DMFD239 Firefighter Development team

1.1.    Report LFC-24-098y to the London Fire Commissioner (LFC) provides a detailed overview of the proposals and sets out the business case for the implementation of a new Firefighter Development (FFD) team. This decision paper provides a high-level summary of the proposals. 
1.2.    Previously, Babcock Training Limited (London Fire Brigade’s (LFB’s) contracted training provider) oversaw a 13-week FFD programme, after which recruits completed their training at a fire station. 
1.3.    In April 2024 the programme was extended to 15 weeks, with two further weeks of training at operational fire stations. 
1.4.    The proposal now is to reduce Babcock’s training element to 11 weeks; and offer wraparound support through a dedicated LFB FFD team. This team will provide four extra weeks’ training (two weeks before the Babcock training and two after). It will work with Babcock to deliver training independently and jointly, as required. 
1.5.    Currently LFB has 400 trainees on the level 3 Firefighter Apprenticeship programme. A further 264 apprentices are forecast to join across both of 2024-25 and 2025-26; and 154 in 2026-27. It is proposed that the structure and number of roles within the FFD team will adjust (from 35 in 2024-25, to 34 in 2025-26, and to 27 in 2027-28) as the number of new trainees decreases. LFB’s existing Learning and Professional Development (LPD) Training and Assurance team will take up the role of quality assurance once the new programme has been embedded. 
 

2.1.    For some time, work has been carried out at LFB to develop an improved training programme and implement an oversight team for trainee firefighters. The proposals address many of the recommendations following LFB’s internal investigation into the death of trainee firefighter, Jaden Matthew Francois-Esprit, who tragically took his own life in August 2020.
2.2.    Implementing this team also contributes to LFB’s cultural transformation. It should help develop, mentor and support new recruits through their three-year development programme. 
2.3.    The aim is to reduce the number of trainee firefighters who resign or must retake parts of their course, mitigating against LFB’s corporate risk in this area.
 

3.1.    The public sector equality duty requires the identification and evaluation of the likely potential impacts, both positive and negative, of the decision on those with protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation) and set out how you are addressing the duties). 
3.2.    An Equality Impact Assessment has been completed and the proposal is noted as having a positive impact for addressing the concerns and barriers faced by the increasingly diverse trainees that LFB is actively recruiting.
 

4.1.    Informal consultation has taken place with regular meetings between LFB’s LPD team and the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) throughout the development of the proposals. 
4.2.    The FBU has raised concerns over the probation policy for trainee firefighters, as well as the course duration of the FFD programme. LFB has committed to continuing discussions on these matters. Neither of these areas of concern specifically relate to the establishment of a dedicated FFD team, as per this proposal.
 

5.1.    Budget approval for the creation of the team was approved in LFB’s final budget submission 2024-25, and costs are being met from within existing department budgets.
5.2.    The anticipated cost of the FFD team implementation is approximately £2,346,741 in 2024-25; £2,473,431 in 2025-26; and £1,987,974 annually in future years. 
5.3.    These costs are based on 2024-25 staffing costs incorporating a 4 per cent pay award; and 2025-26 and 2026-27 staffing costs, incorporating anticipated future year pay increases at 2 per cent. This allows for full costing over the three years. 
5.4.    Funding of £2,989,000 (for 2024-25), £2,010,000 (for 2025-26) and £2,010,000 (for 2026-27) to create the team was approved as a Training and Professional departmental budget. The 2024-25 underspend to budget will be held in reserves for the following year. The total anticipated costs across the three years, outlined in this paper, would therefore stay under these approved budgets, leaving a potential surplus of £200,854. These are the figures that are reflected in the latest budget submission.
 

6.1.    Section 9 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 states that the LFC is established as a corporation sole with the Mayor appointing the occupant of that office. 
6.2.    Section 1 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (FRSA 2004) states that the LFC is the fire and rescue authority for Greater London.
6.3.    Under section 327D of the Greater London Authority Act 1999, as amended by the Policing and Crime Act 2017, the Mayor may issue to the LFC specific or general directions as to the manner in which the holder of that office is to exercise his or her functions.
6.4.    By direction dated 1 April 2018, the Mayor set out those matters for which the LFC would require the prior approval of either the Mayor or the Deputy Mayor.
6.5.    Paragraph (b) of Part 2 of that direction requires the LFC to seek the prior approval of the Deputy Mayor before “[a] commitment to expenditure (capital or revenue) of £150,000 or above as identified in accordance with normal accounting practice”.
6.6.    The statutory basis for the actions proposed in this report is provided by section 7 (2)(a) of the FRSA 2004, under which the LFC must secure the provision of personnel, services and equipment necessary to efficiently meet all normal requirements for firefighting.
6.7.    Furthermore, under section 7 (2)(b) of the aforementioned Act the LFC must secure the provision of training for personnel.
 

Appendix 1 – Report LFC-24-098y – Firefighter Development Team