Agenda and minutes
Venue: Virtual Teams Meeting - Microsoft Teams. View directions
Contact: Email: members.services@hants.gov.uk
Media
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Election of Chairman To appoint a Chairman until the inaugural meeting of the Combined Fire Authority in 2021. Minutes: Councillor Chris Carter was proposed by Councillor Chadd and seconded by Cllr Fairhurst for the position of Chairman of the Fire Authority for 2020-21. This was then taken to a vote and Councillor Carter was duly appointed. |
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Election of Vice Chairman To appoint a Vice Chairman until the inaugural meeting of the Combined Fire Authority in 2021.
Minutes: Councillor Roz Chadd was proposed by Councillor Carter and seconded by Councillor Fairhurst for the position of Vice Chairman of the Fire Authority for 2020-21. This was taken to the vote and Councillor Chadd was duly appointed. |
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Apologies for Absence To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies were noted from
Michael Lane, the Police and Crime Commissioner and Councillor Dave
Stewart from the Isle of Wight Council. |
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Declarations of Interest 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.
Minutes: 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. |
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Minutes of Previous Meeting PDF 299 KB To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting Minutes: The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and agreed. |
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Deputations Pursuant to Standing Order 19, to receive any deputations to this meeting
Minutes: There were no deputations for the meeting. |
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Chairman's Announcements To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make. Minutes: The Chairman opened his announcements by thanking officer Geoff Howsego for his contribution and service to the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) over the past 13 years, which was echoed by the Chief Fire Officer, who wished Geoff well for the future. Cllr Price thanked Geoff in particular for his work with Chief Fire Officers Association and for being a driving force behind looking at national policies.
Looking at the impacts of Cvid-19, Members learned of the Strategic Coordinating group, which was Chaired by the Chief Fire Officer. Many HFRS staff had contributed and volunteered and may were also now working outside the normal parameters of their roles and were thanked for adapting to ensure business continuity and effective protection of the public. A response and recovery process was now in place and demand was increasing with the warmer weather and easing of restrictions. Members emphasised the importance of the public being careful, particularly with disposable BBQ’s, which were a common cause of wild fires. The Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service (IWFRS) discovery week would have commenced on 30 March 2020, with the inspection week starting 27 April 2020 and the HFRS discovery week would have commenced on 31 August 2020, with the inspection week starting 28 September 2020. Due to the pandemic the inspections had been delayed and it was likely to now be a combined inspection with IWFRS.
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Member developments To receive any updates from Members of the Authority Minutes: The Chairman and Cllr Roger Price had attended a virtual LGA Fire Commission meeting on 15 May[1] and heard from new Fire Minister Lord Stephen Greenhalgh, who was looking for action and reform based on recommendations of national inspection, including those following Grenfell. Peter Baker from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had also talked about the transition to a new building safety regime and how there was more to learn as it developed and came into effect in 2021. Cllr Price shared his concerns over the direction that the Minister wanted to go in and felt it was still unclear what the view was on the Police and Crime Commission, but felt encouraged that the changes needed had been acknowledged.
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Appointments Report PDF 157 KB To consider a report from the Clerk, which seeks to appoint Members to the Standard’s and Governance Committee and other appointments within the Fire Authority. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Authority considered a report from the Clerk (item 9 in the minute book), which proposed the appointments for 2020/21. It was confirmed that Section 2 had been added to accommodate the new arrangements with meetings in light of Covid-19, which allowed for virtual meetings. Members confirmed that the
recommendation regarding the Member Liaison Champion be removed as
it was not felt a necessary appointment. b)
For the purposes of Part 1 of the Local Government and Housing Act
1989, the allocation of seats on the Standards and Governance and
the Stakeholder Committee of the Authority was agreed as set out in
Appendix 2 of the report. c)
The Authority appointed the following members of the Standards and
Governance and the Stakeholder Committees and their respective
Chairmen and Vice Chairmen following the agreed allocation of seats
at paragraph 8.2 (above), until the Combined Fire Authority is
formally established in 2021:
e) That APAG include all appointed Shadow Authority Members as set out in paragraph 5a of the report, until the inaugural meeting of the Combined Fire Authority in 2021.
