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1 |
Summary |
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1.1 |
The last meeting of the Board was held on 1 April 2009 and was attended by the Chairman, Cllr Michael Cartwright. He was accompanied by the Director of Corporate Services, David Howells. This report highlights some of the key issues discussed at the meeting. |
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2 |
Recommendation |
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2.1 |
That the report be noted. |
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3 |
Appointment of Chair, Vice Chair and Clerk for 2009/10 |
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3.1 |
The outgoing Chair, Councillor Rowlands (Buckinghamshire), reported that he had enjoyed his year and highlighted the Board's achievements. He drew particular attention to the operational diversity event held at Brighton, and the attainment of Level 3 of the Equality Standard for Local Government by five fire and rescue authorities. He noted that the South East was the first RMB to set up an improvement partnership and he was pleased to see this being used as a model by other Regions. |
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3.2 |
It was noted that Councillor Cartwright was not standing as a candidate in the June elections and he was thanked for his positive contribution to the Board - particularly during his year as Chairman of the Board. |
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3.3 |
Cllr Cope (Kent) was appointed as the Chair for 2009/10; and Cllr Mrs Heathcote was appointed Vice Chair. CFO Bill Feeley (Kent) agreed to be the Clerk to the Board for 2009/10 with administrative support continuing to be provided by East Sussex. |
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4 |
Progress against the Board's Plan |
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4.1 |
The Board received an update on the progress made against each of the work areas in the regional business plan 2008/11, with their attention drawn to indicative savings of £670,000 generated from the South East Fire Improvement Partnership (SEFIP) activities - against a spend for the period of £474k. Members noted the risk that funding may be reduced over the next two years and the need to make contingency plans if and when funding was withdrawn. |
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4.2 |
It was noted that the South East was the only region to have a Fire Improvement Partnership on such a large scale, and this had provided support to some positive collaborative work over the last few years, especially in improving the Equality & Diversity. |
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4.3 |
Councillor Heathcoat commented on the work undertaken in the areas of procurement and sprinklers and it was noted that delegates at the European Fire Sprinkler Network meeting in Paris thought the work being carried out in the South East was remarkable. But it was also noted that research and development in Europe was ahead of the UK. Members were aware of the need to keep lobbying for the installation of sprinklers in new buildings, especially in schools, colleges and homes for the elderly. |
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5 |
Equality and diversity update |
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5.1 |
A report summarised the actions taken to meet the Board's aspiration of all fire and rescue authorities across the region meeting Level 3 of the Equality Standard for Local Government by March 2011. Three more authorities had recently been accredited as achieving Level 3 of the Equality Standard, bringing the total to five (Surrey, Isle of Wight, East Sussex, Hampshire and Kent). It was also noted that the Board had been entered into the national Equality & Diversity awards for fire and rescue services in the `leadership' category. |
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5.2 |
Members were informed of the second SEFIP `operational diversity' event, planned for 23 September 2009 at Milton Keynes Dons Stadium |
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6 |
Community safety update |
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6.1 |
The Board received a report on the work to promote the installation of sprinklers wherever they may save life or reduce risk to the community. Members again discussed how best to raise the profile of sprinklers and how to target the highest risks. It was agreed that more needed to be done to press local authority planning and development staff to attend the promotional events. Attention was drawn to two events planned in April and May 2009 which would provide an opportunity to raise the issue with key stakeholders. |
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7 |
Regional Control Centre update |
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7.1 |
A progress report was received from CFO Hood. Members welcomed Roy Beavis as the newly appointed Regional Project Director. The response to the Part 2 Business Case (which was agreed with the Chairman of the Board) had been submitted to CLG. |
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7.2 |
Members were informed that the spend on the Regional Project Team would increase by £55,000 from 2008-09 and the costs would be apportioned across the nine authorities. |
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7.3 |
Legal support was now being delivered separately to the Local Authority Controlled Company (LACC). West Sussex was no longer available to continue to provide legal support to the project and alternative support would be sought from another authority if possible. |
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7.4 |
It was noted that a working group of officers had met and developed a strategy and action plan to address those tasks that were not related to mobilising and incident management (the so-called `out-of-scope' activities). |
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7.5 |
In the course of an update on Firelink (radio communications) project, members expressed concern about the proposed charging arrangements; but it was noted that improved information on costs would be established prior to cut-over to the new Control Centre. |
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8 |
Staffing and `steady-state' numbers required for the Regional Control Centre |
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8.1 |
Marese Hollands from the Regional Project team gave a presentation on staffing issues. In order to enable a successful cutover it was accepted that the new Control would need to `overstaff' initially. This excess would be funded by CLG. Some 67 control room staff would transfer to the new Control which assumes this contingency. This would enable the release of the appropriate number of staff with the necessary skills and experience to operate the new Control Centre without compromising the operational performance of existing FRS control rooms. It was noted that, at the business case assumptions review in April 2008, reassurance had been sought from CLG that any additional `new burden' funding would be covered. |
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8.2 |
The Board also considered a report from CFO Hood informing Members of the proposed `steady-state' numbers for the new Control Centre. The LACC had also reviewed the figures which conclude that an increase of control room operators from 47 to 56 was required. This proposal would be subject to discussion in due course. |
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8.3 |
The Board noted the proposed staffing arrangements; and that West Sussex and Hampshire (the primary suppliers of transferees to the new Control) would need to start recruitment of additional `backfill' staff from May 2009. |
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9 |
Date and venue of next meeting |
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9.1 |
This will be on Wednesday 15 July 2009 at Buckingham and Milton Keynes Fire Authority HQ, to be followed by an `awareness session' of Buckinghamshire's local issues. |
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10 |
People impact assessment |
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10.1 |
There are no issues arising from this report; and it is considered compatible with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Human Rights Act 1998, and the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000. |
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Background Information |
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The following documents disclose the facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of the report: · Agenda, reports of the South East Fire and Rescue Services Regional Management Board meeting held 01 April 2009. |
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