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Regional Management Board 29 March 2007
Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Fire Authorities'
Regional Management Board
Meeting held on Thursday 29 March 2007 at The North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Training Centre, Easingwold
Present:
Humberside Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor C Randall
Councillor N Sherwood
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor E Broadbent
Councillor J Morley
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor J Andrews (Chair)
Councillor J Bird
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor D Atkinson
Councillor M Coulson (Vice chair)
Councillor D Hollingsworth (as substitute for Councillor Beever)
Councillor R Light (with the exception of agenda items 1 – 5 and 7)
Secretariat:
Mr M G Barnes
Mrs N Houseman
Treasurer :
Mr M Price
In attendance :
Mr K Marshall Humberside
Mr N Hutchinson North Yorkshire
Mr C Anderson North Yorkshire
Mr A Trowsdale North Yorkshire
Mr M Davies South Yorkshire
Mr M Oldknow South Yorkshire
Mr S Pilling West Yorkshire
Ms U Harrison Regional Project Support Office
Ms J Freeman CLG
53 Apologies for Absence
Councillor G Beever – West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Apologies were also presented on behalf of Mr P Toase (Chief Fire Officer, West Yorkshire), Mr M Smitherman (Chief Fire Officer, South Yorkshire) and of Mr F Duffield (Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Humberside)
54 Chairman's Announcements – Mr K Marshall
Members were advised that this would be the last meeting of the Regional
Management Board for Mr Keith Marshall (Chief Fire Officer, Humberside) as he
was due to retire on 31 May 2007. Mr Frank Duffield (currently Deputy Chief
Officer, Humberside) would take up post as Chief Fire Officer with effect from 1 June 2007.
Resolved
That Mr Marshall be thanked for his contribution to the Fire Service during his
career and that best wishes be offered for a long and happy retirement.
55 Minutes of the Board at a Meeting held on 11 January 2007
Resolved
That the Minutes be signed by the Chair as a correct record.
56 Urgent Item
None.
57 Admission of the Public
There were no items which required the exclusion of the public and press.
58 Declarations of Interest
Councillor Light declared a non-prejudicial interest in agenda item no. 10
(Procurement).
59 Regional Control Centre - Establishment
Resolved
That this item be considered immediately before agenda item 9 (Regional Control Rooms)
Strategic Functions – Update (1)
60 Resilience
Consideration was given to a report of the Chief Fire Officer (South Yorkshire)
which provided an update on the issue of regional resilience.
The report covered the following main issues;
• Management of resilience within the region and compliance with Part 1 of
the Civil Contingencies Act 2004
• roll-out of DIM equipment (Detection, Identification and Monitoring)
• update on position regarding USAR, HVP, Command and Control, (including interim ability to interoperability between the three emergency services)
• possible extension of New Dimension funding
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That, in addition to those areas indicated at paragraph 10.1 of the report
now submitted, as having potential financial implications for individual
authorities, Members noted that there may be similar implications for the
cost of interoperability.
61 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.
The report covered the following main issues;
• IT – website maintenance and development
• Fire Safety – success of unwanted fire signals programme
• Technical support – Community Safety, Fire Investigation (latter achieving
particularly successful outcomes)
It was further reported that work was being undertaken with regard to the
possible establishment of a sub-group which could provide an annual intra-regional peer review.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That the individual working groups be requested to submit minutes of their
meetings for publication on the website.
62 Regional Control Centre – Establishment of Company
The Secretary to the Board submitted a report which updated Members on
progress towards the establishment of a Regional Control Centre company.
It was reported that were remained some different preferences with regard to the preferred options for the company in respect of the following;
Issue - Share capital - South Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire preferred this to be in accordance with size of the
Authority - Humberside preferred an
equality of shares across the
region
Issue - Directors /
votes- South Yorkshire and West
Yorkshire had a preference for
proportionality (as existed at
Regional Management Board
level).
