Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Fire Authorities' Regional Management Board
Meeting held on Thursday 27 March at the North Yorkshire Training Centre, Easingwold
Present:
Humberside Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor D Barkworth (RMB Vice chair)
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor J Fort
Councillor K King
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor J Andrews
Councillor J Bird
Councillor M Cuthbert
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor D Atkinson
Councillor G Beever
Councillor M Coulson (RMB Chair)
Secretariat: Mr M G Barnes
Mrs N Houseman
Treasurer : Mr B Wilkinson
In attendance :
Mr C Anderson North Yorkshire
Mr A Trowsdale North Yorkshire
Mr M Smitherman South Yorkshire
Mr J Hoey South Yorkshire
Mr C McIntosh West Yorkshire
Mr M Khuri Humberside
Ms U Harrison Regional Project Support Office
50 Apologies for Absence
Councillor R Light – West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor D Engall – Humberside Fire and Rescue Authority
Apologies were also presented on behalf of Mr F Duffield (Chief Fire
Officer, Humberside), Mr R Hannigan (Assistant Chief Officer, Humberside),
Mr P Toase (Chief Fire Officer, West Yorkshire), Mr S Pilling (Deputy Chief Fire Officer, West Yorkshire) and Mr N Hutchinson (Chief Fire Officer, North Yorkshire)
51 Chair’s Announcements
Councillors Bird, Atkinson and Beever
It was reported that this would be the final Regional Management Board
meeting for Councillor Jane Bird who was to be Lord Mayor of Sheffield in
the 2008 / 2009 municipal year and also of Councillors Atkinson and
Beever who were due to retire in May 2008.
Members of the Board thanked them for their commitment to, enthusiasm
for and support of, the Regional Management Board.
Ursula Harrison – Regional Project Support Office
The Chair wished to thank Ursula Harrison for
the work she had done in respect of the Regional Control Centre and wished her well in her new position within the Government office for East Midlands.
Facilities Management – presentation
This had originally been scheduled to take place at this meeting but had
been postponed at the request of CLG. New dates had been offered for
the presentation to take place – these would be
consulted upon by the secretariat.
52 Minutes of the Board at a meeting held on 10 January 2008
In respect of the arrangements for the appointment of a Regional Control
Centre Director (Min no. 44 refers), Members were advised that 22
applications had been received of which 6 had been shortlisted. One
application had subsequently been withdrawn.
Interviews for the post would be held on 8 May 2008 and the panel would
comprise Councillors Andrews (South Yorkshire), Barkworth
(Humberside),
Coulson (West Yorkshire) and Fort (North
Yorkshire).
Resolved
That the Minutes be signed by the Chair as a correct record.
53 Urgent Items
None.
54 Admission of the Public
There were no items which required the exclusion of the public and press.
55 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest in any matter under consideration
at the meeting
56 Audit Commission Report – Review of Arrangements Supporting the Yorkshire and Humberside RMB
The Secretary submitted a report which advised of the content of the draft
report of the Audit Commission, “Review of Arrangements supporting the
Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Management Board”.
Members were advised that the report, circulated to the four Chief Fire
Officers / Chief Executives of the constituent fire authorities but not to the
RMB itself, not only identified how the constituent authorities had met their
shared responsibilities but it also went beyond the original remit of the
RMB and requirements placed upon it by the national framework
document ie. delivery of six strategic functions.
The document contained a number of factual errors and also raised
concerns with regard to both contractual capacity and the extent of
delegated powers afforded to the RMB, the latter having been the subject
of formal resolution by the constituent authorities upon establishment of
the RMB.
Members commented upon the findings of the draft report and reaffirmed
the original decision for the RMB not to have a dedicated budget and to
act according to the six strategic functions only (as expected by
Communities and Local Government).
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted;
(ii) That a letter be forwarded by the Chair to the RMB to the Audit
Commission inviting a representative to meet with members of the
Board prior to finalization of the review; and
(iii) That some research be undertaken in respect of the operation of
Regional Management Boards in other regions to identify best
practice and to learn how this may be used during an Audit
Commission benchmarking exercise.
Strategic Functions – Update
57 Resilience
The Chief Fire Officer (South Yorkshire) submitted a report which updated
Members on resilience matters and the New Dimension project. A list had
been circulated at the meeting which identified the exercises which had
taken place since November 2004 in the region in respect of the resilience
programme.
Members were advised of progress in the following areas;
• Champion Member involvement and resilience management
• Mass decontamination, Hazardous and Unidentified Substance
Incidents
• Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) – full complement now received
• One additional prime mover in each constituent authority. Clarification awaited with regard to insurance liabilities
• Command and Control
• Asset Transfer and Long Term Capability Management
• Regional Resilience Issues
• Impact of the recent flooding
• Regional emergency planning – business case to extend role had
been accepted by CLG
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That a letter be forwarded on behalf of the Regional Management Board in response to Sir Ken Knight’s flooding report emphasizing the preference that Fire Service flood response activity should become a statutory duty.
58 Regional Control Rooms
Consideration was given to a report of Chief Fire Officer (West Yorkshire)
which updated Members on the status of the Yorkshire and Humberside
FireControl Regional Control Centre project.
Members were advised of the current position with regard to;
• Data capture and migration toolkit – delayed to
mid-May
• Cut-over arrangements – implications for West Yorkshire as first
transferring authority
• Finance – implementation funding (£300,000 available for the
region with more to follow over
3-year period)
• Business case – anticipated publication June 2008, financial
information being collated with regard to baseline and future costs
(CLG anticipated £20m reduction in control centre costs nationally)
• Cost apportionment
• Establishment of company – further independent legal advice had been sought – preference would be “limited by guarantee” method (no material
difference between this and share capital company if all issues were adequately covered in the documents of incorporation). Target date for incorporation – end September 2008. Draft Heads of Agreement had been produced for consideration by the constituent authorities
• RMB to operate as shadow Company Board – possible requirement to meet as the shadow board to agree a number of issues which may be ratified as soon as possible after incorporation
• Requirement to consider precise governance arrangements,
appointment of directors etc
• Appointment of Regional Control Centre Director (interviews to be held on 8 May – panel to comprise Cllrs Coulson, Barkworth, Andrews and Fort)
• Firelink
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted;
(ii) That Mr Robin Graham, Humberside FRA, be thanked for his work
in producing the draft Heads of Agreement; and
(iii) That consideration be given to the possibility of arranging a meeting
of the shadow company board.
59 Common Services
The Assistant Chief Officer / Director of Community Protection
(Humberside Fire and Rescue Service) submitted a report which advised
of the progress made with the work in the Common Services strategic
functional theme and specifically in the following areas;
• Unwanted Fire Signals procedure complete pending confirmation of
legal issues concerning licensing arrangements
• Domestic sprinklers – draft protocol prepared for consultation
• Investigations into feasibility of regional enforcement protocol in
response to Regulation and Enforcement Bill
• Home Fire Safety Checks – regional framework available for sign off
• Operational collaboration – work ongoing –
awaiting issue of national guidelines / templates and sub-group reports
Resolved
That the report be noted.
60 Procurement
Consideration was given to a report of the Assistant Chief Officer (South
Yorkshire) which provided Members with an update on progress within the
procurement workstream.
It was reported that the evaluation of the telecoms infrastructure as
reported to the January meeting of the Board would be the subject of a
further report to the July 2008 meeting.
Members were further advised that both Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire
had made an approach to join in with a collaborative venture – a scoping
meeting had been arranged. In response to a query raised about a
requirement to purchase from Firebuy, it was reported that any decision
not to do so would need to be supported by a business case to be
submitted to CLG. Members were advised also of the funding dilemma
faced by Firebuy in terms of real costs and the shortfall of government
grants.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted;
(ii) That the regional project to procure Personal Protective Equipment
across the four authorities be endorsed;
(iii) That the appointment of a consultant to conduct the assessment of
the four services’ telecommunications frameworks be noted; and
(iv) That the organization of a Regional Procurement Seminar held on
13 March 2008 be noted; and
(v) That the regular production of a procurement newsletter be noted.
61 Training
The Assistant Chief Fire Officer / Director of Human Resources (North
Yorkshire) submitted a report which updated members on the Training
function and specifically on the following issues;
• Regional leadership project – feedback awaited prior to development of action plan
• Regional best value-style training review outcomes
• National firefighter selection tests – application form had been revised following earlier feedback – this would be monitored and be the subject of a report to a future meeting
• Project initiation document – revised version
• Phase 1 Firefighter development – work ongoing to produce
regional framework
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted;
(ii) That approval be given to the updated draft Project Initiation
Document as attached to the report now submitted; and
(iii) That a report be submitted to a future meeting advising of the outcome of the revisions to the Phase 1 Firefighter development framework.
62 Personnel and HR Management
Consideration was given to a report of the Director
of Human Resources
(West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service) which advised of progress with
regional collaboration on human resource issues as follows;
• Regional Control Centre – staffing issues to be resolved, and
specifically matters related to TUPE
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted;
(ii) That approval be given to the combination of the Human Resources
and Training functions for RMB purposes under the leadership of
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service; and
(iii) That a letter of thanks and best wishes be forwarded from the Chair
on behalf of Members of the Regional Management Board to Allan Hughes
who retired from the West Yorkshire FRS at the end of March 2008 and who had formerly been the lead officer for the Personnel and HR Management function.
63 Programme Management – Update
Consideration was given to a report of the Deputy Chief Fire Officer (North
Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service) which provided a summary of work
being conducted within the Region and which advised of the progress
made in each strategic functional area on specific projects.
Four areas were showing “amber” (potential overrun / resource difficulties)
and no projects were marked as “red” (behind schedule).
Resolved
That the report be noted.
64 Programme of Meetings 2008 / 9
The Secretary to the Board submitted a report which identified dates for
the 2008 / 2009 Programme of meetings.
Resolved
That the programme of meetings for 2008 / 2009 be approved as follows;
Thursday 24 July 2008 (AGM)11 a.m. Humberside
Thursday 2 October 2008 11 a.m. West Yorkshire
Thursday 8 January 2009 11 a.m. South Yorkshire
Thursda 26 March 2009 11 a.m. North Yorkshire
65 Date of Next Meeting
Resolved
(i) That a meeting of the RMB be convened on a mutually convenient
date in West Yorkshire to receive the CLG presentation regarding
Facilities Management (Min no. 51 refers); and
(ii) That the next meeting of the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional Management Board be held on Thursday, 24 July 2008 at Humberside FRS Headquarters, Hull.
Chair
Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Accessibility | Access Keys | Search Site