Agenda Item No.
HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
COMMUNITY SAFETY AND CULTURE PANEL
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WEDNESDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2009 AT 2.00 P.M.
LOCAL INTERVENTION FIRE EDUCATION (LIFE) COURSE
Report of the Chief Fire Officer
Author: AC David McClement, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service
Tel: 01992 507590
1.
Purpose of Report
This report is presented to inform Members of the aims and content of the
LiFE courses run by the Fire and Rescue Service. The report also contains a
report on the most up-to-date evaluation of the courses including the impact
upon the attendees.
2.
Summary
The LiFE scheme has now been in operation for over two years with 25
courses having been completed. This report examines the content of the
course and the aims and objects including how the course's aims now have a
far wider reach than was originally foreseen. Service's throughout the UK
have struggled to evaluate community safety initiatives but the officers of the
Service, in collaboration with partners, have now been able to carry out an
evaluation of the effectiveness and impact of the scheme which is presented
within this report.
3.
Recommendations
The Panel is invited to note the content of this report and comment as
appropriate.
4. Background
LiFE courses are one of a range of programmes used by Hertfordshire Fire
and Rescue Service (HFRS) to interact with young people. Started in 2006 the
course aims are to address fire setting and anti social behaviour by engaging
young people on a five day work experience course that is tightly structured,
well focused and conducted in a disciplined team environment.
Aimed at 13 to 19 year olds of both sexes, up to 16 participants attend and
work with a minimum of one lead trainer and six trainers for a week at a Fire
Service location. The ideal ratio is to have one trainer per two participants.
Trainers are specially trained to understand the Common Assessment
Framework (CAF) and ‘Every Child Matters’, and have the capacity to engage
in the HCC Integrated Practice (IP) for children and young people.
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More specifically the course is designed to change the attitudes and
behaviour of identified disaffected or marginalised young people by getting
them to:
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Adopt a new set of values
Address the consequences of anti social behaviour, including fire
setting
Work as a team member with others
See the advantages of improving their own learning and performance
Gain greater self esteem and confidence
Improve their communication skills
The main issues dealt with during the course are:
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Anti social behaviour
Anger management
Conflict resolution
Gang related activity
Deliberate fire setting and hoax calls
Drug use
Vehicle crime
Sexual health
Healthy lifestyles
Volunteering to help others
To date, twenty five courses have been run in Hertfordshire with all ten
Borough\District council areas benefiting from the positive results achieved.
(See evaluation data below).
5.
Referrals
Young people are referred to the Service for inclusion on the course by key
partner agencies rather than individuals. Some examples of these agencies
are:
Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs),
Multi Agency Support Team (Mast)
Herts in Trust
Children’s Trust Partnership
Youth Connexions
Schools
Youth Offending Teams (YOTs)
Educational Support Units (ESUs)
Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs)
Housing Associations
Since the commencement of the LiFE Scheme 303 young people have started
courses with 238 successfully completing the programme.
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6.
Funding
The Service provides an amount from its own Fire Prevention budget to
support LiFE courses each year. Working in partnership with the other
agencies we endeavour to secure, match or sometimes provide full funding to
run courses. For this year (2009-10) we have been successful in achieving
our target of running a minimum of one course per district (ten). As a result of
this success with match funding we are currently exploring the possibility of
running further courses that may be fully funded by the Service and targeted
to a particular area of need.
7.
Aims and Objectives
The original aim of the course was to reduce fires and arson, and engage with
young people to ensure they understood the results of their actions. It very
soon became clear that changing young people’s attitudes and behaviour for
the better also had a huge number of benefits not only for the individual, but
for a large number of agencies involved with them and society as a whole.
From a Fire Service perspective, reducing accidental fires, fire setting and
hoax calls saves us a great deal of time and money. For the community the
outcomes can have a real positive affect on policing, education, social
cohesion, anti social behaviour and the general feeling good about a
neighbourhood.
On pure financial costs to the Fire Service, each time a fire appliance attends
a call it costs hundreds of pounds (even a hoax call). Each time we attend a
burned out stolen car or small shop fire it costs perhaps thousands of pounds
to society in general. Each time we attend a major fire such as a school (e.g.
Margaret Clitheroe, Hillmead and Veralum) it can cost hundreds of thousands
of pounds, if not millions and that is without counting the emotional damage to
the individuals and local communities.
The running of LiFE courses has undoubtedly contributed to the impressive
reduction in arson related incidents this Service has achieved over recent
years, and also helped us to reach all of our LAA1 targets and gain
performance reward grant for Herts Forward. We continue to receive very
positive feedback on the contribution it has made to the young people’s lives
and behaviour and therefore our level of partner agency’s contact with them.
Aside from our own Fire Service objectives to reduce fires, the course also
supports the LAA2 targets of:
NI 17 NI 16 NI 45 NI 56 NI 69 -
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Perceptions of anti social behaviour
Serious inquisitive crime
Young offenders engaged in suitable education, training or
employment
Obesity among primary age children in year 6
Children who have experienced bullying
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8.
Costs
When the course was originally devised and set up the cost was in excess of
£10k for each course. This provides dedicated trainers, a dedicated fire
appliance to train with, a whole range of operational equipment such as
ladders and hose, a temporary venue in the form of a Portacabin, full catering,
personal protective equipment, uniforms, transport, training materials, etc.
