Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors David Drew, Karen Lucioni and George Madgwick.

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 ay 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 review and approve the open minutes from the Full Authority meeting that took place on 10 October 2023.

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and following some minor updates, were 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 he had attended the official topping out ceremony at Cosham Fire Station on 19 October, marking the completion of the main structure as well as plans to attend the Emergency Services Carol Service in Winchester on the 15 December.

A combined Fire Cadet and Princes Trust presentation ceremony was scheduled for the 14 December at Basingstoke Fire Station. The Chairman concluded by thanking HIWFRS staff and volunteers for all their work and service in 2023.

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

Members shared the following with the Authority:

·         The Chairman, Councillor Rhydian Vaughan had attended a HMICFRS Chiefs and Chairs meeting on the 1 November

·         Vice-Chairman Councillor Zoe Huggins had attended meetings on the 7 and 30 November in her Children and Young People champion role and was pleased to share that the first Waterlooville cadet cohort was due to start soon. She had also attended a meeting on performance on the 24 November.

·         Councillor Sally Goodfellow had attended the Bishops Waltham Fire Station visit and Remembrance event. She also confirmed that that Botley Fire Station was having an open day on 23 December.

·         Councillor Roger Price had attended a performance review meeting with Councillor Huggins on the 24 November, a meeting on Pensions and also a meeting of the Fareham Safety Committee.

·         Councillor Derek Mellor had attended the visit at Bishops Waltham Fire Station as well as a visit to Whitchurch Fire Station where the new equipment  was demonstrated.

·         Councillor George Madgwick provided an update electronically sharing that he had met with the Director Corporate Services on CO2 reductions and achieving a more green and carbon friendly estate and whilst a lot of work had already been done, some areas like HGV fuel alternatives were yet to be explored.

The Chairman confirmed upcoming events in December that had been sent to Members for their diaries and encouraged attendance if available.

To consider a report from the Monitoring Officer, which details proposed amendments to constitutional documents.

The Authority considered a report of the Monitoring Officer (item 7 in the minute book) on amendments to Contract Standing Orders.

The Monitoring Officer summarised the report, which asked the Authority to consider the proposed amendments to improve efficiency and effectiveness along with operational independence of the Chief Fire Officer.

Members questioned whether Internal or External Audit had been liaised with and it was confirmed that any auditing would focus on how the Constitution and Standing Orders had been followed and adhered to policy rather than the rules themselves.

RESOLVED

a) The proposed amendments to Contract Standing Orders set out at Appendix 1 were approved by the HIWFRA Full Authority

b) The proposed addition to Standing Orders set out in paragraph 12 above were approved by the HIWFRA Full Authority

To consider a report from the Chief Financial Officer, which sets out the quarter two forecast position for the Authority and provides financial updates following the Budget Report in February 2023.

The Authority considered a report from the Chief Financial Officer (item 8 in the minute book), which set out of the quarter two forecast position for the Authority and provided financial updates following the Budget Report in February 2023.

During questions of the report, Members learned that the programme of work referenced in paragraph 19 of the report would enable finances to be repurposed and refocussed to ensure that they were being utilised in the best area and in the best way.

An update  would follow on the in-house HR service as referenced in paragraph 20b of the report in early 2024 and the Police and Crime Commissioner, Donna Jones, confirmed that HR and Recruitment was also due to move back across in the Police Service.

RESOLVED

a) The forecast outturn position for the financial year 2023/24 and associated capital programme forecasts were noted by the HIWFRA Full Authority.

b) The prudential indicators and the treasury management update, including the treasury management indicators were approved by the HIWFRA Full Authority.

c) The transfer of £690,000 of one-off additional interest income to the Capital Payments Reserve as a contribution to the costs of the Fire Contaminants work identified at the October Fire Authority was approved by the HIWFRA Full Authority.

d) The 2024/25 budget setting update and associated uncertainty was noted by the HIWFRA Full Authority.

To receive a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which explores how the Service performed against our priorities over the last six months.

The Authority considered a report of the Chief Fire Officer (item 9 in the minute book), which explored how the Service had performed against priorities over the previous six months.

The report was summarised and it was highlighted that there had already been an increase in Personal Development Reviews in the first few months of 2023/24 with a 62% completion rate, compared to a 53% rate across all of 2022/23.

During questions of the report, the following was clarified:

·         National levels of sickness had been increasing and the Fire Service was only slightly higher than those in the same family group

·         Both well intended false alarms and automated false alarms were reported, but these figures would be broken down further and provided to Members at a future APAG meeting along with false alarms in hospitals.

The Authority and Chief Fire Officer thanked staff for their work.

RESOLVED

a) The 2023/24 Mid-Year Performance Update Report was noted by the HIWFRA Full Authority

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

The Authority received a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 10 in the minute book), which summarised property related matters where action had already been taken under delegated authority.

The report was highlighted and Members were happy with the content.

RESOLVED

The items set out within the report were noted by the HIWFRA Full Authority.

To receive a report from the Chief Financial Officer, which sets out the arrangements for the administration of pensions within the service.

The Authority received a report from the Chief Financial Officer (item 11 in the minute book), which summarised how pensions were administered within the Service following the HR service moving in-house.

Members welcomed the report and the fact that HIWFRA and HCC would continue to work closely together across finance and pension services. It was agreed that examples of how the McCloud remedy would affect individuals would be shared with Members at a future APAG meeting.

RESOLVED

The content of the report was noted by the HIWFRA Full Authority.

To receive the open minutes from the 3SFire Stakeholder Committee meeting that took place on 10 October 2023.

The Authority received the minutes from the 10 October 3SFire CIC Stakeholder Committee (item 12 in the minute book). The Chairman of the Committee, Councillor Roger Price, was pleased to share that the community awards had been shared with recipients and the good work being done outside of paying back to the Fire Service.

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 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.

There was no requirement to go into exempt session and the press and public were therefore not excluded from the meeting.

To receive the exempt minutes from the 3SFire Stakeholder Committee meeting that took place on 10 October 2023.

The exempt minutes from the 10 October 3SFire CIC Stakeholder Committee were received by the Committee and there were no questions.