Questions around surge teams
What will the hours, wages and shifts be for surge teams? How exactly will they work? What will be the eligibility requirements and what will their contracts look like?
The service is working on a starting proposal to include more detail for an evening shift and surge shift. It will provide details on competence expectations, working hours, who can access these shifts, numbers of personnel required and remuneration. We are aiming to convey this information to our staff during February and we will invite staff to feed back their views on these proposals. Any proposed changes to terms & conditions will be subject to subsequent formal staff consultation and negotiation with relevant representative bodies.
The eligibility criteria for a surge contract is that a firefighter should be competent, therefore recruitment could be from internal or over border services. Exact contract details will be dependent on the outcomes of the public consultation. This also will include the trade union collective bargaining process and any subsequent formal staff consultation.
Can on-call development firefighters join the surge teams or take on part-time shifts?
The service we will do everything possible to enable any on-call firefighter in development demonstrating the values of the organisation to transition across onto the evening shifts and surge teams.
What is the guarantee that anyone wants to participate in the surge teams?
There is no guarantee, however, the service hopes that current staff will want to take the opportunity to undertake the new working patterns. The extension of five minute turn in time to a maximum two hour turn in time allows more flexibility for both employers and firefighters to be involved in the surge teams, unlike the current on-call model.
What will happen if not enough staff sign up to the surge teams or the evening shifts?
On-call availability has reduced already and attraction, recruitment and retention has become more difficult, this is a national trend. The current fire cover is not guaranteed or available when activity levels are highest. The aim of these changes is to become more resilient and sustainable with a guaranteed level of fire cover, therefore no change is not an option.
If there isn't sufficient interest from existing members of staff the service would explore alternative recruitment opportunities, for example, this could include eligible staff from other fire and rescue services. In addition to this the service may consider alternative shift systems which may be proposed through staff engagement and public consultation.
Can firefighters sign up to be on a surge team shift before or after another wholetime shift?
We are considering this in line with the working time directive and relevant health & safety legislation. Any proposed changes to terms & conditions will be subject to subsequent formal staff consultation and negotiation with relevant representative bodies.
Could the idea of surge teams be used within the current on-call model? If so, why was this never considered to fix the on-call problems?
The concept of surge teams and evening shifts are a modernisation of the on-call model taking into account the societal changes that impact availability. Surge teams operate like on-call but with a more flexible turn in time.
Surge teams are only one element of the current proposed model and they are intrinsically linked to other proposed changes. Surge teams introduced in isolation would not address the 4 key issues:
- Resource configurations do not align to risk or demand
- Attendance times to incidents countywide are not being met
- On-call fire appliance availability is reducing significantly
- Some of our shift systems are not nationally accepted and have been subject to legal challenge nationally.
If we can guarantee surge teams on contract, why has this not been looked at for on-call when you would have an immediate response?
The current on-call system operated within Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service works on proximity from the fire station due to a five minute turn in time, this restricts availability and recruitment. The surge team guarantees availability and has less restrictions around proximity and turn in time.
Will Fire Control (999 call operators) be responsible for mobilising the surge teams? If so, what impact will this have on their roles?
Fire Control will continue to be critical to the mobilisation of any appliances, and any impact on their current role expectations will be assessed. We continue to look at the impact of the proposed model across all areas of the service to ensure we have the right resources in the right place at the right time. The business rules for mobilising surge teams are to be confirmed pending outcomes of the consultation process.
How will mobilisation of the surge teams be managed?
Control will continue to mobilise all WFRS resources as it does currently. WFRS is introducing a control resilience team to support the function during periods of high demand or spate conditions. The Operations Room function also provides support during High demand or surge events.
Surge teams will be available to be mobilised during surge events, spate conditions and high demand. The surge teams will provide an ability to mobilise firefighters within specified time periods, to make available additional fire appliances to meet this surge in activity, for example flooding, wildfires or periods of high demand.
The service is listening to all the feedback and will be holding workshops with our staff during the consultation period to further understand how we can best use this surge capability. We will then use the outcomes from these workshops and the consultation responses to develop a final proposal.
