Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

All Members were present and no apologies were noted

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 that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3, Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Non-Pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 2 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

The Chairman shared condolences on behalf of the Authority to Her Majesty The Queen on the death of her husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh who passed away at Windsor Castle on Friday 9 April. The Chief Fire Officer invited Members to join with a few moments of silence.

Thanks were paid to all staff who had worked to get the Combined Fire Authority up and running as Members commemorated the inaugural meeting of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Authority.

Congratulations were made to the Chief Fire Officer as the new Clerk of the Authority, as well as the Shantha Dickinson who had been appointed to be the new Deputy Chief from June 2021.

The Authority also said thank you and farewell to Councillor David Simpson and Councillor Geoff Hockley who were retiring. A statue of commemoration was presented to them both on behalf of Fire Service and Fire Authority.

To approve the minutes from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Shadow Authority meeting.

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and agreed.

To approve the minutes from the final Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority meeting, which took place on 10 February 2021.

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 updates from Members of the Combined Fire Authority.

Councillor Roger Price had attended the Fire Conference and updated Members on the updated union practices and changes to legislation.

Councillor Sharon Mintoff noted the 11^th anniversary of the Shirley Towers fire and also a parade that would normally take place for Vasali that had to be cancelled due to the Covid restrictions.

To consider a report from the Monitoring Officer, which seeks the approval of the Authority to a number of minor changes to the Constitution. 

The Authority considered a report from the Monitoring Officer, which highlighted some minor changes to the Constitution to update it for the new Combined Fire Authority.

Members were happy with the proposals, and it was acknowledged that more work would be done to make the local Crime & Disorder Reduction meetings more open to Members should they wish to attend.

RESOLVED

The Authority approved and adopted the updated version of the Constitution attached at Appendix A. 

To consider a report from the Chief Financial Officer, which provides an update on the development of key items associated with pension decisions relating to the new Combined Fire Authority. 

The Authority considered a report from the Chief Financial Officer, which provided an update on the development of key items associated with pension decisions relating to the new Combined Fire Authority.

It was proposed that Local Government Pension Scheme members employed by the HIWFRA have the option of topping up their pension by paying into Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) and this process was explained. It was also recommended that all Temporary Promotions within the 1992 or 2006 Fire Pension Schemes for members employer by HIWFRA are treated as pensionable and awarded an Additional Pensionable Benefit in respect of the additional pay received. Financially, this would have a £64 impact on the HIWFRA.

The McCloud judgement was highlighted in paragraphs 20-22 of the report and the 6 page guidance note on Immediate Detriment, allowing FRAs to offer remedy to members that are due to retire.

Members thanked the Chief Financial Officer and his team for their work.

RESOLVED:

1. The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority (HIWFRA) noted the content of the report;

2. The HIWFRA approved the introduction of the Salary Sacrifice Shared Cost AVC arrangement as set out in paragraphs 3-6;

3. The HIWFRA approved the LGPS Discretions policy as set out in paragraphs 7-10 and APPENDIX A;

4. The HIWFRA approved the Fire Pension Scheme Discretions policy as set out in paragraphs 7-10 and APPENDIX B;

5. The HIWFRA approved the decision to make Temporary Promotions pensionable as set out in paragraphs 11-18;

6. The HIWFRA approved the Risk Register as set out in paragraph 19 and APPENDIX C;

7. The HIWFRA approved the decision not to apply Immediate Detriment automatically to all Fire Pension Scheme cases in respect of McCloud as set out in paragraphs 20-25;

8. The HIWFRA agreed to delegate authority to the Chief Financial Officer in consultation with the Chief Fire Officer to apply Immediate Detriment on a case by case basis if appropriate.

To receive the minutes of the HFRA Standards & Governance Committee meeting that took place on 24 February 2020.

The minutes of the Standards & Governance meeting on the 24 February were noted.

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, 2 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.

The exempt minutes were agreed in open session and therefore the meeting did not need to exclude press and public.

To approve the exempt minute from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Shadow Authority meeting that took place on 10 February 2021.

The exempt minute was agreed in open session.

To approve the exempt minute from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Shadow Authority Appointment Sub-Committee meeting that took place on 15 February 2021.

The exempt minute was agreed in open session.