Key strategic achievements - 2024 to 2025
In addition to the service priorities, the following key strategic achievements were also delivered during 2024 to 2025.
Response
Teams continued to:
- review national operational guidance
- where appropriate, seek to adopt the national standard
The service has completed its initial assessment against the emergency preparedness and resilience fire standard. It continues to benchmark its performance against this standard.
In 2025 we consulted on proposed changes that will enhance the resilience of the response model. This is done by increasing the numbers of operational staff on wholetime fire stations. These changes will see our watch commander supports move from their current roles, back onto the wholetime watches with effect from 1 January 2026. In the same period, the resilience in the control room has been increased, adding an additional four control operators into the structure.
In preparation for 2025 to 2026, the assured level of response (ALOR) strategy was reviewed. This ensures that the response model was aligned to the areas of highest risk. This model confirms that we are:
- prepared for, and have the resources available to respond our reasonable worst case planning scenario
- able to respond to all of the identified areas of high risk within our target response times
The response model is based on 38 stations, with 29 of those working the on-call duty system. Nationally, this system has faced challenges with declining:
- availability
- recruitment
- retention
Work closely aligned to the NFCC strategic working group has been carried out. This is to understand the challenges and develop ways to strengthen the system. A number of steps to help address these challenges locally have been taken:
- implemented an on-call improvement group (OCIG) to engage with on-call colleagues
- the new national pay bandings for on-call staff were implemented for the start of 2025. Managers reviewed the cover being offered by staff following the recognition of the change of the contract. This enabled us to:
- understand our true availability picture
- develop more targeted recruitment and retention activities
- using the ALOR model to prioritise stations for recruitment activity
- we are in the process of procuring a system called on-call availability, recruitment and skills (OARS). This will help:
- improve understanding of on-call recruitment, retention, skillsets and availability
- provide the data to drive strategic workforce planning for on call
There is a commitment to learning from incidents to drive improvements to our operational response. The service continued to embed its operational learning board which:
- reviews local, national and multi-agency incidents
- ensures relevant actions are taken to:
- improve performance
- share learning
- develop new ways of working
Prevention and protection
Both the prevention and protection teams have embedded new structures. This is following the initial stages of the service wide resourcing project. The new structures have allowed work to be completed on roles and responsibilities, offering clarity on priorities and workloads. Partnership working continued to be an important part of service delivery, with data sharing at the forefront of all agreements. Data sets were used by the risk and intelligence team to enhance the prevention and protection risk models. This offered further assurance that the highest risks are being identified and targeted.
The fire protection team continued to ensure local policies reflect changes to national legislation. Training and upskilling of fire safety inspectors was a priority. Buildings over 18 metres in height remained a focus. Close liaison with building owners ensured remediation plans were in place. The national protection uplift fund was used to support training and purchasing of vital equipment for the team. This offered efficiencies in all related activities.
Fire safety inspectors (FSIs) carried out fire safety audits under the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order. These were done on premises identified as posing the greatest risk as part of the Risk Based Inspection Programme. This work was supported by operational crews carrying out ‘fire safety checks’ enhancing the ability to monitor compliance of lower risks premises. The fire safety checks evaluated simple measures linked to effective fire safety management. They provided an opportunity to:
- collect risk information
- provide arson risk reduction advice
Business engagement was a fundamental part of the protection teams activities throughout the year. Opportunities were sought to offer specific fire safety compliance information to audiences identified through:
- partnership working
- analysis of local enforcement activities
For example, through the Chamber of Commerce.
The person-centred, home fire safety checks (HFSC), continued to target those identified as most vulnerable. Performance data showed that over 90% of visits carried out were to households with at least one vulnerability. HFSCs focused on the eight core components as identified by the NFCC. They also offered advice and support on:
- mental health issues
- fraud
- domestic abuse
- signposting to the healthy and accessible homes programme
We remained focussed on identifying those most at risk from fire. We continued to refine thematic campaigns and referral generation to achieve this.