North Yorkshire preferred to
have a single corporate
director but having a
proportional 2 votes (each
carried by a separate member) - Humberside preferred to have
an equal number of Directors
and votes across the region
Issue - Chairman’s casting vote - All constituent authorities agreed that the Chair should carry a casting vote.
Issue - Rotation of chair - South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire did not wish that the chair be rotated automatically on an annual basis -
Humberside and North Yorkshire preferred the automatic annual rotation of the chair
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That the Chairs of the four constituent fire authorities meet to agree the
terms of the Regional Control Centre company’s establishment.
Strategic Functions – Update (2)
63 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.
The report covered the following main issues;
• Accommodation (specifically the request from CLG to confirm catering
arrangements)
• Infrastructure services
• Transition arrangements
• Staffing issues – there remained uncertainty at national level with regard
to TUPE and TUPRA arrangements
• Financial implications – now reported that CLG predicted the unlikelihood
of any savings to constituent authorities
• Publication of the final business case
Members expressed their concern at the move by CLG from advice that savings
would accrue from the establishment of Regional Control Centres to their current
position that savings were now unlikely.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That CLG be advised of the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’
Regional Management Board’s preference for the establishment of a fully equipped catering facility.
64 Procurement
Consideration was given to a report of the Assistant Chief Fire Officer (Director
of Support Services, South Yorkshire) which
advised of progress within various
national procurement projects (notably pumping appliances and uniform), details
of the RMB response to FRS Circular 65-2006 (Consultation on the Future
Funding of FireBuy) and progress against the Yorkshire and Humberside
Regional Procurement Strategy.
It was reported that, based on the evidence in other regions, a report supporting the appointment of a Regional Procurement co-ordinator would be submitted to a future meeting of the Board.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That an invitation be extended to the Chief Executive and Chair
of Firebuy to attend the July meeting of the Regional Management Board.
[Councillor Robert Light declared a non-prejudicial interest and remained in the
room during consideration of this item].
65 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.
The report covered the following main issues;
• encouraging progression towards the standardisation of development
across the region
• establishment of leadership project – consultation taking place across the
region in respect of culture and leadership
• compliance of Assessment and Development Centres (ADC’s) across the
region
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That progress with regard to the Best Value review of training be reported
to the next meeting of the Board.
66 Personnel and HR Management
The Director of Human Resources at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
submitted a report which updated Members on progress with Human Resources
matters.
One area of concern had been the stalling of the Occupational Health Review for
which alternative arrangements had been put in place. Members were advised
that this would be re-prioritised in due course in accordance with the
requirements of the national Framework document.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
67 Programme Management Update
Consideration was given to a report of the Deputy Chief Fire Officer, North
Yorkshire, which set out proposals for a clear administrative process to support
the management of RMB projects and for the submission of regular reports to the Board.
Resolved
(i) That the Programme Management framework outlined in the report now
submitted be endorsed;
(ii) That North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service lead on the ongoing
management and maintenance of the proposed Programme Management
system;
(iii) That acknowledgement be given to the ongoing need for IT support from
Humberside FRS; and
(iv) That the RMB secretariat be authorised to support the collation of
programme management data and the formulation of the quarterly report.
68 Programme of Meetings 2007 / 8
Resolved
(i) That the programme of meetings 2007 / 8 be agreed as follows;
Thursday, 26 July 2007 (AGM) 11 am Humberside
Thursday 4 October 2007 11 am West Yorkshire
Thursday 10 January 2008 11 am South Yorkshire
Thursday 27 March 2008 11 am North Yorkshire
and;
(ii) That meetings of the Programme Management Board be held at a central
location.
69 Communications
The Vice Chair invited discussion with regard to how the RMB might best
communicate with, specifically, the regional Members of Parliament in respect of regional fire issues.
Resolved
That research be undertaken into how the constituent authorities communicate
regularly with their own MP’s with a view to adopting a Communications Strategy
for the Regional Management Board.
70 Date of Next Meeting
Resolved
That the next meeting of the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional
Management Board be held on Thursday,
26 July 2008 at the Humberside Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Hull.
Chair
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