Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor Jonathan Glen and Michael Lane, PCC. Enzo Riglia attended on behalf of Michael Lane from the Police and Crime Commissioners office.

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. Under matters arising, the Chairman confirmed that the 3SFire Stakeholder Committee had met on 16 July 2019 and anticipated having two meetings a year going forward, with more in the short term whilst the Committee got fully established.

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 attendance at the Asian Fire Service Association (AFSA) conference, which had taken place between the 12-14 June. He also wished the best of luck to the new wholetime firefighter trainees, who had begun their initial 16-week training course at the HFRS Academy.

Members received an update on the Combined Fire Authority (CFA) progress and were informed that the original expected incorporation date of April 2020 was no longer possible.  It had been advised that there was a revised anticipated date for full incorporation of April 2021, allowing for the council tax setting cycle in 2020 / 2021. This change was due to wider factors within the Home Office, including available policy and legal resource being used in wider Brexit preparations. Whilst frustrating, the delay did not affect the strategic decision made by the two authorities to create a new CFA. Members would continue to be updated when more information was available.

The Chairman confirmed his attendance at the LGA conference earlier in July and that good contacts were made. Cadet groups across the County had been established and were going well, with parades taking place and a Countywide Cadet event being planned for 2020.

The previous Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Andy Bowers, had celebrated his last day on 14 June and Members learned that Howard Watts was due to leave the Fire Authority in August to take up an Area Manager role in Staffordshire. The Authority wished them both the best for the future.

To receive any updates from Members of the Authority

Members of the Authority provided the following updates:

• Councillor Rhydian Vaughan had attended Prince’s Trust presentations in Basingstoke;
• Councillor Roz Chadd had visited Eastleigh Fire Cadets and thanked them and the volunteers for their hard work;
• Councillor David Simpson had attended an On-Call Firefighter meeting with Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Steve Apter. Thanks and congratulations were also made to Danny Randall, who was retiring from Yateley Fire Station after 39 years service.
• Councillor Roger Price confirmed attendance at the LGA conference, which had some interesting speakers, although felt lacklustre compared to previous events.
• Councillor Sharon Mintoff had attended the Mela celebrations in Southampton and looked forward to attending the Prince’s Trust presentations the following week.

To consider a report from the Chief Financial Officer, which asks Members of the Authority to review the figures as laid out in the Appendices and recommends that the outturn report, including reserves and capital financing is approved, along with the annual treasury outturn for 2018/19.

The Authority considered a report from the Chief Finance Officer (Item 7 in the minute book), which asked Members to review the figures as laid out in the Appendices and recommended that the outturn report, including reserves and capital financing were approved, along with the annual treasury outturn for 2018/19.

Members learned that with regards to pensions, there had been a change to the discount rate, meaning that 95% of the additional costs were covered by central government in the first year, but after that it was unknown at the current time what the future costs would be for the Service.

In paragraph 5 of the report, the breakdown of underspend was highlighted, along with the capital payments reserve captured in paragraphs 14 and 15 of the report.

During questions, Members queried why the reactive maintenance quoted in paragraph 9 was high and it was confirmed that whilst this had been larger than anticipated, more work had been done around planned maintenance to help reduce this in the longer term. The Authority also queried the drainage issues at Basingstoke Fire Station as stated in paragraph 19 and it was confirmed that £160,000 was being held back whilst this was being rectified.

RESOLVED:

a)    The accounts for 2018/19, including the use of reserves set out in paragraph 25 and Appendix E of the report were approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

b)    The changes to the capital payments reserve in 2018/19 and the impact on the capital spend profile going forward as set out in Appendices B, C & D were approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

c)    The financing for capital payments as set out in paragraph 15 of the report was approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

d)    The annual treasury outturn report set out in Appendix F of the report was approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

To consider a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which asks Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority to consider a new disposition of appliances proposal.

The Authority considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 8 in the minute book), which asked the Authority to consider a new disposition of appliances proposal.

It was highlighted that extensive vehicle pilots and subsequent evaluations had provided officers with an improved understanding of two new vehicles, the Intermediate and First Response capabilities, which had led HFRS to identify improvements to the original disposition. A proposed new disposition would improve the Fire and Rescue capability at more stations compared to the original proposals; whilst maintaining the flexibility to respond with different crewing levels.

Members welcomed the news that conclusions had been made following close consultation with firefighters and that their feedback had been taken into account.

RESOLVED:

a)        Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority approved Option B, A revised two vehicle approach is taken and a new disposition of appliances plan is approved. This will match resources to risk with the knowledge that HFRS has in 2019.

b)        A revised disposition (as detailed in Appendix A) resulting in Enhanced Capability (EC), Intermediate Capability (IC) and Small Fires Vehicle’s (SFV) was approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority, as follows:

a.            Change from a First Response Capability to an Intermediate Capability for RDS single vehicle stations

b.            Change from a First Response Capability to an Intermediate Capability for RDS two appliance stations

c.            Change from a First Response Capability to an Intermediate Capability for Andover, Winchester, Gosport, Havant and Fareham.

d.            Change from an First Response Capability to an Intermediate Capability at Hightown & Rushmoor

e.            Change from an Enhanced Capability to an Intermediate Capability at SHQ and Basingstoke to better match resource to risk.

f.              Swap the Enhanced Capability allocated to Lyndhurst with the Intermediate Capability allocated to New Milton to better match resource to risk.

g.            The addition of an Ultra High Pressure Lance (UHPL) and Multi Purpose Nozzle (MPN) enabled Small Fires Vehicles (SFV) at Redbridge

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority approved an additional £0.462m to be added to the capital programme over the next three years, funded from the Capital Payments Reserve.

To consider a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which provides details of significant factors regarding the Ocado Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC) fire and in doing so, assurance to Fire Authority Members of the extant Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority (HFRA) sprinkler position statement of 2012.

The Authority considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 9 in the minute book), which provided details of the significant factors that contributed to the development of the fire. 

The Assistant Chief Officer corrected paragraph 12 in the report to read “It also had a sprinkler system specified by the building’s insurer (FM Global) to suppress a fire and hold it in check prior to the arrival of the FRS”. It was not known why the detection system didn’t work.

It was confirmed that HFRS had been open with Ocado regarding the contents of the report. Members acknowledged that the sprinkler policy document was still relevant to the Service and had been recently reviewed by the Authority.

The HFRS teams and firefighters were thanked for their efforts in tackling the Ocado fire, as it was an unprecedented incident in size and scale. The Andover community were also thanked for their patience and understanding throughout the incident and investigations.

A further report would be received by the Full Authority later in the year.

RESOLVED:

The contents of the report were noted by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

To receive the minutes from the Extraordinary S&G meeting, which took place on 11 June 2019.

The Authority received the minutes from the Standards and Governance (S&G) Extraordinary meeting, which took place on the 11 June 2019. There were no questions.

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.

It was resolved that the public be excluded from the meeting during the

following items of business, as it was 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 the 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 the Chief Fire Officer regarding property matters.

The Authority considered an exempt report from the Chief fire Officer (item 12 in the minute book) which summarised officer decisions taken under delegated authority and items for approval by Full Authority [SEE EXEMPT MINUTE].

To consider an exempt report from the Chief Fire Officer regarding the station investment programme.

The Authority considered an exempt report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 13 in the minute book) regarding the Station Investment Programme [SEE EXEMPT MINUTE].