The Community Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee were scheduled to discuss the Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service's (CFRS) annual assurance statement, and a consultation proposal for the CFRS's Community Risk Management Plan 2026-2030. The committee was also scheduled to review the Safer Cornwall annual report, and to approve their work programme for the coming year.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service Community Risk Management Plan

The committee was scheduled to consider the consultation proposals and process for the Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) 2026–30.

The CRMP is required to cover a minimum of a three-year period. The document noted that in the most recent inspection, it was recognised by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) that when developing the CRMP 2022-2026, consultation with the community was limited. HMICFRS identified an 'area for improvement' for the service to undertake more engagement with local and hard-to-reach communities to inform risk and future CRMP development.

The consultation was scheduled to open on 28 July 2025 for 12 weeks.

The report pack included a draft engagement and consultation plan, which outlined four phases:

• Early engagement (May-July 2025)
• Consultation planning (May-July 2025)
• Consultation live/publicity (July-October 2025)
• Reporting (August-October 2025)

The report pack also included a summary stakeholder analysis, which identified key players such as internal staff, group leaders, the portfolio holder, Cornwall Council senior team, representative bodies, the Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service, and specialist teams.

A public engagement leaflet included in the report pack stated:

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service is run by Cornwall Council. Our aim is to help to keep Cornwall safe through a wide range of activities.

It also listed some of the challenges faced by the CFRS, including:

• The national government is reforming fire and rescue services.
• Changes in population require tailored community risk management and outreach efforts.
• New laws like the Fire Safety Act 2021¹ and the Building Safety Act 2022² add more responsibilities.
• Slow economic growth and inflation, impact ability to maintain and improve services.
• Rapid changes in technology, such as electric vehicles and new firefighting gear, need big investments and training.
• More extreme weather events, like heatwaves, floods, and wildfires.
• Our rural geography and mostly on-call workforce make it hard to achieve local response standards.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service Annual Assurance Statement

The committee was scheduled to review the Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service Annual Assurance Statement 2024/25. The report stated that the requirement to produce and publish an Annual Assurance Statement is a statutory duty for Fire and Rescue Authorities as outlined in the Fire and Rescue National Framework for England 2018³.

The purpose of the Annual Assurance Statement is to provide assurance to communities and the Government that the service is being delivered efficiently and effectively.

The statement included an update on the ongoing inspection programme by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS). Following the last inspection of CFRS in 2023, HMICFRS issued a cause for concern letter. During March 2024, HMICFRS revisited the service to review progress against the cause for concern action plan. The revisit team was pleased to see the service had made considerable improvements to the provision of welfare facilities for firefighters at emergency incidents and discharged this recommendation.

The statement also provided an overview of operational learning, including the implementation of recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry reports, The Cube (student flat fire in Bolton), and the Manchester Arena Inquiry.

In terms of financial performance, the outturn position for Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service as at the end of March 2025 was £25.635m, equating to a favourable variance of £0.982m.

The statement outlined the performance for 2024/25 and how this compares to the two previous years. Of the eighteen performance indicators reported:

• Twelve are Green (achieving or exceeding target) seven of these are improving, four have a decreasing direction of travel and one remains on target
• One is Amber (slightly off target)
• Five are Red (significantly off target) three of these are improving, two continue to have a decreasing direction of travel.

Safer Cornwall Annual Report

The committee was scheduled to review the Safer Cornwall Annual Report 2024/25. The report stated that Cornwall Council is one of the responsible authorities with a duty to prevent and reduce crime and disorder under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998⁴. This responsibility is discharged through local community safety partnerships and in Cornwall this partnership is called Safer Cornwall.

The report noted that in the final year of the Partnership Plan 2022-2025, Safer Cornwall has achieved measurable improvement in 14 out of 19 key performance measures where targets were set. 95% of the projects within the ambitious multi-agency work programme have either completed successfully or met all the expected milestones.

The report also provided a crime overview for 2024/25, noting that 33,920 crimes were reported to the police, an increase of 8% compared with last year. The increase is mostly accounted for by rises in shoplifting, stalking and harassment offences, violence without injury, shoplifting, criminal damage and public order offences.

The report highlighted some of the key achievements of Safer Cornwall, including:

• Nearly 7000 people were supported through commissioned domestic abuse and sexual violence services in the last year.
• The proportion of prison leavers getting into community drug and alcohol treatment within three weeks increased from 36% to 64%.
• The new Safer Cornwall Partnership Plan 2025-2028 went live on 1 April.
• The Penzance Safe and Well space launched in November.
• The ACTing with Children programme has won Community Project of the Season at the EFL Awards.
• For the second year in a row, the Anti-Social Behaviour Team have won the overall team award in Devon and Cornwall Police's Citizens in Policing Awards.

Committee Work Programme 2025-26

The committee was scheduled to approve its work programme for 2025-26. The report stated that the Work Programmes for the Overview and Scrutiny Committees (OSC) are a vital tool in identifying, prioritising, conducting and reviewing their work and ensuring effective use of resources.

The report pack included a draft committee work programme, which set out the formal public meetings scheduled for the year, as well as briefing notes and information to be provided to the committee.

The formal public meetings included:

• Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service – Community Risk Management Plan 2026- 2030 – Consultation proposals
• Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service – Annual Assurance Statement
• Safer Cornwall Annual Report
• Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service – Medium Term Financial Plan and Productivity and Efficiency Plan
• Waste Strategy Delivery Plan
• Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy
• Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service – People Culture and Leadership Transformation Programme
• Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service – Operational Assets, new budget and forward plan
• Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service – HMICFRS Action Plan and New inspection programme
• Safer Cornwall Partnership Plan 2025-28 Refresh
• Renewal of PSPO Dogs on beaches
• Creative Manifesto 2026 – 2030 including Culture investment grants

The briefing notes and information included:

• Council Wide Decentralisation Programme
• Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service Quarterly Performance Report
• Supporting Voluntary Sector in Communities

Questions to Cabinet Members

The committee was scheduled to hear updates from, and ask questions of, the Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Public Health, the Cabinet Member for Tourism, Localism and Planning, and the Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change.

Councillor Thalia Marrington, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Public Health, noted that the Fire Service welcomed a cohort of new firefighters to the service in May 2025, and that summer 24-hour crewing at Newquay began at the end of June 2025 and will conclude in early September.

Councillor Sarah Preece, Cabinet Member for Tourism, Localism and Planning, noted that she had made an individual decision regarding habitat banks and monitoring fees, and that she would be making an individual decision regarding the River Camel Mitigation Strategy – Local Development Order.

Councillor Loic Rich, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, noted that a commercial waste service had been launched at the St Erth and Launceston Household Waste Recycling Centres.