioned Acts and the Welsh Government Fire and Rescue National Framework 2016.

You can read more about Our Principles in the section ‘Our Five Principles’.

Details of our consultation can be found here. Once public feedback has been considered and the final draft is approved, the CRMP will cover the financial years between 2024 and 2029.

This draft document has been produced in consultation with the Fire and Rescue Authority, Fire and Rescue Service staff, representative bodies and local partners.

Monitoring the Community Risk Management Plan

The CRMP 2024-2029 is our long-term plan to help us deliver an effective and efficient Service. It will be monitored and reviewed annually against an updated Hazard Assessment to ensure each principle and the associated objectives remain fit for purpose, are on schedule for delivery and align with the Service priorities at the time.

We will produce and publish annual plans to demonstrate our progress.