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6 August 2008
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West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Minutes of the Executive Committee Meeting held on
6 August 2008 at Fire Service Headquarters, Birkenshaw,
Present: Councillor Booth (in the Chair), V Binney (as substitute for
Councillor R Light), M Coulson and G Kirkland
Apologies: Councillors Khan and Light
16 Minutes
Resolved
That the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 July be signed by the Chair
as a correct record.
17 Urgent Item– Attendance by Members at Workshop, Fire Service College
The Director of Corporate Resources submitted a report which invited Members to consider Member attendance at a workshop organised by the Fire Service College Centre for Leadership on 31 October – 2 November 2008.
Resolved
(i) That approval be given to the attendance of Members at the "Practical
Challenges facing Fire Authorities” workshop to be held at the Fire Service
College on 31 October – 2 November 2008; and
(ii) That attendance detailed at (i) above be on the basis of one Member from
each Group.
[The item was considered urgent as the invitation to the Workshop had not
been received until after the despatch of papers].
18 Admission of the Public
Resolved
That the public and press be excluded from the meeting during the item of business
specified below as it was likely, in view of the nature of the business
to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the
public and press were present during this item, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information of the descriptions specified.
Agenda Item No |
Title of Report | Min No |
Description of exempt the paragraph number in Government Act 1972 |
| E7 | Deputy Chief Fire Officer – selection process |
22 | Paragraph 1 – information relating to an individual |
19 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest in any matter under consideration at
the meeting.
20 Protected Station Officer Pay
The Director of Human Resources submitted a report which invited Members
to consider possible options for pay protection for Station Officers assimilated into the role of Watch Manager B consequent upon the introduction of the
role-based structure with effect from 3 January 2005. It had been made clear
in the NJC circular 13/2003 that the protected paypoints would be reviewed in July 2007.
It was reported that the number of officers affected by the move from rank
to role had been minimised in West Yorkshire through the preplanning of promotions and temporary promotions.
Members were advised that local agreements could be put in place rather
than accept the national agreement which would decrease protected
payments annually to 2011 and total over 7.5 years’ pay protection. There
were three options put forward for consideration as follows;
• National agreement
• Enhancement of national agreement for a limited period to July 2011
together with the opportunity to work pre-arranged overtime for no
additional pay, and
• Lifetime protection
A copy of the submission made by the Fire Brigades’ Union was attached to
the report now submitted.
Resolved
(i) That approval be given to the local implementation of Option 2 as
amended to offer personnel (whilst they remain on the protected pay point)
the opportunity to work pre-arranged overtime;
(ii) That the overtime at (i) above be pensionable to the value of the money that
would otherwise have been lost as follows:
2008 / 2009 £350
2009 / 2010 £700
and;
(iii) That the pre-arranged overtime arrangements at (ii) above cease on
1 July 2011 at the end of the national protection period.
21 Project Fireguard
Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Human Resources
which advised Members of the progress and outcomes of Project Fireguard established to meet the requirements of Section 7 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 and provisions contained under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 relating to the preparation for, and response to, emergencies.
The project had been operating for over 12 months and had examined the market to
look for a suitable and affordable solution that could discharge a
Fire Authority’s statutory obligations in the event of an industrial dispute or other large-scale emergency.
Members were advised that the Fireguard project, managed by Firebuy Ltd., were in
the process of awarding the contract.
It was reported that there was no compulsion for Authorities to take up the contract
which would cost in the region of £5.7m over a 10 year period, representing an
additional 2.4% increase on the annual precept in West Yorkshire.
Members expressed concern at the high cost of the project and considered
that this Authority had the necessary resources and business continuity processes to ensure its statutory duties were maintained at times of
emergency.
Resolved
That this Authority does not commit to the Fireguard contract as part of its Business
Continuity Plan.
22 Deputy Chief Fire Officer – Selection Process
(This item was considered as exempt information under Schedule 12A (1)
of the Local Government Act 1972 –relating to an individual)
The Committee considered the proposed method of evaluation and scoring
for the Deputy Chief Fire Officer selection process.
Resolved
That approval be given to the evaluation and scoring method as detailed in
the report now submitted.
Chair