Full Authority 27June 2008

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Full Authority 27June 2008

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority

Minutes of the Annual Meeting held at Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Birkenshaw, on Friday 27 June 2008

Present: Councillors P Booth (in the Chair);

S Armitage, V Binney, A Castle, M Coulson, D Ginley, J Godward, D Gray, T Hardwick,

P M Harrand, D Hollingsworth, N Ikram, K Iqbal, M Jamil, M Khan, G Kirkland, R Light, A McKenna, M Rafique, D Ridgway, B Smith and T Wallis

1 Appointment of Chair

Resolved

That Councillor Philip Booth (Conservative) be appointed Chair of the Authority for the 2008 / 2009 year.

2 Appointment of Vice-Chair

Resolved

That Councillor Graham Kirkland (Liberal Democrat) be appointed Vice-Chair of the Authority for the 2008 / 2009 year.

3 Membership of the Authority

The Director of Corporate Services submitted a report detailing the Membership of the Authority for 2008 / 2009 as notified by District Councils and indicating the following changes;

Calderdale

Councillor D Ginley (Conservative) replacing Councillor R Taylor (Conservative)

Leeds

Councillor M Rafique (Labour) replacing Councillor A Ogilvie (Labour), Councillor A Castle (Conservative) replacing Councillor G Wilkinson (Conservative)

Bradford

Councillor D Gray (Liberal Democrat) replacing Councillor J Cole (Liberal Democrat),

Kirklees

Councillor D Ridgway (Liberal Democrat) replacing Councillor G Beever (Liberal Democrat), Councillor K Iqbal (Conservative) replacing Councillor M Harkin (Labour)

Wakefield

Councillor A Wallis (Labour) replacing Councillor D Atkinson (Labour)

With effect from 27 June 2008 the political composition of the Authority was;

Labour 10; Conservative 8 and Liberal Democrat 4

Resolved

That the report be noted.

4 Chairman's Announcements

The Chair wished to welcome the new Members both to the meeting and to the Authority and reminded them that the Member induction would be held on Monday, 7 July at 10.00 am.

5 Admission of the Public

The meeting determined that there were no items which necessitated the exclusion of the public.

6 Urgent Items

None.

7 Declarations of Interest

There were no declarations of interest made in any matter under consideration at the meeting.

8 Committee Memberships and Appointments 2008 / 2009

Consideration was given to the appointment of Committees, their composition, the allocation of committee seats between the political groups in accordance with the principles of determination in Sections 15 and 16 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (Part 1) and to the appointment of Members, Chairs and Vice-Chairs to the Authority’s Committees.

In addition, consideration was given to the membership of the Briefing Groups convened prior to formal meetings of the principal Committees and of the Authority itself.

Resolved

(a) That the total number of seats on the standing committees be amended as follows;

Executive Committee 5
Personnel and Training Committee 11
Finance and Resources Committee 11
Audit Committee 5

(b) That, in accordance with the principles of determination set out in Sections 15 and 16 of the Local Government Act 1989 (as modified) the
allocation of Committee seats between the political groups be as follows;

Ordinary Seats 32

Labour 14
Conservative 12
Liberal Democrat 6

Executive Committee

Chair - Councillor P Booth

Vive-Chair - Councillor G Kirkland

Personnel and Training Committee

Chair - Councillor D Ridgway

Vice-Chair - Councillor V Binney

Finance and Resources Committee

Chair - Councillor P M Harrand

Vice-Chair - Councillor D Gray

Audit Committee

Chair - Councillor V Binney

Vice-Chair - Councillor D Hollingsworth

(d) That, pursuant to the allocation at (a) above,

the Committee memberships and Substitute memberships for 2008 / 2009 be approved as detailed at Annex A to these Minutes; and

(e) That the appointments to the membership of the Briefing Groups be as detailed at Annex A to these Minutes.

