Agenda and minutes

Venue: Lecture Theatre - Fire Service Headquarters, Sadler Road, Winsford, Cheshire CW7 2FQ. View directions

Contact: Joanne Smith 

Items
No. Item

1.

PROCEDURAL MATTERS

1A

Recording of Meeting

Members are reminded that this meeting will be audio-recorded.

Minutes:

Members were reminded that the meeting would be audio-recorded.

1B

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors H Deynem, G Merry, L Morgan, M Simon, J Weatherill and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire – David Keane.

1C

Chair's Announcements

To receive any announcements that the Chair wishes to make prior to the commencement of the formal business of the meeting.

 

Minutes:

The Chair informed Members of the proposal to move the annual meeting of the Fire Authority back by one week to 21st June 2017. 

 

The Chair asked Members to note the content of the Chair’s announcements which included details of the Authority’s achievements and events Members had attended since the last Fire Authority meeting in February 2017.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

[1]          the annual meeting of the Fire Authority be moved back by one week, from 14th June 2017 to 21st June 2017.

 

1D

Declaration of Members' Interests

Members are reminded that the Members’ Code of Conduct requires the disclosure of Statutory Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, Non-Statutory Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and Disclosable Non-Pecuniary Interests.

Minutes:

Item 5 – The Living Wage

 

Councillor Flude disclosed a Non-Statutory Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in relation to Item 5 – The Living Wage.

 

1E

Minutes of Fire Authority pdf icon PDF 224 KB

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the Fire Authority Meeting held on 14th February 2017.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the minutes of the meeting of the Fire Authority held on 14th February 2017 be approved as a correct record.

1F

Minutes of Performance and Overview Committee

The Performance and Overview Committee meeting scheduled for 19th April 2017 was cancelled.

 

Minutes:

The meeting of the Performance and Overview Committee scheduled for 19th April 2017 was cancelled.

1G

Minutes of Governance and Constitution Committee

The Governance and Constitution Committee meeting scheduled for 12th April 2017 was cancelled.

 

Minutes:

The meeting of the Governance and Constitution Committee scheduled for 12th April 2017 was cancelled.

1H

Minutes of Brigade Managers' Pay and Performance Committee pdf icon PDF 95 KB

To receive, for information, the minutes of the Brigade Managers’ Pay and Performance Committee meeting held on 29th March 2017.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the minutes of the Brigade Managers’ Pay and Performance Committee held on 29th March 2017 be received, for information.

1I

Minutes of Staffing Committee pdf icon PDF 101 KB

To receive, for information, the minutes of the Staffing Committee meeting held on 29th March 2017.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the minutes of the Staffing Committee meeting held on 29th March 2017 be received, for information.

1J

Notes of the Member Training and Development Group pdf icon PDF 92 KB

To receive, for information, the notes of the Member Training and Development Group meeting held on 21st March 2017.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the notes of the Member Training and Development Group meeting held on 21st March 2017 be received, for information.

1K

Notes of Risk Management Board pdf icon PDF 110 KB

To receive, for information, the notes of the Risk Management Board meeting held on 28th March 2017.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the notes of the Risk Management Board meeting held on 28th March 2017 be received, for information.

1L

Updated Scheme of Delegation pdf icon PDF 402 KB

To consider and approve an updated Scheme of Delegation.  The changes are shown in red and reflect the following impacts: staff departures; moves associated with Blue Light Collaboration and the creation of the new joint teams; the new inspection regime for fire; and changes to the senior management team.

 

Minutes:

The Director of Governance and Commissioning informed Members that, due to departures from the Service and the Blue Light Collaboration Programme, necessary changes to job roles had occurred.  The Scheme of Delegation had been updated to reflect these changes and brought to Members for approval.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the changes to the Scheme of Delegation be approved.

 

 

2.

External Audit Plan and Update in Respect of the Authority's Accounts for 2016-17 pdf icon PDF 48 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair introduced Perminder Sethi, the Authority’s relationship manager from Grant Thornton (the External Auditor), who was in attendance at the meeting to present the External Audit Plan (the Plan) for 2016-17.