Community Safety Advocates are a stakeholder within:
- the Safer Lincolnshire Partnership
- associated core priority groups
They worked within county wide multi-disciplinary teams to ensure that the fire risk component of complex cases was recognised.
Education continued to be a priority for the prevention team. A county wide water safety group was established. Their strategy and initial four year plan of priorities were agreed. In addition, road safety packages were developed and delivered to targeted groups. For example, Biker Down. This offers critical information to motorcyclists riding on the road network. This work was part of the partnership approach to road safety in Lincolnshire. A successful summer prevention campaign saw the prevention team share and promote prevention information, through engagement with the:
- Environment Agency
- National Farmers Union
- Forestry Commission
The children and young people strategy identified a number of keys areas for engagement and inclusion. The work linked to partner priorities. A successful bid from the Serious Violence Duty fund was used to establish an additional fire cadet scheme in an identified high risk area. The Arson Task Force (ATF), were also successful in securing funding from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. This was used to carry out ‘hot spot’ patrols. This work resulted in members of the ATF targeting areas identified with issues of anti-social behaviour, offering a ‘uniformed’ presence as part of the prevention strategy.
Organisational support
The service support team has been actively engaged in the new control mobilisation programme, scheduled to go live in the summer of 2025. The introduction of the new system is set to secure the control mobilisation function for the foreseeable future. In addition to efforts on this programme, the team has played a crucial role in developing the specification and tender for a new management information system. The new system will revolutionise the way we collect, store, and retrieve data. It will enable the service to:
- streamline numerous processes
- eliminate the need for document duplication and redundant data entry across multiple platforms
The tender for this project will go live in early 2025 to 2026. The service support team worked closely with IMT to ensure compatibility across all platforms.
The integrated risk management team welcomed a new health and safety manager to the department. Historically, this role has been undertaken by qualified operational staff as a secondment opportunity. Following the resourcing project, it was determined that the position required a sector-competent health and safety expert. The new incumbent has spent the initial months of his tenure:
- ensuring full compliance with legislation
- identifying continuous improvement opportunities for staff health and safety
Additionally, the team concentrated on:
- firefighter contamination
- necessary steps to mitigate exposure to contaminants during operational activities
A comprehensive programme of works was initiated. This includes:
- work packages to consider
- enhanced signage at stations
- thorough evaluation of our property portfolio to establish clean and dirty areas
- improved facilities for staff decontamination post-incident
The work also included a review of the fleet provision, considering:
- the need to adopt a clean cab policy
- methods for crews to decontaminate equipment before leaving an incident
This culminated in the installation of a new breathing apparatus washing machine at the Waddington Training Centre.
Work started through 2024 to 2025 in the operational support department. This commenced work on two critical programmes. These programmes will seek to deliver several new fire appliances into the county as well as a revision of workwear and uniform. Also, in 2024 to 2025, the team:
- issued all operational staff with personal issue flood response suits
- purchased an additional flood pump and four-by-four vehicle
The funding for these items came from additional capital funding from LCC in support of the flood response capability.
People
A comprehensive restructure introduced the talent, resourcing, and learning team. This brought in highly competent professionals to enhance our capability in attracting, developing, and retaining talent. This restructure strengthened the focus on:
- workforce planning
- professional development
Additionally, the resilience across the organisation increased through an additional resource within the driver training team. This ensured safer and more effective operational readiness. The site management team at the Waddington Training Centre was also strengthened. This provided robust oversight to support the ongoing maintenance and development of the training facility.
The service was pleased to announce that the HMICFRS cause for concern relating to equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) was lifted. This reflected the significant progress made in:
- embedding inclusive practices
- promoting diversity
- fostering a culture of fairness and respect across the service
The organisation remains committed to continuously improving EDI. This ensures a supportive and equitable environment for all staff and the communities we serve.
