Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence received.

All Members were present and no apologies were noted.

To enable Members to disclose to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest they may have in any matter on the agenda for the meeting, where that interest is not already entered in the Authority’s register of interests, and any other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests in any such matter that Members may wish to disclose.

Members were mindful of their duty to disclose at the meeting any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest they had in any matter on the agenda for the meeting, where that interest was not already entered in the Authority’s register of interests, and their ability to disclose any other personal interests in any such matter that they might have wished to disclose.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and agreed, and signed by the Chairman.

Pursuant to Standing Order 19, to receive any deputations to this meeting

There were no deputations for this meeting.

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

There were no Chairman’s announcements.

To receive a report of the Chief Fire Officer seeking approval for the proposed HFRS action plan.

The Committee received a report from the Chief Fire Officer regarding Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) Action Plan Report (Item 6 in the Minute Book).  It was heard that an Extraordinary meeting had been convened at the request of Members to review the proposed action plan following the previous Standards and Governance Committee meeting where Members received Her Majesty’s Inspectorate (HMI) report.  It was noted that Members had requested the opportunity to input and review the action plan before the formal response was submitted to HMI by the deadline of 12 March 2019.

Officers detailed the background to the action plan which addressed areas for improvement which were highlighted in the HMI report.  It was explained that the Chief Fire Officer and senior management team had developed the action plan in liaison with other officers and were committed to addressing the individual areas raised by HMI with solutions that would be integrated into “business as usual”.  This would be closely monitored by the Service’s Performance and Assurance Board, and the Standards and Governance Committee would be updated on progress at future meetings. 

Officers highlighted the area for improvement as set out at page 14 of the agenda pack – ‘The Service should ensure it gathers and records relevant and up-to-date risk information’.  It was explained that HMI felt that there was a lack of clarity around who was responsible for this information in the Service and this would be addressed by reviewing current policies and clarifying responsibility, in addition to effectively targeting resources to risks and focussing on high risk premises.  Officers clarified the issue of information held in whole-time station areas as opposed to on-call station areas.  Officers also highlighted that all main appliances currently had access to up to date information through a mobile data terminal, and where relevant this was shared with neighbouring Fire and Rescue Services.  It was noted this this wasn’t acknowledged in the HMI report.  In response to Members questions, it was heard that whilst the HMI report had deemed that risk information held on some heritage sites across the county was out of date and these were seen as high-risk sites, the risk to life was very low, and it was important to factor this into analysis and response.  The recent fire at the Ocado warehouse in Andover was also discussed, and the uniqueness of the building design was highlighted with its use of robotics deeming this a ‘no life risk’.  It was explained that this followed a national model which may need updating as a result.  Members heard that an annual review of the strategic risk register was due to be considered at a future Full Authority meeting.

Another area for improvement – ‘The Service should understand why it completes proportionately fewer home fire safety checks than other services’ was highlighted at page 15 of the agenda pack.  It was noted that whilst the number of home safety visits was comparatively low, it was important to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.