ITEM NO Community Safety WYFRA 10 February 2012 Committee 5 REPORT OF: DIRECTOR OF FIRE SAFETY PURPOSE OF REPORT: TO REPORT ON THE PROGRESS OF THE YOUNG FIREFIGHTERS SCHEME DURING 2010/11 RECOMMENDATION: THAT MEMBERS NOTE THE CONTENTS OF THE REPORT LOCAL GOVERNMENT (ACCESS TO INFORMATION) ACT DETAILS EXEMPTION CATEGORY: NONE ACCESS CONTACT OFFICER: Gayle Elvidge, Safety Central Manager 01133874360 BACKGROUND PAPERS OPEN TO INSPECTION: None SUMMARY The Scheme continues to attract interest from schools, statutory bodies and partner agencies every year. It is a beacon of good practice for West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) in young people’s off-site learning provision. There are currently 32 BTEC courses catering for the needs over 350 students operating from 10 stations across West Yorkshire. 110 fully trained instructors currently deliver the training as overtime which is paid for by the participating organisation or school. 2011 saw the 7th annual pass out parade at Headquarters with 212 students gaining the level 2 BTEC from across West Yorkshire. The two-year BTEC remains popular with schools. However, where an organisation or school is unable to fund a full two-year programme, the short courses offer an excellent alternative with schools frequently following this up with commitment to the full course when funding arrangements change. A suite of short courses have been developed and delivered over the past year at the request of partner agencies and tailored to the needs of each group, with over 220 young people attending. These have included young people referred from, Pupil Referral Units, Youth Offending Team, Signpost, East Moor Secure Children’s Centre, Nacro, Barnardo’s, Aspire-i, West Yorkshire Probation Trust (Intensive Alternative to Custody) and Targeted Youth Support. The programmes are funded by the organisations which request them. Further courses of this type are planned to run later in the year and into 2012 on a rolling programme. 1. BACKGROUND 1.1 The Young Fire Fighters Scheme (YFFS) was originally conceived in Wakefield as a response to antagonism directed at Fire-fighters when attending incidents in particular areas of the district 1.2 The scheme was so successful in engaging with young people in a positive manner, and influencing a real change in the attitude and behaviour towards the Service by young people and their families, that the decision was taken to expand the scheme across West Yorkshire. The scheme is now successfully mainstreamed within WYFRS and the intention exists to expand within the existing schemes based on: community need; continued availability of external funding streams within the districts; and capacity within the staffing structure to meet demand. What we have in West Yorkshire is viewed nationally as best practice and this was highlighted recently when Watch Manager Martin Hoole, manager of the YFF schemes, was awarded the Queens Fire Service Medal in November 2011 in recognition of his work. 1.3 Successful completion of the two year course results in the students achieving a BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) Level Two Qualification in the Fire and Rescue Service in the Community. This has gained approval from the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (OFQUAL) and is included on “the register of regulated qualifications” at both pre and post 16. The team has also been involved in the rewrite of the qualification to meet the governments newly introduced Qualification Credit Framework (QCF) which gained approval in April 2011. The content of the course includes practical lessons in the use of a variety of operational equipment, community fire safety, the function and structure of the Fire and Rescue Service and also covers general life and employability skills. 1.4 The target audience for the full BTEC is young people attending formal education who are between 14 and 16, who have been identified as being able to benefit from a practical element to their learning that takes place outside the traditional school environment, and who may be in a group that could pose a future risk for the Fire and Rescue Service. 2. INFORMATION 2.1 Two Year BTEC 2.1.1 There are currently 32 BTEC courses catering for the needs over 350 students operating from 10 stations across West Yorkshire. Stations involved are Castleford, Wakefield, Fairweather Green, Ossett, Dewsbury, Rothwell, Gipton, Huddersfield, Keighley and Halifax. 110 fully trained instructors currently deliver the training as overtime which is paid for by the participating organisation or school. 