Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service launches new response time system
Herts Fire and Rescue Service has stated there will be no change in standards of service when it amends the way it records its response times to calls.
The service announced it is making the alteration in order to give “a more complete picture of the emergency response”.
Currently, response times are calculated from the second a vehicle is dispatched to the time of its arrival at the scene, with the goal of 90% of first engines arriving within 10 minutes.
But going forward, HFRS plans to amend its response times to begin from the moment a 999 call is received, in line with the Home Office’s national reporting framework. Targets will also change from a goal of 90% of first response vehicles in 10 minutes to a new average first response time.
The policy change was presented by Deputy Chief Fire Officer Mike Barber to Hertfordshire County Council’s public health and community safety cabinet panel on Thursday.
In his presentation, Mr Barber assured members that standards of service would not be affected by the administrative change. Cllr Sean Prendergast (Letchworth South, Lib Dem) said: “It’s really reassuring to hear that changing the response times won’t change the standards themselves.
“I’ve had a good look at the report. So, for example, we aim to attend road traffic collisions within 12 minutes, and house fires 90% of the time within 10 minutes. I just want to understand, given those changes are being made, are we confident this is achievable, and do we envisage there will be any significant changes in how we do respond?”
Mr Barber said: “No, we are absolutely confident and as I think we mentioned, we’ve analysed seven years of historic data. Clearly, we can’t predict exactly what’s going to happen in the future, but we feel that seven-year grounding gives us enough evidence to say that, that metric, which, as you say, has not changed, we are still maintaining the same attendance time as we’ve always done. It’s not going to be impacted, so we’re very confident on that one.
“We have done a review of the resources, so we will map those attendance times against the resources, the location, the disposition of our appliances, the availability of our crews, and through that extensive mapping data, we are comfortable there will be no change required to the operational response.”
Cllr Ajanta Hilton, chairman of the panel, said: “I want to reiterate Mark’s point that there is in no way an issue with coverage or service.
“This is absolutely continuing on excellent service, and as a panel and responsible members here, we just want to reassure the public that there is absolutely no question of closing any fire stations or a reduction in service. This is just a way of reporting, and we need to go through this exercise, which is important.”