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Inaugural Meeting Held on Thursday 1 April 2004 at The North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Training Centre, Easingwold

Present:

Humberside Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor D G Barkworth
Councillor C Randall
Mr F Duffield
Mr P Wheldale

North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority
Councillor G Rennie
Councillor J Morley
Mr N Hutchinson
Mr E Clark
Mr C Chadfield
Ms C Whitehead
Mr I Young

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority
Councillor J Andrews
Councillor M Nazir OBE
Councillor P Scriven
Mr S Hooton
Mr J Hoey

West Yorkshire Fire Authority
Councillor H Fox
Councillor T McElroy
Councillor P M Harrand
Councillor M Granger
Mr P Toase
Mr A Hughes
Mr D Monks

Secretariat:

Mr M G Barnes
Mrs N Houseman

1  Appointment of Chair

Resolved

That Councillor D G Barkworth (Humberside) be appointed Chair of the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional Management Board for the 2004 / 2005 year.

2  Appointment of Vice Chair

Resolved

That Councillor T McElroy (West Yorkshire) be appointed Vice Chair of the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional Management Board for the year 2004 / 2005.

3  Membership of the Board


Consideration was given to a report which detailed the membership of the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional Management Board for 2004 / 2005 as notified by the constituent Fire Authorities as follows.

Humberside

Councillor D Barkworth
Councillor C Randall

North Yorkshire

Councillor J Morley
Councillor G Rennie

South Yorkshire

Councillor J Andrews
Councillor M Nazir OBE
Councillor P Scriven

West Yorkshire

Councillor H Fox
Councillor M Granger
Councillor P M Harrand
Councillor T McElroy

The political composition of the Board was Labour 5, Liberal Democrat 4 and Conservative 2.

Resolved

That the report be noted

4  Apologies for Absence


Mr K Marshall – Humberside Fire and Rescue Service

5  Admission of the Public

The meeting determined that there were no items which necessitated the exclusion of the public.

6   Declaration of Interest


There were no declarations of interest made in any matter under consideration at the meeting.

7  Urgent Items


There were no urgent items for consideration at the meeting. An additional item which had been circulated in advance of the meeting (Human Resources – IPDS Sub-Group) would be considered immediately after agenda item 11.

8  Minutes of the Final Meeting of the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Fire Forum Held on 10 February 2004


These were agreed as a correct record.

9  Constitutional Arrangements for the Management Board


The Secretary (designate) submitted a report which appraised members of the nature of the constitutional arrangements for the creation of the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional Management Board (RMB).

The terms and conditions upon which the RMB had been established were set out in an agreement dated 10 March 2004 entered into under seal by each constituent Fire Authority – a copy of which was attached as an appendix to the report now submitted.

Resolved

(i) That the report be noted;


(ii) That the constituent Fire Authorities be requested to consider approving a
change in the Annual Meeting from April to a date in June or July in order to
reflect the results of the May elections (in an ordinary year); and

(iii) That the constituent Fire Authorities should have regard to the requirement that all accounts in respect of RMB expenses be open to inspection by members of the public.

10.  Officer Support Arrangements


Consideration was given to a report of the Secretary (designate) which sought approval for the appointment of named or dedicated officers as was considered necessary to facilitate the effective operation of the RMB. It was also proposed that the provision of officer advice and support in connection with matters listed in Schedule 3 of the Constitution be provided on a combined basis by each of the constituent Fire Authorities as appropriate in terms of lead officer responsibility for each of the six strategic functions.

Resolved

(i) That the RMB appoints Mr M G Barnes (West Yorkshire) as Secretary to the
Board;


(ii) That a formal request by made of the Treasurers’ Group to advise of the need to appoint a Treasurer and, if so, to nominate a named individual; and


(iii) That the RMB notes and approves the general arrangements for the provision of officer support and advice.

11  Strategic Functions - Update


Resilience


The Deputy Chief Fire Officer (West Yorkshire) submitted a report which provided an update on the issue of regional resilience.

It was reported that a Resilience Sub-Group would be formed for the region (to reflect the recently-formed, smaller CACOFA region) which would report to the RMB and oversee the work of the New Dimension project.


Members were further advised of the following progress;

Resolved

(i) That the report be noted; and

(ii) That progress with the secondment status of the Regional Planner be reported back to a future meeting of the RMB.


Specialist (Common) Services


Consideration was given to a report of the Deputy Chief Officer of Humberside Fire and Rescue Service concerning the provision of specialist (common) services.


Members were invited to consider the objectives and generic Terms of Reference for provision of services which included;

Resolved

(i) That the report be noted; and

(ii) That a report be submitted to the next meeting of the RMB detailing the areas of work which would be progressed and those which would be put on hold during the current 2004 / 2005 year.

Regional Control Rooms


The Director of Fire Safety and Technical Services with West Yorkshire Fire and
Rescue Service submitted a report which advised Members of the current situation regarding the establishment of a regional control room.

It was reported that the Terms of Reference for the project team, previously approved by the Regional Fire Forum, had been amended as requested. Progress now included the allocation of specific tasks to four specialist sub groups which would deliver on the seven project streams identified by ODPM;

Members were reminded that the regional project would deliver the decisions made at national level with regard to the establishment of a regional control room.

Members were further advised that the procurement of both technology and
accommodation technical and accommodation for regional control rooms would be managed at a national level. It was envisaged that the first two regional control rooms would be operational in mid 2006 with the remaining seven operational by the end of 2007.

A discussion took place with regard to the role of the RMB on the national site
evaluation team and potential conflicts of interest that would arise.

