Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

All Members were present and no apologies were noted

The Chairman welcomed Michael Lane (Police and Crime Commissioner) who had a standing invitation to the meeting, and Lena Samuels, (Chair of Council of Governors; South Central Ambulance Service) who had been invited to observe the meeting.

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 previous meeting were reviewed and agreed.

It was noted that consideration would be given as to how to take the governance review improvement plan forward at a future CMT meeting (Minute 42 refers).

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

No requests to make a deputation had been received.

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

The Chairman paid tribute to former Hampshire County Council Leader, Ken Thornber who had recently passed away.

The Chairman updated Members on the Service Conference, on Celebrating Success and the Chairman’s Award and on progress of the update to the Combination Order. He noted that this was retiring Chief Fire Officer Dave Curry’s final Authority meeting.

With regard to the Combination Order, the Police and Crime Commissioner confirmed that he was pleased to hear an option for him to formally join the Authority was now available and that he was as yet undecided on the direction he would take. In the meantime, he welcomed the opportunity to attend Authority meetings.

To receive any updates from Members of the Authority

Councillor Carter gave an update on the CFA conference. Councillor Vaughan reported on a visit he had made to the Fire Commission. Councillor Price updated Members on the activity of the Pension Board, in particular on an issue relating to pension contribution refunds for a small number of individuals leaving the scheme.

Councillor Chadd asked all Members to let her know of any items they felt could be included in the member awareness programme.

To consider a report of the Chief Financial Officer regarding the 2018/19 budget.

The Authority received a report of the Chief Finance Officer regarding the 2018/19 budget.

Members’ attention was drawn to the budget monitoring position, including an overspend on ICT provision and it was confirmed that the outcome of an investigation into this would be presented to the Standards and Governance Committee in January 2018.

A number of key points were raised and discussed, including the increase in planned maintenance and the impact on capacity of holding vacancies. It was noted that the additional investment in the estate would prioritise areas that would save the most money in the longer term. The vacancies being held were part of planned staffing changes and did not impact on operational capacity.

The recommendations in the report were considered and it was

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Authority approve the assumptions made within this report, which will be used as the basis for 2018/19 Budget setting

2.    That the RCCO be reduced in order to balance the budget, after all other savings and adjustments have been taken into account.

3.    That £1.2m funding from the Capital Payments Reserve for estate maintenance is approved and the provision of £350,000 included in the 2018/19 budget be removed completely.

4.    That the Authority notes the over spend on the ICT Transformation Programme and agrees that this can be met from the under spend in other service areas during the year.

5.    That the Authority endorses the two reviews that have been commissioned in respect of the ICT over spend and agrees that these should be reported to a special Standards and Governance Committee in January 2018.

To consider a report of the Chief Fire Officer regarding the progress of the Fire as a Health Asset work stream and how it has developed.

The Authority received a report of the Chief Fire Officer regarding Fire as a health asset.

A number of elements of the programme were highlighted, including the provision of emergency first aid, co-responding, the ability to assist elderly fall victims, and assisting the police and ambulance services to gain entry to property. This was welcomed by the Authority and Members were keen to become more directly involved where appropriate to do so.

The recommendations in the report were considered and it was

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Fire as a Health Asset work is noted by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority, as making a positive difference to our partner organisations, to the people of Hampshire and ultimately delivering savings for the public purse.

To consider a report of the Chief Officer providing an update on how the Authority performed against its key performance indicators in the period April to September 2017

The Authority received a report of the Chief Fire Officer providing an update on performance of the Service.

The report was introduced and the new format and layout was highlighted to Members. A number of performance areas were highlighted, in particular relating to response times and the recording of arson. It was confirmed that response times were being keenly focussed upon and that arson was a criminal categorisation determined in court, therefore it was more appropriate to record whether a fire was deliberately started. It was also confirmed that fires started as a result of defective white goods were recorded.

The recommendations in the report were considered and it was

RESOLVED:

1.    That having reviewed the performance detailed in Appendix A, the Authority notes the strategies for improvement.

To consider a report of the Chairman of the Standards and Governance Committee regarding the Authority’s Members’ Allowances Scheme.

The Authority received a report of the Clerk regarding the Members’ Allowances Scheme.

The recommendations of the Standards and Governance Committee were considered and agreed with an addition to clarify the indexation of the allowances in future years. It was

RESOLVED:

1.    That noting and having regard to the outcomes of the review of Members’ Allowances by the Working Group, including the input of IRP members, as set out in the report, the Authority adopts an updated Members’ Allowances Scheme consisting of:

2.    A Basic Allowance of £6000 per Member, per annum.

3.    Special Responsibility Allowances for each role as set out below:

 * Principal Opposition Spokesperson being the nominated spokesperson for the largest opposition Group. Should there be multiple opposition Groups of equal size, the nominated spokespersons to share equally the combined allowances for a “Principal” and “Other” spokesperson i.e 0.3125 x Basic each. For this purpose, an opposition Group has no minimum size and may consist of a single Member. 

Should a Member be appointed to more than one role for which an SRA is payable, only one (the higher) SRA may be claimed.

4.    Increases in the rate of Allowances to be indexed according to the national Local Government Pay Award for a period up to the end of the financial year 2020/21. Such indexing shall exclude any factors or additional increases which are intended to increase the lower parts of the NJC pay framework in order to achieve compliance with the national living wage or otherwise.

5.    Payment of allowances under the Scheme (including appropriate adjustments to take into account payments already received) to be backdated to 13 June 2017.

6.    That the SRA for the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Standards and Governance Committee be reviewed in the 2018/19 municipal year, when a more accurate assessment of the workload for the Committee is possible.

To consider a report of the Chief Officer regarding the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will come into effect on the 25 May 2018 replacing the Data Protection directive.

The Authority received a report of the Chief Fire Officer regarding the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will come into effect on the 25 May 2018 replacing the Data Protection directive.

The importance of the new regulations was acknowledged by the Authority and it was confirmed that further detailed briefings would be arranged in due course.

The recommendations in the report were considered and it was

RESOLVED:

1.    That the future obligations under the new General Data Protection Regulation are noted by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

To receive the Minutes and supporting report of the Standards and Governance Committee held on 27 November 2017

[refers to item 10 on the agenda, Minutes to follow]

The Authority received and noted the Minutes of the Standards and Governance Committee held on 27 November 2017.

It was acknowledged that the recommendation to the Authority at Minute 18 had been resolved under the Members’ Allowances Item.

Prior to moving to the proposed exclusion of the press and public, the Chairman took the opportunity to present retiring Chief Fire Officer, Dave Curry, a certificate recognising his contribution to the Service.

Mr Curry thanked the Authority and reflected on his time with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and the strengths of the Service.

RESOLVED:

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting as it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information within Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, being information relating to any individual which should not be disclosed for the reasons set out in the report.

To consider an exempt report of the Director of Human Resources regarding the Principal Officer Local Pay Award

The Authority received an exempt report of the Director of Human Resources reporting the consideration a Principal Officer Local Pay Award by the Principal Officer Pay Group.

The recommendations in the report were considered and it was

RESOLVED:

That the Principal Officer Pay Group’s recommendation is approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority.