West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Minutes of a Meeting held at Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Birkenshaw, on Friday
21 December 2007
Present: Councillors P Booth (in the chair),
S Armitage (for agenda items 1 – 20 only, min nos. 38 – 57 refer), D Atkinson, G Beever, V Binney,
J Cole, M Coulson, J Godward, T Hardwick,
M Harkin, D Hollingsworth, N Ikram,M Jamil,
M Khan, G Kirkland, R C Light, A Ogilvie, B Smith, R Taylor and G Wilkinson
Apologies: Councillors A McKenna and P Harrand
38 Chairman’s Announcements
Councillor Mary Harkin
Members extended a welcome to Councillor Mary Harkin who had been
appointed by Kirklees MC to replace Councillor Eric Firth as member of the
Fire Authority.
Warwickshire firefighters
Members stood in silent tribute to the memory of the four Warwickshire
firefighters who tragically lost their lives on 2 November 2007 whilst fighting a warehouse fire.
Ypres presentation
The Chair formally received a framed print on behalf of the Authority in
commemoration of the recent visit by the Band to Ypres where they were
honoured to have been invited to play at the Menin Gate on Remembrance Day.
Extrication team – presentation
The Chair formally presented the trophy to the Brigade’s Extrication team who had successfully competed in the World Rescue Challenge in Barcelona in October 2007 where they had taken first place in the complex scenario
competition.
39 Admission of the Public
The meeting determined that there were no items which necessitated the
exclusion of the public.
40 Urgent Item – Member Champion Update report
The Chair had agreed to the inclusion of the Member Champion report which had been omitted in error from the original agenda papers. The report had
since been published and circulated to all Members. This would be considered towards the end of the agenda (Min no. 61 refers).
[This item was considered as urgent as the report was to be made to the
Authority on a six-monthly basis and, as such, was scheduled to be included
on the agenda for the December 2007 meeting].
41 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest made in any matter under consideration at the meeting.
42 Minutes of the Last Meeting
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Authority at a meeting held on 7 September 2007 be signed by the Chair as a correct record.
43 Membership of the Authority and Committee Appointments
Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Corporate Resources
which advised of a change in membership of the Authority as notified by Kirklees Metropolitan Council. This change had had consequent effects on Committee membership.
Resolved
(i) That the appointment of Councillor Mary Harkin to replace Councillor Eric
Firth as Member of the Fire Authority be noted; and
(ii) That Councillor Harkin be appointed a substantive member of the Finance
and Resources Committee and as named substitute for the Executive, Personnel and Training, Audit and Standards Committees for 2007 / 8.
44 IRMP 2008 / 09 – Outcome of Consultation and Exercise and Year 5 Action Plan
Consultation
Consideration was given to a report of the Director
of Corporate Resources
which advised of representations received to the draft Integrated Risk
Management Action Plan 2008 / 9.
Members were advised that four formal representations had been received which were summarised in the report now submitted. Copies of the detailed
representations had been made available to Members.
Year 5 Action Plan
It was reported that the Action Plan contained the following main proposals to be implemented from 1 April 2008;
• 45,000 initial and return Home Fire Safety Checks
• Arson reduction
• Focus on delivery of targets set in each Local Area Agreement
• Production of risk based re-inspection fire safety programme
• Work with partners to reduce the number of incidents on the roads
• Changes to emergency cover in North East Leeds – day crewing at Wetherby Fire Station
Resolved
(i) That, having considered the representations made during the formal
consultation process, the proposed Year 5 Action Plan, as amended, be
approved for implementation; and
(ii) That a report be brought back to the full Authority should it prove too
difficult to recruit on a day-crewing basis at Wetherby Fire Station.
45 Representation on Outside Bodies – Audit Commission Fire Reference Group
The Director of Corporate Resources submitted a report which sought ratification of an appointment made to the Comprehensive Area Assessment
Fire and Rescue Reference Group (CAAFRRG) for 2007 / 8.
It was reported that this appointment replaced the previous one made by the
Audit Commission for Councillor Khan to sit on the Fire and Rescue Reference
Group (FRRG). Members were advised that, although the appointment was to
be made by the Audit Commission, this would incur some expenditure on behalf
of the Authority.
Resolved
That the appointment of Councillor Khan to sit on the Audit Commission’s
Comprehensive Area Assessment Fire and Rescue Reference Group for 2007 /
8 be ratified with effect from 1 January 2008.
46 Minutes of the Audit Committee
That the Minutes of the Audit Committee at meetings held on 21 September
and 2 November 2007 be received.
47 Personnel and Training Committee
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Personnel and Training Committee at a meeting held
on 28 September 2007 be received.
