Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service

Lowestoft South Fire Station

1 Introduction

Suffolk Fire & Rescue Service (SFRS) is expecting, and preparing, to make savings in excess of £1m by 2018 due to changes in the level of grant funding available. Work has been undertaken to identify the likely impact of the anticipated funding reductions on the services we provide and examine how we may need to deliver our services in the future. This document supports the Fire and Rescue Authority’s Integrated Risk Management Plan and provides information about the emergency response arrangements in Lowestoft, where there are two fire stations:  Lowestoft North  Lowestoft South

The document provides information on;  The local area, risk, demographics and likely future development  Lowestoft South fire station and the next nearest stations  How we respond to emergencies  Performance information for the fire station  The 999 emergencies attended  The likely impact of the proposed change, should this be agreed and implemented.

2 Summary

Current Position There are two fire stations in Lowestoft:  Lowestoft North, and  Lowestoft South

Lowestoft North fire station There is one fire engine at the station; this is crewed by on-call firefighters.

Lowestoft South fire station There are three fire engines at the station; one is crewed by full-time firefighters and two by on-call firefighters. One of these fire engines doubles as an Enhanced Rescue Tender (ERT). There is also a specialist water rescue vehicle, rescue boat and Unimog off-road vehicle based at the station. In 2014/15 there were 575 emergency callouts in the Lowestoft area, of these 343 (60%) were false alarms. The fire engines in Lowestoft were deployed in total on 792 occasions in Lowestoft, the surrounding area and occasionally further afield.

Proposal The proposal is to remove one on-call fire engine from Lowestoft South fire station. This would provide Lowestoft with one full-time crewed fire engine and two on-call fire engines.

3 Lowestoft The Place Lowestoft is located on the Suffolk coastline to the north of the county and near to the Norfolk border. It is 45 miles from Ipswich, 10 miles south of Great Yarmouth and 28 miles from Norwich. The town has both business and residential areas, with the main shopping area lying just to the north of Lake Lothing. The town has a significant commercial and industrial centre and is one of the leading hubs in the UK for the renewable energy industry, with OrbisEnergy and Sembmarine SLP both based in the town. The tourism sector in Lowestoft means that the town’s population can increase significantly in the summer months and there are many hotels and boarding houses which provide accommodation for visitors. The town is dissected by the inner harbour and Lake Lothing. The main A12 road from London to Great Yarmouth passes through Lowestoft, crossing the harbour via the Bascule Bridge. The A146 links Lowestoft with Beccles and Norwich, and there is a second road crossing over Lake Lothing at Oulton Broad on the A1117 (Bridge Road). Both bridges can be raised where vessels need to pass through the harbour and Lake Lothing and this can cause congestion in the town. A third crossing of Lowestoft Harbour has been proposed but detailed plans have yet to be agreed. Lowestoft railway station is in the centre of the town and provides services to Ipswich on the East Suffolk Line and to Norwich along the Wherry Line. The suburb of Oulton Broad has two stations: Oulton Broad North station lies on the line to Norwich, while Oulton Broad South is on the line to Ipswich.

The People Lowestoft is Suffolk's second largest town with a population of approximately 60,000 and is expected to continue to grow. Approximately 10% of the population is over 75 and 20% under 16. The Service has access to a range of data about the diversity of household types across the town. This profiling provides information regarding vulnerability of citizens, which helps prioritise and focus our fire prevention and education activities. The English Indices of Deprivation 2010 define specific forms of deprivation experienced by people. Seven factors are taken into account; 1. Income 2. Employment status 3. Health and disability 4. Education, skills and training 5. Barriers to housing and services 6. Living environment 7. Crime

4 There is a direct correlation between high multiples of deprivation and crime and the potential for a fire to occur in the home.

The areas of highest deprivation are on the coast near to Lowestoft North fire station, in the wards of Harbour, Normanston and St Margret’s. There is one ward of very high deprivation in the Lowestoft South station area which is Kirkley and there are also pockets of high deprivation in Pakefield and Whitton. Figure 1 (below) shows the areas of deprivation in Lowestoft (green being the least deprived and red the most deprived areas) and their proximity to the two Lowestoft fire stations.

