Archived decisions

Present:

Mr J Bonney

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HFRS (Chairman)

Ms Sue Brummit

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UNISON

Mr A Kettle

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HFRS

Ms J McNeill

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HFRS

Mr S Waas

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HFRS

Cllr M Cartwright

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HFRS

Cllr G Semmens

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HFRS

Members of Green Watch, C54 St Mary's

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies were received from Cllr Mrs Barron and Ms S-J Taylor.

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INTRODUCTION

Mr Bonney opened the meeting by thanking C32 for their hospitality and welcomed all those members of Red Watch who were present and briefly outlined the format of the way the Fairness and Dignity meetings were held. He welcomed the guest speaker, Mr Russell Tribe, Community Safety Co-ordinator, Eastleigh Borough Council.

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HFRS FAIRNESS AND DIGNITY UPDATE

Shanti Waas gave an update summary of the current issues and initiatives being carried out by the Service in line with the Key Tasks of the Diversity, Fairness and Dignity Timeline, a copy of which is attached to these Minutes.

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GUEST PRESENTATION

Mr Tribe gave a very interesting presentation on his role of Community Safety Co-ordinator which focuses significantly on the reduction of crime and disorder. He is currently involved in partnership working with other agencies, including Hampshire Constabulary, Social Services, Probation Service. From 1 April 2003, the Fire Service has also become a `responsible authority' under the Crime and Disorder Act. It is a requirement that the responsible authorities conduct an audit of crime and disorder issues taking account of the views of local people. A three year strategy is produced which has to be resourced and managed by the Strategic Steering Group. In Eastleigh, this currently comprises 10 agencies including HFRS.

In particular, Shanti Waas has, for the past year, been the chair of the Steering Group responsible for reducing racial incidents. Other areas in which HFRA assist are areas of Youth Crime and Vehicle Crime. Mr Bonney thanked Mr Tribe for his time and interest in attending the meeting and the useful background he provided into the work of other agencies that relates closely with the work of the Fire Service.

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OPEN FORUM

An interesting discussion and sharing of views took place with team members from C32 regarding Positive Action initiatives and recruitment generally. The potential for changes to the current position surrounding disability in the Fire Service and an employer's duty to consider reasonable adjustments to the workplace raised considerable interest, particularly as

this may conflict with the current provisions of the Firemen's Pension Scheme. There was also a positive discussion on how the Fire Service often not is perceived by the older generation of minority ethnic groups as a `profession' and what initiatives could be carried out to address this. Mr Bonney informed the meeting that the recently commissioned survey of young people on their understanding of the Fire Service as a career with prospects had revealed a perception that this was a dangerous job of low status. The video subsequently created by Southampton Institute students to present the facts accurately and dispel those myths is now being successfully promoted within and outside the Service.

There was also interest in the current Diversity Training being carried out and the new training which has commenced on Dispute Resolution for managers at Station Commander level and which will be offered to junior officers in due course.

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FAIRNESS AND DIGNITY COMMITTEE BUSINESS

5.1 Personnel and Diversity Timelines

Jenny McNeill explained the Diversity, Fairness and Dignity Timelines focusing on the Key Tasks to be achieved. There is a considerable amount of work to be carried out by the Service to achieve our key tasks and comply with legislative and good practice requirements. These Timelines are available on the HFRS Website.

5.2 Andy Kettle, Chair of the Local Diversity Group, (LDG) gave an outline of the progress made by the Group during their first meeting. The main role of the LDG is to mainstream fairness, dignity and diversity into the core business of all functions within the Service. The Group comprises senior officers and an external member from Portsmouth Council for Community Service (PCCS) Terms of Reference and action points have been agreed.

5.3 The next meeting takes place on 25 May 2003 and the minutes can be found on the HFRS Website.

5.4 The Positive Action initiative - `Have a Go Day' on 25 March 2003 was highly successful and attracted a large number of people from our target groups who were interested in finding out more about a career in the Fire Service.

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Dates of next meetings: 10 July 2003

9 October 2003

Venues to be confirmed.