Response Strategy 2023-26

Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service’s (DFRS) vision is to ‘Make Derbyshire Safer Together’. Our Plan 2023–26: (Community Risk Management Plan (Our Plan) details how we will do this and recognises the importance of an effective response strategy to support its delivery and ongoing work against our Service priorities.

Our service delivery model combines the three core strategies of prevention, protection and response. It drives everything we do to enable us to deliver a highly efficient, flexible and sustainable service to the communities of Derbyshire. This strategy defines the arrangements in place to ensure that an effective and proportionate emergency response is available to mitigate foreseeable risks and respond to a wide range of incident types, through a range of local, regional and national delivery models.

Operational response is one of the more visible areas of the Service and the area with the highest exposure to risk for our communities and personnel. It is, therefore, appropriate that we set out clearly in this strategy how we will ensure our people are fully prepared and ready to respond to a wide range of incidents and bring them to a safe conclusion. This will support and keep our communities safe, which meets the aims of Our Plan.

We will achieve our vision of ‘Making Derbyshire Safer Together’ by ensuring that our people People Strategy have the correct values and behaviours expected of a modern professional firefighter. We will ensure our operational response is underpinned by appropriate resourcing and highly trained personnel. Using our service delivery risk review we will ensure that our people are located in the right place, available at the right time and provided with the right skills. They will work as teams and with partners to achieve the right outcome to limit damage to life, property and the environment.

To support our response capability, we will maintain a fleet of modern vehicles, systems and equipment to enable the delivery of contemporary fire and rescue service activities. We will continue to develop a response model that allows the mobilisation of a range of vehicles, equipment and personnel in the most dynamic way.

Our preparedness to respond to fire and emergency incidents is underpinned by a number of influencing factors including:

legislative responsibilities FSA 2004
the appropriate response standard
emergency response plans
the level of risk to the community
firefighter safety (National Fire Chiefs Council Firefighter Safety Maxim)
training to meet the requirements of the Civil Service competency framework
site specific risk information and non- addressable risk index
the relevant national/generic risk assessments and professional judgment
the relevant National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) National Operational Guidance
joint operational learning through Resilience Direct
any legal rulings and findings, the outcomes of inquiries and the conclusions and recommendations of coroners’ and health and safety reports
the appropriate level of personal protective equipment and modern firefighting equipment
guidance from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) 2021/22 DFRS report
joint working with our partner agencies following the JESIP principles and joint doctrine.

Our Vision - Making Derbyshire Safer Together

The Response Strategy will reflect our vision, values, Service priorities and the Core Code of Ethics.

Service Priorities

Keeping our communities safe from fire and other emergencies

Having a well-equipped, trained, competent and safe workforce

Putting people first to maintain an outstanding culture of equality and inclusivity

Delivering an efficient and effective service, that adds value to our communities

Promoting continuous improvement through effective challenge and embracing learning

Enabling the organisation through data and digital transformation

Our Core Values

Leadership: We listen, develop & champion our people

Respect: We value the opinions of our people

Integrity: Our actions will always be well intended

Openness: We won’t hide anything & will share our experiences & knowledge

Teamwork: We will achieve more together

Ambition: We will always do the best we can

A key element of our preparedness is ensuring our operational incident commanders are highly skilled and can safely and effectively lead, manage and resolve all incident types and bring them to a safe conclusion. We will also support national resilience capabilities through the national co-ordination advisory framework.

This response strategy includes interdependencies with operational training, organisational development and our equality, diversity and inclusion, prevention, and environmental strategies.

