Hampshire County Council Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority Meeting

Apologies were received from Councillor’s Debbie Curnow-Ford, Councillor David Harrison and Councillor Karen Lucioni. Donna Jones, Police and Crime Commissioner, also sent apologies for the meeting.

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.

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and agreed.

There were no deputations for the meeting.

The Chairman opened his statements with condolences to the Royal family on behalf of the Fire Authority following the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II. Following a formal request from National Resilience Fire Control, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service had deployed a team of 18 HWIFRS colleagues to provide support to Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service on the day of the state funeral.

Following an inspection earlier in the year, the Service awaited a draft report from the inspectorate ahead of feedback and final publication in early 2023. Any actions would be considered by the Standards & Governance Committee later in 2023.

The Chairman shared that several trade unions across the UK were either considering or undertaking industrial action on the basis of the cost of living and current pay offers. The Fire Authority had stated that teams should be paid appropriately for the important roles they play in our community although was outside of the Authority’s control. The Service was working on plans to continue delivering vital public service during periods of reduced staff availability.

The Chairman was pleased to announce that the Isle Wight’s very first Fire Cadet unit had been launched at Sandown Fire Station in September and looked forward to welcoming new cadets and volunteers.

Members shared the following updates:

·         The Chairman, Councillor Rhydian Vaughan, had attended Prince’s Trust events on both the Isle of Wight and in Basingstoke;

·         Councillor Zoe Huggins had attended a Prince’s Trust event in Redbridge as well as further developing her Children and Young People Champion role;

·         Councillor Cal Corkery had attended the LGA Leadership course and also visited Cosham fire station. He had also liaised with the Fire Brigade Union to further understand its concerns and met with officers in his Sustainability Champion role to discuss current issues;

·         Councillor Roger Price had attended the Fire Management Service Committee [1]on the 23 September where they had discussed Fire finance and also received a presentation on community risk management;

·         Councillor Tony Bunday had attended the Prince’s Trust event at Redbridge and also visited a control room to experience how it operated. He had also met with officers in his People Champion role and had been impressed with welfare options available to staff;

·         Councillor Derek Mellor had attended the Basingstoke Prince’s Trust event and had also had a very beneficial briefing with the Chief Internal Auditor in his capacity as the Chairman of the Standards & Governance Committee

The Full Authority received a report from the Chief Financial Officer (item 7 in the minute book) provided updates on the 2022/23 financial monitoring position at quarter 1, the challenges relating to inflation that are affecting the service and the progress on delivering efficiency savings. 

It was highlighted that the Authority was not asked to take any action at this stage, as the report only provided an update on assumptions, risks, and potential mitigations related to the Authority’s financial position.

After a summary of the report, the following questions from Members were answered:

·         Energy use was being closely monitored and bulk purchases were done with partners at a lower rate, meaning that the Authority was below the level to receive any central government support. The next bulk purchase in the new year was currently being looked at by officers;

·         Any borrowing would be done against capital after looking closely at the capital programme;

·         Any increase in the precept could only be done by central government following a referendum, so was an expensive route and an unlikely source of extra funding

Members thanked the Chief Financial Officer for the report and were reassured by the Chief Fire Officer, who assured the Authority that the Home Office were aware of how Fire Service’s across the country were struggling, many of which were not in as strong a position as Hampshire.

RESOLVED

a) The forecast outturn position for financial year 2022/23 was noted by the  HIWFRA Full Authority

b) The forecast impact of current high levels of inflation on the forecast 2023/24 budget was noted by the HIWFRA Full Authority

c) The proposal to closely monitor the in-year and medium term position and use reserve contributions to close any budget gaps in the short term was approved by the HIWFRA Full Authority

The Full Authority received the minutes from the Standards & Governance Committee meeting that took place on the 29 July 2022.

The exempt minute was noted without going into exempt session, so the press and public were not excluded from the meeting.

The Full Authority received the exempt minute from the Standards & Governance Committee meeting that took place on the 29 July 2022.