Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from the Police and Crime Commissioner, Michael Lane. A representative from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) attended as an observer.

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.

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

There were no deputations for the meeting.

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

The Chairman confirmed his attendance at the Chiefs and Chairs ‘Broadening the Role’ meeting on 28 June and the LGA conference in Birmingham on the 3 and 4 July, which focused on fire Safety and Building Control. He also informed Members of the Assaults on Emergency workers (Offences) Bill 2017-19, which was currently in the House of Lords having had its second reading and is waiting for the Committee Stage.

The Chairman also congratulated the newly appointed Area Managers, following a national recruitment campaign and Howard Watts, Jason Avery and Rob Cole subsequently joined Kev Evenett and Tom Simms as permanent Area Managers. The Chairman also thanked Iain Hardcastle, who was leaving the Service, for his loyal and dedicated service.

To receive any updates from Members of the Authority

The Chairman confirmed that on an 8 week basis, Members will receive an email detailing HFRS events, providing key dates for members to be aware of.

To consider a report from the Clerk, which proposes minor amendments to the Constitution and asks the Authority to appoint a Member Development Liaison Champion.

The Authority considered a report from the Clerk to the Fire Authority (Item 7 in the Minute Book) regarding changes to the Constitution and the appointment of a new Member Development Liaison Champion.

The changes were highlighted in section 5 of the report, but it was confirmed that the majority of changes were around key roles and titles for clarification purposes, and that all ‘Chief Officer’ references had been updated to ‘Chief Fire Officer’. The changes in process on page 23 were highlighted, along with the importance of officers having the ability to make deposits in cases of emergency only. This enabled the Authority to act in a more agile way in the commercial property market, whilst at the same time ensuring the Authority retains decision making over completion of high value land transactions. There was also a proposal to increase the value above which the disposal of land or buildings through leases or licenses need to come to the full Authority for approval.  The current value is £25,000 and it was proposed that this should be increased to £100,000, with a requirement to report to the Authority any leases or licenses that are approved by the Chief Fire Officer.

In cases where the Chairman was unavailable for consultation on emergency spend, the Vice Chairman would deputise.

RESOLVED:

1.         The Authority approved the amended version of the Constitution at Appendix 1; and

2.         The Authority agreed to delegate authority to the Clerk to make minor changes to the Constitution to reflect the agreed position regarding CMT, once agreed by Members; and

3.         The Authority agreed to delegate authority to the Clerk to finalise the version of the Constitution at Appendix 1 and arrange for this to be published on the Authority’s website. 

4.         The appointment of a Member Development Liaison Champion was deferred to a future meeting of the fire Authority.

5.         That paragraph 3.4 in the Constitution, relating to Members of the Firefighter’s Pension Board, is removed and 3.3 is updated accordingly to give the Pension Board more flexibility in the appointments.

To consider a report from the Chief Officer regarding the Outturn for 2017/18.

The Authority considered a report from the Chief Financial Officer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) regarding the Outturn for 2017/18.

It was confirmed that there was an underspend of £434,800 against budget.  This is after having absorbed the significant overspend on the ICT Transformation project and a small overspend on Property Services that had already been reported during the year. The forecast for the expected 2018/19 revenue spend as of month two estimated an underspend of £1.7m due to staff savings.

On page 138 of the pack, it was noted that there was a large increase in the net cost of pensions and support staff, which would be investigated by the Treasurer and reported back to the Authority.

RESOLVED:

1.      The accounts for 2017/18, including the use of reserves set out in  paragraph 22, and Appendix D of this report was approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority;

2.         That the carry forward requested in paragraph 2 of this report was approved;

3.         The request that funding be taken from the 2017/18 underspend to cover one-off IT spend as set out in paragraph 4 of this report was approved;

4.         The changes to the capital payments in 2017/18 and the impact on the capital spend profile going forward as set out in Appendices B & C was approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority;

5.         The financing for capital payments as set out in paragraph 18 was approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority;

6.         That the annual treasury outturn report set out in Appendix E of this report was approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority; and

7.         The refresh of the Reserves Strategy detailed in Appendix F was approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

8.         The increase in the net cost of pensions and support staff would be investigated by the Treasurer and reported back to Full Authority at the next meeting.