 

The External Auditor provided an overview of the Plan. The Plan explained the criteria used to help arrive at the Auditor’s value for money conclusion and the audit fee for the work for 2016-17.  It also included the results of the interim work undertaken by the Auditor and the audit timeline for 2016-17.

 

Members thanked the External Auditor for the report.  A Member highlighted the risk of management over-riding controls and asked what was in place to ensure compliance by management with internal and EU procurement rules.  The External Auditor informed Members that audits associated with compliance were risk-based considering areas of specific concern.  Based on the evidence provided by the Service, the External Auditor confirmed that no concerns were currently associated with procurement.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

[1]       the External Audit Plan in respect of the Authority’s accounts for 2016-17 be noted; and

 

[2]       the audit fee of £29,860 for 2016-17 be approved.

3.

Internal Audit Plan 2017-18 pdf icon PDF 59 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Kevin Lloyd, the Internal Auditor from Mersey Internal Audit Agency (MIAA), presented the report to Members which contained the proposed Internal Audit Plan (the Plan) for 2017-18. 

 

The Internal Auditor referred Members to the one page summary of the Plan which provided an overview of how it had been developed and how MIAA would deliver the Authority’s internal audit services in 2017-18.  He then referred Members to the section of the Plan on coverage and provided an overview of the operational plan (Appendix A to the report).  He concluded by informing Members that the coverage of the plan remained flexible, accommodating for the progression of the Blue Light Collaboration Programme and any new risks arising from it.

 

A Member queried how the risk of management over-riding controls was monitored by Internal Audit and how the Authority could be sure that the procurement regime was working properly.  The Internal Auditor informed Members that an assessment of procurement procedures had not been included in this year’s plan but could be added if Members wished.  The Director of Governance and Commissioning informed Members that he worked closely with the Service’s Head of Procurement to ensure compliance.

 

The Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive referred Members to the section of the report on business continuity and informed Members that a business continuity exercise was taking place on 17th May 2017 which would be assessed by MIAA.  He also referred Members to the section of the report on equality and diversity in relation to recruitment and informed Members that 25% of the latest intake of firefighters were female and that raising this percentage further remained a high priority for the Service.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

[1]       the Internal Audit Plan for 2017-18 be approved.

4.

Cheshire and Warrington Public Service Reform Strategy 2017-2020 pdf icon PDF 64 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Policy and Inclusion presented the report to Members which contained the Sub-Regional Public Service Reform Strategy 2017-2020 (the Strategy). 

 

The Strategy had been developed collectively by the sub-regional partners and set out how the partners aimed to take action in relation to individuals with the most complex needs and how they intended to improve the wellbeing and prosperity of all of Cheshire’s communities.  He referred Members to the three overarching themes within the Strategy: health and wellbeing; complex dependency; and enablers.  Within each of these themes were a number of sub-headings containing information on activities and projects.

 

A Member referred the Authority to the section of the Strategy on health and wellbeing and commented that suicide was rising within the sub-region. She highlighted that this was an important concern for the Authority as firefighters were often in attendance at the incidents involving suicide and that this may have an impact on their mental health.  She also highlighted concerns for other vulnerable groups that were raised in the Strategy and welcomed the document for providing the regional position on these issues.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

[1]       the report be noted.

5.

The Living Wage pdf icon PDF 72 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Governance and Commissioning reminded Members that Councillor Flude had declared a Non-Statutory Pecuniary Interest in the item and that normally she would be expected to leave the room for the item. As Councillor Flude’s interest only extended to the question of whether the Living Wage should be paid to apprentices he suggested that provided she did not take part in the debate or vote on that issue she should be able to remain for the other aspects of the item.

