Community Risk Management Plan consultation launched by fire service

Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service has launched a consultation on its new Community Risk Management Plan 2021-25 (the CRMP) which is due to be published on 1 April 2021.

“The Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) is our overall strategy for keeping people, their homes, communities and environment safe from fire and other emergencies with the resources available to us,” said Chief Fire Officer Nathan Travis.

“It looks at the fire and rescue-related risks facing the communities we serve, and sets out our high-level plans for tackling those risks through our prevention, protection and emergency response services.”

The document has been compiled over the last 18 months and the consultation will run until 25 September 2020.

The draft CRMP is available online in the Consultations section of the Service’s website – www.hwfire.org.uk. It is a lengthy document, but it can be broken down into three main stages:

• Stage 1, Identifying and Assessing Risk, sets out what the Service believes the main risks are, and highlights some of the ways in which they have been dealt with over the last few years.
• Stage 2, Managing and Reducing Risk, sets out what the Service is planning to do over the four-year term of the CRMP to tackle the risks identified. This section highlights the organisation’s three main roles – Prevention, Protection and Response – and the main work areas to be focused on. It also sets out how the Service will work with others to maintain resilience, how it intends to deliver value for money for its communities, and how it will continue to support its workforce. The section concludes with a number of headline actions the Service wants to deliver over the CRMP term, including plans to review Attendance Standards.
• Stage 3, Measuring and Demonstrating Impact, sets out how HWFRS aims to show that its services and activities are having a positive impact on reducing risk.

“To help to gather views and comments on each of these stages, we have prepared a short questionnaire, which is included at the end of the draft CRMP, and is also available online and as a separate document, as noted above,” added CFO Travis. “Our contact details are also there, along with a number of other ways in which you can reach us.

“We have tried to make our plans as easy to understand as possible, and we hope the questionnaire provides you with an opportunity to let us have your views, but if there are any other points you wish to make, please forward them to us with your questionnaire response.”

Every comment will be carefully considered, and all feedback will assist in shaping the final CRMP.

Pictured: Chief Fire Officer Nathan Travis