f) The Authority appointed three
Members, and identified one as Chairman, to an informal working
group for the review of principal officer pay, as detailed in
paragraph 5b of the report, until the inaugural meeting of the
Combined Fire Authority in 2021: g)
The Minority Group Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrat Party
Group until the inaugural meeting of the Combined Fire Authority in
2021 was confirmed as Cllr Roger Price, as set out in
paragraph 5d of the report. h) The Chairman of the Stakeholder
Committee was appointed as the Shareholder Representative for
3SFire Ltd pursuant to Article 39 of the Articles of Association of
3SFire Ltd as set out in paragraph 5e of the report, until the
inaugural meeting of the Combined Fire Authority in 2021. |
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Year End Performance Report PDF 336 KB To consider a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which explores how the Service has performed against a range of operational and corporate health measures. Additional documents: Minutes: The
Authority considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 10
in the minute book) regarding the Year End Performance report. It
was confirmed that it had not been a normal year, with Covid being factored in. Whilst there was a lot of
detailed information provided as part of the report, the following
item on the agenda (Service Plan – item 12) was linked to
this report and important to be considered alongside. During questions, Members learned that Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service was one of few Service’s to have compulsory fitness tests, and this was a good way of monitoring the health and wellbeing of staff. It
was noted that the Arson Task Force had above the national average
conviction and clear-up rates for arson incidents, but the number
of convictions following arrest fell down to the judicial system
not within the control of the Service. RESOLVED
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Service Plan 2015-2020 Performance Review and Close Report PDF 141 KB To consider a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which asks Authority to approve the closure of the 2015-2020 Service Plan. Additional documents: Minutes: The Authority considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 11 in the minute book), which provided an overview of how the plan has progressed to date. Despite covering five years, the plan focussed on areas of change rather than business-as-usual and therefore did not cover all areas of work for the Service. Members were happy with the Plan and there were no questions. RESOLVED
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Organisational Risk Register PDF 159 KB To consider a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which presents the new Organisational Risk Register that delivers the risk management approach as set out within the Risk Management Policy agreed by HFRA on 19 February 2020. Additional documents: Minutes: The
Authority considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 12
in the minute book), which reported on closure of the current
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority (HFRA) Strategic Risk Register
and presented the new Organisational Risk Register. Members were happy with the proposals and there were no questions. RESOLVED b) Agreed to delegate oversight and the annual monitoring of the Organisational Risk Register to the Standards and Governance Committee. c) Delegated authority to the Clerk to make the necessary consequential minor amendments to the Constitution to reflect the changes agreed as part of the report.
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Annual Statement of Equality PDF 238 KB To consider a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which provides a snapshot of the HFRS equality information and highlights some of the actions undertaken to improve the diversity of the workforce. Additional documents: Minutes: The
Authority received a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 13 in
the minute book) regarding the Service’s progress towards
actions undertaken to improve the diversity of the workforce. Members agreed it would be beneficial to work more closely with internal networking groups and this would be investigated by officers. When discussing those with disabilities, it was acknowledged this was a more difficult area as not all disabilities were visible or disclosed and it was important that more consideration was given to disabilities that could not be seen. On page 150 of the pack, it was
confirmed that the age profile brackets were considered as part of
the recruiting process.
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Annual Pay Policy Statement PDF 141 KB To consider a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which asks the Authority to approve the publication of the Pay Policy Statement on the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service’s website. Additional documents: Minutes: The Authority considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 14 in the minute book) regarding the Pay Policy Statement. It was an annual requirement to publish the information publicly on the Service’s website and provided information on CFO pay as well as that of the rest of the workforce. It was noted by Members that no
employee was on the minimum wage and it was felt that this was a
great achievement.
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Sponsorship and Charity Engagement Policy Position PDF 322 KB To consider a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which seeks approval to establish a clear policy position on Sponsorship and Charity engagement. Additional documents: Minutes: The
Authority considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 15
in the minute book) regarding a policy position on Sponsorship and
Charity engagement. Going forward, it was agreed that Members would be kept up to date on the register through APAG as well as updates to the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority.
RESOLVED
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Minutes from the Standards & Governance Meeting - 2 March 2020 PDF 201 KB To receive the minutes from the Standards & Governance Committee meeting, which took place on the 2 March 2020. Minutes: The Authority received the Minutes from the Standards & Governance Committee meeting, which took place on the 2 March 2020. There were no questions. |
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Exclusion of Press and Public 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. Minutes: 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. |
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STATION INVESTMENT PROGRAMME - REDEVELOPMENT OF BISHOPS WALTHAM FIRE STATION To consider an exempt report from the Chief Fire Officer regarding the Station Investment Programme. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Authority considered an exempt report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 18 in the minute book) regarding Bishops Waltham fire Station [SEE SUMMARY OF EXEMPT MINUTE] |
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Urgent Decisions Report To receive an exempt report from the Chief Fire Officer regarding the urgent decisions required to be made by the Chief Fire Officer and Chief Finance Officer as a consequence of the cancellation of the meeting of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority (HFRA) in April 2020. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Authority considered n exempt report from
the Chief Fire Officer (item 19 in the minute book), which
summarised urgent decisions that had been made due to Covid-19 and
the April 2020 Full Authority meeting being cancelled.
RESOLVED |