Archived decisions

Item 16

AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY PERFORMANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE held at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Eastleigh on Friday 6 January 2006.

PRESENT:

Councillors: D.A. Kirk (Chairman); Mrs E. Baker; I.F.E. Beagley; H. Jones; and R. Williams.

Also in attendance: Councillor Roger H. Price.

19. APOLOGIES

    Apologies for absence were received from Councillors K.G. Chapman, L.T. Dunsdon and David Simpson.

20. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

    Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matters to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of the debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11, and 12 of the Fire Authority's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed. There were no declarations of interest made by Members under this item.

21. MINUTES

    The Minutes of the meeting held on 7 September 2005 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

    Matter Arising:

    Best Value Reviews 2005/06 (Minute 18)

    The Clerk reported that Councillor Jones had been unable to serve on the Review of Service Level Agreements, but that Councillor Horne had agreed to do so instead. The other appointments had been made as suggested at the meeting.

    The Chief Officer confirmed that good progress was being made on both the above review and the review of partnership arrangements and that the first meetings of the respective steering groups would be taking place within the next two months.

22. DEPUTATIONS

    There were no deputations received under this item.

23. BEST VALUE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (BVPI) AND LOCAL PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (LPI)

    The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) on the Performance Indicator data for the second quarter of 2005/06. It was emphasised that by providing information to the public, the Service aimed to improve the statistics relating to: deaths and injuries in accidental fires in dwellings; the installation and effectiveness of smoke alarms; the ability of others to find their way out of a fire unassisted; and instances of arson. It was also expected that there would be a positive impact on performance indicators as a result of the continuing work completing Home Fire Safety Checks (HFSCs).

    In considering BV206ii (Number of deliberate primary fires in vehicles per 10,000 population), the Committee were advised that these incidents should naturally decrease as a result of improvements in car safety devices. Members went on to consider BV206iv (Number of deliberate secondary fires in vehicles per 10,000 population) and were reminded by the Chief Officer of the difference between primary and secondary fires in vehicles. Secondary fires in vehicles generally affected derelict vehicles while primary fires affected vehicles of value. Primary fires may be due to a fault, an accident or there may by an element of criminality. However, secondary fires in vehicles would often be closely linked to anti-social behaviour as instances of arson on derelict vehicles. The Chief Officer outlined various methods being used to eradicate this type of behaviour, including `Project Car Clear' and educational projects aimed at engaging young people in fire safety.

    Members expressed concerns about BV209ii (Percentage of fires attended in dwellings where a smoke alarm was fitted but did not activate), but the Chief Officer advised that this should improve as a result of HFSCs. A smoke alarm of the type fitted in a HFSC was circulated for Members to examine. It was noted that a leaflet on smoke alarm maintenance was distributed with all new smoke alarms provided by the Service. The Committee was reminded of the Service's aim to ensure that all homes had a smoke detector by 2010.

    In considering LPI20a (Speed of Response to all Emergency Incidents - percentage within 8 minutes) and LPI20b (Average Speed of Response to all Emergency Incidents), the Committee acknowledged that the former indicator gave a limited view of response times by only highlighting those incidents reached within the 8 minute target. The Chief Officer explained that it had been decided to include the average response time as a new indicator so that any improvement or worsening of response standards - above and below the 8 minute target - could be more easily monitored and good or poor practices identified. This could also act as an incentive to retained fire crews from whom it was often unrealistic to expect a response time of 8 minutes due to their rural location. The Chief Officer outlined the pre-alert system used by the service which alerted a station as soon the area of an incident was known. Members were pleased that this system would also enable retained fire crews to reduce their response times.

    Following a member's question on the slight fall in the percentage of incidents which were reached within 8 minutes, the Chief Officer described how the success of other improvement schemes could have a detrimental effect on this indicator. False alarms made up a significant number of the incidents which received a very quick response due to their urban locations. As the instances of these reduced then the percentage of call reached within the 8 minute target would also reduce. It was also explained that there had been recent changes in the types of incidents which were classified as emergencies which may also effect the performance indicators. The Chairman requested that the statistics on the instances of false alarms from Automatic Fire Alarms be included for comparison with LPI20a and LPI20b.

    In considering BV2b (Duty to Promote Racial Equality - percentage of Equality Standard for Local Government implemented) the Committee noted the positive impact of various initiatives to promote racial equality and community engagement, particularly in the urban areas covered by the authority.

    RESOLVED:

    That the performance of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and the reduction in the number of performance indicators be noted and that the strategies used to meet the targets be endorsed.

