Home > Fire Authority > Committee Minutes > Full Authority 27 June 2008
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Minutes of the Annual Meeting held at Fire and Rescue
Service Headquarters, Birkenshaw, on Friday 27 June 2008
Present: Councillors P Booth (in the Chair); S Armitage, V Binney,
A Castle, M Coulson, D Ginley, J Godward, D Gray, T Hardwick,
P M Harrand, D Hollingsworth, N Ikram, K Iqbal, M Jamil, M Khan,
G Kirkland, R Light, A McKenna, M Rafique, D Ridgway, B Smith and T Wallis
1 Appointment of Chair
Resolved
That Councillor Philip Booth (Conservative) be appointed Chair of the
Authority for the 2008 / 2009 year.
2 Appointment of Vice-Chair
Resolved
That Councillor Graham Kirkland (Liberal Democrat) be appointed Vice-Chair
of the Authority for the 2008 / 2009 year.
3 Membership of the Authority
The Director of Corporate Services submitted a report detailing the Membership
of the Authority for 2008 / 2009 as notified by District Councils and indicating the
following changes;
Calderdale
Councillor D Ginley (Conservative) replacing Councillor R Taylor (Conservative)
Leeds
Councillor M Rafique (Labour) replacing Councillor A Ogilvie (Labour), Councillor
A Castle (Conservative) replacing Councillor G Wilkinson (Conservative)
Bradford
Councillor D Gray (Liberal Democrat) replacing Councillor J Cole (Liberal
Democrat),
Kirklees
Councillor D Ridgway (Liberal Democrat) replacing Councillor G Beever (Liberal Democrat), Councillor K Iqbal (Conservative) replacing Councillor M Harkin (Labour)
Wakefield
Councillor A Wallis (Labour) replacing Councillor D Atkinson (Labour)
With effect from 27 June 2008 the political composition of the Authority was;
Labour 10; Conservative 8 and Liberal Democrat 4
Resolved
That the report be noted.
4 Chairman's Announcements
The Chair wished to welcome the new Members both to the meeting and
to the Authority and reminded them that the Member induction would be
held on Monday, 7 July at 10.00 am.
5 Admission of the Public
The meeting determined that there were no items which necessitated the
exclusion of the public.
6 Urgent Items
None.
7 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest made in any matter under consideration at
the meeting.
8 Committee Memberships and Appointments 2008 / 2009
Consideration was given to the appointment of Committees, their composition,
the allocation of committee seats between the political groups in accordance with
the principles of determination in Sections 15 and 16 of the Local Government
and Housing Act 1989 (Part 1) and to the appointment of Members, Chairs and
Vice-Chairs to the Authority’s Committees.
In addition, consideration was given to the membership of the Briefing Groups
convened prior to formal meetings of the principal Committees and of the
Authority itself.
Resolved
(a) That the total number of seats on the standing committees be amended
as follows;
Executive Committee 5
Personnel and Training Committee 11
Finance and Resources Committee 11
Audit Committee 5
(b) That, in accordance with the principles of determination set out in
Sections 15 and 16 of the Local Government Act 1989 (as modified) the
allocation of Committee seats between the political groups be as follows;
Ordinary Seats 32
Labour 14
Conservative 12
Liberal Democrat 6
(c) That the appointments to the position of Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the
respective Committees be as follows;
| Committee | Chair | Vice-Chair |
| Executive | P Booth | G Kirkland |
| Personnel & Training | D Ridgway | V Binney |
| Finance & Resources | P M Harrand | D Gray |
| Audit | V Binney | D Hollingsworth |
(d) That, pursuant to the allocation at (a) above, the Committee memberships
and Substitute memberships for 2008 / 2009 be approved as detailed at
Annex A to these Minutes; and
(e) That the appointments to the membership of the Briefing Groups be as
detailed at Annex A to these Minutes.
