Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor David Harrison and Chief Fire Officer Neil Odin.

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 to disclose to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest they may have in any matter on the agenda for the meeting, where that interest was not already entered in the Authority’s register of interests, along with any other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests in any such matter that Members wished to disclose.

To agree the minutes from the Full Authority meeting that took place on 6 December 2022.

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 shared that Fire and Rescue Service colleagues from across the country observed a minute’s silence on Monday 13th February following the sad death of Scottish Fire and Rescue Service firefighter, Barry Martin.  Barry sadly died following injuries sustained at a building in Edinburgh in January and the Chairman sent condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues on behalf of the Authority.

Members heard how nine of the search and rescue firefighters had been deployed to Turkey to assist with life-saving activity and praised officers for their exemplorary training and assistance.

There had been a recent graduation of firefighters, which had been the first time that Hampshire and Isle of Wight wholetime trainees had been trained on both the mainland and the island. The next course that started on 13 February would see another 11 individuals join the Service.

In January, the Service had received its first full inspection report since becoming a Combined Fire Authority. The report included many positive findings and where the Service had veen graded ‘requires improvement’, it had been recognised for the work that was already underway in many areas to make improvements.

The Chairman updated the Authority on industrial action, and confirmed that a ballot of Fire Brigade Union members had begun following an offer made. Members would be updated in due course once the ballot had closed.

It was confirmed that the Chief Fire Officer was not present at the meeting due to receiving his Queen’s Fire Service Medal at Windsor Castle. It was the highest award of its kind that a serving fire officer could receive, and the Authority sent congratulations and thanks to the CFO for the well deserved recognition.

Vice Chairman Councillor Gary Hughes was due to step down from Fire Authority and it was his last meeting. He was thanked for his outstanding service since joining the Authority in 2021.

In light of Councillor Gary Hughes stepping down from the Authority, the Chairman proposed Councillor Zoe Huggins take over as Vice Chairman going forwards. This was seconded by Councillor Derek Mellor and supported unanimously by the Authority.

To receive any updates from Members of the Combined Fire Authority.

Members shared the following updates:

-       Councillor Karen Lucioni had attended Sandown Fire Cadets Passing out parade;

-       Councillor Tony Bunday had met with officers to look at resilience planning in his People Champion role;

-       Councillor Cal Corkery had attended the ground breaking ceremony at Cosham Station and welcomed the new development for the general area. He had also met with the Fire Brigades Union and welcomed the revised offer;

-       Councillor Zoe Huggins had met with officers in her Children and Young People Champion role to look at prevention and safety in schools, and also reoffending statistics in young people. Cllr Huggins also shared that there were two new Princes Trust programmes due to start and also a volunteers session with a date to be confirmed;

-       Donna Jones, Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight confirmed the priority to increase police officers and the anticipation of having 620 in post by the end of March 2023.

To consider a report from the Monitoring Officer regarding the percentage increase that should be applied to the HIWFRA Members’ Allowance Scheme (“the Scheme”), in light of the recent NJC Pay Award.

The Authority considered a report from the Monitoring Officer (item 7 in the minute book), which asked Members to approve several amendments to the Members Allowance Scheme and Special Severance Payments (SSP’s).

The report was summarised and during questions it was confirmed that the SSP’s were wholly delegated, although could be expanded on within the accounts to highlight and payments made. Payments were also published on the website.

RESOLVED

a) Option 1, to apply an uplift of 3.4% to the allowances in the Members’ Allowance Scheme was approved by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority;

b) The Authority approved the revised Members Allowance Scheme at Appendix 1;

c) The Authority noted the statutory guidance in respect of special severance payments and confirmed that the Chief Fire Officer has delegated authority to approve Special Severance Payments under £100,000, provided that any Special Severance payments of £20K or more be approved in consultation with the Chairman of the Authority; and

d) It was agreed that any Special Severance Payments to the Chief Fire Officer, or any Special Severance payments of £100,000 or more would be approved by the Authority.   In the case of a Special Severance Payment to the Chief Fire Officer, the Authority would seek the views of its Independent Persons before approving such payment.  

To consider a report from the Chief Financial Officer, which presents the 2023/24 forward budget to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority (HIWFRA) for approval.

The Authority considered a report from the Chief Financial Officer, which presented the 2023/24 forward budget to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority (HIWFRA) for approval.

The report was summarised and it was confirmed that an increase of 1p needed to be applied to bands B and F in paragraph 33 of the report, but this was a formatting error only and the total amount remained the same.

It was highlighted that there was an exempt appendix to this report and this was considered alongside without the need to go into exempt session.

During questions Members learned:

-       All elements of firefighter pay inflation had been included, along with subsequent national insurance and pension costs;

-       Frontline capability would return to the Authority for a decision at a later date

-       The precept didn’t consider the grants being received by lower band properties, but weighted averages used for bandings were available for each District.

-       Urban Search and Rescue would continue to be funded;

Members acknowledged that the Authority learned of changes from the Home Office with often very little notice and a longer lead-in time for changes would make implementation a lot smoother.

