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

Apologies were received from Councillor Karen Lucioni. The Chairman also extended a welcome to Councillor David Drew from Hampshire County Council for his first meeting.

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.

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and agreed.

There were no deputations for the meeting.

The Chairman confirmed attendance at the opening of Bishops Waltham Fire Station on 27 March and thanked those who attended the volunteer recognition event that took place on the 28 March.

The Chairman also paid tribute to Watch Manager Arron Jepp, who had sadly passed away after a period of ill health. Arron was a highly regarded member of Rushmoor’s White Watch and On-call team for many years and had served in a wholetime and on-call capacity and as a Prince’s Trust team leader.

Members provided the following updates:

-    Councillor Roger Price had attended a meeting of the Fareham Fire Safety Partnership and confirmed that Community Safety Partnerships (CSP) were being reviewed by central government. It was suggested that a paper return to the Authority on the arrangements around domestic violence and terrorism within the Serious Violence Duty[1], which would be wider reaching than before;

-    Councillor Derek Mellor had attended the Fire Leadership Course, which had generated some useful discussions with other Authorities;

-    Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Donna Jones confirmed that the CSP review was far reaching and funding had been set aside to the PCC to ensure duties were being met.

The Authority received a report from the Monitoring Officer (item 7 in the minute book), which sought approval for Committee changes following a change in the membership on the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority (HIWFRA).

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

RESOLVED

a)    The Authority noted the updated political composition of the Authority as attached in Appendix 1 and the proportional allocation of seats on the Authority’s committees remained as agreed at the Authority’s Annual Meeting on 14 June 2022.

b)    Councillor David Drew was appointed in place of Councillor Gary Hughes as a Conservative member on Standards & Governance Committee.

c)    Councillor David Drew was appointed in place of Councillor Gary Hughes as the conservative deputy on the 3SFire CIC Stakeholder Committee.

d)    That Councillor Huggins is appointed to the Principal Officer Pay Working Group.   

e)    All other appointments remained as agreed at the Authority’s Annual General Meeting on 14 June 2022.

The Authority considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer (item 8 in the minute book), which sought approval for the Pay Policy Statement for publication on Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service’s website.

It was confirmed that Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service compared well with similar authorities. Once pay awards had been finalised, the document could be updated and republished and this would come to the Authority for approval.

RESOLVED

a)    Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority approved the Pay Policy Statement at Appendix A for publication on Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service’s website.

The Authority noted the open minutes from the 3SFire CIC Stakeholder Committee meeting that took place on 14 March 2023.

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.

The Authority noted the exempt minutes from the 3SFire CIC Stakeholder Committee meeting that took place on 14 March 2023, acknowledging the success of 3SFire CIC and benefit to the community.

The Authority received an updated from the Chief Financial Officer (item 12 in the minute book) and Chairman of the Principal Officer Pay Working Group [SEE EXEMPT MINUTE]