Agenda and minutes

Councillor John Clarke

Councillor Jon Collins

Councillor Tony Roberts

Councillor Tim Spencer

None

Last meeting held on 23 May 2014 (for confirmation)

The Authority confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 23 May 2014 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

(a)  the Chair has attended the Fire Commission meeting in London on 13 June and a meeting for the National Joint Council of Brigade Managers which had discussed brigade managers pay;

(b)  the Chair thanked everyone involved in providing cover during the continuing periods of industrial action by Fire Brigade Union (FBU) members. The Chair was pleased to report that despite the problems the action is causing for Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS), good relations are being maintained with FBU members;

(c)  the Chair has visited a number of local Members of Parliament to introduce John Buckley as the new Chief Fire Officer and to explain the budget challenges facing NFRS in coming months;

(d)  the Chair has booked a room at the House of Commons in order to have a collective meeting with all Nottinghamshire Members of Parliament to discuss the budget issues and the possibility of the Service taking on additional roles, for example, flood rescue which is currently not a formal duty of the Service but is one which it regularly participates in;

(e)  the Chair and Chief Fire Officer are in the process of visiting the County’s fire stations visiting watches on a rotational basis, answering questions and informing fire-fighters of the latest position on a number of current issues. The response has generally been very favourable;

(f)  the planned seminar for members in July has been cancelled and will now be held on 12 September. The Chair requested, that, wherever possible, members should attend;

(g)  members had before them an information sheet giving details of forthcoming local events involving NFRS. The Chair encouraged members to attend some or all of the events if they were able to do so;

(h)  a committee of three are due to meet with Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service to talk about collaborative services. NFRS is already in discussions with the Ambulance Service and the Police and Crime Commissioner about shared services and partnership working;

(i)  on 11 July, the Regional Director of Capita, Alan George, will attend a training session at HQ on treasury management. The Chair hoped as many members as possible  would attend what promised to be a very worthwhile session;

(j)  the Chair agreed to ask the Clerk to look at the possibility of re-arranging the Policy and Strategy meetings in July and October as members of the Committee had other commitments on those dates;

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

Neil Timms, the Strategic Director of Finance and Resources, presented the report of the Chief Fire Officer, informing Members of the review of the Authority’s governance arrangements. One of the key challenges for governance identified in the review is to ensure that Members are kept appraised of up to date information to enhance the formal decision making process. This will be achieved by a members training programme.

Both the Chair and Councillor Gordon Wheeler, the opposition spokesperson emphasised that it is members responsibility to ensure that they attend training sessions to ensure they are kept fully up to date.

RESOLVED to approve the Annual Governance Statement set out in Appendix A to the report;

Joint Report of the Treasurer and the Chief Fire Officer

Peter Hurford, the Treasurer presented the joint report of himself and the Chief Fire Officer giving members the latest estimate of the financial performance of the Service in the year 2013/14 and analysing significant variances against the original budget.

The key figures to note are:

·  a predicted overspend of £1.554m on the revenue budget. This is a planned overspend and includes a Voluntary Revenue Provision charge of £1m and a revenue contribution to finance capital expenditure of £1.736m. Both of these initiatives will contribute towards the on-going budget savings required in future years;

·  the General Reserves are expected to have reduced to a level of £6.210m at 31 March 2014;

·  the provisional outturn on the capital budget is £3.327m, which is an under spend of £5.012m against the total programme.

Councillor Malcolm Wood thanked the Finance Department for their work and commitment in finding solutions to the problems faced by NFRS.

RESOLVED

(1)  to note the contents of the report;

(2)  to approve carrying forward the total capital slippage of £5,012,000 to 2014/15 as set out in detail in the report.

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

Peter Hurford, the Treasurer presented the Chief Fire Officer’s report setting out the proposed Medium Term Financial Strategy 2014/15 to 2016/17, bringing together all financial strategies and providing a stable platform for future service provision/delivery.

RESOLVED to adopt the Medium Term Financial Strategy and to review it annually;

TO CONSIDER EXCLUDING THE PUBLIC FROM THE MEETING DURING CONSIDERATION OF THE REMAINING ITEM(S) 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

The Committee decided to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining agenda items 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 outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information, as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

Last meeting held on 23 May 2014 (for confirmation)

The Authority confirmed the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 23 May 2014, as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

John Buckley, the Chief Fire Officer presented his report updating the Authority on the arrangements and plans in place for dealing with the on-going Fire Brigades Union industrial dispute and highlighting the potential of UNISON members taking industrial action.

RESOLVED

(1)  to note the latest update from the Chief Fire Officer and continue to support the activities in place to maintain operational cover;

(2)  to accept further update reports to either full Fire Authority or Policy and Strategy Committee, as appropriate.