Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY PERFORMANCE REVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE held at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Eastleigh on 2 September 2008.

PRESENT:

    Councillors: D.A. Kirk (Chairman); I.F.E. Beagley; L.T. Dunsdon; L. Hunt; Sam Payne and D. Simpson.

124 APOLOGIES

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors R.J. Baulk and K. Chapman.

125 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.

126 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 18 June, 2008 were confirmed as a correct record, subject to amendments and signed by the Chairman.

Arising on minute 118, it was noted that the interim report to Members would include additional information on Fleet Maintenance Centre performance, including some background data.

127 DEPUTATIONS

There were no deputations made under this item.

128 BEST VALUE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND LOCAL PERFORMANCE

    INDICATORS

    The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) highlighting performance indicator data for the first quarter of 2008/09.

    It was reported that BV2a (Equality Standard) had been amended to reflect the December target for adoption of level 3 of the Equality Standard for Local Government.

    BV17a (ethnic minority staff) and BV210 (percentage of women firefighters) were discussed in detail by the Committee. In particular, they focused on the importance of developing best practice in the recruitment of women and people from a Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) background by learning from the success of other services that had made significant progress in this area, such as the Police and Ambulance services. Members also considered changes to the internal culture and working practices of the Service to appeal to a wider group of potential applicants. It was noted that a recent `Have a Go Day' had been attended by 45 people, including 18 women and 13 people from a BME background. It was expected that BV17a would change to an approach based on levels of recruitment from 2010.

    Members welcomed the fall in the number of primary fires recorded in BV142ii (Primary Fires).

    The Committee noted that BV143i (Fire Deaths) and BV143ii (Fire Injuries) would be expanded to include all fire deaths/injuries, rather than accidental fires as at present.

    The low levels of arson recorded in BV206i (Arson Primary) and BV206ii (Vehicle Arson Primary) were welcomed by the Committee, although Members were aware that changes in economic conditions, and the associated societal impact could lead to an increase in cases of arson.

    When considering LPI20a (Speed of Response - 8/80), Members noted that several stations had been taking steps to improve turnout times, and that improvement of turnout times and 8/80 would form part of targets that had to be achieved in order for Stations to gain Beacon Status.

    Members noted the challenging 100% target for BV208, as well as the important part played by effective fire safety education in achieving this target.

    Members received a presentation by Dave Curry setting out the key targets contained in the draft `Fire and Rescue Service Plan 2009-2012', and noted that a presentation would take place at the November meeting regarding the introduction of the Business Information and Reporting Tool(BIRT), which was intended to improve the reporting and analysis of performance data.

    RESOLVED:

    That the performance of the Service be noted and that the strategies to meet the targets be endorsed.

129 PROGRESS REPORT ON ACTIONS TAKEN TO MEET THE RECOMMENDATIONS DETAILED IN THE REPORT OF THE BEST VALUE REVIEW OF SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS WITH HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

    Councillors I.F.E. Beagley; L.T. Dunsdon; D.A. Kirk; Sam Payne and D. Simpson declared personal interests as Elected Members of Hampshire County Council.


    The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the progress made in the review of Service Level Agreements with Hampshire County Council. Progress in several recommendations on the Action Plan were highlighted to Members. In particular, the Committee's attention was drawn to the changes to the nature of the Authority's web support needs, which resulted in movement away from the recommendation, and that some benchmarking, in line with recommendation 2.1.5, had taken place via the `Family Group 4' and the wider South East region.

    Members requested that action be taken to "close down" recommendation 2.2 due to the length of time that it had been outstanding, and urged officers to take all necessary actions to ensure the resolution of this matter.

    RESOLVED:

      (1) That the updated Action Plan is approved, and that further reports on progress are received.

      (2) That, in view of the time that recommendation 2.2 on the Action Plan has been outstanding, all officers at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and at Hampshire County Council involved in this work now give a high priority to supplying the relevant information (including financial breakdowns) to the clerk to enable a final assessment to be made on the future requirements for procurement and to report the findings to a future meeting of the Committee.

130 BEST VALUE REVIEW OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT


    The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the progress made in the best value review of environmental impact. Among the schemes highlighted to Members were the high level of staff involvement on a voluntary basis, such as the success of the recent `Ideas Week', and the number of staff participating in the Environmental Working Group, both of which had highlighted a number of issues to be taken forward. Steps to change staff travel patterns would be developed to reduce vehicle travel, with associated carbon and financial savings. Likewise, a significant Carbon saving had been realised from the events to encourage staff bicycle use, which took place during National Bike Week. The Carbon Trust had completed a site survey which had provided useful benchmark data for determining the Authority's Carbon Footprint, and the Trust had also agreed to fund staff training sessions, which would be utilised in such a way as to ensure maximum effectiveness for staff.

    Members requested that the draft report from the Carbon Trust be circulated to them.

    RESOLVED:

    That the performance of the Service be noted and that the strategies to meet the targets be endorsed.

131 NATIONAL EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY STRATEGY

    The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on the National Equality and Diversity Strategy for Fire and Rescue Services. The Strategy was endorsed by the Human Resources Committee on 4 July 2008, and had been brought before the Performance Review and Scrutiny Committee to solicit further comments and discussion of the Strategy. The targets set by the strategy related to the recruitment of women to operational posts and of BME staff to all roles in the organisation. Following discussions by the Human Resources Committee and Corporate Management Team, the Senior Management Team had an expectation that the Authority would commit to the stretched targets outlined in paragraph 4.5 of the report, which SMT were confident of achieving. These targets were based on recruitment to the Service, rather than the makeup of the workforce itself.

    Members noted that positive steps had been taken to encourage the recruitment of women and people from a BME background, and had worked hard to develop a list of candidates who were keen to apply for operational roles. Additionally, a targeted approach with retained vacancies had been implemented to enable possible recruits to gain experience and maintain interest in a career with the Service prior to the recruitment process proper.

    Members expressed some reservations regarding the stretched targets, focusing on the risks of not achieving those targets, primarily in terms of the impact on morale, public perception, and possible penalties that may emerge from the `Communities in Control' whitepaper. Members agreed on the importance of providing a high quality service to the people of Hampshire, and acknowledged that engaging with the communities of Hampshire facilitated this.

    The Committee requested that the methodology for calculating the enhanced percentage required to meet the stretch target for recruitment of BME staff be identified and clarified prior to the consideration of this item by the next meeting of the full Authority.

    RESOLVED:

      (1) That the comments and views resulting from the Performance Review and Scrutiny Committee's consideration of the National Equality and Diversity Strategy be formally recorded.

      (2) That, subject to the clarification of the methodology for calculating the percentage increase required to meet the stretch target for recruitment of BME staff, the report be passed to the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority as an agenda item for its meeting on 17 September 2008.

      (3) That the Performance Review and Scrutiny Committee endorses the Service's commitment to the stretch targets.