Value for money
Priority 9 - we will provide training and development facilities that are fit for the future
During 2025 to 2026 the service has asessed the capability, capacity and long-term potential of the Waddington Training Centre to ensure future investment aligns with:
- organisational priorities
- emerging risks
- workforce development requirements
Work has been undertaken to understand how the centre can support:
- evolving operational needs
- training associated with:
- modern methods of construction
- electric vehicles
- bettery energy storage systems
- renewable energy infrastructure
- other emering community risks identified in the community risk management plan
A long term vision has been developed for the site exploring opportunities to further enhance specialist training facilities, increase collabrative use with partner agencies and maximise value from appropriate commercial and partnership opportunities.
Alongside investment in the centre, the service has increased capacity in the learning and development team to support modernisation of training delivery. Additional resource has allowed the team to expand capability in:
- design and development of learning materials
- multimedia content
- digital training resources
This supports a blended learning approach to ensure training can be delivered flexibly, consistently and efficiently to high standards.
Priority 10 - we will invest in our ability to deliver service wide improvements
The service strengthened its approach to implementing and embedding fire standards, updating the policy and introducing a robust quality assurance process. Robust governance arrangements remain in place, providing strategic oversight of progress against all applicable fire standards and ensuring that improvement activity remains aligned to organisational priorities and risk.
A key area of development during 2025 to 2026 has been the development and enhancement of organisational learning arrangments. The organisational learning board has become firmly established as a key component of the service's governance framework, providing oversight of learning identified through a variety of sources, capturing operational and non-operational aspects. The board ensures that learning is systematically reviewed, actions are tracked and improvements are embedded across the organisation.
Priority 11 - we will further develop our performance measurement and management capability
The expansion of Power BI has improved accessibility, quality and visibility of performance information. This has enabled managers and staff to access real time data and gain greater insight into service delivery, productivity and outcomes.
A significant focus this year has been on ensuring performance information is available not only to senior leaders but also to middle managers, supervisors and operational personnel. This has supported a more informed and accountable management culture where decisions are driven by data, evidence and performance insights. The improved availability of information has enabled managers to:
- identify trends
- target resources more effectively
- monitor delivery against priorities
- implement improvements
Priority 12 - we will develop our plans to invest in the future of the service as a force multiplier
A greater emphasis has been placed on evidencing the benefits, outcomes and value generated through collaborative activity. A more robust partnership evaluation framework has been developed to:
- better assess the effectiveness of partnership arrangements
- identify opportunities for improvement
- ensure resources are focused on avtivities that deliver measurable benefits to communities
The evaluation process considers a range of factors including:
- community outcomes
- risk reduction
- resource efficiency
- organisational learning
- alignment with the community risk management plan
This approach provides greater assurance regarding the effectiveness of partnership activity and supports evidence-based decision making when reviewing existing arrangements or considering future opportunities.