Archived decisions

Item 3

AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY PERFORMANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE held at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Eastleigh on Wednesday 8 March 2006.

PRESENT:

Councillors: D.A. Kirk (Chairman); Mrs E. Baker; R.J. Baulk; K.G. Chapman; H. Jones; and R. Williams.

28. APOLOGIES

    Apologies for absence were received from Councillor I.F.E. Beagley and Councillor David Simpson.

29. 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.

30. MINUTES

    The Minutes of the meeting held on 6 January 2006 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

31. DEPUTATIONS

    There were no deputations received.

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

    The Committee received and noted the report of the Chief Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) on the Performance Indicator data for the third quarter of 2005/06. Members were pleased to note that the target for BV2b (Duty to promote race equality - percentage of Equality Standard for Local Government implemented) had been achieved and that the Standard had been fully implemented. This subject would be revisited by the Committee at a later date.

    The Committee noted the significant difference between the statistics for BV12i (Working days/shifts lost to sickness absence - wholetime uniformed staff) and BV12ii (Working days/shifts lost to sickness absence - all staff). Investigations were looking at the causes for the increase in sickness absences as a result of the inclusion of support staff statistics. Retained staff, who made up a significant proportion of uniformed staff, were not included in the statistics because it was not always possible to establish the reasons a member of retained staff had not responded to a call-out. The nature of retained staff meant that sickness absences only became apparent if it continued for several days, or if the staff contacted their station to inform them of their illness.

    Members noted a slight increase upon previous years in the projected figures for BV142iii (Total number of accidental fires in dwellings attended per 10,000 dwellings). It was felt that some increase in these figures may be attributable to an increased awareness amongst the public of the importance of calling the Fire and Rescue Service for purposes of safety and insurance.

    In considering BV143i (Number of deaths arising from accidental fires in dwellings per 100,000 population) it was noted that deaths arising from arson would not appear in these statistics because they did not arise from accidental fires. No statistics of the averages for the family group of Fire and Rescue Authorities had yet been received from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) for the year 2004/05. However, it was noted that HFRS had performed well in comparison to family average statistics in past years.

    In considering BV146ii (Total number of calls to malicious false alarms per 1,000 population) the Committee was advised that the Service undertook steps to identify callers and pursue prosecution. The low numbers in comparison to the family group were thought to be attributable mainly to the demographics of the region and the education programme in schools. Raising awareness of the impact of malicious calls was a significant component of the community safety work delivered to schools. Various other youth engagement schemes also contributed to these low figures and it was noted that there would be further expansion of these. Officers were encouraged to seek further funding through partnership working to continue this expansion.

    It was felt that youth engagement schemes also contributed to the low statistics in BV206ii (Number of deliberate primary fires in vehicles per 10,000 population). The scrap value of vehicles impacted on the instances of deliberate fires in vehicles. It was rare to see prosecutions for these fires in the courts. Members were advised that funding had been secured for a joint Fire and Rescue and Police team focussing on arson reduction.

    Members were advised that the statistics for BV206iii (Number of deliberate secondary fires - excluding deliberate primary fires in vehicles - per 10,000 population) were likely to be affected if the summer was hot and dry as had been forecast. Home Fire Safety Checks were considered to be having a positive impact upon BV209iii (Percentage of fires attended in dwellings where no smoke alarm was fitted). The focus was being placed on reaching those people who were most vulnerable. The Committee was advised that the Service was shifting towards renaming these Home Fire Safety Visits.

    In considering LP140 (Number of complaints against the Service) the Chief Officer outlined the type of complaints made and put this in context by highlighting the significant number of letters of appreciation received each year by the Service. Members were advised that many emergency vehicles were having CCTV installed and already had `black boxes' installed in order to protect drivers against false accusations.

    The Committee was advised that some targets would be re-evaluated at the end of the year to ensure that the Service continued to be stretched.

    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.

33. PROGRESS REPORT ON THE BEST VALUE REVIEW OF VEHICLE WORKSHOPS

    The Committee considered and noted the report of the Chief Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) detailing the progress made by the recently re-appointed Best Value Review of Vehicle Workshops. The action plan was being progressed and work on it had nearly been completed. It was felt by the Best Value Review Team that it would be most appropriate for Human Resources to review the potential advantages and disadvantages of combining the organisation and management of the Transport and Vehicle Workshops functions. It was anticipated that the review would be completed in time for a decision to be made at the next meeting of the Committee. If it were completed earlier the Chairman would consider calling an extraordinary meeting of the Committee.

    RESOLVED:

    That the Service's Human Resources Department be asked to review the potential advantages and disadvantages of combining the organisation and management of the Transport and Vehicle Workshops functions and to make recommendations to the Human Resources Committee on the most beneficial future structure.

34. 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 some completed actions. It was felt that this report provided an effective tool for Members to scrutinise the performance of the Service as it combined the recommendations from all internal audits. Individual officers' names would be removed from appendices in the future and replaced by their role title.

    Following a Member's question the Committee was advised that the Service had a policy for carrying forward `time off in lieu', but that this policy was under review. It was agreed to insert a glossary of terms into the report for future meetings.

    RESOLVED:

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