2.1.2 2011 saw the 7th annual pass out parade at Headquarters with 212 students in attendance from across the district. The event was very well attended with around 700 people in the audience over the two nights including head teachers, school staff, parents, families, carers and WYFRS staff. The two year BTEC remains popular with schools across the district, however, where an organisation or school is unable to fund a full two year programme, the short courses offer an excellent alternative with schools following this up with commitment to the full course when funding arrangements change. 2.1.3 Of the original 241 students who signed up 226 proceeded to complete the full 2 year BTEC course in 2011; a completion rate of 93.8%. 29 students passed the course to Award level, 174 achieved the Certificate and 23 students achieved the Diploma. On completion of the BTEC 96% of students went into further education, 2% into employment, 1% training and 1% was recorded as “other”. These outcomes are particularly of interest considering that the introduction of Raising the Participation Age1 has not affected this cohort of Young Fire Fighters. The young people involved in many of the Young Fire Fighter programmes who are currently in mainstream education have in the majority of cases been identified as being at risk of disengaging from formal education or have been identified as being able to benefit from learning outside of the classroom environment and unlikely to continue in education. This success rate further demonstrates the impact this course has on raising aspirations and educational attainment. Following last years annual report a measure of the change in young people’s aspirations has been included in the two year course and will be available for next years graduates. All short courses now include pre and post course questionnaires and a review of evaluation methods applied to Young Fire Fighter courses is underway. 2.1.4 In addition to the full BTEC courses, a suite of short courses have been developed and delivered over the past year at the request of partner agencies and tailored to the needs of each particular group, with over 220 targeted young people attending. These have included young people referred from, Pupil Referral Units, Youth Offending Team, Signpost, East Moor Secure Unit, Nacro, Barnardo’s, Aspire-i, West Yorkshire Probation Trust (Intensive Alternative to Custody) and Targeted Youth Support. The programmes are funded by the organisations requesting them. Further courses of this type are planned to run later in the year and in to 2012 on a role on role off programme. 2.2 East Moor Secure Children’s Centre 2.2.1 East Moor secure children's centre in Leeds is a unit for young juveniles (predominantly from the Leeds area and likely to be released back into the Leeds area) who have committed the most serious crimes. An initial course was run as a pilot to trial the feasibility of running a course in the secure unit. The unit were asked to pinpoint participants known to be involved in deliberate fire setting, convicted arson, anti social behaviour and car crime. A four day kinaesthetic course was delivered, building an understanding and respect of the work of the Fire and Rescue Service and consequences of actions. The culmination of the four day course resulted in a small pass out parade in front of the unit staff, managers and other young people from the centre which was well received. Following the drill the young people involved personally thanked each of the Fire Service instructors showing great respect from a hard target group. 2.2.2 There is significant interest from the unit to develop this area of delivery and BTEC course. 2.3 Leeds Phoenix 2.3.1 The YFFS is contributing to the new Intensive Alternative to Custody Community Order (IAC) in partnership with the West Yorkshire Probation Trust and West Yorkshire Police. The overall objective of the order is the stabilisation and rehabilitating offenders in the community reducing risk in the area. 2.3.2 There will be two x ten week courses delivered at Gipton Fire Station as part of a larger IAC scheme. IAC is applicable to those offenders for whom the courts are considering a sentence of less than 12 months in prison. The intention is to contribute to the programme for those offenders’ whose crimes and life style 1 As part of the Spending Review and the White Paper, The Importance of Teaching, the Government confirmed its commitment to raising the participation age to 18 by 2015. could contribute to risk in the community that could affect the Fire and Rescue Service. The participants have committed a range of fire and road related offences including: TWOC (Taking Without Owners Consent); Aggravated TWOC; Failure to Stop; Dangerous Driving; Driving Whilst Disqualified; and Arson. However, offenders can often have multiple convictions and work with this type of group shows that participants have often been involved in other criminal or anti-social activity which may not have led to a conviction. As part of the order they will also be required to undertake unpaid work, this could be identified by our Arson Task Force teams in a “clear up” an area approach.