Hampshire County Council Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority Meeting

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.

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.

Apologies were noted from Michael Lane, the Police and Crime Commissioner and Councillor Dave Stewart from the Isle of Wight Council.
All Members of the Full Authority were present.

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.

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and agreed.

There were no deputations for the meeting.

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. 

The Chairman was also pleased to confirm that the first meeting of the Shadow Authority was due to take place later the same day at 14:00, which would also take place virtually and be available for viewing.

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.

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.

RESOLVED

a) The Authority noted the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority Meetings and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 and their effects in enabling the Authority to hold virtual meetings, as set out in section 2 of the report. 

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:

 d) With regards to the Pension Board, the Authority considered the position as set out in section 4 of the report and confirmed the appointment of Councillor Roger Price and Stew Adamson in accordance with the Board’s Terms of Reference, with the vacancy to be appointed to at a future date.

 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: 
Chairman: Cllr Fairhurst
2. Cllr Price
3. Cllr Vaughan

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.

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.

The report demonstrated performance throughout the year and wider reporting provided more visibility of what the Service was doing. It was acknowledged that there were anomalies with some of the dates within the report and that these would be corrected for the online version.
Some targets were still ongoing and work was continuing to be done around data quality, but it was felt important during the first year to embrace the challenges. Due to increased resources available to staff, mental health related sickness had improved and numbers had decreased in 2019-20, however it was anticipated that this would change following lockdown and Covid-19. 

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.

Members were pleased to see an Increase in Black, Asian, Minority and Ethnic (BAME) and female fire fighters, however there was no evidence to support that females passed the fitness tests more successfully than males and this was more down to the age of individuals.

RESOLVED

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority noted the performance for 2019/20 detailed in the report.

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

The closure of the 2015-2020 Service Plan was approved by the Authority.

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.

The Risk register was a business tool utilised to inform and help continuous improvements across the Service and ensure the delivery or mitigation of the risks that had potential to go against priorities. The new risk management approach included the integration of external risks and internal risks through the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service Safety Plan, therefore ensuring risk management culture was far more proactive. It was proposed that the Register continue to be closely managed by the Executive group and the Standards & Governance Committee, which had increased in meeting frequency.

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

RESOLVED

The Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority:

a) Agreed Option 1 - to close down the current Strategic Risk Register and to adopt the Organisational Risk Register as part of the agreed Risk Management Policy, Safety Plan and delegating its management to the Chief Fire Officer.

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. 

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.

An on-call recruitment campaign had been effective and now 8% of the on-call workforce were female. The Service was committed to further improve and build strong networks with communities and had undertaken a focused recruitment day earlier in the year. 80% of those in attendance were BAME. A recruitment phase was being planned for 2021 and it was accepted that Covid and social distancing restrictions would mean it unlikely that any recruitment days would be hosted in the near future. Social media would continue to be used.

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.

RESOLVED

Option A:  The Annual Statement of Equality (Workforce Demographics) was noted by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

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.

RESOLVED

The Pay Policy Statement at Appendix A was approved for publication on Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service’s website.

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.

It was emphasised how important it was that conduct was held to the highest personal and professional standards and that acceptance of money or support in-kind necessitated appropriate levels of scrutiny. To comply with the Authority’s financial regulations, control mechanisms were essential to avoid any suggestion of malpractice or financial mismanagement, and so a policy had been compiled to establish a clear position. The policy covered the legal basis of the approach but was not to be done in a commercial setting, which would take the Service out of the boundaries of the Fire and Rescue Services Act.

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

The Policy Statement at Appendix A be approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority, and the register is reported back to the Full Authority on a regular basis for review going forward.

The Authority received the Minutes from the Standards & Governance Committee meeting, which took place on the 2 March 2020. There were no questions.

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.

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]

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.

It was confirmed that any unplanned expenditure would be picked up as part f the forward planning for next year. Members were content with the report and the decisions taken by the Chief Fire Officer.

RESOLVED

The HFRA noted and supported the urgent decisions taken by the Chief Fire Officer and Chief Finance Officer under the HFRA Constitution and Scheme of Delegation.