9 Nomination of Members to Answer Questions
Resolved
That the Members be nominated as required by the Local Government Act
1985 to answer questions within their individual Councils on the discharge of functions etc by this Authority as follows;
| Bradford | Councillor J Godward |
| Calderdale | Councillor D Ginley |
| Kirklees | Councillor R Light |
| Leeds | Councillor D Hollingsworth |
| Wakefield | P Booth |
10 Representation on Outside Bodies
Members considered the appointment of representatives to serve on the Local
Government Association and other outside bodies for the year 2008 / 2009.
Resolved
(i) That the following appointments be made for 2008 / 2009;
Local Government Association
(a) General Assembly - Chair,
Councillors G Kirkland, M Coulson and
P Harrand; or their nominees;
(b) Fire Forum - Councillors M Coulson, P Harrand and G
Kirkland; or their nominees;
(c) Urban Commission - *Chair and Vice Chair
* This is on the basis that the appointed representatives (or their nominees)
will only attend when matters of relevance to the Fire Authority are scheduled for discussion.
Local Government Yorkshire
and Humber Employers’ Forum
Chair of the Authority
Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation
Management Committee
Councillor D Hollingsworth
Yorkshire and Humberside Fire
Authorities’ Regional Management
Board Councillors Light (Con),
Kirkland (Liberal Democrat), McKenna
and Coulson (Labour)
or named substitutes as follows:
| RMB Substantive Member | Substitute |
| Councillor R Light | Councillor P Booth |
| Councillor G Kirkland | Councillor D Ridgway |
| Councillor A McKenna | Councillor B Smith |
| Councillor M Coulson | Councillor M Khan |
Bradford Crime and Disorder Partnership - Councillor D Gray
(ii) That the 17 votes on the LGA General Assembly be allocated in
accordance with political proportionality on the basis of Labour Group 8,
Conservative Group 6 and Liberal Democrat Group 3. The Chair to
exercise the corporate vote.
11 Nomination of Member Champions
The Director of Corporate Resources submitted a report which invited
nominations for Member Champions.
Resolved
(i) That an additional Member Champion be appointed as Environment
Member Champion; and
(ii) That the following Member Champions be appointed for 2008 / 2009;
| Equality and Fairness | Councillor D Hollingsworth |
| Learning and Development | Councillor N Ikram |
| E-Champion | Councillor B Smith |
| Best Value | Councillor K Iqbal |
| Performance and Improvement | Councillor M Khan |
| Risk Management | Councillor P Booth |
| Environment | Councillor T Hardwick |
12 Minutes of the Last Meeting
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Authority at a meeting held on 18 April 2008 be signed by
the Chair as a correct record.
13 Minutes of the Finance and Resources Committee
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Finance and Resources Committee at a meeting held
on 25 April 2008 be received.
14 Minutes of the Executive Committee
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Executive Committee at meetings held on 9 May
and 11 June 2008 be received.
15 Minutes of the Audit Committee
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Audit Committee at a meeting held on 13 June 2008
be received.
16 Local Government Association - Minutes
Resolved
(i) That the Minutes of the Fire Services Management Committee at a
meeting on 12 May 2008, as circulated at the meeting, be received;
(ii) That the Minutes of the Safer Communities Board at a meeting held on
12 May 2008, as circulated at the meeting, be received; and
(iii) That the Minutes of the Fire Services Forum at a meeting held on
11 April 2008 be received.
17 Regional Management Board (Convened as Shadow Board for the
Local Authority Controlled Company)
Resolved
(i) That, subject to the inclusion of Councillor R Light in the attendance list,
the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 May be received; and
(ii) That the appointment of the Director of the Regional Control Centre,
Mr Graham Hall (to take effect from 4 August 2008) be noted.
18 Performance Management Report
The Chief Fire Officer / Chief Executive submitted a report which outlined
the activities of the Brigade in the areas of Operations and technical matters
for the period 1 April 2008 to 30 April 2008.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That those officers involved in undertaking Home Fire Safety Checks be
thanked for their excellent achievements.
19 Financial Outturn 2007 / 8
The Chief Finance Officer submitted a report which presented a review of the
financial year 2007 – 2008.
