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 9 February 2009.
PRESENT:
Councillors: D.A. Kirk (Chairman); R.J. Baulk; K.G. Chapman; L.T. Dunsdon and Sam Payne.
145 APOLOGIES
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor D. Simpson.
146 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.
147 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 19 November 2008 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the following change:
The amendment of Minute 137 (b) to read:
`That the opportunity be taken to voluntarily Display Energy Certificates at all whole time fire stations as a demonstration of the Authority's commitment to measuring and reducing its environmental impact and that this be a recommendation to the Fire Authority meeting on 11 February 2009.'
148 DEPUTATIONS
There were no deputations made under this item.
149 FLEET MAINTENANCE CENTRE
The Committee considered the report of the Deputy Chief Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) on the Fleet Maintenance Centre. Officers provided an update on the progress that had been made to provide more in depth and accurate management information at the Fleet Maintenance Centre, and informed Members that SAP had been identified as the system best able to do this. Through the budget planning process, funding had been allocated for this effective from April 2009.
It was explained that the new system and Member review group provided an opportunity to pull all fleet related reviews together and review the whole package of the fleet. Members were concerned that this would delay progress on the Fleet Maintenance Centre further, but this would be open for discussion by the Member review group.
The Committee discussed SAP and were informed that it had been chosen as the fleet management information system after a number of systems had been evaluated, as it was felt that SAP would best provide what HFRS needed from the system. In addition to this the RNLI most closely reflected HFRS in its equipment usage, they too used SAP and were able to demonstrate to HFRS that they could extract whole life costs of equipment from the system. It was highlighted that SAP could also act as an extension of the current system and provide other asset management and tracking help.
Members discussed the potential benefits of SAP. There was concern that the timeline for implementation would not be met, but also that there was a certain reliance on a third party to produce what was required. Officers reassured Members that set specifications were to be followed, and that they would look to ensure these were complied with.
The Committee felt that the level of investment demanded improvements and efficiency gains, and that some payback was made both on the relocation of the Fleet Maintenance Centre and on the cost of the system. Members were hopeful SAP could produce this and felt making this happen should be part of the brief of the Review Group.
RESOLVED:
(a) That the Committee note the report, in advance of a planned progress review to be conducted by appointed members of the Performance Review and Scrutiny Committee.
(b) That the Committee note that the funding for a replacement fleet management system will be met by virement from within the `E Focus' budget for 2009/2010.