RESOLVED

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority approved:

a)        The 2022/23 monitoring position as set out in paragraphs 14 – 21, including the £1m contribution to the Capital and Investment Risk Reserve in 2022/23.

b)        The Revenue Budget, as set out in Appendix A.

c)         The draw of £0.38m from the Transformation Reserve to support the delivery of the Year 4 Safety Plan priorities as set out in paragraph 49.

d)        The contribution of £1.5m from one-off underspends to the Capital and Investment Risk Reserve as set out in paragraph 47.

e)        The Medium Term Financial Plan, as set out in Appendix B.

f)          The Capital Programme and funding as set out in Appendix C1 and exempt Appendix C2.

g)        The Reserves Strategy as set out in Appendix D.

h)        The Treasury Management Strategy as set out in Appendix E, including the Annual Investment Strategy for 2023/24, (and the remainder of 2022/23).

i)          Delegated authority to the Chief Finance Officer to manage the Fire and Rescue Authority’s investments and borrowing according to the Treasury Management Strategy Statement as appropriate.

j)          The Capital and Investment Strategy as set out in Appendix F for 2023/24, (and the remainder of 2022/23).

k)         The Section 25 Report as set out in Appendix G which should be taken into account by the Authority in agreeing the budget and council tax.

l)          The council tax requirement for the Authority for the year beginning 1^st April 2023 of £57,425,898.

m)       That the Authority’s council tax be increased by £5 for a Band D property for the year beginning 1^st April 2023 and for the properties in each band to be increased by 6.63%, as set out in paragraph 18 of this report:

Band A:            £53.62                                    Band E:          £98.30

Band B:            £62.56  ...  view the full minutes text for item 149.

The Authority considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 9 in the minute book), which asked Member to approve the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Statement of Intent for 2023/24.

Members queried the support offered to first responders and it was confirmed that welfare procedures were in place to ensure support for staff that were a more detailed element of the overarching policy.

RESOLVED

The proposed Statement of Intent for 2023/24 was approved by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority.

To consider a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which provides an update on the workforce profile and highlights of some of the activity and actions taken within the last 12 months towards progressing the 2022-26 equality objectives.

The Authority considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 10 in the minute book), which asked Members to approve the Annual Statement of Equality.

Whilst progress had been made towards a more diverse workforce, it was acknowledged that more could be done so that the Service was more representative of the communities it served. The steps towards supporting mental health were also endorsed by Members, who were pleased to learn that a mental health toolkit had been provided to all staff.

The Authority queried only male and female employee figures were captured and it was confirmed that changes were being looked at the enable data capturing to be more diverse.

Officers were congratulated on the work undertaken in response to the London Fire report that had been published and Members thanked Network Group Champions for their support in the work undertaken.

RESOLVED

The Annual Statement of Equality was approved by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority.

To consider a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which seeks approval for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS) Safety Plan Year 4 activities (Appendix A), which have a strong focus on further investing in, and supporting, healthy workplaces and staff wellbeing.

The Authority considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 11 in the minute book) on the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority Safety Plan.

The report was summarised and it was noted that it was a high level plan that incorporated risk management and everything was in line with fire standards.

RESOLVED

The Year 4 Safety Plan improvements were approved by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority.

To consider a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which provides an update on the work underway to produce the Fire Authority’s next Community Risk Management Plan (Safety Plan 2025-2030) for the Authority’s approval.

To consider a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 12 in the minute book), which provided an update on the work underway to produce the Fire Authority’s next Community Risk Management Plan (Safety Plan 2025-2030) for the Authority’s approval.

The report was summarised and It was highlighted that focus was on the scope  of the project including the differences between stages 1 and 2, the progress made since the project began in September 2022 and how the work would be evaluated.

The proposed consultation would cover a wide spectrum of areas and the Authority would be kept updated.

Member were happy with the report and there were no questions.

RESOLVED

The proposed approach to produce the next Safety Plan was approved by the  Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority

To receive a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which summarises property related matters where action has already been taken under delegated authority.

The Authority received a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 13 in the minute book), which summarised property related matters where action had already been taken under delegated authority.

Members were happy with the report and there were no questions.

RESOLVED

The items set out in the report were noted by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority.

To receive the minutes from the Standards & Governance Committee meeting that took place on 28 November 2022.

The minutes from the Standards and Governance Committee meeting on the 28 November 2022 were noted by the Authority.

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 Paragraphs 1 and 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 agreed 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 these items there would be disclosure to them of exempt information within Paragraphs 1 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 outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons set out in the reports.

An exempt appendix relating to item 8 on the agenda.

The exempt appendix was considered alongside item 8 on the agenda (minute 149)

To agree the exempt minutes from the Full Authority meeting that took place on 6 December 2022.

It was agreed in section 138 that the second paragraph should be updated to read “was in good condition for its age…”.The exempt minutes were then approved.

To agree an exempt minute from the Full Authority meeting that took place on 6 December 2022.

The exempt minute for Members only was then approved.

(All Fire officers left the room for this item)

Following a verbal update from the Chief Financial Officer, it was agreed that this item would return to a future Authority meeting.