The review reported on the following elements;
• Statement of accounts
• Treasury management report
• Members’ allowances outturn
Resolved
(i) That the Revenue and Capital Outturns for 2007 / 2008 be noted;
(ii) That approval be given to the Annual Governance Statement;
(iii) That the Statement of Accounts 2007 / 2008 be approved and that the
Accounts be signed by the Chair to certify this approval;
(iv) That the Treasury Management report for 2007 / 2008 be noted; and
(v) That the outturn report on members’ allowances for 2007 / 2008 be noted.
20 Calendar of Meetings 2008 – 9 - Amendment
Resolved
That the Calendar of meetings 2008 – 9 be amended as follows;
Audit Committee 19 June 2009 (and not as originally scheduled)
21 Integrated Risk Management Plan 2009 – 2012
Consideration was given to a report of the Chief Fire Officer and Chief
Executive which sought approval for the inclusion of the draft Integrated
Risk Management Plan 2009 / 12 (as attached to the report now submitted)
into the Corporate Plan.
Resolved
(i) That the draft Integrated Risk Management Plan 2009 / 12 be included in
the Corporate Plan; and
(ii) That approval be given to commence the strategic reviews contained
therein.
22 Local Area Agreements – Update
The Director of Fire Safety and Community Relations submitted a report
which informed Members of the progress made towards achieving the targets
of the Local Area Agreements in 2007 / 8. The report further updated Members on the progress of current District Activity.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That those officers involved in the Local Area Agreements be
congratulated on their success.
23 Ethical Governance Healthcheck
The Director of Corporate Resources submitted a report which invited
consideration of the report and recommendations produced by the
Improvement and Development Agency (I&DeA) following the Ethical
Governance healthcheck of the Authority undertaken on 12 and 13 May 2008.
Members were advised that the team from the I&DeA had judged this
Authority to have sound ethical governance processes and procedures
and where high standards of ethical behaviour were put into practice.
The report made some recommendations for consideration as follows;
• Development of role and profile of the Standards Committee (to include
monitoring of members’ interests, promotion of ethical standards, training
in respect of the local determination regime etc)
• Possible introduction and publication of a register of Chief Officers’ and
Directors’ interests
Resolved
(i) That the Standards Committee consider the issue of a register of Chief
Officer and Director interests and other relevant issues raised in the
report;
(ii) That consideration be given to the role of the Standards Committee; and
(iii) That full consideration of the I&DeA report and recommendations about
ethical governance be undertaken by the Authority’s Audit Committee.
24 Corporate Health – Annual Update Report
Members considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources which
provided information relating to the corporate health of the Authority.
The report covered details of;
• Compliments received
• Complaints made against the Authority
• Best Value performance indicators
• Chartermark award
Concern was raised with regard to the figures produced for BVPI 3 which
related to satisfaction with the overall service provided – these were not all direct users of the service. A measure of satisfaction from the users was considered to be more meaningful.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
25 Member Champions 2007 / 8 - Update
The Director of Corporate Resources submitted a report which provided an
update and summary of involvement of the Member Champions as follows;
| E-Champion | Councillor Bryan Smith |
| Best Value | Councillor Peter Harrand |
| Performance Management & Improvement | Councillor Mehboob Khan |
| Risk Management | Councillor Philip Booth |
Resolved
That the report be noted.
26 Fire Safety Group Activities
The Director of Fire Safety and Community Relations presented a report which
informed Members of activities within the Fire Safety Group and statistics for
the year 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008.
Members’ attention was drawn specifically to the following targets;
• Fire deaths – 30% reduction achieved 2 years ahead of the 20% target
• Arson – 60% reduction achieved 2 years ahead of the 10% target
• Unwanted fire signals from commercial AFD equipment – 28% reduction
achieved in one year
Resolved
That the report be noted.
27 Firecontrol and Firelink Projects - Update
The Chief Fire Officer / Chief Executive submitted a report which updated
Members on the status of both the FireControl and FireLink projects.
It was reported that the anticipated publication date of the FireControl
business case had been delayed but was due imminently.
Members were advised that this Authority was currently meeting all timelines
and requirements for the projects.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
Chair