Give us your views on fire and rescue priorities
A public consultation on Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service's safety and risk plans for the next five years goes live this week.
Residents, businesses and organisations now have an opportunity to feed back on areas the service has identified as priorities for 2026-2031, to mitigate risk and keep our county as safe as possible.
Eight proposals have been put out for the public to comment on, around the areas of:
- Road safety
- Prevention activity
- Building safety
- Preparing for and responding to emergencies
- Responding to climate change (specifically extreme weather risks such as flooding and wildfire)
- Supporting our people
- Fire station improvements
- Responding to medical emergencies
Cabinet member for Communities and Partnerships, Councillor Margaret Dewsbury, said: "We are seeking views from the public, partner agencies and businesses to ensure that our areas of planned focus in fire and rescue over the next five years meet the needs and expectations of Norfolk, consider the risks we face and contribute towards our goal of making the county safer for everyone."
Specifically, the proposals include continuing to develop work where fire crews are making an impact on survival rates by attending cardiac arrest where they can arrive sooner than an ambulance crew, continuing education work to reduce water deaths by educating at high risk sites, continuously reviewing our capability to ensure we have the right staff, skills and equipment to tackle emergencies. There is also consideration of emerging risks which we know concern the public, such as increased use of lithium-ion batteries, electric vehicles and battery energy storage systems. The proposals are build around four main themes;
Identifying risks and ensuring that fire and rescue resources align to need, enhancing community safety and minimising harm.
Adapting to change so we can identify and anticipate future challenges, prepare for them and respond to them.
Supporting our People by creating a supportive and include workplace that values our staff, provides them with the skills needed to deliver outstanding service and promote health and wellbeing.
Working in partnership with local authorities, emergency services and the voluntary sector to enhance public safety, improve service delivery and build resilience around shared risks.
Following approval of the draft CRMP this week by Norfolk County Council's Cabinet, the public consultation opens on Wednesday 15 October and will run until 26 November. Throughout that time the public can fill in an online survey via www.norfolk.gov.uk/crmp or attend one of our public engagement sessions to discuss the proposals and give their views.
The public sessions are as follows:
- Wednesday 5 November, Thetford Library 10am-noon
- Thursday 6 November, Norwich Millennium Library 10am-noon
- Friday 7 November, Great Yarmouth Library 10am-noon
- Friday 21 November, King's Lynn Library 10am- noon
Staff will also be hosting focus groups with charitable and voluntary organisations across Norfolk to ensure feedback on the plans is representative of our county, including seldom-heard communities. Prevention staff will also be attending many of these sessions to provide home safety advice to communities.
Over the last 18 months the fire and rescue service has been doing a lot of pre-engagement work at public events, to find out what the public wanted to see included in our upcoming CRMP. Their insight has been used to shape the draft document which is now going out for consultation.
Chief Fire Officer Ceri Sumner said: "We value feedback from our partners, the public and businesses to ensure that our understanding of risk and how we manage it meets the expectations of our communities across Norfolk. I would encourage people to fill in the survey so their voice is heard and thank those who complete it, either online or by coming to our sessions, for helping us build a safer Norfolk for all."
Over recent years the emerging risks and threats to our county have changed and the five-year Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) enables the service to plan to mitigate those risks, while ensuring our staff have the skills and equipment they need to deliver an effective and efficient service for our county.
Some of the proposals include strengthening partnerships with blue light services and other partners, understanding the risks based on up to date data and combating them with activity which educates, informs and reduces the risk through targeted activities.
Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service has 42 fire stations across the county and the majority operate on-call crewing models and are reliant on people in local communities stepping forward to become paid on-call firefighters to enable us to maintain good cover across the county.
The service also has one of 20 specialist Urban Search and Rescue teams, who form part of National Resilience across England and Wales.
As well as having 51 fire appliances across the county, the service also has many specialist vehicles including three aerial ladder platforms, environmental protection units, water carriers, high volume pump and water rescue boats. Water rescue is undertaken by Norfolk but is not currently a statutory duty. View the Inland Water Safety position statement.
Details of the eight proposals are below and also the full CRMP document can be found on the consultation pages.
CRMP Proposal 1
Working to Improve Road safety: We will play a more active role in Norfolk's Road Safety Partnerships to analyse data and coordinate action to reduce the occurrence and impact of collisions on our county's roads.
CRMP Proposal 2
Focussing on prevention: We will work within Community Safety Partnerships to further focus on vulnerable groups, including children and young people. We will increase our early intervention activities, developing resilience in our communities and improving outcomes.
CRMP Proposal 3
Ensuring better Building Safety: We will prioritise inspection and engagement activity for the highest risk buildings in Norfolk, effectively applying legislation across relevant residential and commercial buildings to keep people safe in their homes, at work and during their leisure activities.
CRMP Proposal 4
Enhancing our Response: We will review how we locate and deploy our assets and resources to optimise how we train for, and respond to, emergencies.
CRMP Proposal 5
Responding to Climate Change: We will review our extreme weather response, specifically water and wildfire capability, to mitigate the impact of these incidents. We will continue to lobby government to make water and flood response a statutory duty for all Fire and Rescue Services in England.
CRMP Proposal 6
Supporting our People: We will continue to further develop our high performing and inclusive culture; supporting our staff to be skilled, healthy and engaged, and empowering them to uphold the highest professional standards that our communities expect.
CRMP Proposal 7
Providing Fit for Purpose Fire Stations: We will secure long term investment in our fire stations, so firefighters are protected from contaminants and facilities are fit for a modern workforce.
CRMP Proposal 8
Responding to Life Threatening Medical Emergencies: We will continue to develop our work with East of England Ambulance Service Trust around Emergency Medical Response to improve outcomes for our communities.
