Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED for Councillor Darrell Pulk to be appointed Chair for the municipal year 2015/16.

RESOLVED for Councillor Brian Grocock to be appointed Vice-Chair.

Councillor Jon Collins, on City Council business.

Peter Hurford, Treasurer to the Fire and Rescue Authority, declared a non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 8, Retirement of the Treasurer to the Fire Authority.

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 2015 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair

In recognition of Councillors who were members of the Authority during the last municipal year but not this municipal year, the Authority will present a certificate of thanks to councillors who have not previously left and returned to serve the Authority. The certificates will be prepared and presented to former Fire Authority members at the next full Fire Authority meeting.

The Chair welcomed new Councillors to the Authority and announced that there would be a ‘new member induction session’ at Fire Service Headquarters on 25 June 2015 starting at 9:30am, which will conclude with lunch.

With regard to the new station to be built on London Road, demolition of the Gresham Works site has started and the development of the new Fire Station is expected to be completed within 18 months.

Two end-of-life fire engines, which are usually sold for approximately £5,000 each, are to be donated to Nepal which recently experienced a devastating earthquake. Watch Manager Kev Ruane (MBE), in association with ITAP (Infrastructure, Training and Assistance Projects) will co-ordinate delivery of the appliances. Three members of Fire Service staff will meet the vehicles in Nepal and deliver two weeks of training to Nepalese operators. It is envisaged that this small cost to the Service will benefit the people of Nepal.

There are several events scheduled the next few months including:

o  Sneinton area ‘Week of Action’ 8-13 June 2015;

o  ‘Ashfield Safety Zone’, to be held at Ashfield Fire Station for the weeks commencing 15 June and 22 of June 2015 to teach schoolchildren vital safety messages and life-saving skills;

o  ‘Worksop Fire Station Open Day’ will be held on the Saturday, 22 August 2015 between 10 am and 4 pm;

o  ‘Emergency Services Show’ will be held at Clumber Park on 30 August 2015 between 10am and 4pm with various vehicles and displays;

o  ‘Chiefs Challenge 2015’ will take place on Saturday 27^th and Sunday 28^th of June 2015, with the challenge being 24 drills at 24 fire stations within 24 hours. All proceeds will go to the Fire Fighters Charity. Immediately before the next meeting of the Fire Authority on 26 June, the Chief Fire Officer and his team will be undertaking a drill at Fire Service Headquarters to launch the event.

Bridget Aherne, Head of Corporate Communications, has recently been named as ‘Public Relations Director of the Year’ by CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations).  The Chair presented Bridget with the award and congratulated her on behalf of the Authority.

During consideration of this item, members of the political minority groups expressed continued disappointment that, as an ‘a- political’ Authority, no provision has been made for minority members to Chair any of the sub committees, even though minority party members consisted of one third of the Authority’s membership.

Further dissatisfaction was expressed that a full consultation had not formally taken place regarding the meeting date schedule for full authority and sub-committee meetings.  Officers pointed out that it is for the Authority to confirm meeting dates and none were set to benefit any political group. In addition, City and County school holidays are taken into consideration along with the reporting requirements of finance colleagues.

Following a brief discussion, it was proposed by minority group members that the next AGM take place on 3 June 2016, this was voted on and approved.

A proposal to alter the date of the next meeting of the Authority on 26 June 2015 was proposed but following a vote, the amendment was not approved.

RESOLVED

(1)  to note the following appointments to the Fire and Rescue Authority for 2015/16:

  Members from the City Council:

Members from the County Council:

Councillor John Allin

Councillor Chris Barnfather

Councillor John Clarke

Councillor Roger Jackson

Councillor Michael Payne

Councillor Mike Pringle

Councillor Darrell Pulk

Councillor Ken Rigby

Councillor Gail Turner

Councillor Gordon Wheeler

Councillor Yvonne Woodhead

Councillor Liz Yates

(2)  to approve the committee structure of the Fire and Rescue Authority;

(3)  to approve the appointments to committees, committee chairs, and dates of meetings as follows:

Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham Fire and Rescue Authority (10.30am)

26 June 2015

25 September 2015

18 December 2015

26 February 2016

3 June 2016 AGM

Policy and Strategy Committee (10.00am) 

Human Resources Committee (10.00am)

Community Safety Committee (10.00am)

Finance and Resources Committee (10.00am)

Personnel Committee

Appointments Committee

Further to the Chair’s announcement at the previous meeting that the Treasurer to the Fire Authority, Peter Hurford, wished to retire, the Chair presented the report which requests that the Appointments Committee be tasked with selecting a suitable replacement.

On the behalf of the Authority, the Chair thanked Peter Hurford for his dedication and hard work during the past eight years, and noted that his independent opinion has proved valuable to the Authority during a period when difficult financial decisions have to be made. This was supported by the Chair of the Finance and Resources Committee, other members of the Authority and officers of the Service.

RESOLVED

(1)  that the option to directly employ an individual in the role of Treasurer to the Fire Authority, as set out within 2.5.2. of the report, is approved;

(2)  for the Appointments Committee to be tasked with the responsibility of conducting a selection process and making recommendations of appointment to a future meeting of the Fire and Rescue Authority.