Day Crewing 7

Update 03/04/23

Go-Live at Haywards Heath, Shoreham and Burgess Hill

With effect from 27 March 2023 7 Day Immediate Response went live at Haywards Heath, Shoreham and Burgess Hill, with all Day Crewing employees commencing their new individual underlying rota patterns under the Flexible Rostering Duty System.

Watch Managers at each of the stations continue to work with Service Delivery to maintain and support crewing through the remainder of 2023.

Video message from GM Mark Havell: https://youtu.be/pg3wMIQqgUQ

Shift Counter

Discussions are ongoing around a permanent solution to a reliable shift counter and updates on progress can be found on the Service Delivery decision and rationale log, (number 3) Decisions and Rationale (sharepoint.com)

Progress towards implementation – East Grinstead

Recruitment

At April 2023 the process is ongoing for the final Crew Manager position at East Grinstead. Additional Firefighter headcount has been temporarily placed into the Establishment numbers and additional support is being provided in liaison with the Watch Manager to ensure availability of Junior Officers within the new rota pattern.

Service Delivery are progressing solutions to support crewing from March 2023, subject to information from Watch Managers on Day Crewing stations identifying potential crewing gaps in the new underlying rota patterns on Flexible Rostering.

Underlying Rota Patterns

The agreed individual underlying rota patterns have been tested in Firewatch and are available on Firewatch Live for individuals to see their rota line and individual work pattern from April onwards for the remainder of 2023. Individuals should be aware of their projected working patterns, continue to plan and book annual leave locally with their Watch and Station Manager's to ensure advance notice of planned periods free of duty and to discuss any concerns with crewing for the initial 12 weeks of the new duty system as soon as they arise.

SOP

The over-arching Flexible Rostering standard operating procedure for Day Crewing 7 has been published and is available on the WSFRS sharepoint, including information specific to locally agreed underlying rota patterns. FRS Strategic Risk and Improvement - Flexible Rostering Duty System .pdf - All Documents (sharepoint.com)(External link)

Contract Amendments

Contract variation letters were issued to all affected employee’s via their WSFRS email on Friday 24 February 2023. The majority have been confirmed however Individuals are reminded of the request to contact People Support to confirm receipt and acceptance as detailed in the letter. If anyone did not receive their letter or has any questions they should discuss with their Watch Manager or Station Manager in the first instance.

Implementation Date

The implementation date for East Grinstead has been confirmed as 10 April 2023. Up to date information on the completion/achievement of the station’s progress towards implementation is available via the Traffic Light update on the Service Delivery Page on the WSFRS Sharepoint site. FRS Service Delivery - Home (sharepoint.com)(External link)

Next Steps

We continue to work towards an implementation/go-live date for Day Crewing 7 East Grinstead with effect from 10 April 2023.

Individuals are encouraged to continue to plan and book annual leave locally with their Watch and Station Manager's to ensure advance notice of planned periods free of duty and to discuss any concerns with crewing for the initial 12 weeks of the new duty system as soon as they arise. WSFRS will ensure additional support is available to Day Crewing Watch Managers in preparation for the planned changes and until we are confident that the systems and crewing are operating at business as usual.

Background

Full details of the proposals relating to Day Crewing in West Sussex and the consultation process can be found on the right hand side of this page under 'Related Projects'.

Following the review of Fire and Rescue risks within the County and development of the current CRMP, WSFRS committed to enhance and modernise our provision to cover at existing Day Crewing stations to seven days a week, 07:00 to 19:00, to align our resources to risk and enhance our rural prevention and protection activity. To align with this increased cover, proposals were developed for a Flexible Crewing shift system, Day Crewing 7 (DC7), to replace the existing Day Crewing Shift System and an increase to Headcount at each of the Day Crewing stations to allow for the additional shifts and maintain crewing levels. This would involve a contractual change to working patterns with no change to contracted working hours.

