Agenda and minutes

Councillor Gordon Wheeler

Councillor Sybil Fielding declared an interest in recommendation 2 of item 13 as she is a trustee of the Mansfield Fire Museum.  She did not take part in discussions on this recommendation and did not vote on it.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting dated 8 July 2016.

The minutes of the meeting on 8 July 2016 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

John Buckley, Chief Fire Officer at NFRS informed Members of the delay in sending out annual benefits statements to Firefighter Pension Scheme members and of the work undertaken to report and to rectify this breach of the Pensions Act 2013.

The following information was highlighted:

(a)  the local Pension Board didn’t want to send incomplete reports, so these went out at the end of October 2016;

(b)  NFRS approached the Pensions regulator to inform them that the statutory deadline would not be met.  All employees were notified of this;

(c)  the regulator was written to; they will be taking no action over this breach.  NFRS are working with their pensions administrator to make sure the Annual Benefits Statement will be in place for the end of August 2017;

Following questions from Members, further information was provided:

(d)  if a breach is expected next year, it will be reported back to the Policy and Strategy Committee;

(e)  the Chair wrote to the Chair of the National Pension Board to report the breach.

RESOLVED to note the contents of the report.

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

John Buckley, Chief Fire Officer at NFRS introduced a report requesting that Members give consideration to the disposal of 4 ‘end of life’ fire appliances.

Grant Smith (retired officer) from NFRS was present at the meeting and gave an outline of what impact donated appliances had had so far in Croatia.  The intention is to do a similar trip in the springtime of 2017. 

Members suggested writing a letter of thanks to officers involved with the trip to Croatia.

With regard to the ‘end of life’ appliances staying within the UK in museums and with preservation groups, Members were informed that this was about preserving the ‘last of the type’ with certain models.  Press releases will be circulated on these points at the point of disposal.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  donate the 2 end of life Dennis Sabre vehicles to Ludbreg and Velica Bukovec in Croatia;

(2)  sell for £1, under the overarching covenant mentioned in paragraph 2.15 of the report, an end of life Dennis Sabre Fire Appliance to the Mansfield Fire Museum;

(3)  sell for £1, under the overarching covenant mentioned in paragraph 2.15 of the report, an end of life Dennis Sabre Fire Appliance to the East Midlands Branch of the Fire Service Preservation Group.

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

John Buckley, Chief Fire Officer at NFRS updated Members on organisational development and inclusion activities taking place within the organisation.

The ‘Shaping Our Future’ team is headed up by Keith Jones.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  circulate the Thomas Report to Members;

(2)  endorse the contents of the report.

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

John Buckley, Chief Fire Officer informed Members of the trial collaboration with East Midlands Ambulance Service on the implementation of an Emergency First Responder Scheme at Carlton, Edwinstowe and Worksop Fire Stations.

The FBU nationally changed their stance at their national meeting, and changed their mandate to look at first responding at a local level. NFRS have joined in with the National Joint Council (NJC) pilot - not all fire services joined the pilot. 

NFRS have just gone live on 1 November for a three-month pilot with three stations – Carlton, Worksop and Edwinstowe. There were 31 calls in the first week.

RESOLVED to note the contents of the report and agree to receive further reports at the conclusion of the trial period.

The meeting was adjourned at 1052 to observe the two minute remembrance silence.  The meeting reconvened at 1109.

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

John Buckley, Chief Fire Officer provided an update to Members on the progress of the Emergency Services Network (ESN) programme by NFRS.

The following information was provided:

(a)  Ian Taylor has been seconded to the Home Office and left in the past month;

(b)  Craig Parkin is the regional lead for the East Midlands.  Jo Beresford, an officer from Lincolnshire has been appointed as the full-time Implementation Manager;

(c)  Motorola are the main suppliers to the project, but have not supplied a product to view as yet;

(d)  the project involves Motorola, the Home Office, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), and other assorted stakeholders.

RESOLVED to

(1)  expect a further report to a future Policy and Strategy Committee;

(2)  consider the appropriate earmarked reserves in January at the Finance and Resources Committee.

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

John Buckley, Chief Fire Officer at NFRS gave Members an update of the progress with the Tri-Service Control programme.

The following information was provided:

(a)  the performance of the product is not as quick or slick as it is expected to be.  Any changes to the simplicity of the product being developed would have to be submitted back to Systel;

(b)  Dan Quinn has now picked up this project from Ian Taylor, who has been seconded out of the Service.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  note the content of the report and the progress made with the Tri-Service Control Programme;

(2)  take a further report at the next Policy and Strategy Committee meeting in February.