Fire and rescue performance assessment 2008
You are currently viewing a Comprehensive Performance Assessment made under the 2008 methodology. View the most recent Comprehensive Area Assessment.
Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) for Fire and Rescue Authorities was introduced in 2005 when each authority was given a corporate assessment rating of either excellent, good, fair, weak or poor. Inspectors looked at issues like staff training, budget management and the way the service works within the community to make it safer and prevent fires from happening in the first place.
In 2007, we introduced a CPA re-categorisation process where fire and rescue authorities can apply for a re-assessment.
Additional elements give an overall assessment of services including how the authority performs operationally.
Overall performance for this fire and rescue authority
This authority is improving well and was demonstrating a Good performance in 2005.
In addition to Fire CPA 2005, fire and rescue authorities were assessed under the 2008 performance framework on three elements:
- What progress Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Authority has made in the last year – direction of travel
- How Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Authority manages its finances and provides value for money – use of resources
- How Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Authority delivers its fire and rescue service – service assessment
The use of resources and service assessment are scored on the following scale:
1 = Inadequate performance – below minimum requirements
2 = Adequate performance – only at minimum requirements
3 = Performing well – consistently above minimum requirements
4 = Performing strongly – well above minimum requirements
Direction of travel
What progress has Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Authority made in the last year
| Direction of travel |
2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|
| This assessment indicates the progress being made, or otherwise, to achieve improvement. | improving adequately | improving well | improving well |
The following summary has been provided to support the 2008 direction of travel assessment:
GFRS performs well compared to fire authorities nationally and overall performance continues to improve. GFRS, with partners, is making Gloucestershire safer, reducing road traffic collisions and saving lives by responding to emergencies on behalf of the ambulance trust. Emergency response times are consistently met and public satisfaction remains high. Targeted home visits resulted in reduced accidental fires in homes although deaths from such fires increased in 2007/08. GFRS manages assets and natural resources well, making good use of fire stations for the local community. Financial management is good and efficiency savings have increased. GFRS is recruiting more retained fire-fighters, achieving greater diversity and improving internal quality controls to improve capacity. Sickness absence for whole-time fire-fighters remains high. Good progress is being made in implementing the requirements of the Fire and Rescue Service National Framework 2008-11. GFRS is effectively addressing weaknesses in the Operational Assessment of Service Delivery (2006), updating health and safety policies where appropriate. Performance management is improving at station level and arrangements are in place to ensure good quality data. However evaluation of community safety schemes lacks consistency.
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Use of resources
How Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Authority manages its finances and provides value for money
| Use of resources |
2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|
| This assessment looks at financial accounting and reporting arrangements, how well the Authority plans and manages its finances and whether the Authority achieves value for money. |
3 | 3 | 3 |
This use of resources judgement is drawn from five individual judgements provided by the Authority's appointed auditor:
| Auditor judgements | 2008 |
|---|
| Financial reporting | 3 |
| Financial management | 3 |
| Financial standing | 3 |
| Internal control | 3 |
| Value for money | 3 |
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Service assessment
How Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Authority delivers its fire and rescue service
| Service assessment |
2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|
| The overall service assessment is the Authority's performance in delivering the fire and rescue service and is constructed from two elements: performance indicators (PIs) and the OASD. More details |
3 | 3 | 4 |
The following summarises the operational assessment of service delivery:
Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service has a good community safety culture and this is supported by clear structures and processes for the management of risk. It is performing well in most areas of service delivery, from prevention and protection activity through to emergency response. The Service targets and allocates its resources according to risk, and employs an effective graded response to calls for assistance. The Service has a wide range of targeted community safety initiatives in place, and these are operating well and benefiting the local community. It performs adequately in risk analysis and audit and review, and has plans in place to further develop these areas. Overall, it is a dynamic organisation that works well with the County Council. Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service is becoming the community safety focused organisation that it strives to be, and has established some innovative and dynamic plans to meet the modernisation agenda.
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CPA 2005
How Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Authority performed in 2005
| CPA 2005 |
2005 |
|---|
| We assessed the Authority on the way it was run and the delivery of its services. Our corporate assessment did not give an opinion on how well the fire and rescue service responded to emergency incidents. The assessment provided a baseline measurement that helps fire and rescue authorities focus on improvement. Fire and Rescue CPA 2005 was scored on the scale Poor/Weak/Fair/Good/Excellent. More details |
Good |