Introduction
The Fire and Rescue National Framework for England sets out the requirements for the fire and rescue authorities to provide an annual Statement of Assurance on financial, governance and operational matters. It also requires us to show how we have had due regard to the expectations set out in our integrated risk management plan and the requirements included in the Framework. This document is intended to meet that obligation through reference to existing plans, reports and public web pages.
Background
Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue (LFR) is a statutory fire and rescue service for the County of Lincolnshire. It is part of Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) which is also the Fire and Rescue Authority (FRA). The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 is the core legislation for fire and rescue services in England and Wales. It details the statutory responsibilities for all FRAs. This includes making provision for the purpose of:
- extinguishing fires
- protecting life and property from fires
- rescuing people from road traffic collisions
- promoting fire safety
- responding to other emergencies
The Fire and Rescue National Framework document outlines the Government’s priorities and objectives for FRAs in England. It describes the high-level expectations but does not prescribe operational matters. The priorities in the Framework are for FRAs to:
- make appropriate provision for fire prevention and protection activities and response to fire and rescue related incidents
- identify and assess the full range of foreseeable fire and rescue related risks their areas face
- collaborate with emergency services and other local and national partners to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the service they provide
- be accountable to communities for the service they provide
- develop and maintain a workforce that is professional, resilient, skilled, flexible and diverse
The County
Lincolnshire is the fourth largest county in England covering 5,921 square kilometres. The County is classified as one of the most rural in England by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Five of the seven local authority districts in Lincolnshire are classified as either ‘mainly’ or ‘largely’ rural:
- East Lindsey
- North Kesteven
- South Kesteven
- South Holland
- West Lindsey
Boston is classified as ‘urban with significant rural’ and Lincoln as ‘urban with city and town’. Further information on rural-urban classifications can be found on the DEFRA website.
Estimates from the Office for National Statistics for 2020 place the County population at 766,30044. This is an increase of 7.6% since 2010. Current projections suggest the population will increase by 12% by 2043. Notwithstanding this, population density remains low with 129 people per square kilometre. This compares with an average for England of 434 people per square kilometre.
Not only is the population increasing, it is also ageing. The proportion of people aged 65 and over is projected to increase from 24% in 2020 to 30% in 2043. The proportion of people over 75 years of age is predicted to increase by 82% over the same period. Further information about the County can be found at Lincolnshire Open Data.
Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue
LFR operates 38 fire stations. One of these is staffed by fulltime firefighters around the clock. Nine are staffed by fulltime firefighters during the day who then provide on-call cover at night. This guarantees 24 hours a day 7 days a week fire cover from these locations. All stations (including those that have whole time staff) are staffed by on-call firefighters working the retained duty system. At 31 March 2022 the Service establishment was 709 staff. This comprised of:
- 624 operational staff
- 21 controlstaff
- 64 support staff
(Actual headcount may vary).
Key operational equipment includes:
- 48 station-based fire engines
- 2 aerial appliances
- 15 special appliances (2 rescue support units, 7 technical response vehicles, water carrier, command support vehicle and welfare unit)
- 4 swift water rescue boats
- National Resilience capability (Marauding terrorist firearms attack specialist response team (MTFA SRT), Urban search and rescue (USAR) and high volume pumping capability )
- 25 Co-responder vehicles
The Service received 19,167 calls during 2021 to 22. It attended 8,004 operational incidents including 2,253 medical response calls.