Archived decisions
ITEM 17
AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE held at The Castle, Winchester on 28 March, 2008
PRESENT:
Councillors: P.R.C. Hutcheson (Chairman); M.F. Cartwright; M.G. Cooper; D. Harrison; D. Kirk; R. McIntoch; R. Smith.
Also in attendance were Kate Handy and Graham West from the Audit Commission.
56. APOLOGIES
No apologies for absence were received.
57. 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, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 12 of the Code.
There were no declarations of interest made by Members under this item.
58. MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 8 November, 2007 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
59. DEPUTATIONS
There were no deputations made under this item.
60. CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER AND CORPORATE HOMICIDE ACT 2007
The Committee considered the report of the Clerk (Item 5 in the Minute Book) about the impact of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 on the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority.
RESOLVED:
(a) That the report be noted.
(b) That the Chief Officer be asked to carry out a review of the existing health and safety arrangements in the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service in the light of the new risk brought about by the Act.
(c) That the Chief Officer be asked to prepare an initial report containing details of the findings of the review referred to in (b) above and, in consultation with the Clerk, detailed proposals for the ongoing reporting to the Authority on the efficiency and effectiveness of the health and safety arrangements within the Service.
61. PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITIES BY THE AUDIT COMMISSION, 2007
The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) concerning the most recent performance assessment of fire and rescue authorities by the Audit Commission. It was noted the report had previously been submitted to the Fire Authority and to the Performance Review and Scrutiny Committee.
RESOLVED:
That the excellent results obtained by the Authority in the Audit Commission's 2007 national performance assessment of fire and rescue authorities be noted and that the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service be congratulated on these results.
62. INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN 2008/09
The Committee received and noted the report of the Treasurer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the internal audit plan for 2008/09 to 2010/11.
63. AUDIT COMMISSION'S DRAFT ANNUAL AUDIT AND INSPECTION LETTER FOR HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY
The Committee considered the Audit Commissions' draft Annual Audit and Inspection letter for the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority (Item 8 in the Minute Book).
Kate Handy (District Auditor) and Graham West (Audit Manager) introduced this item. They were satisfied that the Authority continue to perform well in comparison to other authorities, achieving one of its key aims to be in the top 10 of best performing fire and rescue services in the country. The Authority was also improving outcomes in the key priority areas and had scored well in the use of resources assessment.
There was a full discussion about the scoring criteria used by the Audit Commission in Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority's most recent performance assessment in comparison with those scores achieved by some other Fire Authorities. This related in particular to Members' seeking to understand what was required to enable Hampshire to achieve a top score of "4" rather than a "3. Members wished to receive further information about this so as to be able to consider at a future meeting whether further improvements to achieve a "4" score outcome would require a significant investment of resources by the Authority. Accordingly, it was
RESOLVED:
That the Committee thank the Audit Commission for their draft annual audit and inspection letter and ask them to prepare a report to a future HFRA Governance Committee meeting suggesting specific actions, including any examples of good practice from other fire and rescue authorities, that might be taken by the Authority to further improve and to achieve top scores of "4" in future assessments. This will help the Authority to determine whether any significant resource implications involved in taking such actions can be justified.
64. AUDIT COMMISSION'S DRAFT PLAN AND FEES REPORT 2008/09
The Committee considered the Audit Commission's draft Plan and Fees Report for 2008/09 (Item 9 in the Minute Book).
Kate Handy, introduced the report and explained table 5 in appendix 2 giving a detailed breakdown of the provisional audit and inspection fee for 2008/09. She referred to several likely revisions to some of the planned fees in the table which were being made in response to the feedback received from consultation with audited bodies. Members' expressed their disquiet about the proposed level of increase in fees from 2007/08 and their comments and concerns were noted by the Audit Commission.
RESOLVED:
That the Audit Commission's Draft Plan and Fees Report 2008/09 be noted.
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