Figure 1: Indices of Deprivation for Lowestoft (and surrounding areas)

Future Development

The Waveney Core Strategy indicates that 6,960 homes are being planned for up to 2025. This development is predicted for Lowestoft, particularly in the Lake Lothing and Outer Harbour area, which would take around 1,500 of the District’s total target of new homes. Some of the larger developments (100+ houses) are detailed below;  Kirkley waterfront - 1,430 homes  Justified windfall sites - 233 (subdivisions, flats over shops, previously developed land and intensification)  Woods Meadow, land off Hall Lane, Oulton - 800 homes  Phase 3 Park, Meadows Oulton - 119 homes,  Small sites with outline consent - 420 homes.

There are a number of other proposed projects which are less than 100 dwellings.

5 Lowestoft South and Lowestoft North fire stations Lowestoft fire stations There are two fire stations in Lowestoft:  Lowestoft South fire station  Lowestoft North fire station

The stations are approximately 2.9 miles apart. Four fire engines are provided in Lowestoft, one is an on-call crewed fire engine at Lowestoft North and three are at Lowestoft South fire station (details below and overleaf).

Lowestoft North fire station Lowestoft North fire station is situated on Normanston Drive, Lowestoft, north of Lake Lothing, the inner harbour and the Bascule Bridge. It was built in 2010 as part of the County Council’s private finance contract.

The station is shared with the East Anglian Ambulance Service who use it as an operational response base. The fire station is crewed by up to 11 on-call firefighters. They are typically available within 5-8 minutes because the firefighters need to travel to the station from home or work after being alerted to emergencies by our 999 Control.

6 Lowestoft South fire station Lowestoft South fire station is located on Stradbroke Road, Lowestoft, to the south of Lake Lothing, the inner harbour and the Bascule Bridge. It was built in 2009 as part of the County Council’s private finance contract and at the same time the fire engines and firefighters were relocated from the old site at Normanston Drive in Lowestoft, to the current site.

The station has 3 fire engines one of which doubles as an Emergency Rescue Tender which carries specialist equipment for dealing with a range of rescues, predominately road traffic collisions. The station also has several specialist rescue vehicles; a Water Rescue Vehicle, Rescue Boat and Unimog off road vehicle. The station is shared with the East Anglian Ambulance Service who use it as an operational response base. The station has 28 full-time (up to 7 on duty at any one time) and 21 on-call firefighters. One fire engine is crewed by the full-time firefighters who provide an immediate response on a 24/7 basis. The second and third fire engines are crewed by on-call firefighters and are typically available within 5-8 minutes (though this can vary) because the firefighters need to travel to the station from home or work after being alerted to emergencies by our 999 Combined Fire Control. The 4 closest fire stations to Lowestoft South fire station are:  Lowestoft North - 2.9 miles;  Wrentham - 6.1 miles;  Beccles - 7.7 miles  Reydon & Southwold - 9.4 miles.

7 Other fire stations are also located nearby in Norfolk:  Gorleston – 11.3 miles  Great Yarmouth - 12.2 miles

Figure 2 (below) shows the location of the fire stations closest to Lowestoft South.

Figure 2: Lowestoft and the surrounding area

8 Responding to 999 Emergencies

Over the last five years there were 3,395 emergency calls in the Lowestoft area; 1,926 of these (57%) turned out to be false alarms.

In 2014/15 there were 204 emergencies in the Lowestoft South and 371 in the Lowestoft North response areas a total of 575; of these 343 (60%) were false alarms. The crews had a further 217 deployments to emergencies either; when more than one fire engine was required at an emergency in Lowestoft or to support other fire engines at emergencies outside of the Lowestoft area. There was also 18 emergencies attended over-the-border into Norfolk. Figure 3 (overleaf) compares emergency callouts in the Lowestoft South and North areas along with the emergency callouts for the remaining fire stations in Suffolk during 2014/15. A significant proportion of the Lowestoft emergencies are in the north of Lowestoft, the crews at Lowestoft South would generally attend these emergencies because they are full-time firefighters who are able to respond quicker than the on-call firefighters at Lowestoft North. Lowestoft North on-call fire engine will also attend these emergencies where a second fire engine or more resources are required.

