About West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service
About West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service
West Sussex County Council is the Fire Authority with statutory
responsibility under the Fire
and Rescue Services Act 2004 to provide a Fire and Rescue
Service for this county. West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service is the
specialist department of the County Council that carries out this
role, and whose main aim is to reduce the risks of people in West
Sussex being killed or seriously injured.
We also work to minimise the impact of emergencies on business
and the environment. All this is done through a combination of our
emergency response and targeted safety initiatives to prevent
accidents and emergencies happening in the first instance.
With an annual budget of £32 million, the county has 25 fire
stations that operate under 3 different crewing systems – retained,
wholetime and variable – and all our stations provide 24-hour
cover. Throughout West Sussex there are a total of 800 operational
officers and firefighters, plus 115 staff in key support roles.
Our Service Headquarters and Senior Leadership Team are situated
in Chichester, but we have staff working in different locations
across West Sussex.
In addition to this we have specialist teams working in
community protection, fire investigation and arson reduction,
legislative enforcement of fire safety laws, and workshops that
maintain our fleet of 40 fire engines plus other specialist
vehicles.
Although we are financed and run by the County Council, our
performance is also subject to national guidelines. The
Government's priorities and targets for the Fire Service are set
out in the National Framework document.
Supporting document
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Service Plan
Fire and Rescue Services in the UK are required to assess the
risks to their local community and publish an Integrated Risk
Management Plan (IRMP) on how they propose to reduce the number of
people killed or injured in emergencies.
In West Sussex we incorporate the principles of an IRMP into a
5-year Service Plan which explains how we will achieve our vision
of making our county a safer place to live, work and visit.
We take into account the requirements of the Government, partner
agencies and local communities. We also look at the risks and
pressures facing West Sussex and the Fire and Rescue Service as
illustrated in the County Profile.
From this assessment of risk we also set out what we want to
achieve each year in an annual Action Plan.
Supporting documents
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Strategic aims
We want to make West Sussex a safer place to live, work and
visit, achievable through our 5 strategic aims.
- Reducing the number of
emergency incidents and their consequences
- Working with our partners
to build a safer, stronger, healthier and more sustainable
community
- Safe, healthy and
competent employees
- Value for money
services
- Reducing our impact on the
environment
How will this be achieved?
- We will be a highly effective emergency response service with
well-focussed prevention activities.
- We will work with our partners and our community.
- We will ensure we are well trained, well informed, and reflect
the diversity of the community we serve.
- We will deliver our service efficiently.
- We will continue to develop a sustainable organisation with a
culture that values the environment.
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