The South East Fire Improvement Partnership Board
The South East Fire & Rescue Services' Regional Management Board was established in 2004 by the nine Fire & Rescue Services in the South-East;
- Buckinghamshire
- East Sussex
- Hampshire
- Isle of Wight
- Kent
- Oxfordshire
- Royal Berkshire
- Surrey
- West Sussex.
Its membership comprises the Chairman or Portfolio Holder of each Service.
In October 2010, the name was changed to the South East Fire Improvement Partnership Board, to reflect the decision by the government to scrap RMBs.
In the south east much good work has been progressed by the Board, so Members wanted to continue, but in a different form.
The Chairman of the Board is appointed annually and is currently Councillor Colin Dudley (Royal Berkshire).
The Vice-Chairman is Councillor Barry Abraham (Isle of Wight).
Clerking services are provided by East Sussex. Meetings of the board are held every 3 months at locations announced on the SEFIP website www.sefip.gov.uk.
Aim and Priorities
In common with the whole of public sector, fire & rescue authorities are under financial pressure.
We therefore need to work together effectively to continue improving our services and achieve efficiencies.
The government expects fire and rescue authorities (FRAs) to have clear aims and priorities, and for their projects to be costed effectively.
The previous National Framework placed a clear expectation on Regional Management Boards (RMBs).
Although in the latest National Framework there is no requirement for RMBs, there is no less of an expectation for joint working.
The Board has agreed the following aim:
"Through working together more closely, deliver effective and efficient fire & rescue services to the public, and to support each other to ensure all Fire & Rescue Services in the South East improve their performance."
To support this aim, we have 7 priorities:
- Maintain and continue to develop strong partnership arrangements that ensure all nine fire & rescue authorities meet their statutory duties and fulfil the requirements set out in the National Framework;
- To develop and support reinforcement schemes, or mutual aid arrangements, with other fire & rescue authorities (which may be outside of the nine FRAs in the South East) for securing mutual assistance, so far as is practicable;
- Continue to deliver and improve intraoperability, through effective collaboration between the nine FRAs in the South East and with other FRAs and other emergency services as far as is practicable;
- Continue to support national resilience; working collaboratively to identify any gaps between existing capability and that are needed to ensure national resilience. Work together to enhance capability through mutual aid, pooling and reconfiguration of resources and collective action;
- Work together, where practicable, to ensure that any new capabilities that FRAs are commissioned to deliver by government are procured, maintained and managed in the most cost effective manner that delivers value for money whilst ensuring capabilities are fit-for-purpose and resilient;
- Work together to procure, maintain and manage goods and services. Bringing efficiencies and improving service outcomes where possible;
- Maintain transparent arrangements and ensure that decisions taken by SEFIP are open to scrutiny. Support FRAs in developing transparent arrangements, information and data, which enables communities to hold authorities to account;
These priorities underpin all the work that will be progressed in this plan. Some priorities do not have clearly defined projects because they refer to how we work on a day-to-day basis.
More details can be found in the SEFIP Business Plan