Working together - the way forward
There are a number of areas where improvements will be made to how we work together across the region. This section of the website summarises these improvements and why we are doing them now.
Continuous Improvement through collaboration
Members of the Board have stated that they would like more radical, challenging solutions to the issues which FRAs face. Tougher financial settlements, coupled with top-sliced efficiency savings, mean that a different way of working will be needed to release the capacity necessary to invest in improving service delivery to the public.
Working more-closely together, in an explicit and controlled way, will help FRAs deliver better services to the public, and maintain their individual identity. It will also assist in being able to give clear statements of efficiencies delivered through regional working, which is required under the National Framework 2008/11.
Setting the strategic direction for the region
The direction set out in this plan should give clarity to those charged with delivering it. The projects set out in this plan are Members and Chief Fire Officers’ priority projects, and they will monitor that progress is being made against each of them. Programme management will be strengthened over the life of this plan to ensure delivery and to provide this assurance to Members and Chief Fire Officers. The South East Fire Improvement Partnership (SEFIP) will take a more active role as a commissioning agent as well as programme managers.
Working together in strategic groups
The concept of strategic alliances to drive regional business is set out in this plan. The model adopted is generally to form into four natural blocks which give a broader equality of scale and influence [Thames Valley, Surrey/East Sussex/West Sussex, Hampshire/IoW & Kent]. Each CFO involved in this grouping will take soundings from the colleagues he is representing. This will release pressure on diary time, and also allow quicker progress to be made in priority areas. Not only that, these groupings make geographic sense in a way that, for example, Kent and Buckinghamshire collaborating may not on some issues. Funding is available via SEFIP to support clustering arrangements in this way. Other alliances will be forged to support projects which do not lend themselves to geographical clusters, such as pan-regional work, or alliances on specific issues between FRAs.
We will also adopt an arrangement where there will be phase 1 and phase 2 FRAs for some projects allowing those that want to press ahead to do so. This concept, whilst not radical, will significantly alter how regional business is transacted and the pace of progress in the region. They will not be implemented immediately as more work needs to be done to deliver this way of working. This will be supported by Capacity Building Funding.