Table of contents

Introduction

Dear Minister, Members of Parliament, staff and volunteers of New Zealand's fire services and stakeholders.

We present the New Zealand Fire Service Commission's Statement of Intent for the period 2010 to 2013.

This statement describes the overall outcomes the New Zealand Fire Service Commission (the Commission) seeks to achieve in terms of protecting people, their property, the communities of New Zealand and the environment from the hazards and consequences of unwanted fires. It sets out the mix of proactive risk reduction, fire prevention and public education programmes along with the range of reactive emergency response services the Commission intends to deliver. It explains the rationale behind the work programmes selected and their intended effect or impact on the current situation.

Importantly, the Statement of Intent establishes the basis on which the Commission will account to Government and the public of New Zealand for its performance over the period. The standards against which we will measure the volume, quality, timeliness, value, efficiency and effectiveness of both our proactive and reactive services are set out in detail. We also discuss how we will gauge the actual observed effects of our work against our expectations and how we will assess the extent to which the observed effects and impacts achieve or contribute to the outcomes the Commission seeks.

To assist readers understand the scope of the Commission's intentions and their context the statement includes short narrative sections on:

• the statutory framework within which the Commission operates
• the urban and rural fire operating environments
• how the NZ Fire Service and National Rural Fire Authority are organised and managed
• the human, physical and capital resources the Commission has at its disposal
• the Commission's approach to organisational health, diversity and sustainability
• how New Zealand's fire services rate against comparable services in overseas jurisdictions
• recent trends in fire fatalities, injuries, property loss and hectares burnt in wild fires.
  
  

For the first time the Commission has included a non-fire outcomes framework for estimating the contribution the New Zealand Fire Service makes to social outcomes for many classes of non-fire emergency. The Commission does not have the statutory responsibility for reducing the incidence of these non-fire emergencies. Central government and local communities, nevertheless, look to the New Zealand Fire Service as the agency best equipped and trained to intervene in emergencies as diverse as motor vehicle extrications, floods and storm damage. We trust that the "non-fire" information contained in this statement will assist readers to gauge the wider contribution the Fire Service makes to community outcomes and to appreciate the added value element of this aspect of the Commission's outputs.

Over the coming three years the Commission in its role as the National Rural Fire Authority will encourage the establishment enlarged rural fire districts. This initiative is improve the delivery of rural fire services, improve resource utilisation and result in a reduced number of fire authorities. The commission is hopeful that five new enlarged rural fire districts will be established by June 2011.

The Commission relies heavily on its volunteer workforce and will again place a high emphasis on volunteer issues. A new initiative was commenced in 2010 to focus on volunteer issues and during 2010/2011 will provide a basis for developing a range of initiatives aimed at improving volunteer sustainability.

Of particular focus for the Commission in 2010/2011 is managing its levy income, which makes up over 95% of revenue. Over the last year levy income has been lower than forecast and growth in the levy base has slowed significantly due to the external economic environment. As a result, the Commission will increase its focus on levy compliance and improving its levy monitoring and forecasting to ensure levy income is maintained.

The Crown Entities Act 2004 requires Crown entity boards to operate as a going concern on a sustainable basis. Accordingly, the Commission has closely interrogated its proposed operating and capital expenditure programmes to ensure they remain within the Commission's levy income for the medium term.

We commend the New Zealand Fire Service Commission's Statement of Intent for the period 2010 to 2013 to readers' careful scrutiny.

Signed on behalf of the New Zealand Fire Service Commission.

Dame Margaret Bazley, DNZM
Chairperson
20 May 2010

Angela Foulkes
Member
20 May 2010