9 Nomination of Members to Answer Questions

Resolved

That the Members be nominated as required by the Local Government Act 1985 to answer questions within their individual Councils on the discharge of functions etc by this Authority as follows;

Bradford - Councillor J Godward

Calderdale - Councillor D Ginley

Kirklees - Councillor R Light

Leeds - Councillor D Hollingsworth

Wakefield - Councillor P Booth

10 Representation on Outside Bodies

Members considered the appointment of representatives to serve on the Local Government Association and other outside bodies for the year 2008 / 2009.

Resolved

(i) That the following appointments be made for 2008 / 2009;

Local Government Association

(a) General Assembly - Chair, Councillors G Kirkland, M Coulson and P Harrand; or their nominees;

(b) Fire Forum - Councillors M Coulson, P Harrand and G Kirkland; or their nominees;

(c) Urban Commission - *Chair and Vice Chair
* This is on the basis that the appointed representatives (or their nominees) will only attend when matters of relevance to the Fire Authority are scheduled for discussion.

Local Government Yorkshire and Humber Employers’ Forum - Chair of the Authority

Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation Management Committee - Councillor D Hollingsworth

Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional Management Board Councillors Light (Con), Kirkland (Liberal Democrat), McKenna and Coulson (Labour) or named substitutes as follows:

RMB Substantive Member - Councillor R Light

Substitute - Councillor P Booth

RMB Substantive Member - Councillor G Kirkland

Substitute - Councillor D Ridgway

RMB Substantive Member - Councillor A McKenna

Substitute - Councillor B smith

RMB Substantive Member - Councillor M Coulson

Substitute - Councillor M Khan

Bradford Crime and Disorder Partnership - Councillor D Gray

(ii) That the 17 votes on the LGA General Assembly be allocated in accordance with political proportionality on the basis of Labour Group 8,
Conservative Group 6 and Liberal Democrat

Group 3. The Chair to exercise the corporate vote.

11 Nomination of Member Champions

The Director of Corporate Resources submitted a report which invited nominations for Member Champions.

Resolved

(i) That an additional Member Champion be appointed as Environment Member Champion; and

(ii) That the following Member Champions be appointed for 2008 / 2009;

Equality and Fairness - Councillor D Hollingsworth

Learning and Development - Councillor N Ikram

E-Champion - Councillor B Smith

Best Value - Councillor K Iqbal

Performance and Improvement - Councillor M Khan

Risk Management - Councillor P Booth

Environment - Councillor T Hardwick

12 Minutes of the Last Meeting

Resolved

That the Minutes of the Authority at a meeting held on 18 April 2008 be signed by the Chair as a correct record.

13 Minutes of the Finance and Resources Committee

Resolved

That the Minutes of the Finance and Resources Committee at a meeting held on 25 April 2008 be received.

14 Minutes of the Executive Committee

Resolved

That the Minutes of the Executive Committee at meetings held on 9 May and 11 June 2008 be received.

15 Minutes of the Audit Committee

Resolved

That the Minutes of the Audit Committee at a meeting held on 13 June 2008 be received.

16 Local Government Association - Minutes

Resolved

(i) That the Minutes of the Fire Services Management Committee at a meeting on 12 May 2008, as circulated at the meeting, be received;

(ii) That the Minutes of the Safer Communities Board at a meeting held on 12 May 2008, as circulated at the meeting, be received; and

(iii) That the Minutes of the Fire Services Forum at a meeting held on 11 April 2008 be received.

17 Regional Management Board (Convened as Shadow Board for the Local Authority Controlled Company)

Resolved

(i) That, subject to the inclusion of Councillor R Light in the attendance list, the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 May be received; and

(ii) That the appointment of the Director of the Regional Control Centre, Mr Graham Hall (to take effect from 4 August 2008) be noted.

18 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 2008 to 30 April 2008.

Resolved

(i) That the report be noted; and

(ii) That those officers involved in undertaking Home Fire Safety Checks be thanked for their excellent achievements.

19 Financial Outturn 2007 / 8

The Chief Finance Officer submitted a report which presented a review of the financial year 2007 – 2008.

