AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY held at the Borough Council Offices, Eastleigh on 5 December 2001.

PRESENT:

Councillors: M F Cartwright (Chairman); Mrs A E Bailey; Mrs E S M Barron; K Chapman; J E Coles; M Gausden; M S Geddes; Mrs D Harrison; Mrs P G E Holden-Brown; D Horne; P R C Hutcheson; D A Kirk; R McIntosh; Mrs A M McNair Scott; R H Price; P Russell; G Semmens; R Smith; Mrs M D Snaith; J Stocks; Mrs P.A. West; W H Wheeler; M.J. Woodhall

32 APOLOGIES

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors A Bentley and K P J Searle.

33 MINUTES

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Authority held on 26 September 2001 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman subject to Minute 13(iii) being amended to refer to a Members' Seminar next Spring on domestic sprinklers, rather than a future report by the Chief Fire Officer on this matter.

34 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS AND OPERATIONAL INCIDENTS

(a) The Chairman welcomed John Bonney, Deputy Chief Fire Officer (Fire Safety and Personnel) to his first meeting of the Authority and thanked Alan House, Deputy Chief Fire Officer for the Members' Information Pack about the work of the HFRS.


(b) A Member suggested some form of recognition being given by the Authority to former Members who had given exceptional service. The Clerk undertook to investigate this further and report on possible options to the next meeting.


(c) The Chairman reported on his continuing tour of fire stations and on attendances at other fire service related functions including the Fire Service Forum on 9 November 2001. It was noted that the Forum had discussed the new national role for Fire and Rescue Services in dealing with decontamination. The Deputy Chief Fire Officer highlighted the way in which this would be funded and operated by brigades.


(d) The Chairman thanked those Members who had attended the public meeting about fire cover in Portsmouth on 27 November 2001 and wished to place on record his appreciation to former Authority Member Lt Col. M J Shand who had chaired that meeting. Also, he reminded Members of the HFRS Carol Concert to take place in Winchester Cathedral on 12 December 2001.


(e) The Authority received and noted a report by the Chief Fire Officer (Item 3 in the Minute Book) on a number of notable fire and rescue incidents since the last meeting.

35 DISTRICT AUDITOR'S ANNUAL AUDIT LETTER 2000/01

The Authority considered the District Auditor's Annual Audit Letter (Item 4 in the Minute Book) on the results of the HFRS 2000/01 audit.

Mr J Randall gave a presentation summarising the key issues and conclusions of the audit.

The Chief Fire Officer paid tribute to the good working relationship between the Fire Service and District Audit. Members noted those non-frontline areas of the Service which required further development and looked forward to these being progressed in a positive way over the coming year.

RESOLVED:

That the District Auditor's Annual Audit Letter 2000/01 be received and noted.

36 REVISED BUDGET 2001/02

The Authority considered the report of the Treasurer and Chief Fire Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) setting out the revised budget for 2001/02.

During a full discussion the Authority paid particular attention to the significant increase in legal expenses identified in the report. It was noted that this had been due to a number of Employment Tribunals and the need to seek outside specialist legal advice on such cases. Also, Members raised various concerns over expenditure coding difficulties associated with implementation of the Authority's new financial management system. Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED:

(a) That the revised budget be approved.


(b) That, from the savings on pensions, the cash limit be varied for:
savings on capital financing costs - £25,000
insurance costs + £400,000
savings on maintenance of the Command and
Control System - £210,000
retained firefighters' incidents + £120,000
shortfall in the inflation provision for pay awards + £110,000
+ £395,000


(c) That the balance of £20,000 savings on the costs of pensions be held in reserve to meet an overspending on retained firefighters' pay in accordance with the contingency arrangements agreed with the constituent authorities.


(d) That the revised capital programme as set out in Appendix 3 be approved.


(e) That the Chief Fire Officer prepare a confidential report to the next meeting setting out the costs to the Authority in settling employment tribunal cases and the outcomes of the cases.


(f) That the Chief Fire Officer report to the next Finance and General Purposes Committee on the coding difficulties associated with the implementation of the new financial management system.

37 DRAFT BUDGET 2002/03

The Authority considered the report of the Treasurer and Chief Fire Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) setting out the draft budget for 2002/03.

The Treasurer summarised the main issues contained in the report. He highlighted that the relatively high increase of 5.1% in the base budget was principally due to the full year impact of the higher than expected firefighters pay award, additional insurance costs and the full-year-effect of growth proposals agreed for 2001/02.

To assist Members the growth items proposed by the Chief Fire Officer had been set out in broad priority order to illustrate the approximate degree of importance attached to them. It was made clear that the purpose of this was not to constrain Members to selecting any particular "package" of proposals, but to illustrate the extent of service developments which would or would not be funded at particular percentage increases in the budget and corresponding levies on the constituent authorities. A 10.2% increase would allow for all the Chief Fire Officer's growth bids to be accommodated.

The Chief Fire Officer outlined the importance of each of the growth items identified in the report and pointed out the ever-increasing demands on the Service as a result of Government and other external pressures and initiatives.

Following a full discussion which included a number of detailed questions, the majority of Members, whilst recognising the importance of supporting Fire Service developments, felt that these needed to be balanced against the financial constraints and ability of the constituent authorities to pay for the growth proposals. Therefore, the Authority concluded that an 8% increase in the levy would be reasonable. Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED:

(a) That the base budget be approved.