The service successfully responded to changes in DBS legislation. They implemented enhanced DBS checks for all staff across the service. This proactive approach:
- ensured compliance with updated safeguarding standards
- strengthened the commitment to protecting vulnerable people
- supported the integrity of the workforce
The team continued to embed leadership development programmes across all supervisory, middle, and senior levels. This comprehensive approach was accompanied by a significant increase in the uptake of leadership apprenticeships throughout the workforce. This fostered stronger and more capable leaders at every tier. Alongside this, there was a substantial investment in enhancing the incident command training and strategy. This ensured that leaders continued to be well-prepared to respond effectively and confidently in complex operational situations.
Central support
The central support function was introduced to offer corporate oversight of critical functions of service delivery. The following areas sit under this function, offering assurance on key areas of work:
- business continuity
- communications
- continuous improvement
- the risk and intelligence team
The central support function is responsible for coordinating activities. This ensures the implementation and embedding of activities to progress compliance with fire standards. A robust assurance process was implemented, with all standards assigned a strategic and tactical lead. The ‘three lines’ of assurance process was implemented as proposed by NFCC colleagues. The function are responsible for overseeing work required in preparation for His Majesties Inspectorate Constabularies and Fire and Rescue Services, (HMICFRS) inspections.
Business continuity management (BCM) is an integral part of the corporate risk management process. In relation to BCM processes and procedures, all FRA’s must satisfy the requirements of the:
- Civil Contingencies Act 2004
- Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004
Throughout the year the business continuity lead coordinated the testing and updating of business continuity plans.
Station BC plans were reviewed. This offered assurance that secondary locations were suitable should a BC event occur. An integrated approach ensured that whilst the BC lead was at the forefront of activities, there was a collective responsibility from all nominated areas.
The risk and intelligence team:
- drove the transition to the Power BI platform
- developed the fundamental concept of performance management requirements
The new platform has offered organisational oversight of performance, with accountability at all levels. The information and data was analysed and utilised to make recommendations to influence service delivery. For example, areas of high risk and fire stations required to support the response strategy.
The communications team:
- carried out a review of existing communications methods
- identified a number of areas for development
The review was driven by the aim of providing timely and accurate updates to all members of staff across the county. The monthly cascade brief concept was introduced, with mechanisms to record and monitor delivery and impact. The communications lead was integral to embedding a strong culture of visible leadership, in the form of regular consistent messaging, tailored to meet the needs of the audience.
Emergency planning and business continuity
From 1 April 2024, the emergency planning and business continuity team moved across as part of the directorate. The move resulted in the team developing a new service and delivery plan. This aligned to templates and performance reporting structures. With a total of 29 deliverables with multiple actions designed to achieve each of them, progress was monitored and reported through Performance Management Board, (PMB).
Storms Babet and Henk highlighted the importance of:
- community resilience
- communities having their own emergency plans
This remained a priority throughout 2024 to 2025.
There are 544 parish and town councils across the county. Research showed 360 of those sat within flood warning areas. The team took a risk-based approach by:
- targeting those within floods warning areas
- ensuring that they liaised with highways, lead local flood authority and LFR to avoid any duplication of effort and make the best use of resources
The team recognise that the work will be continuous, even when plans are complete. They have developed periodic exercise plans to ensure currency.
The team secured additional funding through the lead local flood authority. This enabled them to purchase additional equipment for use by parishes developing their community plans. In addition, the funding has allowed the team to engage with a further 360 parishes highlighted by the Environment Agency as being in flood risk areas.
Exercise Imp, was Lincolnshire Resilience Forum’s major exercise for 2024. The scenario was based around an incident occurring at Lincoln City Football Club’s LNER Stadium that was:
- chemical
- biological
- radiological
- nuclear
The exercise considered wider impacts on:
- the local community
- businesses
- the city’s economy and tourism
- reputational and financial issues relating to both the city and the football club
- the overall response and recovery efforts that would be required
The team supported a countywide response to over 17 multi-agency incidents throughout 2024 to 2025. Incidents ranged from severe weather and flooding to ship collision in the North Sea.
Over the past year the team have facilitated over 56 training events. These saw 630 delegates attending from both LCC and Lincolnshire Resilience Forum partner agencies. There was also 7 training events for volunteer agencies. 122 delegates attended and a further 2 external training events with 36 delegates.