Our Safety Plan for the next five years

Shaped by the views of the public after an extensive eight-week consultation process, the plan focuses on risks in the county, people and how to best serve the needs of the individual alongside broader issues such as population growth and climate change.

It considers levels of vulnerability, partnership working, local intelligence, industry-leading research and the commitment to continue to learn and look for ways to improve.

This Safety Plan covers HFRS and IWFRS as the two services are preparing to come together under a Combined Fire Authority in April 2021.

HFRS and IWFRS Chief Fire Officer Neil Odin said: 

“The role of the modern firefighter is evolving as we look for new and innovative ways to protect and serve the public.

“Both services have been rated as good in terms of effectiveness and efficiency by a new Government inspectorate and we are constantly looking for ways to improve.

“This plan is the blueprint for how we will continue to make life safer for our communities and provide a service our people are proud to deliver.”

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority Chairman Cllr Chris Carter said: 

“I am extremely proud of our service which I believe is among the best in the country.

“This plan sets out a clear road map of where we are and where we are going - constantly driven by our commitment to make the communities we serve safer.
"This will be further strengthened as the future Combined Fire Authority will be instrumental in its focus, to build upon the strong relationship between the Services of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight."

Isle of Wight Council Leader David Stewart said: 

“I am pleased that despite the current Coronavirus crisis we have been able to move the safety plan forward.

“The partnership between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is really strong.

“As we move towards the Combined Fire Authority we will be able to look back at this period as the time we built our foundation for the future.

HFRS and IWFRS exist to make life safer. We achieve this through the use of risk management. As fire and rescue services we work to identify risks within our area and then assess those risks to see how likely they are to occur. From this we can then make plans manage these risks.

If you would like more information on how we developed the Safety Plan, supporting documents can be viewed here:

• Hampshire Strategic Assessment
• Isle of Wight Strategic Assessment

If you require further information that isn't included in the supporting documents, please get in touch with us and make a request through our Freedom of Information (FoI) process.