This department’s principal areas of responsibility are:
Assets
The Assets department includes fleet & equipment, supplies, estates, water hydrants and environmental sustainability.
Fleet & equipment provide and maintain our operational vehicles, along with the critical equipment needed to respond to and support operational incidents. The team ensures that the vehicles remain fit for purpose and meet the ongoing requirements of a fire and rescue service, as well as ensuring that they are strategically aligned to the needs of our Service.
Estates ensure the maintenance of our various premises, including our fire stations and operational training sites as well as our headquarters, workshops and other buildings. They ensure that our sites continue to meet the needs of a modern fire service.
Supplies support staff across the Service. Their role includes ensuring that staff are provided with the appropriate personal protective equipment along with other key items, so that everyone is able to undertake their activities in a safe and appropriate way.
The hydrants team maintains the water hydrants across our Service area to ensure that, when needed, these work appropriately. They also work with other partners to ensure that the appropriate level of hydrants are planned and installed within new build areas. With the global and national focus on environmental sustainability and impact, the department has a team looking to ensure that the Service remains responsible and continues to make changes to improve its carbon footprint and programme towards net zero.
Procurement
Our procurement team works across the Service to ensure that we have the appropriate arrangements in place for purchasing goods and for identifying suppliers and contractors. Their role is to safeguard the Service, ensuring it remains compliant, sustainable and spending efficiently.
Civil Contingencies Unit and Resilience & Risk
As a Category 1 Responder (as defined in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004), we have a statutory duty to have appropriate plans in place to ensure the continuity of the Service during challenging events. We are also required, through the Act, to have a full and active role in the work of the Local Resilience Forums (LRF). The Service works across two LRFs, Dorset LRF and Wiltshire & Swindon LRF. The Dorset LRF is supported by a Civil Contingencies Unit (CUU). The CCU supports the category 1 responders in meeting their obligations to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies, set by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. The Service provides the line management for the CCU.
The Resilience & Risk team works with partners, across the LRF’s, to support the safeguarding of our communities and ensures that plans are in place, exercised and tested, both for the Service and to support wider planning through the LRF. The team also ensures that the Service has robust business continuity arrangements in place and make provisions to assure these arrangements through training and exercising. Furthermore, operational risk information is also managed through this team, ensuring that our crews have access to accurate information to support the management of incidents.
Service Improvement
The Service Improvement department is responsible for strategic planning in the Service, undertaking the horizon scanning and engagement to deliver key documents, including our community risk management plan, through the Strategic Assessment of Risk and the Community Safety Plan, as well as our Annual Report and Statement of Assurance. The department’s role also includes working to support inspections and audits, corporate risk and assurance management, the internal governance arrangements and performance management requirements. It is also responsible for projects and programmes across the Service, specifically looking to ensure future sustainability and value for money.