Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Fire Authorities’ Regional Management Board
Meeting Held on Thursday 22 July 2004 at
The Humberside Fire and Rescue Service Training Centre, Hull
Present:
Humberside Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor D G Barkworth
Councillor C Randall
Mr F Duffield
Mr P Wheldale
Mr K Marshall
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor G Rennie
Councillor J Morley (for agenda items 7a – 12, Min. Nos. 28 – 33 refer)
Mr N Hutchinson
Mr E Clark
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor J Mounsey (as substitute for Councillor Andrews)
Councillor J Bird
Councillor P Scriven
Mr M Smitherman
Mr D Cutting
West Yorkshire Fire Authority
Councillor T McElroy
Councillor D Travis
Councillor P M Harrand (for agenda item nos. 7a – 12, Min. Nos. 28 – 33 refer)
Councillor G P Kirkland
Mr P Toase
Mr K Arbuthnot
Mr D Monks
Secretariat:
Mr M G Barnes
Mrs N Houseman
Members stood in silent tribute to the two firefighters who had recently lost their lives in the course of their duties at Bethnal Green.
23 Apologies for Absence
Councillor J Andrews – South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
24 Minutes of the Last Meeting
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Board at a meeting held on 21 May 2004 be signed by the Chair as a correct record.
25 Urgent Items
An additional item had been circulated at the meeting (chapter 2 – National Framework Document – Working Together : The regional approach) for Members’ information.
26 Admission of the Public
The meeting determined that there were no items which necessitated the exclusion of the public.
26 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest made in any matter under consideration at the meeting.
27 Constitutional Arrangements - Amendment to Standing Orders
The Secretary submitted a report which proposed an amendment to Standing Orders with regard to the date of the Annual Meeting.
Resolved
(i) That the Procedural Standing Orders, Schedule 4 Part 1 (A) 1 (1) be amended as follows;
“There shall be an Annual Meeting of the Regional Management Board held on such a date in July of each year as the RMB may fix”, and
(ii) That (i) above be effective from 1 January 2005.
28 Strategic Functions – Update
Members discussed the advantages and disadvantages associated with the
appointment of “champions” for each of the strategic functions and the way in which this approach might be progressed and implemented.
Resolved
(i) That the Terms of Reference for each strategic function be submitted to the next meeting of the Board with a view to Members agreeing the way forward with regard to the appointment of “champions”;
(ii) That a facilitated workshop be organised for Members to debate the role of the Regional Management Board and to agree a corporate vision and / or mission
statement;
(iii) That written reports on each strategic function be submitted to every future
meeting of the Board; and
(iv) That all future reports submitted to the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire
Authorities’ Regional Management Board include information on financial
implications.
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 progress;
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That the Terms of Reference of the Officers’ Resilience Sub-Group be approved.
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.
Following submission to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister of proposals for work to be covered within this remit, Members were advised that the following areas were to be progressed with a representative group;
It was reported that Terms of Reference for each sub-group would be submitted to the RMB for approval.
A paper detailing progress with Information Technology was attached as an appendix to the report together with draft Terms of Reference for the IT sub-group.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted;
(ii) That the Terms of Reference of the Common Services (Information Technology) Sub-Group be approved; and
(iii) That the Terms of Reference for the individual Sub-Groups be submitted to the next meeting of the Board for approval.
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.
Some significant changes had been made to the project since the 21 May meeting of the RMB and clarification on some issues had been given at the LGA / ODPM Seminar on 21 June 2004. The ODPM would be seeking guarantees of co-operation in the delivery of the project from the RMB.
Advice had been received on the following;
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That approval be given to the attendance of Ian McDougall, representative of the FiReControl project Business Change Team at the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister, at meetings of the Officer Project Board.
Procurement
Members were advised that there were no new issues to report as progress had been halted pending the development of a national strategy (due late summer).
Training
Members were advised that there were no new issues to report.
Personnel and HR Management
The Director of Human Resources at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service submitted a report which sought approval of the regional Human Resource (HR) strategy.
Members were advised that it was a requirement of the Fire and Rescue National
Framework document (chapter five) that Regional Management Boards produce a
regional HR strategy. A draft strategy for the Yorkshire and Humberside region was attached as an annex to the report now submitted which set out the focus and direction of future regional HR management. It was reported that no agreement had been reached on the document with the Fire Brigades Union.
Resolved
That the regional Human Resource Strategy be approved.
29 Regional Control Room – Management Arrangements
Consideration was given to a report of the Secretary in conjunction with Mr Cutting of South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service which advised Members of the issues and options concerning the future management arrangements for the operation of the regional control centre.
It was reported that it had become apparent that the preference of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister would be that a “limited company” model be adopted nationwide. This preference, above that of “lead authority” model, had already been questioned by the Local Government Association.
The paper now under consideration presented options and issues for both the “limited company” and “lead authority” models.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted.;
(ii) That both the Chairman and Secretary of the Board be given authority to present the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional Management Board’s proposal for flexibility of choice between the two management models; and
(iii) That the Regional Control Room management arrangements issue be brought
back to the next meeting of the Board for further discussion.
30 FiReControl Project
Members considered a letter from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister which
requested that arrangements be put in place for representatives of the ODPM team to attend a meeting of the Board to give a detailed presentation and facilitate a discussion on key issues involved in the FiReControl regional control room project.
Resolved
That the Secretary continue to liaise with ODPM with a view to agreeing a date for a FiReControl regional control room project presentation.
31 Project Management – Appointment of Programme Manager
Members considered a report which sought approval for the appointment of a
Programme Manager to provide project management expertise in the support of the six strategic functions workstreams.
It was reported that South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service were in the process of establishing a Programme Unit which could meet the Programme Management requirements of the Regional Management Board at a maximum cost of £40,000 p.a. (based on 3 days per week). The cost would be recharged on an equal basis across the constituent fire authorities.
Resolved
(i) That approval be given in principle to the appointment of a Programme Manager on a 3-day contractual period to lead and manage the delivery of the six support workstreams ; and
(ii) That a report advising of progress with arrangements for the appointment of a Programme Manager at an annual cost not exceeding £40,000 and of
arrangements for financing the appointment be submitted to the next meeting of
the Board.
32 Role of Business Change Manager – Government Office of Yorkshire and the Humber – Fire and Rescue Service Modernisation
Consideration was given to a report of the Government Office which advised of the role of the Business Change Manager in the region and of the interaction, support and advice they were expected to provide.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That a letter be forwarded to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister expressing the view of the Board that it did not consider it appropriate that the Business Change Manager be given a (non-voting) place on the Regional FiReControl Project Board in view of the approved involvement of Ian McDougall (ODPM).
33 Appointment of Treasurer
Members considered a report of the Secretary which sought approval for the
appointment of a Treasurer to the Board.
Resolved
(i) That Mr Michael Price, Treasurer to the Humberside Fire Authority, be appointed Treasurer to the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional
Management Board; and
(ii) That the appointment at (i) above be honorary in nature and that no charge be made by Humberside Fire Authority for the services of Mr Price.
Chair
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