Home > Fire Authority > Committee Minutes >
Full Authority 18 April 2008
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Minutes of a Meeting held at Fire Service Headquarters, Birkenshaw on Friday, 18 April 2008
Present: Councillors P Booth (in the chair),
S Armitage, D Atkinson, G Beever, V Binney, J Cole, M Coulson, J Godward, T Hardwick, P Harrand,
D Hollingsworth, M Khan, G Kirkland, R Light (for agenda item nos, 1 – 8 and 15 Min nos. 78 – 83 refer), A Ogilvie, B Smith, R Taylor and G Wilkinson
Apologies : Councillors V Binney, M Harkin, N Ikram and A McKenna
78 Chairman's Announcements
Retirement – AM Ian Gilchrist
The Chair took the opportunity to advise Members that Area Manager Gilchrist (Operations) had given notice of his intention to retire from the Brigade with effect from 1 June 2008. Ian had been involved in many issues considered at Committee level and Members requested that their best wishes for a long and healthy retirement be passed on to him.
Retirement – Councillor D Atkinson
Members were advised that this would be the final meeting of the Authority for Councillor David Atkinson (Wakefield MDC) as he would not be contesting his seat at the 1 May 2008 local elections.
Members paid tribute to Councillor Atkinson and thanked him for his commitment over many years both to the Service as an operational firefighter and also in his role as elected Member of the Authority and wished him health and happiness in his retirement.
Retirement – Councillor G Beever
The Chair reported that this would also be the last meeting for Councillor Gordon Beever who was due to retire from local politics with effect from the May 2008 elections.
Tribute was similarly paid to his service to the Authority and to the local
community and, particularly, in his roles as Chair and Vice chair. Members and Officers thanked Councillor Beever for his role in making West Yorkshire a safer place to live and work and wished him well in his forthcoming retirement.
Agenda item 15 – Regional Control Centre Company – Establishment of
Company
Resolved
That consideration of agenda item 15 – Regional Control Centre Company –
Establishment of Company, be considered immediately after agenda item 5 (Min no. 83 refers)
79 Admission of the Public
The meeting determined that there were no items which necessitated the
exclusion of the public.
80 Urgent Item – Donation of Obsolete Equipment to Ukraine
Members considered a report of the Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive which advised of the donation of used, obsolete and time-expired equipment to the Ukrainian Fire Service with the assistance of the Take Hope (Yorkshire) charity.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That a commemorative plate presented to the Authority by the Ukrainian
District Fire Chief be received.
81 Declarations of interest
No disclosures of interest in any matter under consideration were made.
82 Minutes of the Last Meeting
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Authority at a meeting held on 15 February 2008 be signed by the Chair as a correct record.
83 Regional Control Centre – Establishment of Company
Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Corporate Resources
which updated Members on developments in the establishment of a Regional
Control Centre company and sought approval for revised terms of incorporation.
It was reported that agreement had been reached within the region to the
creation of a company with directors appointed on the same terms of
proportionality as applied to the Regional Management Board – this would mean 11 human directors or 4 corporate directors with 11 votes between them. Members were advised that no agreement had yet been reached in this regard but that a mixed model was also feasible if necessary. The main relevant issues in this debate were independence of voting and personal liability. The Director of Corporate Resources advised that personal risk was very unlikely to be a concern and that, in any event, Directors (Members) would be provided with indemnities by the Company and appointing Fire and Rescue Authority.
A copy of the revised Heads of Agreement was attached as an annex to the
report now submitted and these were in the process of being considered by the constituent authorities – final, formal documentation would be prepared by
Hammonds Solicitors.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted;
(ii) That the proposed terms of incorporation for a Regional Control Centre
company be approved;
(iii) That approval be given to the establishment of the Regional Control
Centre company as a company limited by guarantee;
(iv) That unanimous support be given to the appointment of human Directors
from West Yorkshire to the company;
(v) That the Director of Corporate Resources be authorised to sign the Heads
of Agreement document on behalf of the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue
Authority; and
(vi) That authorisation be given to the Director of Corporate Resources, in
conjunction with the Chief Fire Officer / Chief Executive and the Chief
Finance Officer to take such further steps as necessary to negotiate and
conclude terms with the other Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Fire
and Rescue Authorities in order to incorporate a jointly controlled Regional Control Centre company – such terms to be in accordance with the principles set out in the Heads of Agreement document with incorporation, if possible by the revised target date of 30 September 2008.
84 Minutes of the Executive Committee
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Executive Committee at a meeting held on 28 February
2008 be received.
85 Minutes of the Personnel and Training Committee
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Personnel and Training Committee at a meeting held on 29 February 2008 be received.
86 Minutes of the Finance and Resources Committee
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Finance and Resources Committee at a meeting held on 14 March 2008 be received.
87 Minutes of the Audit Committee
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Audit Committee held on 4 April 2008 be received.
88 Local Government Association – Minutes
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Fire Services Management Committee, Safety
Communities Board and Fire Services Forum at meetings held on 10 March,
14 January and 22 February 2008 respectively be received.
89 Minutes of the Regional Management Board
Resolved
(i) That the Minutes of the Regional Management Board (RMB) at a meeting
held on 27 March 2008 be received;
(ii) That the concern with regard to the Audit Commission report into the work
of the RMB be noted; and
(iii) That Members be circulated with a copy of the Audit Commission report in
respect of (ii) above.
90 Performance Management Report
The Chief Fire Officer and 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 – 29 February 2008.
Members again raised concern at the level of attacks on firefighters and
specific information was reported into the meeting by the Bradford District
Manager, Keith Robinson, with regard to work that had been undertaken in
response to the high level of attack in the Bradford 3 area.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted;
(ii) That Group Manager Robinson be congratulated on the work undertaken in the Bradford 3 area; and
(iii) That Members be circulated with a copy of the report to be considered by the Finance and Resources Committee at a meeting on 25 April 2008 with regard to attacks on Firefighters.
91 Code of Conduct – Changes and Procedures
Members considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources which
advised of changes, with effect from 8 May 2008, to the investigation and
adjudication procedures for dealing with complaints against Members of the
Authority involving alleged contravention of the Code of Conduct. It was
further reported that the changes would have implications upon the
composition and size of the Standards Committee.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That the composition and size of the Standards Committee be amended to 6 elected members and 3 independent members.
92 Calendar of Meetings 2008 / 9
Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Corporate Resources
which sought approval for a programme of Authority and Committee meetings
for 2008 / 2009.
Resolved
That the Programme of meetings for 2008 / 9 be approved as follows;
Friday 11 am Personnel and Training Committee
11 July 2008
26 September 2008
5 December 2008
27 February 2009
3 April 2009
Friday 11 am Finance and Resources Committee
18 July 2008
17 October 2008
30 January 2009
13 March 2009
17 April 2009
Friday 11 am Audit Committee
19 September 2008
31 October 2008
23 January 2009
27 March 2009
12 June 2009
Friday 11am Authority
5 September 2008
19 December 2008
13 February 2009
24 April 2009
26 June 2009 AGM
93 Accounting Procedures – Amendment
The Chief Finance Officer submitted a statement of policy on the minimum
revenue provision for approval by Members.
Resolved
That approval be given to the policy for calculation of minimum revenue
provision for 2007 / 2008 and 2008 / 2009.
94 Comprehensive Area Assessment – Presentation
Consideration was given to a presentation delivered by Councillor Khan about
the changes from Comprehensive Performance Assessment to the
Comprehensive Area Assessment process.
Resolved
That all Members be circulated with a copy of the presentation.
Chair
Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Accessibility | Access Keys | Search Site