Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY - FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE held at The Fire Brigade Headquarters, Eastleigh on 10 July 2003.

PRESENT:

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

48 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest reported on this item.

49 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 23 April 2003 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman subject to Councillor J. Coles being added to the names of those who had apologised for the last meeting.

50 PRECEPTING - FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The Chief Fire Officer gave an oral report on some of the main financial implications associated with combined fire authorities becoming `precepting authorities'.

Among the issues highlighted was the need to establish sufficient reserves and the requirement to produce a Council tax leaflet on the Authority's budget which would need to be distributed to all the residents of Hampshire.

The Chief Fire Officer reported that the most recent information indicated that combined fire authorities were still expected to become precepting authorities with effect from 1 April 2004. If this proves to be the case, it was felt that the Authority's proposed budget meeting on 4 February 2004 should be put back by a week.

In discussion the Committee indicated that they would wish to be closely involved with officers in preparing for precepting and that they were keen to evaluate the financial management options open to the Authority under the new arrangements. As a way forward, they proposed the establishment of a Members' Working Group on Precepting. Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED:

    (i) That, due to the present uncertainty about the start date for combined fire authorities becoming precepting authorities, the Clerk write to Members of the Authority asking them to reserve both 10.00 a.m. on 4 February and
    10.00 a.m. on 11 February 2004 as possible dates for the HFRA budget meeting next year.

    (ii) That a Members' Working Group be established to deal with issues associated with becoming a precepting authority and report back to this Committee on its conclusions; the Working Group to comprise of Councillors P.A. Heath (Chairman); Mrs E.S.M. Barron; D. Horne; R.H. Price; R. Smith and J. Stocks.

51 FINAL ACCOUNTS 2002/03

The Committee considered the report of the Treasurer and Chief Fire Officer (Item 4 in the Minute Book) summarising the spending of the Authority for the last financial year.

In considering recommendations 3 and 4 of the report on the return of underspendings to constituent authorities, the Committee was mindful of two factors:

    (i) The current constitutional position: such that annual levies should be restricted to the net expenses of the Authority; the fact that combined fire authorities are not permitted to hold reserves and balances; and, the established local arrangements with constituent authorities for `ring-fencing' the budget for pensions.

    (ii) The expectation that combined fire authorities will become `precepting authorities' from 1 April 2004 which will require the Authority to establish a sufficient level of reserves but without the guarantee of any transitional funding arrangements.

    In this context the Committee felt that there was a case for retaining the value of all underspendings. Members were mindful of the practice in many other combined fire authorities whereby they have (rightly or wrongly) retained underspends that are not linked to specified future commitments.

    As a result of the above, a new recommendation was suggested in place of recommendations 3 and 4 in the report. The other recommendations were all supported.

    Accordingly, it was

      RESOLVED:

      (i) That the Treasurer be requested to consult constituent authorities with a view to the whole underspend being retained by the Authority; to check the acceptability of this arrangement with the Audit Commission; and to report back with the results of the consultation to the next meeting of the Authority on 17 September 2003.

      That it be a RECOMMENDATION to the Authority:

    (ii) That revenue contributions totalling £336,000 be made in 2002/03 financed from the overall underspending in 2002/03,

    (iii) That the accounts for 2002/03 be approved,

    (iv) That capital payments for the year be financed as set out in paragraph 4.5 of the report,

    (v) That it be determined that:

      (a) the £703,453 of Basic Credit Approval lent to Hampshire County Council remain with the County Council until it is required by the Authority,

      (b) the £1,231,000 of Basic Credit Approval received in 2002/03 be transferred to Hampshire County Council until it is required by the Authority,

      (c) £530,649 of capital receipts be used to meet capital expenditure in 2002/03,

      (d) £147,361 be set aside as provision for credit liabilities from the revenue account and applied to avoid new loans outlined by credit approvals,

    (vi) That the treasury management activities set out in part D of the report be approved,

    (vii) That the Authority's assurance statement set out in Appendix 3 of the report be approved.

52 BUDGET MONITORING 2003/04

The Committee considered the report of the Treasurer and Chief Fire Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) detailing the latest budget predictions for the year.

In response to a Member's request, the Chief Fire Officer agreed to remove the word "preferred" from line 7 of paragraph 2.2 of the report as it was inappropriate.

RESOLVED:

    (i) That virement details as set out in Appendix A of the report be approved.

    (ii) That the pressures on the budget and offsetting factors be noted and reported on further at the next meeting of this Committee.

    (iii) That the changes to capital starts as set out in Appendix B of the report be approved.

53 CODE OF PRACTICE RELATING TO CONTRACTS

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Fire Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) giving details of proposed contracts for goods and services where each contract value is likely to exceed £50,000.

RESOLVED:

    (i) That the annual report on contracts be noted.

    (ii) That the single tender contract estimated at £20,000 to the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) to protect the Authority from penalties arising from illegal use of software be approved.

54 EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC

RESOLVED:

That, by virtue of Paragraphs 7, 8 and 9 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded for the remaining item.

55 COMMAND, CONTROL AND COMMUNICATIONS PROJECT - POST IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW

The Committee considered the confidential report of the Chief Fire Officer (Item 9 in the Minute Book) about the post implementation review of the command, control and communications project.

Members paid tribute to David Howells, Director of Corporate Services and Jane Reynolds-Smith, Group Fire Control Officer for their active involvement in the project since its inception in 1988.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

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