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28 September 2007
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Meeting of the Personnel and Training Committee held on 28 September 2007 at Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Birkenshaw
Present : Councillors G P Kirkland (in the Chair),
D Atkinson, V Binney,J Cole, M Coulson, J Godward (as substitute for Councillor A Harrison),T Hardwick, P M Harrand (as substitute for Councillor
G Wilkinson),N Ikram, M Jamil, and R Taylor
Apologies : Councillors S Armitage, A Harrison and G Wilkinson
16 Minutes of the Last Meeting
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Committee at a meeting held on 13 July 2007 be signed
by the Chair as a correct record.
17 Urgent Items
None.
18 Exclusion of the Public - Section 100A, Local Government Act 1972
There were no items which required the exclusion of the public and press.
19 Disclosures of Interest
No disclosures of interest in any matter under consideration were made.
20 District Structure - Review
Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Operations which advised
of the proposed detailed revisions relating to the district management structure
and which sought approval for their adoption with effect from 1 January 2008.
Members were advised that the key benefits of the revisions would be as follows;
• Improved Local Area Agreement interaction
• Improved management of stations
• Improved performance management
It was reported that the revisions would cost £3,700 once fully implemented
which would be met from within existing budgetary provision.
Resolved
That approval be given to the implementation of the revised District Management structure with effect from 1 January 2008.
21 Human Resources Restructure
The Director of Human Resources submitted a report which sought approval for
a restructure of the Human Resources function.
It was reported that the department had changed its focus towards training
(Integrated Personal Development system, Assessment and Development
Centres) and needed to respond to changed demands placed upon the Human
resources function to enable it to remain fit for purpose.
Detail of the proposed changes were included in the report now submitted and
Members were advised that, once fully implemented, there would be a net
saving of £17,700 in a full year.
Resolved
That approval be given to changes to the Human Resources establishment
with effect from 1 January 2008.
22 Rank to Role
Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Human Resources which
advised Members of the completion of the rank to role process.
The process had been undertaken as part of the 2006 national pay agreement
and had been completed, with no appeals, in West Yorkshire. Members were
advised that the annual cost of regradings would be £7,300 and the cost of back pay (£20,000) would be met from within the contingency for pay and prices.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
23 Smoke Free Workplace Policy
Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Human Resources which
sought approval for the introduction of a Smoke Free Workplace policy.
On being put to the vote (6 in support of the policy, 3 against the introduction and 2 abstentions), it was
Resolved
That approval be given to the introduction of the Smoke free Workplace policy
(as attached to the report now submitted) with effect from 1 July 2008.
24 IT Structure
Members considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources which
advised of proposed changes to the establishment and structure of the IT
department as recommended by the results of the Best Value review and
considered by Members of the Audit Committee on 22 June 2007.
It was reported that the Best Value review had indicated that the existing
structure did not allow for proper management of projects and could no longer
effectively support the expansion of the IT infrastructure. Details of the existing
and proposed structure were attached as appendices to the report now
submitted.
The proposals, once fully implemented, would increase the costs of the Unit by
£83,300 per annum. These, and any redundancy or redeployment costs, would
have to be included in the 2008 / 2009 approved revenue budget.
Resolved
(i) That approval be given to the phased introduction of changes to the
establishment and structure of the IT department as detailed in the report
now submitted; and
(ii) That implementation of the phased changes at (i) above be reported to
future meetings of the Committee as appropriate.
25 Data Team Student Work Placements
The Director of Corporate Resources submitted a report which advised of a
proposed university work placement scheme to be operated within the IT
department.
The scheme had been trialled during 2006 / 7 and had proved to be very
successful. It was now proposed to continue the scheme to fill a vacancy within
the Data Team. Operation of the scheme would provide flexibility within the IT
department whilst maintaining links with the local community.
Members were advised that individuals participating in the scheme would be
placed on Grade 2 (£13,854), to be financed from the vacant GIS analyst post
(Grade 6).
Resolved
That the existing vacancy within the IT department be filled through the use of
University work placements.
26 Revitalising Health and Safety - Progress
Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Human Resources which
updated Members of the progress made against the Revitalising Health and
Safety national targets and which sought approval for the recommended accident reduction measures.
Members were advised that, although the overall accident trend was downward,
the following had
been identified as the Authority’s most common cause of accident and would be targeted in the coming months;
• Slips, trips and falls on same level
• PT / Fitness training
• Manual handling
• Road Traffic Collision
• Bending, twisting, reaching
Resolved
That the report be noted.
27 Health and Safety - Update
The Director of Human Resources submitted a report which provided Members
with an update on Health and Safety performance and work priorities.
Members were advised that the total number of incidents and severity of
accidents had reduced.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That approval be given to the corporate health
and safety objectives, work priorities and recommendations contained within the bi-annual report.
28 Variation to Duty Systems
The Director of Human Resources submitted a report which advised of the
agreement between management and the representative bodies with regard to
the variation in shift lengths.
It was reported that the revised shifts, to take effect from 21 January 2008, would be as follows;
• Day shift : 0800h – 1900h (11 hours)
• Night shift : 1900h – 0800h (13 hours)
• Stand down : midnight – 0700h
Members were further advised that this changes to the shift patterns would
potentially generate an additional 284,000 hours of productive time which
equated to ca £2.8m of additional resources.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
29 Retained Duty System (RDS) Transfer to Wholetime
Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Human Resources which
sought Members’ approval for the procedure relating to the transfer of retained
duty staff to the wholetime duty system as detailed in the report now submitted.
Resolved
That the procedure for the transfer of retained duty staff to the wholetime duty
system be approved.
30 Personnel Activity Report
The Director of Human Resources submitted a report which advised of personnel activity between the period September 2006 – August 2007.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
Chair
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