At the meeting of the Council on 3 November 2022, the following matters were raised by Elected Members during the annual scrutiny of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
Information requested is now detailed below.
1. Pathways and Criteria for Accessing Home Fire Safety Visits
The criteria for accessing the Home Fire Safety Visits (HFSV) is open and offers a HFSV to any member of the public who is referred to by another agency, or who requests a visit at community safety engagements, by telephoning their local fire station or by making a request via the online portal of the SFRS website.
The attached link provides online advice as well as information on how to request a visit online, by telephone or by text. This can also be completed by a friend or relative as a referral form for someone else HSFV Visit Information
SFRS enjoy positive working relationships with all community planning partners and key relevant departments within the Council, this includes Social Work, Alcohol and Drug Addiction Partnership members, Police Scotland and many community groups. A number of referrals for HFSVs are also received from a wide variety of sources, who may have encountered concerns in the course of their daily work activities, involving vulnerable members of communities.
SFRS representatives carry out the visits and provide advice can also provide assistance with installations where deemed appropriate.
As reported earlier this year, the Council had received an initial funding package of £30,000 from Care & Repair Scotland to support the installation of detectors as part of the Care & Repair offering to those residents in East Dunbartonshire eligible to use the service.
In order to determine eligibility for Care and Repair, residents interested in the scheme should contact the Council’s Customer Services on 0300 1234510 where they will be asked set questions in order to establish whether they are eligible for assistance. The details of those qualifying for assistance will thereafter be forwarded to the Care & Repair team who will make arrangements to install the alarms. The Care & Repair team will supply and fit the alarms with no charge to the resident.
The eligibility criteria, as set by the Scottish Government/Care & Repair Scotland, is as follows:
- You must live and own your home that has a Council Tax banding of A-C.
- You must also either be of state pension age and in receipt of guaranteed Pension Credit, or have a disability and be in a support group for Employment and Support Allowance.
Residents who do not meet the criteria described above, will be referred by Customer Services to SFRS, where they can request a HFSV and receive practical advice and assistance as deemed required.
2. Data analysis on domestic and non-domestic fire statistics for Ward 4, Bishopbriggs North & Campsie
The detail shown below breaks down the incident data analysis for the total number of incidents and incident types attended by SFRS during the Scrutiny Review Period from 1 April 2021 until 31 March 2022 within Ward 4, Bishopbriggs and North Campsie.
- 227 Incidents
- 0 Fire Fatalities
- 1 Non-Fatal Fire Casualty
- 5 Accidental Dwelling Fires
For the 7 Key Performance Indicators –
- 45 Deliberate Fires
- 24 Accidental Fires
- 1 Fatal and Non Fatal Fire Casualty
- 6 Non=Domestic Fires
- 30 Specialist Service Incidents
- 3 Road Traffic Collision Casualties
- 120 False Alarms
As described above, 45 deliberate fires were recorded that year the highest number were within the month of April totalling 16. The greatest proportion of these occurred on a Saturday around 20:00hrs. This spike of deliberate fires is a consistent pattern seen across Scotland and tends to coincide with the beginning of spring, improved weather and the Easter school holidays.
Prevention work is incorporated into SFRS’s Thematic Action Plans. Further, during the run up to this period SFRS increase community engagement activity with schools delivering key safety messages.
Further information on Scottish Fire and Rescue Service data and statistics is available through contacting Evonne Bauer.