Contact: Jeff Pattison, (01962) 847321

[ With the concurrence of the Chairman under Section 100(B) (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972, this matter is included on the agenda to enable the Authority to the meet the timescales required in accordance with this matter].

1 Summary

1.1 In the White Paper: Our Fire and Rescue Service, all fire authorities were required to establish regional management boards based on existing Government regions by 1^st April 2004.

1.2 The intention as expressed in the White Paper is to increase effectiveness and achieve efficiency savings for all fire authorities by delivering certain shared services and reducing the need for duplication of effort. The Regional Management Boards will therefore be expected to demonstrate the capacity to deliver:-

· Resilience to emergencies, especially potential chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack.

· Specialist or common services where appropriate, such as fire investigation.

· Regional Control Rooms.

· Regional level procurement or procurement to national standards.

· Regional Training strategies and delivery.

· Introducing Regional Personnel Management and Human Resources Management functions.

1.3 The sting in the tail is that the White Paper warns that failure to comply with this requirement will mean the abolition of the existing fire authorities and their replacement with a single combined Fire Authority for the entire region.

1.4 The Regional Management Boards will be composed of members from the existing fire authorities although the precise detail as to how this is expected to operate has been left to local discretion, although there is an expectation that they will be given Executive decision-making powers by their constituent authorities and guidance from the LGA points in this direction. This means that each constituent fire authority would be expected to delegate certain functions to the Regional Management Board who would then have specific powers to make and implement decisions in respect of the functions delegated.

1.5 The timescale within which these bodies must be created is obviously very short. As a result, the Local Government Association has developed guidance to assist fire authorities to establish their regional management boards. This includes advice on procedural issues and also a model constitutional document. However, it needs to be said that this guidance is advisory only and ultimately it is for each regional management board to establish its own arrangements. A draft of this constitution as amended following discussions at the South East Fire and Rescue Service Forum is attached to this report as Appendix 1 for members' information. It needs to be pointed out that this, at the present time, is a developing draft and a number of key issues remain to be resolved.

2 Key issues to be considered

2.1 The composition of the Region and representation

2.1.1 At present, the South East Region would comprise the nine fire authorities of Hampshire, Kent and Medway, Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. The nine authorities are very variable in size with Hampshire and Kent having approximately 20% each of the total population of this region, Surrey around 13% and the others ranging from 7½ to 10% with the exception of the Isle of Wight, which is under 2%.

2.1.2 As for voting powers, there are two obvious options. The first is for each authority to have one representative each. The alternative which appears to be much more reasonable, is that representation from the fire authorities should reflect their relative size. On this basis, it is suggested that Hampshire and Kent should have three representatives each, two for Surrey and one each for the remaining authorities, giving a total of 14 members on the Board. This method of representation would be further reinforced if contributions from constituent authorities were also based on population, i.e., in the same way that the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority receives contributions from its three constituent authorities of Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils.

2.1.3 There is also the possibility that the South East Region itself may be divided into what might be considered more manageable sub regional arrangements, but this option has not been fully discussed and resolved although the broad view was to not pursue a sub regional approach.

2.2 Financial aspects

2.2.1 A decision will be necessary by the Regional Management Board and the constituent fire authorities as to whether the Regional Management Board will have specific funding allocated to it from each of the constituent fire authorities and if so, the basis upon which any such contributions should be made. Again the two obvious options are a flat rate contribution from each constituent fire authority or perhaps more likely, a contribution which reflects the relative size of the constituent fire authority. This would mean, for example, that Hampshire and Kent together would provide approximately 40% of the funding required by the Regional Management Board. Another option would be for funding to be identified specifically in relation to how each specific project undertaken benefited particular and perhaps only a smaller number of the constituent fire authorities.

2.3 Advice and support arrangements

2.3.1 The Board will need to consider who and how advice and support is to be provided, particularly operational advice, legal and financial advice. Discussion has already taken place at the Forum and there was an initial view which favoured this being provided on a rotating basis by one or more of the constituent authorities. However, it appears that this proposal would not meet the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's criteria and therefore that some semi-permanent arrangement might be necessary which would need to be jointly funded by the constituent authorities.

3 Conclusion

3.1 There is clearly a great deal of further work required to ensure that a South East Regional Management Board is in place by 1^st April 2004 as required by Government and thereby avoid the threat that a failure to do so could result in the abolition of existing fire authorities and their replacement with a single combined Fire Authority for the entire region. In the light of that threat, the "voluntary" approach to the establishment of a Regional Management Board appears to be much more attractive.

3.2 In view of the amount of work that remains to be undertaken to ensure that a Regional Management Board is established by April 2004, it is necessary for a range of discussions and decisions to be made by this Authority on the detailed issues necessary including those contained within the report. It is suggested that to ensure that this fast moving target is kept in view, a delegation is given to the Clerk and Chief Fire Officer in consultation with the Chairman of the Authority to participate in discussions on the formation of a Regional Management Board and any decisions that might be required. The intention would be to report progress on the establishment of a Regional Management Board and the constitutional aspects as they have developed at the Authority's next full meeting on 11^th February 2004.

4 European Convention on Human Rights and Human Rights Act 1998

4.1 The proposals within this report are compatible with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998 and considered in the light of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority agree that::-

i. The Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority should participate in the formation of a Regional Management Board as outlined in this report.

ii. In view of the timescale imposed by the Government, the Clerk and Chief Fire Officer in consultation with the Chairman of the Authority, be given delegated powers to negotiate and determine all issues necessary to achieve the establishment of a South East Regional Management Board by 1^st April 2004.

iii. A report be submitted to the next meeting of the Authority on 11^th February 2004, giving details of progress made with regard to the establishment of a Regional Management Board for fire authorities.