Archived decisions

    AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY held at the Borough Council Offices, Eastleigh on 29 May, 2003.

PRESENT:

Councillors: M. Andrewes; Mrs E.S.M. Barron; R. Baulk; M.F. Cartwright; K.Chapman; E.G. Gale, MBE; P. Galton; Mrs D. Harrison; P.A. Heath; D. Horne; P.R.C. Hutcheson; R. McIntosh; R.H. Price; K.P.J. Searle; G. Semmens; Mrs M.D. Snaith; J. Stocks; M.J. Woodhall

152 APOLOGIES

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs. A.E. Bailey; J.E. Coles; Mrs P.G.E. Holden-Brown; D.A. Kirk; S. Letts; P. Luffman and R. Smith.

153 APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN

RESOLVED:

That Councillor M.F. Cartwright be appointed Chairman until the Annual Meeting of the Authority in 2004.

154 APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIRMEN

RESOLVED:

That Councillors P.A. Heath and G. Semmens be appointed Vice-Chairmen until the Annual Meeting of the Authority in 2004.

155 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest reported on this item.

156 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Authority held on 5 February, 2003 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Matters Arising:

E.Government (Minute 140)

At the request of the Authority, the Clerk undertook to re-issue a previous letter of 18 February 2003 to Members about the future opportunity to receive electronic delivery of agenda and other information.

Independent Review of Fire Service (Minute 143)

Councillor Mrs E.S.M. Barron sought clarification about the Working Party established in respect of this item and the Clerk agreed to investigate and let her know the position.

157 DEPUTATIONS

There were no deputations made at this meeting.

158 MINUTES OF FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE -
23 APRIL 2003

(Note: For the benefit of the Treasurer, this item was brought forward to an earlier part of the meeting).

The Authority received the Minutes of the Finance and General Purposes Committee held on 23 April, 2003 (Item 16 in the Minute Book).

Matter Arising:

Garages Adjacent to Gosport Fire Station (Minute 47)

The Chief Fire Officer undertook to write to Councillor K.P.J. Searle on this item and agreed to advise Members, wherever possible, of any such matters arising in their local areas.

159 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS AND INCIDENTS OF INTEREST

      (i) The Chairman welcomed new Members to their first meeting and undertook to write to Councillors A. Bentley; M. Gausden; Mrs A. McNair Scott and P. Russell thanking them for their contributions as former Members of the Authority.

      (ii) The Chairman reported on a number of important key matters which the Authority would need to deal with over the coming months and on his attendance at various Conferences and other recent Fire Service events. Also, he reminded the Authority of the diversity training event on "Harassment and Bullying" which had been organised by the Chief Fire Officer for 10.00 a.m. on 1 July 2003 at Fire HQ, Eastleigh. It was hoped that those Members who had not attended a similar event last year would attend on 1 July 2003.

      (iii) The Authority received and noted a report by the Chief Fire Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on a number of notable fire and rescue service incidents since the last meeting. During discussion on this item particular tribute was paid to those firefighters who had attended the severe fire incident at Pinewood Infant School, Farnborough on 27 March 2003. Other Members were interested to know more about the causes of thatched property fires and the possible future licensing of premises with gas containers. The Chief Fire Officer noted the points raised and agreed to report back with further information to a future meeting of the Authority.

160 APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES, DEPUTIES AND OTHER APPOINTMENTS

The Authority considered the report of the Clerk (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on a proposal to rename the Best Value Committee and on the appointment of Committees, deputies and other appointments.

RESOLVED:

      (i) That the Best Value Committee be renamed the Performance Review Committee with immediate effect.

      (ii) That, for the purposes of Part I of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, the allocation of seats on the Committees of the Authority, be as follows:-

      Committees

      Conservative Group

      Liberal Democrat Group

      Labour Group

      Finance and General Purposes

      7

      4

      2

      Personnel

      7

      3

      2

      Performance Review

      4

      2

      1

      Standards

      3

      1

      1

      (iii) That Members be appointed to the four Committees and the Committee Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen and Deputies be as follows:-

      Finance and General Purposes Committee

      Mrs E.S.M. Barron P.R.C. Hutcheson (Vice-Chairman)
      M.F. Cartwright S. Letts (Southampton)
      J.E. Coles R.H. Price
      P.A. Heath (Chairman) R. Smith (Southampton)
      Mrs P.G.E. Holden-Brown Mrs M.D. Snaith
      D. Horne (Portsmouth) J. Stocks
      M.J. Woodhall

      Personnel Committee

      M. Andrewes (Portsmouth) D. Horne (Portsmouth)
      Mrs A.E. Bailey D.A. Kirk
      R. Baulk R. McIntosh
      K. Chapman (Vice-Chairman) K.P.J. Searle
      P. Galton (Southampton) G. Semmens (Portsmouth) (Chairman)
      E.F. Gale MBE Note: S. Letts deputy for P. Galton
      Mrs D. Harrison (Southampton)

      Performance Review Committee

      Mrs E.S.M. Barron
      Mrs A.E. Bailey
      M.F. Cartwright
      K. Chapman
      D.A. Kirk (Chairman)
      S. Letts (Southampton)
      J. Stocks

      Standards Committee

      P. Galton (Southampton)
      P.A. Heath (Vice-Chairman)
      P. Luffman
      J. Stocks
      M.J. Woodhall (Chairman)

      Independent Members

      Mrs W. Burton ) appointed by Authority on 6 February 2002 for a 4 year
      Miss S. Roberts ) period expiring February 2006

