Performance Management

Comprehensive Performance Assessment 2007

I am delighted that the Audit Commission has judged that Suffolk Fire Authority is "Improving well" and "performing strongly across a range of indicators and represents excellent value for money".

The Audit Commission have recognised the considerable effort and achievements made by the Service in the last year. In particular, we have made improvements to our priority setting approach and have ensured that we support this with resources. We now have much better performance management information so we can more easily track how well we are doing and we will take remedial action, where necessary.

Lee Howell
Director of Public Protection &
Chief Fire Officer

Direction of Travel Scores
See how Suffolk compares with other Fire Authorities

Audit Commission Website
For more detail of the 2007 CPA assessment

Notice of Appointment of Date for the Exercise of Electors' Rights
Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2005
Date of Announcement: 31 March 2008

Performance Management

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service measures its performance through a range of statistical indicators. This information is displayed on our performance management system; PB Views, which is accessible to all stations and officers. The most important indicators are the Key Performance Indicators linked to the Key Objectives in the Service Plan.

Data is taken from several sources including Terian (for Community Safety and Fire Safety figures), Remsdaq (for Incident statistics and data relating to Best Value Performance Indicators) and CSD (for Human Resources data) and entered into the PB Views system.

The system compares actual data against previous year and targets. It is a ‘traffic lights’ system which uses five colours ranging from Dark Green (where performance significantly exceeds comparison with target or previous year performance) to Dark Red (where performance is significantly below target or previous year).

A regular performance report is given to Fire Strategy Group (senior managers of the Fire and Rescue Service) and is used to identify problems and to drive performance improvements.

For further information on PB Views please contact a member of the Corporate Improvement Team, based at Endeavour House.

Project Management

Performance is monitored through the Management Action Plan which combines the plans of each department within Suffolk Fire & Rescue Service. This plan is updated on a monthly basis by individual officers and reviewed by Fire Strategy.

1:1s

Individual’s performance is monitored through supervisory 1:1s which review work carried out and set objectives and priorities for future work. This system enables managers to review progress on a regular basis and ensure that work is directed towards corporate priorities. Personal objectives are linked to Key Objectives so individuals can clearly see how their work contributes to the priorities of the organisation.

Station Audits

Stations are audited every two years to ensure that high standards are being maintained.

Five areas are reviewed:

  • Station Administration
  • Premises
  • Station Crewing
  • Appliances & Equipment
  • Health & Safety

A team of auditors, including uniformed and non uniformed staff, visit each station in line with a planned programme. An audit report is issued and remedial action planned where necessary.

An annual summary of audit findings is presented to the Fire Management Team to ensure that strategic issues are highlighted.