9 Figure 3: 2014/15 Emergencies in the area local to each station

10 Figure 4 (below) shows the type of emergency calls, from 2010 to 2015, within the Lowestoft South and North station areas. The chart shows that in 2014/15, 343 calls (60%) were false alarms. Primary and secondary fires comprise the next two largest groups followed by special service calls then road traffic collisions. The chart shows the reduction in emergency call volumes in Lowestoft since 2010, a pattern that is consistent with Suffolk and nationally across the fire service. Across the 5 year period there has been an overall reduction of emergencies from 868 to 575 which equates to a reduction of approximately 34%. The graph shows that the call volume has been largely stable in the last 4 years.

To assist with interpreting the figures: 1. False alarms - where there is no fire or emergency 2. Secondary fires - small fires which start in, and are confined to, outdoor locations 3. Primary fires - more serious fires in buildings, caravans or trailers, vehicles and other methods of transport 4. Special services - not involving fire but including rescues from machinery, water or height, hazardous material emergencies or animal rescues etc. 5. Road traffic collisions (RTC’s) - incidents involving vehicles.

Figure 4: Types of emergency that have occurred in the Lowestoft area over the last five years

11 Figure 5 (below) shows the location of emergencies attended by Lowestoft South fire engines both in the stations local response area and in the surrounding areas. The total deployments, by Lowestoft fire crews, in 2014/15 was 792.

Figure 5: Emergencies attended by Lowestoft South fire engines 2014/15

Casualties Figure 6 (below) shows the number of casualties and fatalities from fires, road traffic collisions and special service emergencies attended by firefighters in Lowestoft between 2010 and 2015.

The numbers of fatalities in Lowestoft and Suffolk remains very low.

Most casualties and fatalities can be attributed to road traffic collisions. Special Services can include casualties or fatalities from a range of different incidents such as suicide and body recovery to assist the Police, or rescue from height, ice/water or other type of emergency.

Figure 6: Casualties and fatalities over 5 years

Casualties Fatalities Incident Category 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Fires 8 8 2 5 5 1 0 0 1 0 RTCs 14 1 8 5 14 1 0 1 0 1 Other Special Services 5 4 3 11 7 2 1 0 1 2

12 Number of Fire Engines at Emergencies

Figure 7 (below) shows the number of emergency calls in the Lowestoft area and the number of fire engines required to deal with these calls. For example, the first row in the table shows there were 467 (64%) emergencies in the Lowestoft area which were all dealt with by one fire engine. The number of fire engines required, shown in the shaded area, may also include a small number of specialist vehicles. Most emergencies in the in the Lowestoft area required only 1 fire engine. Only 29 emergencies (5%) required 3 or more fire engines and only 7 (1%) required 4 fire engines or more.

Figure 7: Suffolk fire engines required per incident in the Lowestoft area - 2014/15

Emergencies in Lowestoft

Number of Number of emergencies in Number of Suffolk fire the Lowestoft area Emergencies engines as a % required per emergency 1 467 81% 2 79 14% 3 22 4% 4 4 <1% 5 1 <1% 6 1 <1% 7 1 <1% Total 575

Figure 8 (overleaf) illustrates the time of day emergencies have occurred over the last five years within Lowestoft. The pattern of emergency calls by hour of the day in Lowestoft is broadly consistent the rest of the county. The emergency call numbers grow during the day and peak at 17:00 hours. Calls drop overnight with the quietest period being at 06:00 hours.

13 Figure 8: 2010-2015 Incidents in the Lowestoft response areas by hour of the day

Hours of the day

14 Speed of Response

There are no longer any national standards for fire services to respond to emergencies. Response standards are now determined locally by the Fire Authority. The current response standards for fire engines in Suffolk are:  Response standard 1 - first fire engine to attend property fires within 11 minutes of alert, to be achieved 80% of occasions.  Response standard 2 - second fire engine to attend all property fires within 16 minutes of alert, to be achieved 80% of occasions.  Response standard 3 - first fire engine to attend road traffic collisions within 13 minutes of alert, to be achieved 80% of occasions.

Figure 9 (below) shows the performance of the fire engines at Lowestoft South and North fire stations against these standards over a 5 year period.

