Agenda for Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham Fire and Rescue Authority - Finance and Resources on Friday, 19th October, 2018, 10.00 am

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Fire and Rescue Services HQ, Bestwood Lodge, Arnold Nottingham NG5 8PD

Contact: Cath Ziane-Pryor  Email: catherine.pryor@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

12.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

None.

13.

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Minutes:

None.

14.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 162 KB

Of the meeting held on 29 June 2018 (for confirmation).

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 June 2018 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

15.

PRUDENTIAL CODE MONITORING REPORT TO AUGUST 2018 pdf icon PDF 410 KB

Report of the Treasurer to the Authority

Minutes:

Becky Smeathers, Head of Finance, presented the report which informs members of the financial activity from 31 May to 31 August 2018 against the prudential Indicators which were confirmed by the Fire Authority at the February 2018 meeting.

 

Borrowing to the end of August stood at £24.238m which is well within the operational boundary of £29.723m.

 

There are no issues of concern to report to the Committee.

 

RESOLVED to note the report.

16.

REVENUE AND CAPITAL MONITORING REPORT TO 31 AUGUST 2018 pdf icon PDF 473 KB

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

Minutes:

Becky Smeathers, Head of Finance, presented the report which informs the Committee of the financial performance of the Service for the period 31 May to 31 August 2018.

 

The following points were highlighted and members’ questions responded to:

 

(a)  There has been an underspend of £141,000 which is lower than that reported in June of £475,000;

 

(b)  As a result of the additional call-outs during the hot, dry summer, the retained pay budget was unavoidably overspent by £129,000. Some of this relates to the Lancashire moorland fires for which £79k is being recovered under the Belwin scheme.  There were underspends of £289,000 for drilling and training which took place at lower than anticipated levels;

 

(c)  A provision was made in the 2017/18 accounts for a 2% firefighter pay increase.  However, the National Joint Council have now confirmed a 1% pay increase for 2017/18 so the provision is no longer required and has been returned to Revenue;

 

(d)  The Service currently is expecting year end reserves levels to be in the region of £10.115m, the details of which are set out in the report. Reserves levels compared to those held by other Fire Authorities were discussed.  Further analysis will be included in the Reserves Strategy which will be considered at December Fire Authority;

 

(e)  The underspend of £20,000 on fire alarms is a result of the delay in rolling out the ‘Safe and Well’ programme which replaced the Home Safety Check;

 

(f)  Expected slippage in the capital programme totalling £308,000 is outlined in Appendix C to the report;

 

(g)  Recovered costs for services beyond the Service’s statutory duty were discussed.  These charges are approved by the Fire Authority as part of the budget process each year. The current budget for income from these charges is £6k;

 

(h)  The agreement between the Service and the East Midland’s Ambulance Service (EMAS) to have space in a base at Hucknall Fire Station is with each organisation’s solicitors but it is encouraging that EMAS have proposed a completion target date of 1 January 2019. Once legal agreement has been reached and the contract signed, the building work can be sent out for tender and contractors engaged;

 

(i)  The potential use of the surplus land around Newark Fire Station, including the building of affordable housing, is being investigated and the Chief Fire Officer and the Head of Estates have met with the Chief Executive of the Local Council and an arm’s length housing provider. Members will be informed of any firm progress, possibly to the Policy and Strategy Committee or Full Fire Authority in February 2019.

 

Members’ comments included:

 

(j)  When next setting the Council Tax precept, it will be worth highlighting the additional £590,000 wholetime overspend due to the increased service demand during the exceptionally dry summer;

 

(k)  The Authority needs to ensure that the return from the use of the Newark Fire Station surplus land provides a good long term income for the Service.

 

RESOLVED

 

(1)  to note the report;

 

(2)  to approve the temporary virement of £183k from the secondment income surplus to wholetime pre-planned overtime (as detailed in Section 2.5 of the report);

 

(3)  to approve temporary virements of £52k from wholetime bank holiday pay to wholetime pre-planned overtime (as detailed in Section 2.5 of the report);

 

(4)  for the Committee to further consider reserves at a future meeting,  including comparative data against the value of reserves held by other Services.

 

17.

CORPORATE RISK MANAGEMENT pdf icon PDF 229 KB

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

Minutes:

John Buckley Chief Fire Officer, presented the report which is brought before the Committee following changes to some of the of work undertaken by Wayne Bowcock, Deputy Chief Fire Office, and Craig Parkin, Assistant Chief Fire Officer. No other changes have occurred.

 

RESOLVED to note the report.

18.

MANAGEMENT OF OCCUPATIONAL ROAD RISK pdf icon PDF 173 KB

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

Minutes:

Wayne Bowcock, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, presented the report which updates the Committee on the management of operational road risk and the measures taken to mitigate those risks within the Road Risk Management Plan.

 

The following points were highlighted and member’s questions responded to:

 

(a)  To ensure that the cost of insurance does not increase beyond the cost of 2016/17 insurance rates, the Service has agreed to raise the claim excess from £1,000 to £2,500 per claim;

 

(b)  Between September 2017 and September 2018, there were 49 incidents, 41 of which were as a result of low speed manoeuvring;

 

(c)  There were two high cost incidents including an appliance being lodged in a ditch (£42,898.03 cost) having swerved to avoid an on-coming vehicle, and the overturning of a water foam unit whilst exiting the motorway (due to the camber of the road and angle taken by the driver) the cost is yet to be confirmed;

 

(d)  An employee has been injured during a reversing incident and the Health and Safety Inspectorate is currently examining the filed report;

 

(e)  There is a new Health and Safety Officer in post;

 

(f)  Staff are randomly tested for drugs and alcohol by a third party organisation to a standard process. Tests can also be undertaken on staff at an incident;

 

(g)  Dash-cams are not required as appliances are already fitted with 360° CCTV cameras. Some incident footage is used for training purposes.

 

RESOLVED to note the report.

19.

EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC

To consider excluding the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining item in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. 

Minutes:

RESOLVED to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining item in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

20.

INSTALLATION OF AN ELECTRICAL SUBSTATION BY WESTERN POWER AT BINGHAM FIRE STATION

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

Minutes:

John Buckley, Chief Fire Officer, and Ian Pritchard, Estates Manager, presented the report which informs members of the request by Western Power for the installation of an electrical substation at Bingham Fire Station.

 

Although it is acknowledged that Western Power maintain a standard set of changes, Members requested that officers continue to seek the best deal for the Service.

 

RESOLVED to approve the recommendations as set out in the report.