Agenda and minutes

Cheshire Fire Authority - Wednesday, 28th April, 2021 10.00 am

Venue: Remote Meeting - Via Skype

Contact: Donna Linton  Governance and Corporate Planning Manager

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

PROCEDURAL MATTERS

1A

Recording of Meeting

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

Minutes:

The meeting was held using Skype for Business and in accordance with the Remote Meeting Rules. The Director of Governance and Commissioning confirmed how participants were connected to the meeting and how it would be broadcast. He also mentioned how the meeting would be monitored throughout.

 

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

 

1B

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Rachel Bailey.

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 advised that Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Gus O’Rourke had retired on 26th March 2021 after 30 years and six month of continuous service and the Head of Prevention, Nick Evans had retired on 31st March 2021 after 20 years and 10 months continuous service. The Chair on behalf of the Authority thanked both Gus O’Rourke and Nick Evans for the hard work and commitment they had given to the Service over the years and wished them all the best for the future.

 

The Chair advised that the Brigade Managers’ Pay and Performance Committee had met on 30th March 2021 and after a rigorous selection process had appointed Paul Binyon as the new Assistant Chief Fire Officer for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service.

 

The Chair congratulated Councillor Martyn Delaney on being appointed Lord Mayor Elect of Chester and Councillor Jill Houlbrook on being appointed Sheriff Elect of Chester for the 2021-22 municipal year.

 

The Chair asked Members to note the content of the Chair’s Announcements that included details of activities carried out by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service during the Coronavirus pandemic. Staff from across the Service continued to provide exceptional support to partners and the community in response to Covid-19 in a wide variety of areas. This was vital work to reduce risks and support the vulnerable in the community, making a huge difference to many lives.

 

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:

There were no declarations of Members’ interests.

 

1E

Questions from Members of the Public

To receive any questions submitted, in accordance with procedure rules 4.47 to 4.54 by members of the public within the area covered by the Fire Authority.

Minutes:

There were no questions submitted.

 

1F

Minutes of Fire Authority pdf icon PDF 352 KB

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the Fire Authority Meeting held on 10th February 2021.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the minutes of the Fire Authority meeting held on 10th February 2021 be approved as a correct record.

 

1G

Minutes of Performance and Overview Committee pdf icon PDF 250 KB

To receive, for information, the minutes of the Performance and Overview Committee meeting held on 24th February 2021.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the minutes of the Performance and Overview Committee held on 24th February 2021 be noted.

 

1H

Minutes of Staffing Committee pdf icon PDF 198 KB

To receive, for information, the minutes of the Staffing Committee meeting held on 22nd March 2021.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the minutes of the Staffing Committee held on 22nd March 2021 be noted.

 

1I

Minutes of Brigade Managers' Pay and Performance Committee pdf icon PDF 297 KB

To receive, for information, the minutes of the Brigade Managers’ Pay and Performance Committee meeting held on 22nd and 30th March 2021.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the minutes of the Brigade Manager’s Pay and Performance Committee held on 22nd March and 30th March 2021 be noted.

 

1J

Minutes of Governance and Constitution Committee pdf icon PDF 217 KB

To receive, for information, the minutes of the Governance and Constitution Committee meeting held on 7th April 2021.

 

Members will see that there are two minutes where Governance and Constitution Committee has made recommendations to the Fire Authority which are to be considered at this meeting:

 

4      Amendments to Scheme of Delegation; and

 

5      Review into the way that Seats on the Fire Authority are Allocated to the Constituent Authorities

 

The report, Amendments to Scheme of Delegation can be found on pages 25 to 41 inclusive.

 

Members are asked to approve the amendments to the Scheme of Delegation which are appended to the report.

 

The report dealing with the Review into the way that Seats on the Fire Authority are Allocated to the Constituent Authorities is dealt with at Item 3, later in this Agenda.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Governance and Commissioning advised that there were two minutes where the Governance and Constitution Committee had made recommendations to the Fire Authority that were to be considered at this meeting:-

 

Minute 4 – Amendments to Scheme of Delegation

 

Minute 5 – Review into the way that Seats on the Fire Authority are Allocated to the Constituent Authorities (Minute 3 refers).

 

RESOLVED: That

 

[1]       the minutes of the Governance and Constitution Committee held on 7th April 2021 be noted; and

 

[2]       the amendments to the Scheme of Delegation be approved.

 

1K

Notes of the Risk Management Board pdf icon PDF 325 KB

To receive, for information, the notes of the Risk Management Board meeting held on 16th March 2021.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the notes of the Risk Management Board held on 16th March 2021 be noted.

1L

Notes of the Local Pension Board – Firefighters Pension Scheme pdf icon PDF 330 KB

To receive, for information, the notes of the Local Pension Board – Firefighters Pension Scheme meeting held on 17th March 2021.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the notes of the Local Pension Board – Firefighters’ Pension Scheme held on 17th March 2021 be noted.

 

1M

Notes of the Member Training and Development Group pdf icon PDF 314 KB

To receive, for information, the notes of the Member Training and Development Group meeting held on 23rd March 2021.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the notes of the Member Training and Development Group held on 23rd March 2021 be noted.

 

2.

Annual Internal Audit Plan 2021-22 pdf icon PDF 216 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Internal Auditor, Anne-Marie Harrop from Mersey Internal Audit Agency (MIAA) presented the Internal Audit Plan for 2021-22.

 

The findings from internal audits were used by management to take action where control weaknesses were identified and to provide the evidence upon which MIAA base a professional opinion about the effectiveness of the Authority’s governance, risk management and control arrangements.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

[1]       the Internal Audit Plan for 2021-22 be approved.

3.

Review into the way that Seats on the Fire Authority are Allocated to the Constituent Authorities - Recommendations from Governance and Constitution Committee pdf icon PDF 180 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Governance and Commissioning presented the report which allowed Members to consider the outcome of the Review into the Way that Seats on the Fire Authority are Allocated to the Constituent Authorities. A report was presented to the Governance and Constitution Committee on 7th April 2021 concerned with the review and the Committee made two recommendations that were detailed at paragraph 3 of the report.

 

Councillor Steve Wright, Chair of the Governance and Constitution Committee confirmed that the Committee had considered the report in detailed and had agreed the recommendations detailed within the report. He advised that the Monitoring Officer of Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service, Ms Louise Taylor, conducted the review and reached a number of conclusions and made recommendations for Members to consider.

 

The Chair took the opportunity to thank Ms Louise Taylor for undertaking the review.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

[1]       the appointments for 2021-22 continue to be allocated in the same way that they have since local government reorganisation; and

 

[2]       the Review be considered further once the White Paper has been published and considered.

4.

Anti-Bullying Charter pdf icon PDF 113 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Governance and Commissioning presented a report which asked Members to consider the recommendation of the Cheshire Anti-Bullying Commission, including the Cheshire Anti-Bullying Charter.

 

Members were advised that the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire had set up the Cheshire Anti-Bullying Commission in May 2019. The Commission had published a report (the Commission’s Report) concerned with the first phase of its work that focused on under 25s. A copy of the Commission’s Report was attached to the report as Appendix 1.

 

Members welcomed Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service signing up to the Cheshire Anti-Bullying Charter.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

[1]       the Authority sign-up to Cheshire Anti-Bullying Charter.

 

[2]       a whole organisation strategy to support the development of an effective and sustainable Anti-Bullying Policy be created.