Figure 9: Lowestoft Response Standards

Fire Engine Response Standard Performance Standard 2010-15 Property fire - 1st fire engine in 11 mins 91.6% (357 emergencies) Lowestoft South Property fire – 2nd fire Fire Engine 1 engine in 16 mins 81.36% (59 emergencies)

Road Traffic Collision – 1st fire engine in 13 mins 77.78% (18 emergencies) Property fire - 1st fire engine in 11 mins 87.5% (8 emergencies) Lowestoft South Property fire – 2nd fire Fire Engine 2 engine in 16 mins 98.53% (68 emergencies)

Road Traffic Collision – 1st fire engine in 13 mins No data (0 emergencies) Property fire - 1st fire Lowestoft South engine in 11 mins 90.91% (11 emergencies) Fire Engine 3 Property fire – 2nd fire (ERT) engine in 16 mins 89.74% (39 emergencies) Road Traffic Collision – 1st fire engine in 13 mins 90.91% (77 emergencies) Property fire - 1st fire engine in 11 mins 87.5% (40 emergencies) Lowestoft North Property fire – 2nd fire Fire Engine engine in 16 mins 97.27% (110 emergencies)

Road Traffic Collision – 1st fire engine in 13 mins 83.33% (12 emergencies)

15 Figure 10 (below) shows the response times into the Lowestoft area by Lowestoft and neighbouring fire engines between 2010 and 2015. This indicates that on average the Lowestoft South first fire engine takes 7 minutes and 48 seconds, the Lowestoft North fire engine takes on average 9 minutes and 58 seconds, and the Reydon and Southwold fire engine takes on average 20 minutes and 59 seconds, to arrive at emergencies in Lowestoft.

Figure 10: Time for fire engines to respond to all Lowestoft area emergencies from 2010-2015

Station Average Time to Number Lowestoft South incidents (mins/secs) Lowestoft South 1st fire engine 7:48 3,032 Lowestoft South 2nd fire engine 11:40 261 Lowestoft South 3rd fire engine 9:08 263 Lowestoft North 09:58 462 Reydon and Southwold 20:59 12 Wrentham 17:35 14 Beccles 21.09 26

On-call Firefighter Availability – Lowestoft South All of the 35 fire stations across Suffolk have a complement of on-call firefighters and 29 stations are crewed solely by on-call firefighters. The nature of the on-call firefighter duty system is such that we are not always able to guarantee the availability of on-call fire engines in the same way we can for full- time crewed fire engines. This is largely because on-call firefighters have primary employment outside of the fire and rescue service and are not always available to respond to emergencies. On-call fire station availability is generally good at nights and weekends. This can reduce significantly, particularly during weekdays, when on-call firefighters are often at work in their primary employment at a location away from the fire station. There are times in the weekday where several on-call fire stations may be unavailable at the same time. This is a pattern that is reflected across the UK fire service. Figures 11, 12, 13 and 14 (overleaf) set out the availability of on-call fire engines at Lowestoft fire stations over a four-year period and that for the whole of Suffolk. The availability of the first on-call fire engine at Lowestoft South is very good.

16 Figure 11: Lowestoft South 1st fire engine availability

Lowestoft South 1st Fire Engine (on-call) 100.00 90.00 80.00

70.00 60.00 50.00 Mon-Fri 08:00 - 18:00 40.00 Mon-Thur 18:00 - 08:00 Percentage 30.00 Weekend (Fri 18:00-Mon 08:00) 20.00 10.00 0.00 Available Available Available Available 2011 2012 2013 2014

Figure 12: Lowestoft South 2nd fire engine availability

Lowestoft South 2nd Fire Engine (on-call) 100.00 90.00 80.00

70.00 60.00 50.00 Mon-Fri 08:00 - 18:00 40.00 Mon-Thur 18:00 - 08:00 Percentage 30.00 Weekend (Fri 18:00-Mon 08:00) 20.00 10.00 0.00 Available Available Available Available 2011 2012 2013 2014

The figure above shows that the availability of the second on-call fire engine at Lowestoft South is below the current average availability of all on-call fire engines across Suffolk, shown in Figure 14 (overleaf).

