Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE held at the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Eastleigh on 26 June, 2008

PRESENT:

Councillors: P.R.C. Hutcheson (Chairman); M.F. Cartwright; M.G. Cooper; P. Galton;

D. Harrison; D.A. Kirk; P. Marsh-Jenks; R. McIntosh; R. Smith.

65. APOLOGIES

No apologies for absence were received.

66. 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.

67. MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 28 March, 2008 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

68. DEPUTATIONS
There were no deputations.

69. ANNUAL INTERNAL AUDIT OPINION 2007/08

The Committee considered the report of the Treasurer (Item 4 in the Minute Book) about the annual internal audit opinion and seeking acceptance of the latest audit assurance statement. The Committee discussed and noted the main issues raised during 2007/08. In particular, it was felt appropriate to note in the Minutes the issues relating to payroll and the vehicle workshops (Fleet Management Centre) and for the need to seek assurance from the officers responsible for taking action that the risks have been satisfactorily addressed.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the Committee accept the internal audit assurance statement for 2007/08 as detailed in Appendix A to the report.

(b) That the main risks identified in the report be noted.

(c) That the appropriate Directors ensure that they action the payroll and workshop risk items to the satisfaction of the internal auditor within the current financial year and the Chief Officer report back on this to a future meeting of the Committee.

70. ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT 2007/08

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) on the "Annual Governance Statement" which recognises, records and publishes the Authority's corporate governance arrangements. The Chief Officer summarised some of the key actions highlighted in the self-assessment matrix submitted with the report. Members felt that the scoring system used in the report might be improved upon and asked the Chief Officer to investigate this further.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the comments and scores given against each of the examples of assurance set out in the "Governance Self Assessment Matrix" set out as Appendix 2 of the report be noted.

(b) That the Committee approves the Annual Governance Statement 2007/08 as set out in Appendix 1 of the report for inclusion in the Annual Statement of Accounts for 2007/08.

(c) That the Chief Officer seek to improve the current method of scoring used in compiling the self-assessment matrix and report back to a future meeting of the Committee on this and on the possibility of introducing a uniform scoring system for adoption by the Authority.

71. STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 2007/08

The Committee considered the report of the Treasurer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) presenting the draft statement of accounts for 2007/08. The Treasurer updated Members on an underspend concerning the final accounts and on other main changes and developments which had come into effect with regard to the 2007/08's accounts in addition to answering Members' questions raised concerning reserves, assets and borrowing.

RESOLVED:

That the Statement of Accounts for 2007/08 be approved.

72. PROGRESS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS AND ACTIONS ARISING FROM INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) about the progress of the implementation of recommendations and actions arising from Internal Audit Reports. It was agreed in respect of the replacement of the Workshop's IT Trace System (ref. 3.33 of Appendix 1) to put back the action date by three months to December, 2008. Also, the Chief Officer reported in relation to the checking of pay roll data (ref. 3.7 and 3.11 of Appendix 1) that a meeting would be arranged in the near future with the new Pay Supervisor to discuss the two issues referred to.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee notes the audit action reports, and progress made towards the implementation of recommendations for improvement.

73. HEALTH AND SAFETY ARRANGEMENTS WITHIN HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) about the Health and Safety arrangements in place in Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and summarising various Health and Safety issues over the preceding year. Councillor R. McIntosh was nominated as the Member to be more closely involved with Health and Safety issues and the Chief Officer was asked to include as part of his future reports information about service achievements in this important area of the Service.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the report be approved.

(b) That the Committee receive an annual Health and Safety report based upon a similar format and content of Section 4 and Appendix A of this report subject to adding a new table to show achievements in Health and Safety operations.

(d) That, in future the Governance Committee receive the annual reports on Health and Safety, and that any necessary and ad hoc reports on Health and Safety be presented to either the Human Resources or the Performance Review and Scrutiny Committee as appropriate.

(e) That Councillor R. McIntosh be appointed as the Member to be involved with developments concerning Health and Safety in the Fire Service.

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