This year the Service has reviewed the ways of working and examined what
could be made more efficient and has reduced that sum to under £8.5k.
The course provides very positive outcomes for the young people involved,
and the savings to society in terms of reduction of arson and other crime,
lessening of anti social behaviour and prevention of hoax calls can easily give
weigh to the argument that the course represents good value for money and is
cost effective.
9.
Evaluation
To gauge the effectiveness of the course the Service uses ‘Quizdom’ a piece
of software that provides course end, and post course evaluations. This is by
means of a specifically designed questionnaire to compare the attitudes and
behaviours of young people to the issues raised during the course and after
the course. Questionnaires are led by the Youth Engagement manager and
are strictly confidential.
Participants feedback.
Recent results show:
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90% thought their social skills had improved
100% now had more respect for firefighters
100% enjoyed the course and were more confident about their abilities
60% appear to have fully engaged with other group members and
actually listed them as a reason they enjoyed the course (working with
others is a key objective)
70% said that they were less likely to damage or steal things
50% of those using recreational drugs said that it had encouraged them
to stop
80% were now more likely to be involved in organised activities
50% felt less aggressive to Police Officers with 30% saying they had
more respect for Police Officers
Referral Agency Feedback
Evaluation information is collected by the LiFE Scheme Manager from the
referring partner agencies six months post course. Evidence consistently
shows that the agencies understand the benefits of the scheme and report
successes back to Responsible Authorities Group (RAGs), Joint Authorities
Group (JAGs), and Multi Agency Support Team (MASTs), highlighting the
reduction in offending rates by young people that have taken part in the
scheme.
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Three courses were specifically targeted for independent evaluation by the
Hertfordshire Police Community Safety Team in Borehamwood, Hoddesdon
and Stevenage. This collated evidence (for 2008) shows:
79% of young people referred to the scheme did not reoffend in the 12
months post course. This is an improvement on the 75% success rate
from the pervious year (see below).
This reinforces earlier evaluation by the Hertfordshire Police Community
Safety Team which showed significant results in terms of the number of young
people that were not now coming to the attention of the Police.
The list below shows figures since running LiFE courses in Hertfordshire (for
arrests only):
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Arrested before LiFE
Arrested after attending LiFE
Arrested more than once after attending LiFE
Arrested before LiFE but not arrested after LiFE
Reduction of persistent offenders since attending LiFE
67%
26%
10%
43%
75%
From our own Fire Service data, arson has reduced considerably over the last
three years, with a 92% reduction achieved in one particular local area that
has had a LiFE courses (although this is difficult to attribute solely to the
course).
Comments from referral agencies following the LiFE Course
Have you had any feedback from the young person who took part in the LiFE
Course?
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Yes, he thoroughly enjoyed it, he wanted to do another course the next
week!
Yes, he found the course very enjoyable and worthwhile, and it will help
him in his Public Service college course and any future job prospects in
the public sector
No, the subject has no fixed abode and avoids contact with the Police
He thoroughly enjoyed the week. It has boosted his confidence and
created further interest in joining the Service
He really enjoyed it and thinks he would like to be a fireman or join the
cadets
He has learnt that he can mix with others he does not know and work
well in an environment that he is not familiar with
This course was really important for him as he does not interact with
peers in a school environment
Have you noticed any changes in the young person’s manner since the
course?
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Increased confidence in taking on challenges, heightened resilience
and communication skills
He is more approachable and willing to speak to Police now
There has been no recognisable change
He is more committed to becoming a firefighter
Appears more motivated and committed to tasks set
Appears to have matured since taking part in the course
This has helped his social and personal skills. He has gained
confidence with mixing with others
He has been a victim of bullying and by providing him with a safe and
structured environment it has helped him move on from past bullying
experiences
Much more motivated and mature since completing the course
If the young person has been involved in educational schemes, have they
returned to mainstream education, had exclusion terms reduced or rearranged
with school programmes?
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He is joining a level 1 plumbing course at Harlow College in September
He has recently joined up to a Public Service Course at Ware College
He has recently begun attending a pupil referral unit which is a huge
progress as he was a non-attender for 4 years
He was excluded from mainstream school and is at the KS3 Centre.
They are now willing to fund him to do more practical based education
as he did so well on the LiFE course and shows he can be motivated
Was educated at home. Now applying to get him back into mainstream
school
He is much more settled at school and his attendance is much better.
Has applied to go to college
If applicable has the young person gained employment since the course?
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Unpaid work experience
He is in full time employment and wishes to continue until he is old
enough to join the Fire Service
NVQ Level 3 Childcare at a local nursery
Any other comments?
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Looking forward to working with you again in the future
The course, I am sure, is good for most however in this case it may not
have had the anticipated result
 From the feedback I have received, he applied himself well on the
course and worked hard
 It may be deep down he has learned from his experience, this remains
to be seen
 On the whole the scheme works well and is a fantastic experience for
those that get referred
 Good luck for the future
 Excellent course
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10.
Please keep us informed of any events/courses run by the Fire Service
for young people.
Future
Subject to appropriate funding and partnership arrangements continuing,
Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Service fully intends to maintain the running of
LiFE courses and achieving the success it has enjoyed in recent years in
helping to make a difference to young people and thereby reducing fires,
arson and anti social behaviour.
11.
Financial Implications
The current level of LiFE courses is funded through the existing Fire and
Rescue budgets. Any expansion of courses would require additional funding.
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