Will the surge teams have a scaled call in time, for example, four surge teams available - 1 available within 30 mins, 1 within 1 hour, next 2 within 2 hours?
The proposed model aims to use the surge teams in the most flexible way possible with the ability to mobilise firefighters in different numbers and at different times to meet the needs of the incident. The Response Managers are currently working on a starting proposal to include more detail for surge teams. We are aiming to convey this information during February and we will invite staff to feed back their views on these proposals.
What is the resilience for surge teams if firefighters are absent?
In the event of absence the remaining crew members would be utilised in the most effective way.
What would be the contingency if the surge teams were not enough, or if the incident require more resource than available?
In their very nature, surge teams provide the guaranteed resilience. The current proposal does not replace the established and well rehearsed 13/16 arrangements (support from other fire services) set out in the Fire services Act or National Resilience capability.
What is the incident or service criteria for a surge team being mobilised?
The surge teams would be mobilised to provide resilience during times of high demand or spate conditions, such as multiple incidents occurring simultaneously.
What are the practicalities of the Surge team? i.e. will individuals be on alerters, what is the shift pattern?
The method of alerting Surge teams is to be confirmed, one option may be to adopt existing arrangements via a personal issue pager. The Response Managers are currently working on a starting proposal to include more detail for surge teams. It will provide details on competence expectations, working hours, who can access these shifts, numbers of personnel required and remuneration. We are aiming to convey this information via an online presentation during February and we will invite staff to feed back their views on these proposals at the presentation itself and then subsequent workshops.
What guarantee is there that surge teams won't be used to bolster resources when other than spate conditions or times of stretched resources?
Surge teams are not intended to bolster resources they will be utilised to provide guaranteed resilience.
Who will be responsible for checking and maintaining surge team appliances and equipment?
In line with current working practices all equipment will be checked under the proposed model to ensure it is safe to use. Further workshops relating to equipment will determine how these will be undertaken.
Where will fire kit be kept particularly for the surge teams?
Surge teams would be allocated to a station where they would keep their Personal Protective Equipment.
What vehicles will be kept on surge stations?
Surge teams will be deployed using existing front line fire appliances.
Will there be fire appliances based at the fire stations with surge teams?
In the proposed model, a fire appliance has been allocated to each fire station with a surge team.
Can surge teams be located out of town to support travel times?
In the proposed model, a fire appliance has been allocated to each fire station with a surge team. Firefighters working the surge team system will be allocated to a fire station.
Why have the surge pump numbers changed between options 1 and 2?
All options provided different configurations that were considered by Cabinet.
Will members of public see the surge stations as effectively station closures?
One of the key challenges of the Resourcing to Risk Programme is on-call availability. Currently we have fire appliances located on stations that are not available to respond. Under the current proposal WFRS will move from 11 guaranteed fire appliances in the day and 9 at night, to 20 in the day/evening (08:00-22:00) and 16 at night (22:00-08:00). Surge teams form part of this guaranteed response, and will serve us really well during 'sudden onset' large incident and' rising tide' such as flooding and heatwave conditions. No Stations will close as part of the resource to risk proposal. All stations will have a fire appliance, and all stations will have allocated firefighters who will respond to that location when needed.
Why is the number of Surge teams different to the number of Surge stations?
The proposed model has been costed based on 8 surge teams, the service currently has 7 locations where these teams will be based. The remaining surge team location is being considered by Response Managers and will be considered by the programme working groups.
Can wholetime firefighters carry out surge in their normal working hours?
Wholetime operational staff whilst on duty crewing front line appliances cannot simultaneously provide a surge team capability. Wholetime operational staff working in service departments may potentially be able to carry out surge shifts.
The service is considering options in line with the working time directive and relevant health & safety legislation and is currently working on a starting proposal to include more detail for an evening shift and surge shift. It will provide details on competence expectations, working hours, who can access these shifts, numbers of personnel required and remuneration. We are aiming to convey this information via an online presentation during February and we will invite staff to feed back their views on these proposals at the presentation itself and then subsequent workshops. Any proposed changes to terms & conditions will be subject to subsequent formal staff consultation and negotiation with relevant representative bodies.