A formal consultation period was launched on 3 October 2022 with employees and Trade Unions, to consult on the proposed contractual change for a new Day Crewing shift system covering 7 days per week. Meetings were held on affected stations and virtually to seek views and provide information. Employees were also encouraged to utilise a dedicated email address and consultation web page to provide individual feedback and ask questions. An FAQ document was produced and available to respond to questions raised during the process in addition to direct communications with Group Managers, Station Managers and members of the project team. The consultation period ran until 1 November 2022.

Outcome of Consultation

Having taken into consideration the individual and collective comments and feedback through consultation it is clear that employees recognise and appreciate the importance of increasing wholetime immediate response cover at Day Crewed stations across the weekend to support and protect the community. WSFRS are grateful for the honesty, efforts and participation of all involved in the process. There has been a positive response to the proposals and helpful feedback and suggestions for how to implement to ensure adequate cover and the greatest possible benefit to affected employees.

WSFRS made the decision to progress with the proposal to implement 7 day per week crewing at Day Crewed stations in West Sussex with effect from 1 March 2022. This will result in a contractual change for the Day Crewing shift system to flexible rostering, with each station able to determine a suitable underlying rota pattern to plan required working hours and maintain crewing/cover. There will also be an increase to the headcount at each station to 1 Watch Manager, 3 Crew Managers, 8 Firefighters.

As requested through the consultation process, WSFRS will work with Watch Managers at Day Crewed stations to develop and implement the agreed underlying rota patterns. A commitment was made to ensure support from the project team and relevant specialists to test and create the new underlying rota patterns in Firewatch.

WSFRS also made a commitment to ensure the resources required to go live with the shift system will be in place, in particular the recruitment for increased headcount and prioritising any additional training and development. The request that the underlying rota patterns allow for annual leave to be taken and shift swapping was also supported.

Day Crewing 7 Steering Group

All DC7 Watch Managers have now been invited to attend this monthly meeting as key members of the project team. The rationale for this is to ensure we continue working together to implement DC7 effectively, ensuring all resources are available to support the go-live and necessary solutions are timely and fit for purpose.

The purpose of the steering group is a dedicated resource of representatives from across FRS and support functions necessary to discuss, plan and agree solutions and support for all aspects of the DC7 project. This includes SOP development, JFC engagement in readiness for our appliances being available for immediate response on weekends, proposed rota patterns. They also maintain a risk and issues log to ensure continuous horizon scanning so that all potential risks and issues are identified and solutions planned.

Support During the Change

We recognise that any kind of change can be unsettling. Should you have any concerns or queries around the process and your individual circumstances or require any adjustments please do speak to your line manager, Gary Ball or Mark Havell.

Further support and counselling is available to all employees through the Employee Assistance Programme. This is a free and confidential service provided by Health Assured, an independent external organisation.

The service can be accessed as follows:

• By Phone: 24 hours a day, 365 days a year via the free phone number:
• 0800 030 5182
• Online: information, self-help guides and webinars on a range of issues via the EAP Website https://healthassuredeap.co.uk/home/(Username: Wellbeing Password: Support)
• Mobile App: Support is also available by searching Android or Apple app stores for Health Assured or E-hub.

Once downloaded log in using:

Username: Wellbeing

Password: Support

Accessibility statement

If you require any of this information in an alternative format, then please contact us via email at HRFRS@westsussex.gov.uk or by telephone on 0330 22 25217 and we will do our best to assist you. If you are deaf or hard of hearing and have an NGT texting app installed on your computer, laptop or smartphone, you can contact us on 18001 0330 22 25217.

We are committed to making this website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. Please view the West Sussex County Council Accessibility Statement (opens in new window) for further details. Information about the accessibility of the Your Voice Engagement Hub can be found by clicking on the 'Accessibility tab' which can be found at the bottom of this page. Where it exists, we will provide details of any project related content which is not fully accessible under a heading of 'Non-accessible content' below.

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact us on 0330 222 2146 or email us at haveyoursay@westsussex.gov.uk.

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