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> Regional Management Board 19 October 2006
Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Fire
Authorities' Regional Management Board
Meeting held on Thursday 19 October 2006 at
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters,
Birkenshaw
Present:
Humberside Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor N Sherwood
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor G Gatman (as substitute for Councillor E Broadbent)
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor J Andrews (Chair)
Councillor J Bird
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor G Beever
Councillor M Coulson (Vice chair)
Councillor R Light (with the exception of agenda item 10, Min no. 30)
Councillor B Smith (as substitute for Councillor D Atkinson)
Secretariat:
Mr M G Barnes
Mrs N Houseman
Treasurer :
Mr M Price
In attendance :
Mr K Marshall Humberside
Mr N Hutchinson North Yorkshire
Mr A Trowsdale North Yorkshire
Mr M Davies South Yorkshire
Mr D Cutting South Yorkshire
Mr M Smitherman South Yorkshire
Mr S Pilling West Yorkshire
Mrs H Brown West Yorkshire
Ms U Harrison Regional Project Support Officer
Mr R Stuart Programme Manager
Mr J Lodge GoYH, Business Change Manager
21 Apologies for Absence
Councillor C Randall – Humberside Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor D Atkinson – West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor P Scriven – South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor E Broadbent – North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor J Morley – North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Apologies were also presented on behalf of
Mr P Toase (Chief Fire Officer, West
Yorkshire) and of Mr F Duffield (Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Humberside)
22 Minutes of the Board at a Meeting held on
27 July 2006
Resolved
That the Minutes be signed by the Chair as a correct record.
23 Urgent Items
None.
24 Admission of the Public
The meeting determined that there were no items which necessitated the
exclusion of the public.
25 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest made in any matter under consideration at the meeting.
26 Progress Report - Overview
Consideration was given to a report of the Secretary which advised of progress
made within the region against the six nationally set objectives for the Regional
Management Board as identified in the National Framework Document.
Members were advised that all the regional projects had either been achieved or
remained on target to be achieved and some consideration was given to the
introduction of a new progression band which would indicate where projects were
on course but not yet completed.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
Strategic Functions – Update
27 Resilience
Consideration was given to a report of the Chief Fire Officer (South Yorkshire)
which provided an update on the issue of regional resilience.
Attached to the report was a map indicating the location of the New Dimension
equipment across the region.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That a paper be submitted to the next meeting of the Board reporting on
the rationale for the location of each New Dimension asset in the region.
28 Specialist (Common) Services
Consideration was given to a report of the Deputy Chief Officer of Humberside
Fire and Rescue Service advising of the progress made with the work in the
Common Services strategic functional theme.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
29 Regional Control Rooms
The Chief Fire Officer with West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service submitted a
report which updated Members on the status of the Yorkshire and Humberside
FiReControl Regional Control Centre project and progress on the FireLink
scheme.
Members were advised that the final business case would be published in
February 2007 for which regional seminars would be arranged.
Clarification was still awaited with regard to Human Resources issues and
specifically those related to the recharging of the FireControl Centre which could
subsequently be finalised on an intra-regional basis.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted;
(ii) That a “topping out” ceremony be organised (rather than a groundbreaking
ceremony as discussed at the last meeting) once construction has
reached an appropriate stage;
(iii) That the Secretariat liaise with Members with regard to a preferred date to
hold a regional seminar during February / March 2007; and
(iv) That the Treasurer report to the January 2007 meeting upon the progress
of national recharging between regions and the outcome of discussions
between the four Yorkshire and Humberside Treasurers upon possible
recharging mechanisms within the region.
30 Procurement
Consideration was given to a report of the Assistant Chief Fire Officer (Director
of Support Services, South Yorkshire) which advised of the work being
undertaken at national level with regard to the National Procurement Board and
the Integrated Clothing Project together with an update of work that had been
undertaken to develop a business case for the possible appointment of a
Regional Procurement co-ordinator.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted;
(ii) That, should the business case prove compelling, a report be submitted to
the next meeting of the Regional Management with regard to the possible
appointment of a Regional Procurement Co-ordinator; and
(iii) That the results of a gap analysis undertaken by the Programme Manager
be submitted to the January 2007 meeting of the Board.
[Councillor Robert Light declared a prejudicial interest and left the room during
consideration of this item].
31 Training
Consideration was given to a report of the Assistant Chief Fire Officer (Director
of Human Resources) of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service which
updated Members on the Training function.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
32 Personnel and HR Management
The Director of Human Resources at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
submitted a report which updated Members on the regional collaboration on
Human Resource issues – specific work was in progress with regard to the
recruitment of retained firefighters and the use of the firefighter selection tests.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
33 Officer Support Arrangements and Related Cost
of Provision Issues
Consideration was given to a joint report of the Secretary and the Treasurer to
the Board which advised of the existing support arrangements and invited
consideration of a revision of arrangements for the sharing of associated and
other operational costs.
An appendix had been circulated at the meeting which set out the actual and
projected costs of officer support 2005 – 2010.
Resolved
(i) That the Regional Management Board recommends to each constituent
Fire Authority the amendment of the Constitution so that time and travel
costs of lead officers arising form participation on behalf of the Board in
national working groups, for example, the Finance, Legal and HR working
groups on Regional Control Centres, are pooled and reallocated to the
constituent Authorities by reference to council tax base;
(ii) That the role of Secretary be extended to include the provision of legal
advice and that Mr D Cutting (South Yorkshire) be appointed as deputy
legal advisor; and
(iii) That views of the constituent authorities upon (i) above be submitted to the
January 2007 meeting of the Board.
34 Regional Control Centre – Establishment of Company
The Secretary submitted a report which invited consideration of the issue of the
establishment of a company by the constituent Fire and Rescue Authorities in
order to run the Regional Control Centre.
Members were advised that a company had to be established by May 2007 in
readiness for the scheduled implementation of Regional Control in 2010. The
DCLG had agreed to provide a grant to meeting setting up costs of such a
company.
Resolved
(i) That the constituent Fire and Rescue Authorities be invited to take positive
steps to coordinate with each other in the establishment of a Regional
Control Company; and
(ii) That, with respect to (i) above, the Secretary seeks legal advice in
conjunction with the other four Fire and Rescue Authority legal advisors
and constituent authorities meet collectively to decide upon the
establishment of the Regional Control company prior to May 2007.
35 Programme Management - Update
Consideration was given to a report of the Programme Manager which provided
an update on progress to date on the review of the current status of work within
programme management and the establishment of a Programme Management
Information System. Members were also advised of a proposed work
programme concluding in the presentation of the final Programme Management
report to the January 2007 meeting of the Board.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted;
(ii) That approval be given to the creation of the Programme Management
Information System as agreed by lead officers and the Programme
Management Board at its meeting on 3 October 2006;
(iii) That the Board tasks the Project Lead officers and Member Champions
with the responsibility for the confirmation of the primary objectives across
the six projects and deadline dates in respect of those objectives;
(iv) That a contingency strategy be established to meet the risk of delays in
the delivery of Regional Control and Firebuy; and
(v) That project lead officers provide an electronic status report file in the
agreed Programme Management Information System format on a monthly
basis for uploading to the website.
36 Date of Next Meeting
Resolved
That the next meeting of the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional
Management Board be held on Thursday 11 January 2007 at the South Yorkshire
joint secretariat offices in Barnsley.
Chair
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