17 Figure 13: Lowestoft North on-call availability

Lowestoft North (on-call) 100.00 90.00 80.00

70.00 60.00 50.00 Mon-Fri 08:00 - 18:00 40.00 Mon-Thur 18:00 - 08:00 Percentage 30.00 Weekend (Fri 18:00-Mon 08:00) 20.00 10.00 0.00 Available Available Available Available 2011 2012 2013 2014

The figure above shows that the availability of the on-call fire engine at Lowestoft North is better than the second on-call fire engine at Lowestoft South (Figure 12).

Figure 14: Suffolk FRS – All on-call fire engine availability

SFRS all on-call fire engine availability between Jan 2014 - Jan 2015

100

95 96.09% 90 92.86%

85

80 82.87% Percentage availability of 75 Mon - Fri (08:00 - 18:00) Mon - Thu (18:00 - 08:00) Weekend (Fri 18:00 - Mon 08:00) Times of the day

18 Financial Context

The annual cost of running Lowestoft South fire station is approximately £1,949,856. This includes:  Firefighter salaries;  Uniform and firefighting clothing;  Training costs;  Utility bills;  Rates;  Station/grounds maintenance;  Appliance and equipment replacement costs, and  Vehicle maintenance.

The annual cost of the Private Finance Initiative facilities management contract is £482,082; however, 66% of these costs are met by Central Government through payment of annual PFI credits. These costs are detailed below in Figure 15 (below).

Figure 15: Financial breakdown – Lowestoft South

Lowestoft South £65,070 £74,692 £18,700 £29,500 Government PFI Credits £321,388 PFI Property costs £1,830 £160,694 Staff Costs Utilities £1,277,982 Uniform Rates Appliances Equipment

19 Impact Assessment

Proposal The proposal is to retain the two fire stations in Lowestoft and remove one of the two on-call fire engines from Lowestoft South. This would provide Lowestoft with three fire engines; two at Lowestoft South, one crewed by full-time and one by on-call firefighters and one on-call crewed fire engine at Lowestoft North fire station.

Operational Impact Two fire engines and a range of specialist vehicles will be based at Lowestoft South fire station. One of the fire engines will be crewed by full-time firefighters and one by on-call firefighters. In the event of an incident in Lowestoft requiring more than two fire engines then the next nearest fire engines would be sent. Lowestoft North fire station is just 2.9 miles from Lowestoft South fire station. With fewer fire engines in Lowestoft there is an increased likelihood that all of the fire engines will be committed to an incident. If this is the case then a fire engine from a surrounding fire station will be sent to a fire station in Lowestoft to provide ‘stand-by’ cover in the event of a further 999 call. The on-call firefighters in Lowestoft attend relatively few incidents – less than 175 in total in 2014/15. A reduction in the number of fire engines will result in the remaining fire engines being busier than is currently the case. The on-call fire stations surrounding Lowestoft are also expected to attend more incidents if this proposal is agreed. It should be noted that there is a further proposal to close Wrentham fire station which is 6.1miles from Lowestoft South fire station. Over the last 5 years the average response time to all emergencies in Lowestoft by the three fire engines based at Lowestoft South was 9 minutes and 32 seconds. For the majority of emergencies the time taken for the first and second fire engines to arrive will remain unchanged. The reduction in the number of fire engines in the town would mean that it would be likely there will be an increase in response times when the three remaining fire engines are already committed to an emergency and a further fire engine or engines are required in Lowestoft at the same or a different incident. The reduction in the number of firefighters will have an impact on the number of firefighters trained to respond with the specialist appliances based at Lowestoft South. Arrangements will be made to ensure that an appropriate number of firefighters are trained to operate these appliances and support emergency incidents. Where appropriate alternative arrangements will be made to crew these vehicles. Reducing the overall number of firefighters and resources in Lowestoft could, on occasions, impact on the Service’s resilience and ability to deal with large emergencies in the county or a large number of smaller emergencies. This risk is mitigated by being able to call upon fire engines and firefighters from the remaining 33 fire stations across the county. Further support is also available from neighbouring fire and rescue services.

Financial Impact Removing one on-call crewed fire engine from Lowestoft South fire station would result in a saving of approximately £62,000 per annum.

20