To consider a report from the Chief Officer, which asks the Authority to review the performance detailed in Appendix A and note the strategies for improvement.

The Authority received a report from the Chief Fire Officer (Item 9 in the Minute Book) which updated Members on Performance.

It was highlighted that critical response was an ongoing challenge but shifts lost due to sickness had seen a dramatic improvement. On paragraph 13 of the report, it was requested that data around critical response times in urban and rural areas be broken down for more detailed analysis. Members queried the short and long-term sickness data in paragraph 14 of the report, but it was confirmed that this would be covered in the Workforce report that would go to Authority later in the year.

RESOLVED:

a) The Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority reviewed the performance detailed in Appendix A and noted the strategies for improvement.

b) That in future reports, data on critical response times be broken down according to urban and rural areas for more detailed analysis.

To consider a report from the Chief Officer, which asks the Authority to approve the Equality Objectives.

The Authority considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer (Item 10 in the Minute Book) regarding the Equality Statement following Hampshire Fire and Rescue Services (HFRS) updated equality objectives.

It was confirmed that the figures within the statement were proportional to the national demographic and the focus was to achieve a principle as opposed to specific figure. In paragraph 10 (Key Area 3) Cllr Mintoff spoke of the good community engagement in Southampton, particularly with minority groups.

RESOLVED:

a.         The listed Equality Objectives were approved by Hampshire Fire       and Rescue Authority; and

b.         The Annual Statement of Equality (Workforce demographics) was noted by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

To consider a report from the Chief Officer, which asks that the revised Fire and Rescue National Framework be noted by the Authority and Members pay due regard to the Framework when carrying out the Authority’s functions.

The Authority received a report from the Chief Fire Officer (Item 11 in the Minute Book) regarding the Fire and Rescue National Framework for England.

A consultation had been released in December 2017, allowing the Authority to comment on proposals to update the Fire and Rescue National Framework. The new Framework was published in May 2018. It sets out the government’s priorities and objectives for fire and rescue authorities. .

Members acknowledged the Framework.

RESOLVED:

The revised Fire and Rescue National Framework be noted by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority and Members agreed to pay due regard to the Framework when carrying out the Authority’s functions..

To consider a report from the Chief Officer on building regulations and fire safety.

The Authority received a report from the Chief Fire Officer (Item 12 in the Minute Book) regarding an independent review of building regulations and fire safety.

The work had been a large scale review and there were some high level areas, like high risk residential buildings and competency frameworks that may have an adverse effect on the Service.

In paragraph 22 of the report, Members were concerned that budget restraints would have an adverse effect on Fire Safety teams, but this would be reviewed once the recommendations were known following consideration by Government.

RESOLVED:

a. The Fire and Rescue Authority noted the establishment and work of the post Grenfell working group and the independent review and reports that had been produced since the Grenfell Tower fire.

b. The Fire and Rescue Authority noted the work HFRS had completed to date and the work which will continue in reassuring the communities in Hampshire, mitigating any identified risks in buildings by working with Local Authority and landlords, to ensure Fire Safety compliance.

To resolve that the public be excluded from the meeting during the

following items of business, 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 during these items there would be

disclosure to them of exempt information within Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of

Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, and further that in all

the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the

exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for

the reasons set out in the reports.

To resolve that the public be excluded from the meeting during the following items of business, 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 during these items there would be disclosure to them of exempt information within Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, and further that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons set out in the reports.

To consider an exempt report from Chief Officer regarding live fire training for HFRS.

The Authority considered an exempt minute regarding the provision of live fire training (Item 14 in the Minute Book) [SEE EXEMPT MINUTE]

To consider an exempt report from the Chief Officer regarding learning from major incidents..

Cllr Glen left the meeting before this item was discussed.

The Authority received an exempt report from the Chief Fire Officer (Item 15 in the Minute Book) regarding learning from a major incident.

Members were happy with the proposed actions being taken.

RESOLVED:

The actions of Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service following the release of the Kerslake report were noted by the Authority.

To approve the exempt Minute from the 13 June Full Authority meeting.

The exempt minute from the 13 June Full Authority meeting was approved.