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(i) |
That a special meeting of the Fire Authority to discuss all options for dealing with the major building defects at Copnor Fire Station and B Division Headquarters, be convened as soon as possible after the Annual meeting of the Authority in May 2002. |
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(ii) |
That the decision of the Fire Authority at its meeting on 6 February 2002 "that no application be made under Section 19 of the Fire Services Act to close the Copnor Fire Station or to transfer existing operational personnel and appliances to Southsea Fire Station" be revisited at a special meeting of the Authority on a date to be determined. |
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(iii) |
That the Authority's property adviser provides estimates of the urgent structural repairs needed to the existing building as outlined in Paragraph 3.1 of the report. |
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1.4 |
At its last meeting (on 22 May 2002) the Authority supported the Committee's recommendations and resolved to hold a special meeting so that all the relevant issues could be debated more fully. |
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2 |
Fire Cover Review |
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2.1 |
Given the Authority's decision to revisit the question of Fire Cover, it seems reasonable in the circumstances to take the opportunity to present again the outcomes and recommendations of the Fire Cover Review and this will be done at the meeting. |
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2.2 |
Later in this report mention is made of the impact there would be on the proposal (previously approved by the Authority) to build a second fire station at Basingstoke if it was decided to commit significant expenditure to resolving the building problems at Copnor. For completeness, therefore, copies of the following reports and minutes are attached: HFRA 27 9 2000 Fire Cover Review: Basingstoke Area Item 9 - attached as Appendix C Minute 209 Fire Cover Review: Basingstoke Area - attached as Appendix D HFRA 5 December 2001 Reviews of Fire Cover: Basingstoke, Winchester, Portsmouth - Progress Report - attached as Appendix E |
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3 |
Updated information on the urgent building defects |
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3.1 |
Attached, as Appendix F, is an extract from the recently completed Condition Survey (of all the Authority's buildings) for the Copnor Fire Station. The Survey was carried out by the Authority's property adviser. The financial summary sheet lists the main categories of works that need attention in the short-, medium- and long-term. It will be noted that the estimated costs (excluding contingencies and professional fees) for a programme of remedial and planned maintenance works are estimated to be £141,800 in the short-term (1-3 years); an additional £117,000 in the medium-term (4-6 years); and an additional £551,500 in the long-term (7-25 years); ie £810.300 in total. It is important to note that the major structural defects are NOT included in this summary as these have been subject to a specialist consultants report - previously reported to the Authority, and estimated to cost up to an additional £250,000. |
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3.2 |
As requested by the Finance and General Purposes Committee, the opportunity has been taken to establish more detailed estimates for just the most urgent structural and other repairs needed to sustain the building in the short-term (1-3 years). The Authority's property adviser now considers that these repairs and minimal maintenance work would cost about £135,000 (including fees). This level of work would not solve the structural problems, but would deal only with the immediate safety issues and allow the scaffolding to be removed. The estimate excludes any costs that might be incurred if it was deemed necessary to temporarily relocate some or all of the staff during the works. This can only be finally determined once a tender has been let and a detailed schedule of works agreed with the contractor. |
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3.3 |
The property adviser also comments that, while it may be possible to further reduce the scope of the works, there would be an increasing risk to the day-to-day operational use of the fire station. If the minimalist approach is taken, the level of repairs would not adequately control further deterioration of the building and such deterioration will occur at a faster rate than if a more prudent short- to medium-term maintenance programme was followed. The result would be potentially higher costs occurring in future years. |
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3.4 |
It should be further noted that if, after say 3 years, the Authority decides to retain the building as an operational fire station for the longer-term, and to eventually carry out the major works that would certainly be required by that time, then the short-term works undertaken will prove to have been abortive. |
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4 |
Financial planning implications |
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4.1 |
Although the recommendation to relocate the resources to Southsea and the consequential closure of the Copnor building was based solely on operational grounds, it is also the option that could best be recommended in financial terms. In deciding to reconsider this option, the Authority has taken the view that financial factors, about which more detail is now available, should also be taken fully into account. |
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4.2 |
Given that closure of Copnor is the least-cost option, members need to take a view on two questions: |
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4.2.1 |
Are the benefits (e.g. satisfaction of public opinion and delivery of fire cover standards beyond those statutorily required) of not pursuing the closure option a justifiable use of public money; i.e. do members consider this a good value for money option assuming that funds are available without detriment to any other fire cover issues? |
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4.2.2 |
If the answer to the first question is yes; then, other things being equal, it would make sense from a financial perspective to spend money maintaining a fire station in Copnor. However, it is then appropriate to consider the knock-on effects - of spending limited funds at Copnor - on the Authority's ability to deal with fire cover issues in other parts of the county. This question requires some assessment of the prospects for future funding streams, and the probabilities involved. |
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4.3 |
The table set out in Appendix G summarises how much capital will be available to fund fire station building projects over the coming years assuming continuation of current levels of basic credit approval (or the equivalent government support of £1.23m under new capital arrangements) and known capital receipts to date. It makes the relatively optimistic assumption that other calls on the capital budget will be limited to minimum provision for vehicles, equipment and minor building improvements. The new Basingstoke fire station is estimated to cost £3m in total. Without any spend on Copnor, this project could be expected to start in 2004/05. If funds are committed to sustaining the Copnor building, then the total call on capital will increase, and the Basingstoke scheme would need to be put back. The effect of this can be summarised for the different options (using mid-point costs) as follows: |