      Fairness and Dignity Group

      M.F. Cartwright (Chairman ex officio)
      M. Andrewes (Portsmouth)
      (Deputy - Mrs E.S.M. Barron)
      D. Horne (Portsmouth)
      (Deputy - P. Luffman)
      G. Semmens

      Community Fire Safety Task Force

      M.F. Cartwright (Chairman ex officio)
      R. Baulk
      K. Chapman
      Mrs P.G.E. Holden Brown
      (Deputy - P. Galton (Southampton)
      D. Horne (Portsmouth)
      (Deputy - K.P.J. Searle)

161 IMPROVING PUBLIC SAFETY IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES - WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND OTHER AGENCIES

The Authority considered the report of the Chief Fire Officer (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on a suggested approach to partnership working with local authorities and to appoint Member representation on each of the 13 Crime and Disorder Partnerships in Hampshire.

The Authority supported the way forward as proposed in the report and the Clerk noted a number of Member nominations made at the meeting to the Crime and Disorder Partnerships. It was agreed that the nominations be passed to the Clerk for him to determine an appointment, after consultation with the Chairman, if there was more than one nomination for any partnership.

RESOLVED:

      (i) That the approach to partnership working with local authorities and the recommended levels of attendance be supported by the Authority.

      (ii) That, nominations be made to the Clerk with the names of those HFRA Members to serve on each of the 13 Crime and Disorder Partnerships in Hampshire and if there is more than one nomination for any partnership, the Clerk makes the appointment after consultation with the Chairman.

162 FIRE AUTHORITY INTEGRATED RISK MANAGEMENT PLANS

The Authority considered the report of the Chief Fire Officer (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on the preparation of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority's Integrated Risk Management Plan.

Members appreciated the considerable work which would be involved and the tight deadlines to carry it out as well as the importance of their active involvement. The need for regular Project Steering Group meetings was supported reflecting the importance of this initiative; notes of these meetings to be circulated by the Chief Fire Officer to all members of the Authority.

Members supported a proposal to increase the Liberal Democrat representation on the proposed Project Steering Group from one to two.

RESOLVED:

      (i) That the report on the Fire Authority Integrated Risk Management Plan be noted.

      (ii) That the Chairman, the two Vice-Chairmen, Chairman of the Asset Management Group, Councillors Mrs E.S.M. Barron and R. Price and D. Horne (Deputy: K.P.J. Searle) be appointed to the Project Steering Group meetings on this matter.

163 ATTENDANCE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY : AUDIT COMMISSION REPORT AND ACTION PLAN

The Authority considered the report of the Chief Fire Officer (Item 11 in the Minute Book) on the joint review undertaken with the Audit Commission, on the Service's approach to managing attendance at work and the management action plans prepared in response to the review's recommendations.

RESOLVED:

That the findings and recommendations of the external auditors review of absence management be noted and that the associated management action plan be endorsed.

164 THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES (MEMBERS' ALLOWANCES) (ENGLAND) REGULATIONS 2003

The Authority considered the report of the Clerk (Item 12 in the Minute Book) setting out proposals for meeting the requirements of these new regulations.

RESOLVED:

      (i) That the Clerk be asked to investigate and, if feasible, to establish the Authority's own Independent Remuneration Panel comprising of one Member drawn from each of the existing County, Portsmouth and Southampton City Council Remuneration Panels.

      (ii) That, the Clerk be authorised to take any other appropriate action, on behalf of the Authority, to ensure that a scheme of proposals for Members allowances is considered by the Authority at its meeting in September 2003.

165 APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS TO FIRE CONFERENCES

Pursuant to Minute 149 of the last meeting, the Chief Fire Officer gave an oral update on the appointment of Members to Conferences in 2003.

In discussion the Authority felt that there should be a more systematic approach to this matter and supported the idea of Members writing reports about any conferences which they had attended.

RESOLVED:

      (i) That, in future, the normal practice shall be for Members who attend conferences, etc., to prepare a short written report back to the Authority about them.

      (ii) That the Liberal Democrat and Labour Group Spokespersons notify the Chief Fire Officer of any of their Members wishing to attend the CACFOA Annual Fire Conference in Glasgow between 9-11 September 2003.

166 MINUTES OF PERSONNEL COMMITTEE - 2 APRIL 2003

The Authority received the Minutes of the Personnel Committee held on 2 April 2003 (Item 14 in the Minute Book).

167 MINUTES OF BEST VALUE COMMITTEE - 2 APRIL 2003

The Authority received the Minutes of the Best Value Committee held on 2 April 2003 (Item 15 in the Minute Book).

168 NOTES OF FAIRNESS AND DIGNITY GROUP MEETING - 10 APRIL 2003

The Authority received the notes of the Fairness and Dignity Group meeting held on 10 April 2003 (Item 17 in the Minute Book).

169 EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

RESOLVED:

That, by virtue of Paragraph 1 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for Minute 170.

170 HFRA - GRIEVANCE APPEALS - SUMMARY OF DECISIONS TAKEN ON 25 FEBRUARY AND 3 MARCH 2003

The Authority received and noted the report of the Clerk (Item 19 in the Minute Book) on the outcome of these Grievance Appeals.

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[Note at the conclusion of the meeting, DCFO J. Bonney showed the Authority an information/recruitment video prepared by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.]

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