Archived decisions
AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY PERFORMANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE held at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Eastleigh on 12 September 2007.
PRESENT:
Councillors: D.A. Kirk (Chairman); K.G. Chapman; L. Hunt; Sam Payne; D. Simpson.
84 APOLOGIES
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors R.J. Baulk, I.F.E Beagley, and R. Williams.
85 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of 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.
86 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 20 June, 2007 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
87 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS
The Committee expressed their thanks to Becky Rawnson for her clerking of the Committee since she took on the role eighteen months previous.
88 DEPUTATIONS
There were no deputations made under this item.
89 BEST VALUE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND LOCAL PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) detailing the strategic or `flight-deck' performance indicators for the first quarter of 2007/08.
Members discussed the recruitment difficulties the Service faced in the workforce representing the population of Hampshire, including black and minority ethnic (BME) communities (BV17a). Members learnt that this was complicated due to the necessity of recruiting retained crews from the locality of the station. As these stations were based in rural locations, the BME community was significantly smaller than in urban areas.
Performance indicator BV143 showed no fire deaths in the past two quarters, which was welcomed by Members, who discussed the fluctuations that occurred in the last quarter 2005 and first quarter 2006.
The Committee discussed the continued reduction in false alarms caused by Automatic Fire Detection apparatus (BV149i) and the change of approach to a more targeted system of Home Fire Safety Visits (BV149i).
RESOLVED:
That the performance of the HFRS for the indicators being reported be noted and that the strategies to meet the targets be endorsed.
90 RECOMMENDATIONS AND ACTIONS ARISING FROM INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS
The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the progress against internal audit recommendations. Members were pleased to note that there were no outstanding items.
RESOLVED:
That the internal audit action reports and progress made towards the implementation of the recommendations be noted.
91 PROGRESS REPORT ON ACTIONS TAKEN TO MEET THE RECOMMENDATIONS DETAILED IN THE BEST VALUE REVIEW OF PARTNERSHIPS
The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the actions taken to meet the recommendations contained within the Best Value Review of Partnerships.
Members were pleased to note the completion of the remaining outstanding item on the review.
RESOLVED:
1. That the actions taken and progress made to meet the recommendations made in the Action Plan be noted.
2. That, following the successful completion of all outstanding items, the review be closed.
92 ACTIONS TAKEN TO MEET THE RECOMMENDATIONS DETAILED IN THE BEST VALUE REVIEW OF SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS WITH HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on the actions taken to meet the recommendations stated in the report on the Best Value Review of Service Level Agreements with Hampshire County Council.
RESOLVED:
That the updated Action Plan be approved and further reports on progress be received.
93 ACTIONS TAKEN TO MEET THE RECOMMENDATIONS DETAILED IN THE `ACTION PLAN' WHICH FORMED PART OF THE BEST VALUE REVIEW OF VEHICLE WORKSHOPS
The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on the actions taken to meet the recommendations contained within the Best Value Review of Workshops.
The Committee noted the continuing difficulties with the TRACE software, and possible interim steps that had been considered to work around these problems. Members were informed that the IT Manager would be leading a project to produce specification to ensure that any replacement for TRACE was fit for purpose.
RESOLVED:
1. That the updated Action Plan be approved and further reports on progress be received.
2. That the recommendation on the Action Plan relating to the planning workloads be discharged, with the provision that:
a) the plan is continued to be used in conjunction with the other planning techniques currently in use at the Workshops;
b) that actual resource and skill requirements be monitored against the plan;
c) any future fleet management system should have a planning facility or the ability to integrate with one.
94 IMPROVEMENT PLANNING REGISTER
The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on the latest update of the Improvement Planning Register.
The Committee welcomed the change in format of the Register, which added details of the issues to be addressed in carrying out actions. Members also wished to express their thanks to Nicki Whitehouse, Deputy Performance Review manager, for her work on the Improvement Planning Register.
RESOLVED:
1. That the latest update of `Part Two' of the Improvement Planning Register be noted.
2. That the Terms of Reference for the Improvement Steering Group be noted.
95 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTEGRATED RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN 2007 - 2010 KEY OBJECTIVES
The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 11 in the Minute Book) on the progress made in implementing the key objectives in the 2007 - 2010 Integrated Risk Management Plan.
Members discussed the targeting of Home Fire Safety Visits to harder to reach and more at risk groups, and the consequential reduction in the 25,000 target to 20,000.
Members were pleased to noted that the Automatic Fire Alarm Reduction Team had been working with the owners and residents of sheltered housing premises to reduce the number of false alarms through education, and emphasised the continued need to respond quickly to multi-occupancy dwellings due to the high risk of injury and death from large fires in these dwellings.
RESOLVED:
That the report be noted.