Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority Item 10

Report for Human Resources Committee

15 June 2007

Additional Responsibility Allowances

Report of the Chief Officer

Contact: Bob Wythe Tel : 023 80 644 000 Email : [email protected]

1

Summary

1.1

Additional Responsibility Allowances (ARAs) have been considered as part of the Rewards Project, for which the Programme Board was established in March 2006. The concept of ARAs is contained in NJC Circular 13/03 and has since been incorporated into the Grey Book. The purpose of ARAs is to provide fire and rescue services with the option to make financial payments to Grey Book personnel in addition to base pay, when it is deemed an activity is outside an individual's rolemap. The Programme Board agreed the framework for the application of ARAs and determined which activities would be recommended for an ARA at the current time

2

Recommendations

2.1

That, the following activities attract an ARA:

· Personnel who undertake specialist fire investigation

· Personnel who are qualified and undertake the duties of a Hazmat Officer

· Hazmat Officers that are qualified and undertake Detection, Identification and Monitoring responsibilities

· Crew Managers who are qualified and undertake the activity of a National Vocational Qualification AI Assessor

· Station Managers who are qualified and undertake the activity of a National Vocational Qualification V1 Internal Verifier

· RDS Watch Managers that have the responsibility of Officer in Charge

· Firefighters who are qualified and are required to undertake specialist instructional activities

· Members of the Marine Incident Response Group (MIRG)

· Those personnel who have responsibility for dog handling and care

· Personnel who undertake the role of Co-Responder

2.2

That payment of ARAs would be applicable from 1 April 2008 subject to securing a growth bid.

2.3

That the policies and procedures detailed in this report be adopted as HFRS policy in relation to ARAs.

2.4

That all future requests for ARAs be supported by directors and approved by SMT.

3

Introduction and Background

3.1

The Fire Service Pay and Conditions Agreement, Circular NJC/13/03 2003 introduced ARAs. These have now been incorporated into the Grey Book, which states "An employee may be paid an allowance to reward additional skills and responsibilities that are applied and maintained outside the requirements of the role but within the job function. Payments will be based on the requirements of the Fire and Rescue Authority's Integrated Risk Management Plan and may include payment for skills shortages where these are directly applicable to the delivery of the IRMP." It is also states "The maximum payable to any individual employee will be determined locally." The role in this case represents the elements contained within the Integrated Personal Development System (IPDS) Role Maps.

4

Project Structure and Outline

4.1

The area of ARAs was placed under the scope of the wider-reaching Rewards Review Project, which was also linked to the Equal Pay Audit. A project board, chaired by DCO Curry, (known as a Programme Board) was established to monitor and manage both the Rewards Review Project and the Equal Pay Audit. A separate project board was established to progress the work in the area of rewards, which included ARAs, and make their recommendations to the Programme Board.

5

HFRS Policy

5.1

HFRS will consider the application of ARAs in accordance with the criteria contained within the Grey Book (sixth edition 2004).

5.2

In accordance with NJC Circular 13/03 ARAs are `temporary and non-pensionable'.

5.3

ARAs will be subject to annual review in order to determine the contribution to the IRMP and the predicted financial impact on the budget for HFRS. ARAs will be removed when no longer applicable, giving one months notice to those concerned.

5.4

From July 2007, all requests for ARAs will sit with the respectful director, who will need to make a business case for SMT approval. This should include the benefit in terms of the corporate aims and the associated costings.

6

Contribution to Corporate Aims and Objectives/Business Case

6.1

The application of ARAs provides HFRS with a mechanism for recognising and rewarding Grey Book employees that undertake responsibilities that are outside of their role. This will allow for a more flexible approach to certain identified activities that HFRS consider are either essential in meeting the IRMP or would greatly assist in attaining the objectives.

Contributes to the Workforce Strategy: Developing Workforce Skills and Capacity and Pay and Rewards.

7

Risk Analysis

7.1

Personnel who currently undertake the activities that have been assessed as meeting the criteria for awarding an ARA may withdraw from this provision if the budget growth is not approved.

8

Resource Implications

8.1

Human Resources

There is a resource requirement for the application and assessing of ARAs in the future. However, this is considered to be minimal.

The current recommendations of ARAs will need to be processed through the payroll system and will impact on HR Workforce Support in the `set-up' stage only and is therefore unlikely to require additional resources.

8.2

Physical Resources

A database to track ARAs will be required.

8.3

Financial Implications

The costs associated with the implementation will be subject to a growth bid.

Additional ARAs identified to support the Corporate Aims would need to be included in the budget planning process.

ARAs are non-pensionable.

9

Equality Impact Assessment

9.1

An equality impact assessment has been conducted for the Rewards Project and for the recommendations policy and procedures contained within this document.

9.2

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

10

Consultation

10.1

Consultation with regard to the activities that meet the criteria for recognition as an ARA were discussed at a presentation chaired by Dave Curry and attended by FBU, FOA and RFU. There was broad agreement at this meeting as to the activities that would be recognised as meeting the criteria for an ARA. There was some concern from the representative bodies as to the planned time frame for the implementation of the arrangements. It was made clear that the provision of ARAs within HFRS would be dependent upon securing a future growth bid.

There has been informal discussions as to value of each ARA and the representative bodies considered the sums involved as meeting their expectations. However, at this stage, there has been no formal consultation.

11

Conclusion

11.1

The provision of Additional Responsibility Allowances will provide HFRS with flexibility in the way personnel resources are used to support the IRMP. The methodical manner in which HFRS has examined the costs and benefits provides a robust process for the implementation, review and future requirements in relation to ARAs.

11.2

HFRS has endeavoured to share the approach taken with other fire and rescue services within the region. Whilst each fire and rescue service has interpreted how to use and implement ARAs according to their own requirements, HFRS are content that our methodology meets our own particular requirements.

Background Information (Section 100D of Local Government Act 1972)

The following documents disclose the facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of the report:

NJC Circular 13/03 (http://www.lge.gov.uk/lge/core/page.do?pageId=59544)

Grey Book (http://www.lge.gov.uk/lge/core/page.do?pageId=51158)

Note: The list excludes: (1) published works; and (2) documents that disclose exempt or confidential information defined in the Act.