 

The Director of Governance and Commissioning introduced the report which allowed Members to determine the Authority’s policy in relation to the Living Wage.  He informed Members of the current hourly rates for both operational and non-operational staff and that no one was currently paid below the Living Wage (apart from apprentices).  He also informed Members of the current rates paid to the Authority’s apprentices – 26% above the National Minimum Wage for their age. The majority of apprentices were currently being paid at £4.41 (the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Apprentice Rate for those under 19 and in the first year of their apprenticeship).

 

A Member queried whether the Authority would have to reduce the intake of apprentices to cover the additional costs if they were paid the Living Wage. 

 

The Director of Transformation informed Members that the current target for the public sector was for apprentices to make up 2.3% of the workforce, which equated to 20 apprentices a year for the Authority – a target the Service was currently working towards.  She informed Members that the Service was currently looking at extending apprenticeships to Green Book (non-operational) posts.

 

Members discussed the options within the report and then moved to vote on the recommendations.  In accordance with section 4.44 of the Authority’s constitution a request was made that the voting should be recorded to show how each Member present, and voting, cast their vote or whether he/she abstained.  The voting was recorded as follows:

 

For: Councillors Bailey, Booher, Dirir, Harris, Mercer, Mundry, Nelson, Polhill, Rudd, Sherlock, Tarr and Wright.

 

Against: Councillors Marren, Parker and Saunders.

 

Councillors Johnson and Mahon abstained.

 

Councillor Flude did not take part in the debate, nor vote.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

[1]          the Authority commit to pay staff (including apprentices) no less than the Living Wage and include apprentices within this commitment; and

 

[2]          the Authority will, where appropriate, encourage other employers to pay the Living Wage.  With this in mind the Authority will ensure that, wherever possible, the procurement activity that it carries out involves suitable engagement with contractors about the Living Wage.

6.

Scope of Crewe and Ellesmere Port Duty System Review pdf icon PDF 77 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive introduced the report which allowed Members to consider and approve the scope of the review of the duty system for the second fire engine at Crewe and Ellesmere Port. 

 

He referred Members to paragraphs 9 to12 of the report which contained details of the review and explained that this report was the first element of that review.    He informed Members that officers believed that the scope of the review should be focused and externally validated.  The following matters were suggested by officers within the report for the focus of the review:

 

·         An assessment of the current and emerging risks;

·         An analysis of current and anticipated activity levels (broken down into day and night) and set against current performance against the ten-minute response standard for life-risk incidents; and

·         An analysis of the types of incident dealt with.

 

Appendix 2 to the report contained an extract from the Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive’s correspondence to Members outlining details of the review process.  He informed Members that a significant part of the Members’ Planning Day scheduled for 13th July 2017 would be dedicated to this issue.  Officers would present the outcomes/findings and highlight the implications of any alternative crewing arrangements to those originally envisaged in the Emergency Response Review.

 

A Member informed the Authority that he, alongside another Member, was in regular contact with the Head of Service Delivery to enable them to feed their expectations into the review.  He queried whether a review into the duty system at Wilmslow, as mentioned at the Authority’s February meeting, had been commissioned.  The Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive referred Members to page 23 of the Integrated Risk Management Plan which mentioned that a review would be undertaken and brought back to Members in due course. 

 

A Member queried what the expected procurement costs of externally validating the scope of the review were estimated to be.  The Director of Governance and Commissioning informed Members that he did not expect the costs to be significant for this process notwithstanding the very limited field of experts able to carry out the review.

 

A Member queried whether a review would take place over the removal of the appliance at Chester.  The Chair informed Members that the new station at Powey Lane, where the second appliance had been moved to, provided cover to Chester.  He also informed Members that the position of the new station at Powey Lane aided the Service’s ability to respond to rescue and road traffic incidents. The Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive referred Members to Item 1E of the agenda containing the minutes of the Fire Authority meeting held on 14th February 2017.  He referred Members to Section 4 of the minutes – the Integrated Risk Management Plan 2017-18 (IRMP 14) which indicated that a review of the arrangement would be undertaken by officers throughout the year and reported back to the Performance and Overview Committee.

 

Members thanked the Chief Fire Officer and Chief  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.