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Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Fire Authorities' Regional Management Board

Meeting held on Thursday 21 October 2004 at the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Headquarters, Birkenshaw

Present:

Humberside Fire Authority
Councillor D G Barkworth
Councillor C Randall
Mr F Duffield


North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor G Rennie
Mr E Clark


South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor J Andrews
Mr M Smitherman
Mr D Cutting
Mr C Bryce


West Yorkshire Fire Authority
Councillor T McElroy
Councillor D Travis
Councillor G P Kirkland
Councillor R Light
Mr P Toase
Mr K Arbuthnot
Mr D Monks
Mr A Hughes


Treasurer:

Mr M Price


Secretariat:

Mr M G Barnes
Mrs N Houseman

34  Apologies for absence


Councillor J Bird – South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Mr K Marshall – Humberside Fire and Rescue Service
Councillor M Morley – North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority

35  Minutes of the last meeting

Resolved

That, subject to the clarification at Minute No. 28 (Resilience) that approval had been given for the appointment of a North East Regional Planner (and not as indicated in the Minute), the Minutes of the Board at meetings held on 22 July and 27 September 2004 be signed by the Chair as correct records.

36  Urgent Items

There were no urgent items for consideration at the meeting.

37  Admission of the public

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

38  Declarations of Interest

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

39  Minutes of the RMB Chairs Meeting Held on 20 September 2004

Resolved

That the Minutes be noted.

40  Strategic Functions - Update


Resilience

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

Members were further advised of the following;

Resolved

(i) That, whilst noting the insurance issues involved, approval be given to the
Detection, Identification and Monitoring (DIM) kit being hosted by the West
Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service at Ossett Fire Station due to its strategic
location and proximity both to the Police Operations Support Unit and to the
ambulance service;

(ii) That approval be given in principle to the location of the High Volume Pump at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service pending clear government direction
with regard to funding;


(iii) That a letter be forwarded to the Local Government Association expressing
Members’ concern and disquiet at the uncertainties with regard to funding issues related to both the Urban Search and Rescue Vehicle and the High Volume Pumping Unit;


(iv) That, pursuant upon (iii) above, a report be submitted to a future meeting of the Board detailing the funding advice received.


Specialist (Common) Services

Consideration was given to a report of the Deputy Chief Officer of Humberside Fire and Rescue Service concerning progress with Common Services collaborative work across the Region.

Members were advised that, due to the burden of working on the six previously
highlighted areas of work, the group would now focus on three key issues as follows;


The Terms of Reference for each sub-group listed above were attached as an appendix to the report now submitted.

Resolved

(i) That the report be noted; and


(ii) That the Terms of Reference for the Information Technology, Fire Investigation and Fire Safety Sub-Groups be approved.

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 position in relation to the Regional Control Centre Project.

It was reported that the national project had now been coordinated with the FireLink project within a single Civil Resilience directorate at the ODPM which had announced a six month slippage – the first regional control rooms would not now be brought into service until the last quarter of 2006.

Members were advised of the progress with the national project as follows;

Resolved

(i) That the report be noted;


(ii) That a report be submitted to a future meeting detailing implications on
employee retention in the control rooms based within the constituent authorities;


(iii) That, in order to facilitate further more detailed discussion and in recognition of Members’ concerns with the issues related to the management of the RCC,  a special meeting be convened if the Outline Business Case and guidance relating to the management of the RCC’s is received prior to the next scheduled meeting on 13 January 2005;


(iv) That, in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair, the Secretary to the Board be given delegated authority to convene additional meetings of the Regional Management Board as required.

Procurement


Members received a report of the Director of Operations at South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service which advised of the key issues within the Draft National Procurement Strategy (attached to the report now submitted).

The regional procurement working group had been sub-divided into specific sub-groups as follows;

Members were further advised that a key issue for the national strategy had been the formation of a company, FireBuy and it was proposed that it would be sensible for Members of this RMB to have an input into the company as Directors. There remained some concern, however, at the underwriting of costs associated with the Company together with the restrictive timescales associated with consultation on the Draft National Procurement Strategy in general.

Resolved

(i) That the report be noted; and


(ii) That the regional procurement working group draft a response in consultation with the Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary to the Board prior to the 3 December deadline.

Training


Consideration was given to a report from AC Anderson, North Yorkshire Fire and
Rescue Service, which updated members on progress towards the delivery of regional training as follows;

Resolved

(i) That the report be noted;


(ii) That the draft Manual Handling Framework document (attached at appendix 1 to the report now submitted) be approved; and


(iii) That, in accordance with the Board’s Constitution, costs associated with the
regional training review (ca. £5,000) be apportioned between the constituent
authorities in equal amounts.

Personnel and HR Management

The Director of Human Resources at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service submitted a report which sought approval for the Terms of Reference of the regional HR working group (a copy of the Terms of Reference were attached at appendix 1 to the report now submitted).

Resolved

That the Terms of Reference for the Human Resources Working Group be approved.

41  Facilitated Workshop Adoption of Mission Statement and Appointment of Member Champions

Consideration was given to a report of the Secretary which invited discussion on the following issues;

Resolved

(i) That, subject to the receipt of new Mission Statements for both South Yorkshire and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Services, the report be noted; and


(ii) That a workshop be convened during November to allow Members to consider the adoption of vision, mission and values statement for the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional Management Board and to recommend the appointment of Member champions for the six strategic functions.

42  Appointment of Programme Manager


Members considered a report of the Director of Human Resources for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service which advised of the progress made with regard to the provision of effective programme management for the Board.

Members were reminded that in principle approval had been given at the 27 September meeting of the Board for the future use of the Programme Manager appointed by South Yorkshire. Proposals for the terms of reference for the Programme Manager were detailed in the report now submitted.

Resolved

(i) That approval be given to the shared use of the resources offered by the region by the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service;


(ii) That the Programme Manager be authorised to develop a programme brief and programme structure;


(iii) That the cost to the constituent authorities (ca. £16,000) be apportioned on an equal basis; and


(iv) That Schedule 5 of the Board’s Constitution be submitted for review at the
January 2005 meeting of the Board as it relates to the apportionment of costs.

43  FireControl Briefing - Attendance by Members


Members considered a report which sought approval for the attendance of Members at the FireControl briefing session organised by the ODPM in Birmingham on 3 November.


It was reported that the briefing would be solely concerned with the scrutiny of the Outline Business Case for the management of Regional Control Rooms.

Resolved

(i) That approval be given to the attendance of the Chair, Vice Chair and Treasurer to the Board at the ODPM briefing session on 3 November 2004; and


(ii) That associated costs be borne by the relevant constituent authorities.

Chair