24. PROGRESS REPORT ON THE ACTIONS TAKEN TO MEET THE RECOMMENDATIONS MADE IN THE PREVIOUS BEST VALUE REVIEW OF PROCUREMENT

    The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) detailing progress on the actions taken to meet the recommendations made in the previously conducted Best Value Review of Procurement. The Integrated Clothing Project (ICP) was explained to Members and it was highlighted that Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service was playing a significant part in the project. It was acknowledged that all further progress with the final item on the Action Plan was primarily dependant upon advancements with the ICP. Members were satisfied with the improvements which had been made as a result of the Best Value Review of Procurement.

    It was noted that it may be necessary, at some point in the future, to revisit this review. The Chairman suggested that the Committee receive, at an appropriate time, a report summarising the programme for best value reviews and for revisiting old reviews.

    RESOLVED:

    That the actions taken towards meeting the final outstanding recommendation from the Best Value Review of Procurement be approved and that the review be closed.

25. RECOMMENDATIONS AND ACTIONS ARISING FROM INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS

    The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) detailing the Internal Audit Action report which showed some ongoing and overdue actions. It was noted that this was the first instance of overdue actions on this report, however, none of these items proposed significant problems. The Chief Officer outlined progress with each of the overdue items on three audits.

    On the audit of Security and Password Controls it was explained that recommendation 3.11 - the installation of the SAP system in place of the Revelation system - was overdue because of delays in the network upgrade. The audit team had agreed to postpone the action date on this recommendation to May 2006 and so this item would move to the `ongoing' section. This was also the case for the audit of Workshops, recommendation 3.19 - linking TRACE and SAP computer systems. On the audit of the Payroll, recommendation 3.19 - that Service Level Agreements be reviewed to include enhanced payroll validation via SAP report - it was noted that this would be followed up by the Audit Team in the 2005/06 payroll audit at Hampshire County Council. The remaining three overdue recommendations of the Workshops audit were all in hand and it was anticipated that these issues would be resolved by the end of January.

    RESOLVED:

    That the Internal Audit Action report be accepted and that the progress of ongoing and overdue actions be monitored.

26. EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

    RESOLVED:

    That, by virtue of paragraph 9 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item.

27. BEST VALUE REVIEW OF HFRS VEHICLE WORKSHOPS - REPORT FROM THE WORKING GROUP

    The Committee considered the report of Councillor Price on behalf of the Working Group (Item 9 in the Minute Book) detailing the progress made with the Action Plan that was produced as a result of the previous conducted Best Value Review of Vehicle Workshops.

    The Chief Officer outlined the background to this report explaining that a Best Value Review of Vehicle Workshops commenced in April 2004 and reported to the Committee in March 2005. At that time the Committee felt that the report was inconclusive in that a number of actions were necessary before a comprehensive Best Value Review could properly be concluded and, therefore, before a decision could made on whether managing the vehicle workshops function in-house would offer best value to the Authority and, if so, whether it made good business sense to relocate Workshops to purpose built accommodation in Eastleigh.

    The Committee established an Action Plan to implement the required improvements and agreed to postpone any decision until more evidence could be collected and the effects of the improvements could be observed. The Committee had also resolved to establish a working group to monitor the progress on the Action Plan and this was done at the subsequent meeting in June 2005. It had been anticipated that the Working Group would report back to the Committee in March 2006 and the Best Value Review would then reconvene. However, the Working Group had produced its report three months ahead of this timeframe.

    Councillor Price, as a Member of the Working Group and author of the report, explained that the Group had met regularly since June 2005 to keep a watching brief on progress with the Action Plan. Examples of good practice had been taken from other authorities, training procedures had been updated and comparisons had been made with the cost and efficiency of work done by contractors. The Working Group had been very pleased with the overall performance of the Vehicle Workshops and felt that the quality and range of service provided was an asset that contractors would not be able to reproduce. He explained that in his view the Committee should decide to keep the Vehicle Workshops in-house and a financial appraisal should be undertaken to build new accommodation at Eastleigh which would further improve the efficiency of the Workshops.

    However, the Chairman felt strongly and the Committee agreed that it was important to follow the previously agreed process and recommence the Best Value Review of Vehicle Workshops. This would give the opportunity to provide an external assessment of the evidence produced by the Working Group, prior to the matter being reported back to the Committee. Members expected an early conclusion to the Review.

    RESOLVED:

    a. That the Officers' Working Group be thanked for their hard work in bringing the Best Value Review forward by three months.

    b. That a best value review team be appointed to revisit and update the Best Value Review of Vehicle Workshops that was completed in March 2005 using the evidence gathered by the Working Group and any other information they so require and that the outcome of this be reported back to the Committee at an early date.

    c. That the new Best Value Review team comprise Councillor Kirk, Councillor Price, Councillor Chapman, Mr John Randall - financial consultant, Mr John Bradley - Hampshire Police Authority Fleet Manager and Nicola Whitehouse - Performance Review team.