Agenda and minutes

Members are reminded that this meeting will be broadcasted and recorded.

Members were reminded that the meeting would be audio-recorded and broadcasted live to enable public viewing.

There were no apologies for absence.

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.

There were no declarations of Members’ interest.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Governance and Constitution Committee held on Wednesday 27^th January 2021.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the Governance and Constitution Committee held on Wednesday 27^th January 2021 be confirmed as a correct record.

The Director of Governance and Commissioning introduced the report which gave Members the opportunity to review the draft Statement of Assurance 2020-21.

He reminded Members that the Fire and Rescue National Framework for England required the publication of the Statement of Assurance to provide assurance on financial, governance and operational matters. The final version of the document was due to be submitted to the Fire Authority meeting on 28th April for approval.

A Member queried why the changes were not highlighted within the document. The Director of Governance and Commissioning responded stating that the only significant change was the addition of section 8 which provided assurance on the response from the Service throughout the Coronavirus Pandemic.

RESOLVED: That

[1]       the draft Statement of Assurance 2020-21 be recommended to the Fire Authority for approval at the appropriate time.

The Director of Governance and Commissioning introduced the report on the review of the Anti-Fraud and Anti-Bribery Policies.  Members noted the minor amendments, i.e. changes to the contact details and approved both documents.

RESOLVED: That

[1]       the Anti-Fraud Policy and the Anti-Bribery Policy both be approved.

The Director of Governance and Commissioning introduced the report which covered amendments to the Scheme of Delegation.  The amendments were required so that the Scheme reflected the changes to the Service Management Team.  Members noted the addition of the Deputy Chief Fire Officer role and the merger of the Prevention and Protection functions under one Head.

A Member queried whether further recruitment was ongoing in light of changes to the Service Management Team.  The Director of Governance and Commissioning explained that no further recruitment activity was necessary due to the way that positions had been filled.

RECOMMENDED: That

[1]       the Fire Authority approve the amendments to the Scheme of Delegation.

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. He reminded Members that the terms of reference for the review were agreed at the last Governance and Constitution Committee meeting.

He advised that the Monitoring Officer of Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service, Ms Louise Taylor, conducted the review. The independent reviewer reached a number of conclusions and made recommendations for Members to consider.

Members were referred to paragraph 9 within the covering report which advised that the publication of the White Paper on fire reform was due later in the year.

Members agreed to recommend to the Fire Authority that it maintain the current arrangement for seat allocations for 2021-22 and await the publication of the White Paper before considering the Review further.

RECOMMENDED: 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.