Resolved

(i) That the report be noted;


(ii) That the regional project management structure be approved;

(iii) That the constituent Fire Authorities be requested to produce a list of  potential sites for the Yorkshire and Humberside regional control room as appropriate;


(iv) That, further to (iii) above, an extraordinary meeting of the RMB be convened in late April / early May to consider the sites submitted by the constituent Fire Authorities for submission to the national evaluation team in advance of the 24 May 2004 deadline;


(v) That the potential sites for a regional control room, agreed by the Regional
Management Board, be submitted to the national evaluation team provided that
the regional representation on the national evaluation team be not precluded
from consideration of sites proposed by organisations other than the RMB; and

(vi) That a report be submitted to a future meeting of the RMB detailing the
advantages and disadvantages, financial and operational issues involved in
each of the following two options for the ongoing management of the Regional
Control Room.

1. Creation of a corporate body to employ the control room staff.

2. The nomination of a lead authority to employ the staff and provide the
control room service on behalf of the RMB.

Procurement

A report was submitted by the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service which advised of the progress to date on regional procurement.

It was reported that a draft national strategy was still awaited which would advise on best practice for regional procurement. Once issued this would be implemented by Fire and Rescue Authorities under the guidance and monitoring procedures of the RMB.

Indications of the specification / procurement analysis procedures likely to be included in the national strategy were detailed in the report now submitted.

Resolved

(i) That the report be noted; and


(ii) That a further report be submitted to a future meeting of the RMB detailing the specific requirements of the national strategy and how this would be progress within the region.

Training


Consideration was given to a report of a T/ACO of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service which proposed the objectives and Terms of Reference for the delivery of training.

Members were advised that it had become apparent that there were many cross-over issues with the Personnel and HR Management function and that consideration was currently being given to the merging of the two functions under one project team.


Draft terms of reference were attached as an annex to the report and it was reported that these would need to be revised once the National Workforce Development Strategy had become available.

In the intervening period, a survey of the region’s training facilities and activities had  been completed which would allow both for effective collaboration in the short term and for the identification of potential savings across the Region.

Work on a national level on assessment centre had not been completed and an “interim assessment process” had been introduced to assist in the application of role maps and national occupational standards.

Resolved

That the draft Terms of Reference be approved and progress with the project be noted.

Personnel and HR Management

The Director of Human Resources at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service submitted a report which invited Members to consider the work schedule for the provision of Personnel and Human Resources Management.


The Personnel and HR issues had been identified and placed into four main sub-groups as detailed in annex 1 to the report now submitted as follows;

Each of these sub-groups would be lead by nominated officers from across the region.

Resolved

That the work schedule for the provision of Personnel and Human Resources
Management be noted.

12.  Human Resources – Integrated Personal Development Sub-Group


Consideration was given to a report of the Humberside Fire and Rescue Service which advised members of the progress to date in facilitating the effective implementation of the Integrated Personal Development System (IPDS) across the constituent authorities of the Regional Management Board.

Resolved

That the report be noted.

13. Draft Consultation Protocols

The Director of Human Resources, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, submitted a report which advised of draft consultation proposals for matters falling within the remit of Regional Management Board.

It was reported that a draft protocol had been drawn up for joint consultation which would be further discussed with all the representative groups across the region.

Resolved


(i) That the draft consultation protocol as detailed at annex A to the report now
submitted be approved in principle;


(ii) That a final document be submitted to the July meeting of the RMB; and

(iii) That the report at 9ii) above give consideration to proportionality issues in terms of union membership across the region.

14.  Draft Regional Equality and Diversity Strategy


Members considered a report of the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service which advised of the draft Equality and Diversity Strategy for the region.

It was reported that further consideration to the draft strategy would be given by the Regional Project Board (constituted by the Chief Fire Officer within each Brigade within the region).

Resolved

(i) That the report be noted; and

(ii) That a report advising of progress with the development of a regional Equality and Diversity Strategy be submitted to a future meeting of the RMB.

15.  Fire Service and Regional Issues - ODPM Responses

Consideration was given to a report of the Secretary which advised of recent
Government responses on Fire Service and Regional issues which had been raised by the Practitioners’ Forum, the Fire Brigades Union, a number of individual authorities and other organisations.

Of particular interest were the comments at page 12 of the document and Government’s recognition of the legal constraints surrounding the status of RMB’s. A copy of the Government response to the Parliamentary Housing Planning Local Government and the Region Committee report had been attached at appendix 2 which clarified the situation with regard to the establishment of regional fire and rescue authorities – these would only be constituted if a public vote elected to appoint a regional assembly.

Resolved

That the report be noted.

16.  LGA - Regional Management Board Chairs Meeting


Members considered a report of the Secretary which invited consideration of
representation from the RMB at the Regional Management Board Chairs’ meeting.

Resolved

(i) That the Chair (or his nominee) be authorised to attend the Regional
Management Board Chairs’ meeting to be held in London on 23 April 2004;


(ii) That the Chair (or his nominee) be authorised to attend future similar events; and


(iii) That costs associated with attendance at (i) and (ii) above be borne by the
Chair’s Authority (or that of his nominee).

17.  Programme of Meetings 2004/2005


Members were invited to consider and agree a programme of meetings for 2004 – 2005

Resolved

That the programme of meetings for the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional Management Board for 2004 – 2005 be approved as follows;

 

Thursday, 22 July 2004 11 a.m. Humberside
Thursday, 21 October 2004 11 a.m. West Yorkshire
Thursday, 13 January 2004 11 a.m. South Yorkshire
Thursday, 7 April 2004 11 a.m. North Yorkshire

Chair