Theme/activity	What are the objectives/commitments (‘we will’ statements in Our Plan) in our strategy?	How will we achieve this?	What does success look like and how will it be measured?
Preparedness Keeping our communities safe from fire and other emergencies Having a well-equipped, trained, competent and safe workforce Putting people first to maintain an outstanding culture of equality and inclusivity Delivering an efficient and effective service, that adds value to our communities Promoting continuous improvement through effective challenge and embracing learning Enabling the organisation through data and digital transformation We will improve our understanding of all our communities to keep them safe from fire and other emergencies We will improve our understanding of our workforce and create an environment where all can achieve We will identify opportunities to utilise digital technology to create a more inclusive and accessible environment We will identify opportunities to improve the quality and relevance of data used to inform our decisions	We will produce a service delivery plan for each community fire station that sets out how we will provide fire and rescue services to each community based on their bespoke needs. We will continue to analyse and interpret our incident data to ensure our resources are located in the right place and available at the right time with the right skills. We will visit our control of major accident hazards sites annually and conduct exercises with our partners to test our operational preparedness.	By monitoring this plan through a performance dashboard and balanced scorecard approach via area and local performance action groups. Through service delivery risk review. Through the creation of a schedule of visits and exercises in accordance with the Service exercise planner and site specific audit requirements.	Success in this area will be achieved through monitoring targets set through the KPMs. Success in this area will be through SSRI full completion within the specified schedule. Success in this area will be through confirmation of knowledge through SAVs and ensuring each COMAH site is exercised on with learning published in OAB.
Theme/activity	What are the objectives/ commitments (‘we will’ statements in Our Plan) in our strategy?	How will we achieve this?	What does success look like and how will it be measured?
Call handling and mobilisation Keeping our communities safe from fire and other emergencies Having a well-equipped, trained, competent and safe workforce Putting people first to maintain an outstanding culture of equality and inclusivity Delivering an efficient and effective service, that adds value to our communities Promoting continuous improvement through effective challenge and embracing learning Enabling the organisation through data and digital transformation We will improve our understanding of all our communities to keep them safe from fire and other emergencies We will improve our understanding of our workforce and create an environment where all can achieveWe will identify opportunities to utilise digital technology to create a more inclusive and accessible environment We will identify opportunities to improve the quality and relevance of data used to inform our decisions	We will invest in a new state-of- the-art mobilising system. We will continue to identify and invest in new opportunities to utilise digital technology and training for our fire control operators to ensure they are best equipped to further reduce mobilisation time. We will continue to assess our response times through APAG and Quarterly Performance. We will work with our partner agencies to ensure requests for assistance are appropriate.	Through the formation of a combined DFRS and Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service project team responsible for the scoping and procurement of the new system. Through NFCC National Operation Guidance training packages and the new working agreement. Through enhanced call challenging and standardisation of decision-making via the duty officer group meeting. Through representation at Blue Light User Group BLUG.	Success in this area will be implementation of a new mobilisation system by October 2025. Until the implementation of the new mobilisation system we will ensure our control operators are adequately trained on our current mobilisation system. Success will also be identified through the new training programme initiative for control personnel. Success in this area will be through monitoring and liaising with our partners in the structured Duty Officer meeting.
Theme/activity	What are the objectives/commitments (‘we will’ statements in Our Plan) in our strategy?	How will we achieve this?	What does success look like and how will it be measured?
Appliance availability Keeping our communities safe from fire and other emergencies Having a well-equipped, trained, competent and safe workforce Putting people first to maintain an outstanding culture of equality and inclusivity Delivering an efficient and effective service, that adds value to our communities Promoting continuous improvement through effective challenge and embracing learning Enabling the organisation through data and digital transformationWe will improve the representation of the workforce to reflect the community we serve; to provide the diversity of thought, skills, and experiences required to make everyone in Derbyshire safer We will improve the representation of the workforce to reflect the community we serve; to provide the diversity of thought, skills, and experiences required to make everyone in Derbyshire safer We will identify opportunities to improve the quality and relevance of data used to inform our decisions	We will aim to achieve 99 percent fire engine availability at our whole-time stations and 82 percent fire engine availability at our On-Call stations. We will explore innovative and alternative methods of On-Call recruitment and retention. We will continually review our peak incident times and availability of resources.	Appliance availability is monitored at LPAG, APAG and Quarter performance meeting. Any areas of low availability will be addressed though the SM On Call business change and PSM.	Success in this area will be meeting our appliance availability times set in our KPMs. It will be measured at the Quarter performance meeting and scrutinised by the DCFO.
Theme/activity	What are the objectives/commitments (‘we will’ statements in Our Plan) in our strategy?	How will we achieve this?	What does success look like and how will it be measured?
