Hampshire County Council Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority Meeting

All Members were present but apologies were received from Councillor Dave Stewart from Isle of Wight Council and Michael Lane, Police and Crime Commissioner.

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.

No deputations had been received for the meeting.

The Chairman confirmed that Wholetime Firefighter recruitment had closed on the 22 July with interviews to take place later in the year. Due to Covid-19 making it difficult for applicants to maintain their fitness, it was agreed to delay assessments until September. This would also allow a broader reach to under-represented groups. The primary focus to increase the number of applicants from under-represented groups and officers were thanked for their work.

The Government is seeking views from stakeholders, including representative bodies from the emergency services and the judiciary, on whether the sentence for assaulting emergency workers should be doubled to two years.
Some members queried how many had been prosecuted within the last 12 months, which would be investigated by officers but it was agreed that the move would be a more effective deterrent than anything else. It was confirmed that Members views would be requested as part of the consultation.

On the 20 July the Chairman had received a letter from Fire Minister regarding the launch of a consultation and the draft Building Safety Bill as part of a package of reforms to improve building regulations. This would be forwarded to Members for information and further discussion at an APAG meeting. The consultation finished on 12 October 2020. Another consultation regarding Pensions would also be circulated to Members of the Fire Authority.

The Chairman ended by thanking the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service for all their work to keep Hampshire and the Isle of Wight safe during lockdown on behalf of the Authority.

Councillor Chadd confirmed she was attending am LGA course on Diversity and Inclusion on 24 July and would report back to the Authority at the September meeting.

The Authority considered a report from the Chief Finance Officer (item 7 in the minute book) which requested that Members approve the outturn report, including carry forwards, reserves and capital financing, along with the annual treasury outturn for 2019/20.

The Chief Fire Officer highlighted paragraphs 6-8, which summarised the areas and reasons for overspend. Whilst the majority had been met from underspends elsewhere, work was being done to ensure the overspends didn’t reoccur.

Paragraph 13 in the report detailed carry forward requests that had not been able to be completed in 2019/20, which would reduce the underspend to £140,000 and required approval by the Authority.

Members queried Bishops Waltham Fire Station not being included in the forecast at Appendix C and it was confirmed that it was due to be included in the February 2021 accounts as it had been approved since the February 2020 Full Authority meeting.

The Chief Fire Officer confirmed that with regards to the £8million loan, early repayment would be penalised due to the premium increasing and there was therefore no benefit to paying it off early.

The fire Service was fortunate to have a manager that invested on its behalf and also who ensured that investments were environmentally and ethically sound. Most of these were in property.

The Chief Fire Officer confirmed that officers had worked hard at improving their financial skills with a tighter rein on budgets, resulting in benefits from reductions made over the past five years. 

RESOLVED:

a) The accounts for 2019/20, including the use of reserves set out in paragraph 24 and Appendix D of the report were approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority

b) The carry forward requests totalling £763,000 as set out in paragraph 13 of this report were approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority. 

c) The changes to the capital payments reserve in 2019/20 and the impact on the capital spend profile going forward as set out in Appendices B and C were approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority.  

d) The financing for capital payments as set out in paragraph 16 were approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority. 

e) The annual treasury outturn report set out in Appendix E of the report was approved by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

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 a report from the Clerk to the Authority (item 9 in the minute book) regarding an appointment to the Pension Board [SEE EXEMPT MINUTE].

The exempt minute from the Full Authority meeting on the 3 June was approved.