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Option 1 |
Up to £0.5m extra (depending on the extent of works undertaken) therefore £3.5m needed to proceed with Basingstoke, making a start possible in 2005/06 |
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Option 2 |
£1.5m, therefore £4.5m needed to proceed with Basingstoke - start possible in 2006/07 |
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Option 3 |
£2.5m, therefore £5.5m needed - start possible in 2007/08 |
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Option 4 |
£1.7m extra, £4.7m needed - start possible in 2006/07 |
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4.4 |
This provides the initial financial planning context for members' consideration of the indirect impact on fire cover standards in Basingstoke. However, there are three possible ways in which additional capital funding might be obtained: |
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4.4.1 |
Borrowing credit approvals from constituent authorities, which could facilitate any significant early spending on Copnor, but would not change the underlying equation. This would require the formal approval of the relevant constituent authority. The County is in a position to lend BCA, but would require it to be returned by the end of 2003/04. This would just bring forward a possible £500,000 to the current financial year and still not fully support Options 2 or 3. |
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4.4.2 |
The Government has announced that borrowing controls will be replaced with a system of prudential guidelines aimed at preventing the cost of repaying borrowing exceeding what the revenue budget could reasonably bear. However, even if this does increase borrowing power, the effect on the revenue budget must be taken into account. The move towards making the combined fire authorities precepting bodies is part of the same set of Government proposals: that, equally, may increase flexibility in some ways but will not of itself help to find resources. The revenue impact of borrowing an additional £2m, for example, is likely to be in the order of £200,000 per year so that even if this were to prove feasible, it would be a major commitment to take account of under the tests of whether the revenue budget can withstand this and whether it represents good value for money. These Government proposals have yet to be confirmed, however, and until the timing of their introduction is known it would be risky to plan a firm financial strategy based on them. |
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4.4.3 |
Attempts could be made to incorporate a programme of building fire stations within the Public Finance Initiative (PFI). At a meeting of Members/Officers with the Minister (Dr Alan Whitehead MP) on 22 April 2002 it emerged that applications for the credits for PFI schemes of low value (lower than the £10m 'rule of thumb' frequently quoted) would be welcomed. That said, the high set-up costs and the reduction in future flexibility that are entailed in PFI schemes have not, to date, led the Authority to favour this route. Furthermore, the process is a slow and uncertain one and could not realistically be used to tackle Options 2, 3 or 4 for Copnor. It could, however, be considered as a way of progressing the Basingstoke scheme. |
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4.5 |
The simplest way to look at the options from a funding perspective, then, is that: |
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Option 1 |
Is reasonably straightforward in funding terms, but could be expected to defer the ability to progress Basingstoke by 6 months to a year. |
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Options 2 and 3 |
These would be difficult to fund immediately, and would effectively be the equivalent to replacing the Basingstoke scheme in favour of dealing with Copnor building i.e. deferring the fire cover improvements required in Basingstoke. This would represent very poor value for money should Copnor subsequently be considered surplus to operational requirements in the longer-term. |
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Option 4 |
This is feasible in funding terms if the Authority is prepared to borrow credit approvals from the County Council, but would lead to possible further delays in progressing the Basingstoke scheme because of the problems in funding a suitable site/building. |
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4.6 |
If the previous decision to retain a Copnor station is NOT reversed in the light of the assessment of overall priorities against scarce capital resources, then Option 1 makes the most sense if a short-term view is taken. That said, if that particular option is pursued and the Authority is not to be left with the same problem in five years' time - but having spent up to an additional £0.5m - then an exploration of medium-term options should be actively pursued as soon as possible. |
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5 |
European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998 |
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5.1 |
The proposals within this report are compatible with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998. |
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Recommendations |
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That the Authority reconsiders the future need for fire cover resources to be based at Copnor Fire Station; and, if it is subsequently decided that operational cover should continue to be provided from a location in Copnor, determines which (if any) of the four options described in the report it wishes to pursue to resolve the major defects associated with the existing building. |
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Section 100D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers |
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The following documents disclose the facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of the report. |
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Relevant reports (or extracts from them) are attached as appendices to this report. Other documents are referred to in the report to the Finance and General Purposes Committee on 24 April 2002 (attached as Appendix B) |
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Appendices |
A |
HFRA Meeting 6 February 2002 - Review of Fire Cover - Future of Copnor Fire Station |
B |
HFRA F&GP Meeting 24 April 2002 |
C |
HFRA Meeting 27 9 2000 - Fire Cover Review: Basingstoke Area |
D |
Minute 209 regarding above |
E |
HFRA Meeting 5 12 2001 - Reviews of Fire Cover: Basingstoke, Winchester, Portsmouth - Progress Report |
F |
Condition Survey - Copnor Fire Station |
G |
Capital Funding Projections 2002/03 to 2007/08 |
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Excluded are: |
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1 Published works |
2 Documents that disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act |
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HFRA BV 6 6 2002 Copnor(1) DH/JMW/29/5/02 |