Responding to incidents Keeping our communities safe from fire and other emergencies Having a well-equipped, trained, competent and safe workforce Putting people first to maintain an outstanding culture of equality and inclusivity We will improve our understanding of all our communities to keep them safe from fire and other emergencies We will identify opportunities to improve the quality and relevance of data used to inform our decisions	We will continue to assess our response times from the time of a call till time of attendance.	Through monitoring at LPAG, APAG and Quarter performance meeting.	Success in this area will be meeting our response times for 1st and 2nd Pumps. It will be measured against the KPMs set.
Theme/activity	What are the objectives/commitments (‘we will’ statements in Our Plan) in our strategy?	How will we achieve this?	What does success look like and how will it be measured?
Competence Keeping our communities safe from fire and other emergencies Having a well-equipped, trained, competent and safe workforce Delivering an efficient and effective service, that adds value to our communities Promoting continuous improvement through effective challenge and embracing learning We will improve our understanding of all our communities to keep them safe from fire and other emergencies We will improve our understanding of our workforce and create an environment where all can achieve We will improve the representation of the workforce to reflect the community we serve; to provide the diversity of thought, skills, and experiences required to make everyone in Derbyshire safer We will identify opportunities to utilise digital technology to create a more inclusive and accessible environment	We will ensure our crews receive the necessary training and equipment to deal with the broad range of incidents being attended, specifically major incidents and marauding terrorist attacks.	Through working with operational training and aligning with the Operational Training Strategy.	Success in this area will be having a fully trained, competent and confident workforce. It will be measured through Training Assurance Board and Quarter Performance Meeting.
Theme/activity	What are the objectives/commitments (‘we will’ statements in Our Plan) in our strategy?	How will we achieve this?	What does success look like and how will it be measured?
Emerging incident types Keeping our communities safe from fire and other emergencies Having a well-equipped, trained, competent and safe workforce Delivering an efficient and effective service, that adds value to our communities Promoting continuous improvement through effective challenge and embracing learning We will improve our understanding of all our communities to keep them safe from fire and other emergencies We will improve our understanding of our workforce and create an environment where all can achieve We will identify opportunities to utilise digital technology to create a more inclusive and accessible environment	We will work in collaboration with landowners, the Peak District National Park Authority and Derbyshire Constabulary Police to educate residents and visitors on the dangers of wildfires and to reduce the number of outdoor fires. We will enhance our understanding, preparedness and response to wildfire incidents. We will ensure our crews have the appropriate knowledge, skills and equipment to deal safely with all incidents attended on our transport infrastructure which include Electric vehicles.	By participating in the Fire Operations Group. By investing in a wildfire tactical advisor specialism. By investing in new and alternative ways of extinguishing Electrical Vehicle fires.	Success in this area will be having a fully trained, competent and confident workforce to deal with new emerging incident types that have been identified through horizon scanning. It will be measured through Training Assurance Board and Quarter Performance Meeting.
Theme/activity	What are the objectives/commitments (‘we will’ statements in Our Plan) in our strategy?	How will we achieve this?	What does success look like and how will it be measured?
Partnership and collaboration Keeping our communities safe from fire and other emergencies Having a well-equipped, trained, competent and safe workforce Delivering an efficient and effective service, that adds value to our communities Promoting continuous improvement through effective challenge and embracing learning Enabling the organisation through data and digital transformation We will improve our understanding of all our communities to keep them safe from fire and other emergencies We will improve our understanding of our workforce and create an environment where all can achieve We will identify opportunities to utilise digital technology to create a more inclusive and accessible environment We will identify opportunities to improve the quality and relevance of data used to inform our decisions	We will continue to play a key part in the Local Resilience Forum working to identify potential risks and produce emergency plans to either prevent or mitigate the impact of any incident in Derbyshire.	Through legislation we have a duty to collaborate with partner agencies and ensure we play an active role within the LRF.	Success in this area will be enhanced working relationships with partners and collaborating during training and incidents. It will be measured via the Blue Light User Group.
Theme/activity	What are the objectives/commitments (‘we will’ statements in Our Plan) in our strategy?	How will we achieve this?	What does success look like and how will it be measured?
Review and assurance Keeping our communities safe from fire and other emergencies Having a well-equipped, trained, competent and safe workforce Putting people first to maintain an outstanding culture of equality and inclusivity Delivering an efficient and effective service, that adds value to our communities Promoting continuous improvement through effective challenge and embracing learning Enabling the organisation through data and digital transformation We will improve our understanding of our workforce and create an environment where all can achieve We will identify opportunities to utilise digital technology to create a more inclusive and accessible environment We will identify opportunities to utilise digital technology to create a more inclusive and accessible environment We will identify opportunities to improve the quality and relevance of data used to inform our decisions	We will provide strategic assurance to the Fire and Rescue Authority and ensure that we learn from every emergency, training event and multi-agency exercise we attend.	Through: station assurance visits incident monitoring incident/event debriefing internal and multi-agency fire investigations and post-incident learning events After-the incident surveys By taking part in national operational learning/joint organisational learning	Success in this area will be addressing the area for improvement identified for operation monitoring in our 2021/22 HMICFRS inspection report. It will be measured through Governance performance working group.