Surrey Fire and Rescue Service – our commitment to our customers

To achieve our aim to make Surrey safer, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service recognises the importance of delivering first class services to the people of Surrey that not only meet the needs of our diverse communities, but also represent efficiency and value for money for the Surrey taxpayer.

Our values set out the beliefs and behaviours at the heart of our organisation:

Improvement

We value improvement at all levels of the Service by:

• Accepting responsibility for our performance
• Being open-minded
• Considering criticism thoughtfully
• Learning from our experiences
• Consulting others

People

We value our employees by practicing and promoting:

• Fairness and respect
• Recognition of merit
• Honesty, integrity and mutual trust
• Personal development
• Co-operative and inclusive working

Diversity

We value diversity in the service and the community by:

• Treating everyone fairly and with respect
• Providing varying solutions for different needs and expectations
• Promoting equal opportunities in employment and progression within the fire and rescue service
• Challenging prejudice and discrimination

Service to the Community

We value the service to the community by:

• Working with all groups to reduce risk
• Treating everyone fairly and with respect
• Being answerable to those we serve
• Striving for excellence in all we do

What can you expect from us?

1. First class Service Delivery – our promise to you

We are a customer-focussed service that is constantly looking ahead with drive and ambition and a resistance to complacency.

We want to reduce risk in communities and do this primarily by educating the public on prevention of fire and other incidents, and the provision of a first class 999 emergency service when you need us.

Our annual planning process – captured in our Public Safety Plan – sets out major improvements to ensure safer communities and lowered risk, in an ever-changing environment. In particular it recognises the need to improve the Service's ability to deal with unusual, large-scale or lengthy incidents. Therefore to make sure we are prepared and improve our efficiency even further, we are exploring much closer collaboration with key partners including other emergency services.

You, our customers, are central to everything we do. So, we promise to:

• Work hard to continuously improve our services
• Consult you when we are developing our services and standards
• Use your positive and negative comments to help us improve our services
• Measure how well we are delivering our services and publish the results
• Publish and act on the results of regular customer satisfaction surveys
• Make sure all our teams work together, and with other organisations, to help you get services easily
• Eliminate all forms of inappropriate discrimination and provide services which are available to everyone
• Ensure complaints are dealt with quickly, fairly and transparently.

More information about our Customer Promise is available in the Customer Relations area

2. Ongoing consultation and engagement

We are committed to continuously improving our services and do this by regularly reviewing and revising our policies and plans for the future to reflect the needs of the communities.

In order to do this effectively we need to understand the issues that are important to the public and listen to your views regarding the way we operate and manage our services - this will be achieved through an annual programme of consultation with members of the public and the communities of Surrey. Please contact us if you would like to be involved – we welcome your engagement.

3. A commitment to Equality & Diversity

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service is committed to the fair treatment for all, both in terms of the service that it delivers to the communities of Surrey and in its employment.

The Service is committed to fairness and equality and a workforce that serves a diverse community. To support our commitment, an Equality and Diversity Strategy has been developed which runs parallel with the expectations placed on us from Government's Equality and Diversity Strategy 2008-2018.

Your Service, Your Safety

One of the best ways we can make you safer is by ensuring you have smoke detectors in your home and are aware of what to do in the event of a fire. A free 'Home fire risk Check' carried out by your local firefighters will help you do just that.

Call Surrey Fire and Rescue Service on freephone 0800 085 0767 to arrange your visit or book online at www.surrey-fire.gov.uk/besmartbesafe

Russell Pearson
Chief Fire Officer