In order to meet the requirements of the Fire and Rescue Service National Framework, and in light of challenging budget settlements, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) has introduced more flexible working arrangements that have enabled it to provide existing standards of cover with fewer wholetime firefighters. MFRS operates one-pump stations with 24 firefighters (six per watch on four watches) and two-pump stations with 40 firefighters (ten per watch) compared to standard crewing levels of 28 and 52 respectively. This arrangement is sufficient to provide a default level of four riders per appliance at an incident - a level agreed by the Fire and Rescue Authority following an extensive risk assessment.
Cutting back firefighters on the watch increases the risk that appliances have to be taken off the run, as there is a minimum number of crew members required to operate appliances safely. However, MFRS has established a number of safeguards to mitigate this risk. Firstly, it has undertaken extensive incident analysis and identified a dynamic reserve of appliances that can be called upon if required, for example where personnel are sick. In these circumstances, the default staffing level of four riders prevails; in the event that the staffing level is below four riders the remaining firefighters staffing the appliance are re-deployed to other stations for the shift, and the appliance reverts to dynamic reserve status. In addition, a Reinforcement and Resilience Team, drawn from a central pool of managers, can be called upon to cover any shortfalls at crew or watch manager level, and provide additional support during busy periods.
Overtime is used very selectively as a last resort. The changes made have no impact on the capacity to deal with major emergencies, as the changes made are just about crewing appliances more efficiently. Crews attending training in MFRS’s central training facility (considered as a strategic reserve) can also be called upon in major emergencies - this has only been necessary twice in four years.
Low level activity and risk (LLAR) stations
MFRS recognised that, if starting from scratch, it would not have the number and type of stations it does. However, it knew that closing stations was very difficult and unpopular. In order to deal with over-capacity without closing stations, it has turned its five least busy one-pump wholetime stations into LLAR stations, with retained cover at night. To determine suitability for LLAR status, MFRS considered the number and type of emergency calls within each station area, alongside other known risk factors, such as proximity to industrial sites.
The mobilisation standard during the period of retained cover is set at 1.9 minutes - this is the average time between alert to mobilisation of wholetime appliances between 12.00am and 07.00am. The first three stations chosen to implement the new system during 2006/07 had, on average, fewer than 300 calls a year during the five years to March 2002. On average, just one incident a week was a primary fire. Calls have continued to fall since. They were also in areas of low inherent risk, in other words, areas of relatively low deprivation with no major industrial or chemical sites nearby.
The LLAR crewing system operates using a pool of wholetime firefighters on flexible contracts who self roster to provide sufficient cover across the five LLAR stations, on a wholetime basis during the day and a retained basis at night. They are paid retainers of 15 per cent, instead of the usual 10 per cent, to compensate them for the additional inconvenience of having to stay on or near the station premises overnight. They can sleep, read, eat or study, but do not have to perform any non-operational duties. This compares to the usual retained contract, where firefighters are based at home overnight. LLAR stations are a third cheaper to run than standard wholetime stations (£640,000 compared to £1 million per year).
FRA members supported the introduction of LLAR. MFRS ensured that the public was informed that the level of emergency response had not changed; rather, it was how the stations were crewed to provide that response. Performance by the LLAR stations is good. Response times have improved and sickness absence has fallen. This suggests morale is good among the LLAR crews, who have volunteered for the new arrangements. Increases in CFS activity are in line with the increases in non-LLAR stations.
In 2007/08, two more stations converted to the LLAR system. This followed careful evaluation of response times, accommodation, staffing systems and firefighter feedback from the first three stations. MFRS is now considering how the principles may be applied in stations with medium levels of activity and risk.