48 Minutes of the Finance and Resources Committee
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Finance and Resources Committee at a meeting held on 19 October 2007 be received.
49 Minutes of the Consultation and Negotiation Panel
That the Minutes of the Consultation and Negotiation Panel at meetings held on 7 September and 5 October 2007 be received.
50 Minutes of the Executive Committee
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Executive Committee at meetings held on 5 October, 8 November and 11 December 2007 be received.
51 Minutes of the Standards Committee
Resolved
(i) That the Minutes of the Standards Committee at a meeting held on 9 November 2007 be received; and
(ii) That Members be invited to borrow the DVD training package related to
the revised Members Code of Conduct.
52 Local Government Association - Minutes
Resolved
(i) That the Minutes of the Fire Services Management Committee at
meetings held on 10 September and 26 November 2007 be received;
(ii) That the Minutes of the Safer Communities Board meetings on 16 July
and 10 September 2007 be received; and
(iii) That the Minutes of the Fire Services Forum at meetings held on 19
October and 30 November 2007 be received.
53 Minutes of the Regional Management Board
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Regional Management Board at a meeting held on 4 October 2007 be received.
54 Performance Management Report
The Chief Fire Officer / Chief Executive submitted a report which outlined the
activities of the Brigade in the areas of Operations and technical matters for
the period 1 April 2007 to 31 October 2007.
Members commented on the following issues;
• Smoke alarm actuations
• Attacks on firefighters / silent witness equipment - prosecutions
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted;
(ii) That Members’ concerns about the issue of attacks on firefighters and
subsequent police / CPS action be pursued by the District Commanders;
and
(iii) That a report be submitted to the February meeting of the full Authority
advising of local and national statistics related to attacks on firefighters.
55 Amendment to Contract Standing Orders
The Director of Corporate Resources submitted a report which recommended
variations to the Constitution, Part 4 – Contract Standing Orders.
Members were advised that the proposed amendment involved the potential use of pre-tendered framework contracts from a range of suppliers as operated
through the UK Office of Government Commerce’s Catalist system.
Resolved
That the Part 4 - Contract Standing Order 4 be amended to include the following;
“(i) the procurement of goods and services where the relevant service
Director has approved the use of UK Office of Government Commerce
Procurement services / framework agreements which are compliant with UK /
European procurement regulations”.
56 Consultation Documents
Consideration was given to a report of the Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive which sought Members’ comments on three consultation documents published by Communities and Local Government as follows;
• A Centre for Excellence for the Fire and Rescue Service in England
• Fire and Rescue Service National Framework 2008 – 2011
• Fire and Rescue Service Equality and Diversity Strategy 2008 - 2018
A copy of the proposed response to the Equality and Diversity Strategy was
attached as an annex to the report now submitted.
It was reported that draft responses would be presented to the Executive
Committee in January 2008 prior to submission to Communities and Local
Government. Members were requested to submit any comments on the
consultation document by 28 December 2007.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
57 FRS National Indicator Technical Definitions – Consultation
Response
The Director of Fire Safety and Community Relations submitted a report which sought approval for a draft response to the FRA National Indicator technical definitions as detailed in the report. It was further reported that a letter had been sent on behalf of the Executive Committee following their consideration of the issue on 11 December 2007.
Concern was expressed with regard to the need to stress the need for account to be taken of deprivation factors when agreeing new technical definitions / targets.
Resolved
That the decision of the Executive Committee be ratified in respect of the draft response to the proposed single set of national indicators as contained within a new Performance Management framework for Local Authorities and Local Authority partnerships.
58 World Extrication Challenge 2007
The Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive submitted a report which advised of the success of the Brigade extrication team at the World Rescue Challenge held in Barcelona in October 2007.
Resolved
That the report be noted and the team congratulated on their success.
59 Fire Safety Activity Report
Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Fire Safety and Community Relations which advised Members of activities within the Fire Safety Group from 1 April to 30 September 2007.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
60 Media Highlights
The Director of Corporate Resources submitted a report which presented the outcome of a corporate communications Media Experience event which
promoted a modern-day fire service.
Members were further advised of improvements to the Medialine service and the launch of a virtual newsroom on the WYFRS website.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
61 Member Champions 2007 / 8 – Update
The Director of Corporate Resources submitted a report which provided an
update and summary of involvement of the Member Champions as follows;
Equality and Fairness - Councillor John Cole
Learning and Development - Councillor Naveeda Ikram
Best Value Councillor - Peter Harrand
Performance and Improvement - Councillor Mehboob Khan
Risk Management - Councillor Philip Booth
Resolved
That the report be noted.
Chair
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