Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor George Madgwick and Donna Jones, Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

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 approve the open minutes from the Full Authority meeting that took place on 8 October 2024.

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 welcomed Councillor Louise Parker-Jones to the Authority from Hampshire County Council and thanked Councillor Stephen Parker for his work and dedication whilst on the Authority.

An Emergency Services Carol Service had taken place in Winchester on 4 December and a Trainee Fire Graduation was planned for the 19 December.

To receive any updates from Members of the Authority.

Members provided the following updates:

-    The Chairman confirmed attendance at a Remembrance ceremony on the 8 November where a wreath was laid. On the 14 November he also attended a Chiefs and Chairs meeting.

-     Councillor Fran Carpenter attended the carol service as well as the Eastleigh Passing-out Parade

-    Councillor Sally Goodfellow had met with the Itchen MP Darren Paffey to discuss cladding replacement and thanked Karl Manners and James Lucy from the Fire Service for attending and for their assistance  as well as the Gosport Fire Cadets Passing-Out Parade on the 4 December. Councillor Goodfellow also thanked the Prevention, Protection and Enforcement team for their work.

-     Councillor Zoe Huggins had attended the carol concert and acknowledged the impact and significance of the 12 days video shared celebrating the emergency services. She also attended a meeting on the draft performance plan along with Councillor Price and praised the Safe & Well home visiting team as well as the first responders at the recent incident she had witnessed.

-     Councillor Roger Price had attended the Fire Service Management Committee meeting in London on 11 December, but the Fareham Passing-Out Parade had unfortunately been cancelled.

-     Councillor Derek Mellor had attended the carol service as well as the Basingstoke Cadet graduation

-     Councillor Karen Lucioni thanked fire crew for attending a fire in her ward. Councillor Lucioni also encouraged Members to write to their local MP’s to encourage the Fire Service becoming statutory consultees when planning applications were submitted. The Deputy Chief Fire Officer confirmed that the position statement on building regulations was on the website and could be referred to when writing if helpful[1]

-     Councillor David Drew attended a Cosham Fire Station visit with the Air Ambulance as well the Basingstoke Cadets Passing-Out Parade and carol service in Winchester.

To consider a report from the Monitoring Officer following a change to proportionality on the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority.

The Authority considered a report from the Monitoring Officer regarding updates to proportionality and appointments on the Fire Authority (item 7 in the minute book).

It was confirmed that updates were required to the proportionality and appointments on sub-committees following a recent by-election. It was agreed that the position may be revised in February.

RESOLVED

a)    The Authority agreed the allocation of seats on the Audit and Governance Committee, 3SFire CIC Stakeholder Committee and Appointment Committee of the Authority as set out in Appendix 2 of the report.

b)    The Authority reconfirmed members of the Audit and Governance Committee, 3SFire CIC Stakeholder Committee and the Appointment Committee and their respective Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen following the agreed allocation of seats at paragraph 4 (updates in italics), as follows:

Audit and Governance Committee
Derek Mellor (Chairman)
David Harrison (Vice Chairman)
David Drew
Louise Parker-Jones
Karen Lucioni
Fran Carpenter – Deputy
George Madgwick – Deputy

Stakeholder Committee
Roger Price (Chairman)
Fran Carpenter (Vice Chairman)
Sally Goodfellow
Zoe Huggins
Karen Lucioni
Louise Parker-Jones – Deputy
David Drew – Deputy

Appointment Committee
Rhydian Vaughan (Chairman)
Zoe Huggins
David Drew
Roger Price
Sally Goodfellow

c)    The Authority noted the updated Members’ Allowance Scheme as set out at Appendix 3.

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 2024.

The Authority considered a report from the Chief Financial Officer (item 8 in the minute book), which set out the quarter two forecast position for the Authority and budget gap anticipated for the next financial year.

The report was summarised and it was highlighted that there was an exempt appendix for this item. The funding settlement was anticipated within the following days of the meeting and so the report could only speculate until this had been confirmed.

During questions, Members heard that:

·         Once the settlement and savings had been finalised then the reserves could be looked at and potentially reduced to accommodate if necessary.

·         The cost of holding a referendum would likely negate any financial gain should it be successful.

·         There was not yet any further information on the external audit fee.

·         The Cosham Fire Station project was still being finalised and therefore details and costings would remain exempt until it was completed.

·         The Chairman agreed to review the letters already drafted regarding the change in threshold for National Insurance contributions and the wider implications on some organisations to ensure they captured the importance of Central Government support.

·         The transport costs quoted within the report covered the maintenance of the fleet and it was expected for them to reduce as vehicles were upgraded and less work was required.

·         Specific grants had previously been received to cover work and improvements that had happened following the Grenfell Inquiry.

Members thanked officers for their work and agreed that finding out information on funding settlements so late made financial planning incredibly difficult and welcomed the opportunity for longer term settlements to be agreed.

RESOLVED

a)    The forecast outturn position for financial year 2024/25 was noted by the  HIWFRA Full Authority.

b)    The updated capital programme forecasts (appendices A1 and A2) was approved by the HIWFRA Full Authority.

c)   The quarterly treasury management update report including the treasury management indicators (appendix B) was noted by the HIWFRA Full Authority.

d)    The quarterly prudential indicators (paragraph 27) were noted by the HIWFRA Full Authority.

e)    The Efficiency and Productivity appendix C was noted by the HIWFRA Full Authority.

To consider a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which seeks approval of four policies for inclusion within the Authority’s Policy Framework.

The Authority considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 9 in the minute book) which sought approval of the Financial Management, Asset Management, Environmental and People and Organisational Development policies for inclusion within the Authority’s Policy Framework.

Following a summary of the report and appendices, it was confirmed that the policies would be published and available on the web following approval and provided a good opportunity for Members to get involved in their Champion capacities.

RESOLVED

a)    That the Financial Management Policy (Appendix A) be approved by the HIWFRA Full Authority for inclusion into the Authority’s Policy Framework

b)    That the Asset Management Policy (Appendix B) be approved by the HIWFRA Full Authority for inclusion into the Authority’s Policy Framework.

c)   That the Environmental Policy (Appendix C) be approved by the HIWFRA Full Authority for inclusion into the Authority’s Policy Framework.

d)    That the People and Organisational Development Policy (Appendix D) be approved by the HIWFRA Full Authority for inclusion into the Authority’s Policy Framework.

e)    That the Position Statement for Estate Design (Appendix B1), which forms part of the Asset Management Policy, be approved by the HIWFRA Full Authority for inclusion as part of the Authority’s Policy Framework.

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

The Authority received a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 10 in the minute book) which detailed how the Service performed against priorities over the last six months.

Following a summary of the report, Members heard that:

·      There had been a decrease in cooking related incidents and staff sickness also continued to reduce

·      Call-handling time was included in despatch times and therefore made responses appear slightly longer

·      All incidents were responded to as quickly as possible and treated as critical

·      Rural incidents often experience delays due to the links to on-call availability

RESOLVED

The 2024/25 Mid-Year Performance Update Report was noted by the HIWFRA Full Authority.

To receive a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which summarises progress against the recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry phase one report and we as explain the Service’s plan for reviewing and implementing the recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry phase two report.

To receive a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which summarises property related matters where action has already been taken under delegated 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 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 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 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 outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons set out in the reports.

To consider an exempt apendix to Item 8 on the agenda.

To approve the exempt minute from the Full Authority meeting that took place on 8 October 2024.