(b) That copies of this report be sent to the constituent authorities and that the opportunity be offered for a meeting between the Chairman of the Fire Authority and representatives from each of the constituent authorities (together with appropriate officers) in December so that constituent authorities may be best placed to make comments on the example packages set out in the report and this Authority's preference for an increase of 8%; these comments to be returned to the Treasurer and Chief Fire Officer by 2 January 2002 for a report to be prepared for the Finance and General Purposes Committee on 16 January 2002.


(c) That the final budget be prepared taking these views into account and levies set by the Authority at its meeting on 6 February 2002.


(d) That a report on what areas have potential for longer term savings opportunities and over what timescale they will be examined be brought to an early meeting of the Finance and General Purposes Committee in preparation for the 2003/04 budget process.

38 REVIEW OF FIRE COVER: BASINGSTOKE, WINCHESTER, PORTSMOUTH - PROGRESS REPORT

The Authority considered the report of the Chief Fire Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the review of fire cover in Basingstoke, Winchester and Portsmouth. Also, a presentation was made on these reviews including the outcome of the public consultation meeting held at the Hilsea Lido, Portsmouth on 27 November 2001.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the update on the Basingstoke fire cover review be noted.


(b) That no change is necessary to the area covered by the existing Winchester Fire Station but that the suitability of the existing fire station be reviewed again in 2007/2008.


(c) That the progress being made in respect of the Portsmouth fire cover review be noted.

39 COMMUNITY FIRE SAFETY (CFS) THEMATIC INSPECTION: PROGRESS REPORT

The Authority considered the report of the Chief Fire Officer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on progress being made to meet the targets identified following the Community Fire Safety Thematic inspection.

Members commended the HFRS on their work in actioning the recommendations in the Community Fire Safety Plan for 2001/02 and asked to receive information at a future date about the National Community Fire Safety Centre.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the report be noted.


(b) That the Chief Fire Officer arrange for Members to receive at a future meeting information on the work of the National Community Fire Safety Centre.

40 HEALTH AND SAFETY PROGRESS REPORT

Pursuant to Minute 20, the Authority received an oral report of the Chief Fire Officer on further actions taken following the Health and Safety Executive inspection audit of HFRS during September 2000.

RESOLVED:

That the Clerk circulate to Members a copy of the updated plan as referred to by the Chief Fire Officer at this meeting.

41 MINUTES OF FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE - 24 OCTOBER 2001

The Authority received the Minutes of the Finance and General Purposes Committee held on 24 October 2001 (Item 10 in the Minute Book) and adopted the recommendations relating to Copnor Fire Station and B Division, the proposed new Fire Station, Chineham, Basingstoke, the Budget for Buildings and Budget Monitoring.

42 MINUTES OF BEST VALUE COMMITTEE - 31 OCTOBER 2001

The Authority received the Minutes of the Best Value Committee held on 31 October 2001 (Item 11 in the Minute Book) and adopted the recommendation relating to the strategic planning process and performance management framework.

43 NOTES OF FAIRNESS AND DIGNITY GROUP - 17 OCTOBER 2001

The Authority received the notes of the Fairness and Dignity Group held on 17 October 2001 (Item 12 in the Minute Book).

44 NOTES OF COMMUNITY FIRE SAFETY TASK FORCE - 19 NOVEMBER 2001

The Authority received the notes of the Community Fire Safety Task Force held on 19 November 2001 (Item 13 in the Minute Book).

45 LGA ANNUAL FIRE CONFERENCE, SCARBOROUGH - 5 TO 7 MARCH 2002

The Authority considered the appointment of Members to attend the LGA Fire Conference next year.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor M F Cartwright (Chairman), together with Councillor P R C Hutcheson and one Liberal Democrat and one Labour representative, be appointed to attend the LGA Fire Conference on 5-7 March 2002 in Scarborough; the names of the Liberal Democrat and Labour representatives to be forwarded to the Clerk.

46 SCHEDULE OF FUTURE MEETINGS

The Authority considered the report of the Clerk (Item 15 in the Minute Book) setting out the schedule of future meetings.

RESOLVED:

That the dates of future meetings be noted.

47 MINUTES OF PERSONNEL COMMITTEE - 14 NOVEMBER 2001

The Authority received the Minutes of the Personnel Committee held on 14 November 2001, together with two further reports of the Chief Fire Officer providing additional information in relation to officer workloads/FDS Cover and Review of Establishment and Ridership Factor for Wholetime Shift Firefighters (Items 16(i), 16(ii) and 16(iii) respectively in the Minute Book). Members adopted the two recommendations relating to the above matters.

48 EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC

RESOLVED:

That, by virtue of the paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 shown below, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following Minutes:-

Minutes 49 and 50 - Paragraph 7
Minute 51 - Paragraph 1

49 MINUTES OF PERSONNEL COMMITTEE - 14 NOVEMBER 2001 AND RECOMMENDATION TO THE AUTHORITY ON WARSASH MARITIME CENTRE

The Authority received the confidential report of the Chief Fire Officer (Item 18 in the Minute Book) concerning Warsash Maritime Centre and adopted the recommendation on this matter.

50 RETAINED SERVICE COUNTING FOR WHOLE TIME SERVICE

At the commencement of this item Councillor G Semmens disclosed a pecuniary interest and left the meeting.

Pursuant to Minute 31, the Authority considered and approved a further confidential report of the Chief Fire Officer (Item 19 in the Minute Book) about retained service counting for wholetime firefighters pay entitlement.
[SUMMARY OF A MINUTE WHICH CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION]

51 GRIEVANCE APPEAL - 2 OCTOBER, 2001

The Authority received and noted the report of the Clerk (Item 20 in the Minute Book) on the outcome of this Appeal.

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