The review reported on the following elements;

• Statement of accounts
• Treasury management report
• Members’ allowances outturn

Resolved

(i) That the Revenue and Capital Outturns for 2007 / 2008 be noted;

(ii) That approval be given to the Annual Governance Statement;

(iii) That the Statement of Accounts 2007 / 2008 be approved and that the Accounts be signed by the Chair to certify this approval;

(iv) That the Treasury Management report for 2007 / 2008 be noted; and

(v) That the outturn report on members’ allowances for 2007 / 2008 be noted.

20 Calendar of Meetings 2008 – 9 - Amendment

Resolved

That the Calendar of meetings 2008 – 9 be amended as follows;

Audit Committee 19 June 2009 (and not as originally scheduled)

21 Integrated Risk Management Plan 2009 – 2012

Consideration was given to a report of the Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive which sought approval for the inclusion of the draft Integrated Risk Management Plan 2009 / 12 (as attached to the report now submitted) into the Corporate Plan.

Resolved

(i) That the draft Integrated Risk Management Plan 2009 / 12 be included in the Corporate Plan; and

(ii) That approval be given to commence the

strategic reviews contained therein.

22 Local Area Agreements – Update

The Director of Fire Safety and Community Relations submitted a report which informed Members of the progress made towards achieving the targets of the Local Area Agreements in 2007 / 8. The report further updated Members on the progress of current District Activity.

Resolved

(i) That the report be noted; and

(ii) That those officers involved in the Local Area Agreements be congratulated on their success.

23 Ethical Governance Healthcheck

The Director of Corporate Resources submitted a report which invited consideration of the report and recommendations produced by the Improvement and Development Agency (I&DeA) following the Ethical

Governance healthcheck of the Authority undertaken on 12 and 13 May 2008.

Members were advised that the team from the I&DeA had judged this Authority to have sound ethical governance processes and procedures and where high standards of ethical behaviour were put into practice.

The report made some recommendations for consideration as follows;

• Development of role and profile of the Standards Committee (to include monitoring of members’ interests, promotion of ethical standards, training
in respect of the local determination regime etc)

• Possible introduction and publication of a register of Chief Officers’ and Directors’ interests

Resolved

(i) That the Standards Committee consider the issue of a register of Chief Officer and Director interests and other relevant issues raised in the report;

(ii) That consideration be given to the role of the Standards Committee; and

(iii) That full consideration of the I&DeA report and recommendations about ethical governance be undertaken by the Authority’s Audit Committee.

24 Corporate Health – Annual Update Report

Members considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources which provided information relating to the corporate health of the Authority.

The report covered details of;

• Compliments received
• Complaints made against the Authority
• Best Value performance indicators
• Chartermark award

Concern was raised with regard to the figures produced for BVPI 3 which related to satisfaction with the overall service provided – these were not all direct users of the service. A measure of satisfaction from the users was considered to be more meaningful.

Resolved

That the report be noted.

25 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;

E-Champion - Councillor Bryan Smith

Best Value - Councillor Peter Harrand

Performance Management & Improvement -

Councillor Mehboob Khan

Risk Management - Councillor Philip Booth

Resolved

That the report be noted.

26 Fire Safety Group Activities

The Director of Fire Safety and Community Relations presented a report which informed Members of activities within the Fire Safety Group and statistics for the year 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008.

Members’ attention was drawn specifically to the following targets;

• Fire deaths – 30% reduction achieved 2 years ahead of the 20% target
• Arson – 60% reduction achieved 2 years ahead of the 10% target
• Unwanted fire signals from commercial AFD equipment – 28% reduction achieved in one year

Resolved

That the report be noted.

27 Firecontrol and Firelink Projects - Update

The Chief Fire Officer / Chief Executive submitted a report which updated Members on the status of both the FireControl and FireLink projects.

It was reported that the anticipated publication date of the FireControl business case had been delayed but was due imminently.

Members were advised that this Authority was currently meeting all timelines and requirements for the projects.

Resolved

That the report be noted.

Chair