Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors E Johnson and G Merry.

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 approve the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 31^st October 2018

That the minutes of the Brigade Managers’ Pay and Performance Committee held on 31^st October 2018 be confirmed as a correct record.

Consideration was given to a report of the Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive which provided information about the pilot of the temporary Brigade Manager structure and sought Members support for the introduction of a new Brigade Manager structure that would increase the resilience, capacity and visibility of senior officers.

Members were reminded that in recognition of the need to have a sustainable Brigade Manager structure with sufficient capacity to lead effectively whilst supporting the initial development and settling in of a new Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive (CFO), the Fire Authority agreed to pilot a revised Brigade Manager structure for a period of six months. An internal recruitment process was undertaken and two substantive Area Managers were appointed into two temporary Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO) posts for the duration of the pilot which ran from 1^st July.

On evaluating the pilot it was clear that the new structure had fulfilled the design principles and had seen a significant improvement in the ability of the Brigade Managers to apply sufficient time and focus on their areas of responsibility. The new structure had also enabled significant progress to be made in addressing the challenge and stated problem of staff engagement, visibility and accessibility. As part of the evaluation of the pilot and prior to submitting the report to Members, wider research was carried out to understand and compare the brigade management structures within other fire and rescue services.  A summary of this research which was conducted by an independent HR consultant was detailed at Appendix A of the report.

Members made reference to the success of the pilot and felt that the Brigade Manager structure should be continued to ensure that operational resilience was in place across Cheshire and to assist with the increased workloads and competing demands on brigade managers’ time.

RESOLVED: That

[1]       The proposed new brigade manager structure, as detailed at figure 1 paragraph 8 of the report, be recommended for approval and a report be submitted to the next meeting of the Fire Authority on 13^th February 2019.

[2]       Subject to the approval of the new brigade manager structure by the Fire Authority, the proposed selection process for the permanent recruitment of two Assistant Chief Fire Assistants as detailed in paragraphs 14 and 15 of the report, be noted.

RESOLVED: That

Under Section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Order 2006, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the item of business listed below on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A to the Act in the paragraph indicated.

Item 4

2019 Principal Officer Remuneration Review

Paragraph

(1)      Information relating to any individual

Report of the Authority’s HR Consultant

The Independent HR consultant presented his report to Members which provided high level background to the remuneration context and details of the process to be followed in the 2019 Brigade Manager remuneration review.

The Independent HR consultant informed Members that there was a contractual requirement to review the remuneration arrangements of the Chief Executive/Head of Paid Service in the role of ‘Chief Fire Officer’ and its other Principal Officers (Brigade Managers) under the two track approach to pay and conditions, defined in paragraphs 10 and 11 of the ‘NJC for Brigade Managers of Local Fire and Rescue Services; Constitution and Schemes and Conditions of Service’ (the Gold Book).

Members had previously agreed to review remuneration levels of Brigade Managers annually to ensure that the packages reflected current market factors and were set at a fair and appropriate rate.

The HR consultant presented a series of datasets and analysis to Members at the meeting and also provided a detailed presentation in respect of the review which included details of background research regarding the remuneration packages of Principal Officers in the UK.

RESOLVED: That

[1]     There will be no change to the base pay structure for the Chief Fire Officer and other Principal Officers (Brigade Managers) based on this years review;

[2]     Under the two track approach no local award be given to increase base salaries for 2019; and

[3]     Members noted the good performance of the Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive and temporary Assistant Chief Fire Officers and were pleased with the progress made to date. Specific achievements would be further considered at the Brigade Managers’ Pay and Performance Committee on 15^th January 2020.