Home > Fire Authority > Committee Minutes >
Regional Management Board 24 July 2008
Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Fire Authorities’ Regional Management Board
Annual Meeting held on Thursday 24 July 2008 at Humberside Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Hull,
Present:
Humberside Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor D Engall
Councillor B Jefferies
North Yorkshire Fire and REscue Authority
Councillor J Fort
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor J Andrews
Councillor P Lakin
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor P Booth (as substitute for Councillor
R Light)
Councillor M Coulson
Councillor A McKenna
Councillor D Ridgway (as substitute for Councillor
G Kirkland)
Secretariat:
Mr M G Barnes
Mrs N Houseman
Treasurer:
Mr B Wilkinson
In attendance :
Mr F Duffield Humberside
Mr M Khuri Humberside
Mr R Hannigan Humberside
Mr N Hutchinson North Yorkshire
Mr C Anderson North Yorkshire
Ms J Sams North Yorkshire
Mr S Swarbrick South Yorkshire
Mr S Pilling West Yorkshire
Ms H Dowse CLG
1 Appointment of Chair
Resolved
That Councillor M Coulson (West Yorkshire) be appointed Chair of the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional Management Board for
the 2008 / 2009 year.
2 Appointment of Vice Chair
Resolved
That Councillor J Fort (North Yorkshire) be appointed Vice Chair of the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional Management Board for the year 2008 / 2009.
3 Membership of the Board
Consideration was given to a report which detailed the membership of the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional Management Board for
2008 / 2009 as notified by the constituent Fire Authorities as follows.
Humberside
Councillor D Engall
Councillor B Jefferies
North Yorkshire
Councillor J Fort
Councillor K King
South Yorkshire
Councillor J Andrews
Councillor P Lakin
Vacancy (to be advised)
West Yorkshire
Councillor M Coulson
Councillor G Kirkland
Councillor R Light
Councillor A McKenna
The political composition of the Board was Labour 5, Liberal Democrat 3 and
Conservative 3.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
4 Apologies for Absence
Councillor K King – North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor G Kirkland – West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Councillor R Light – West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Apologies were also presented on behalf of Mr M Smitherman (Chief Fire
Officer, South Yorkshire),
Mr P Toase (Chief Fire Officer, West Yorkshire),
Mr A Trowsdale (North Yorkshire), Peter Hudson (West Yorkshire) and of Ms B Sandy (South Yorkshire).
5 Chair’s Announcements
The Chair advised Member that, in the knowledge that Mr Phil Toase would not be present at this meeting, he had passed on thanks and best wishes
from Members of the Regional Management Board, in respect of Mr Toase’s retirement from the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority with effect
from 7 September 2008.
6 Minutes of the Board at a Meeting held on 27 March 2008
Resolved
(i) That the Minutes be signed by the Chair as a correct record; and
(ii) That it be noted that there remained a number of discrepancies with regard to the Facilities Management contract for the Regional Control
Centres (RCCs) which had been raised with CLG by the South West Regional Management Board but which would impact on the Yorkshire and Humberside RCC.
7 Urgent Items
None.
8 Admission of the Public
There were no items which required the exclusion of the public and press.
9 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest made in any matter under consideration
at the meeting.
10 Appointment of Member Champions
The Secretary submitted a report which sought the appointment of Member
champions.
Resolved
That Member champions be appointed for 2008 / 9 as follows;
Resilience
Councillor P Lakin - South Yorkshire
Councillor M Coulson - West Yorkshire
Common Services
Councillor R Light - West Yorkshire
Regional Control Rooms
Councillor J Andrews - South Yorkshire
Councillor A McKenna - West Yorkshire
Procurement
Councillor K King - North Yorkshire
Training & HR Management
Councillor J Fort - North Yorkshire
Councillor B Jefferies - Humberside
11 Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership – Member Appointment
It was reported that a request had been received from the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership Board for a Member to be appointed
to it as the Fire Authority representative.
Resolved
That Councillor Mick Coulson be appointed to the Local Government Yorkshire and Humber Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership Board for 2008 / 9.
12 Audit Commission Report – Review of Arrangements Supporting The Yorkshire and Humberside RMB
Consideration was given to a report of the Secretary which advised of the receipt of the second report from the Audit Commission which addressed
support arrangements for the Regional Management Board.
Recommendations for future action by the
constituent authorities were set out in the report
with regard to the following issues;
• Development of member champion role
• Review of delegated powers
• Consideration of RMB budget
• Improved joint working and resource allocation
• Full implementation and review of programme and project management
arrangements
• More effective risk management and better prioritisation of RMB projects
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted;
(ii) That an invitation be forwarded to Mr Martin Oliver of the Audit
Commission to attend the October meeting of the Regional Management
Board;
(iii) That a Member / Officer working group be established (comprising the constituent authorities’ chairs together with the chair of the RMB;
appropriate officers and Nigel Hutchinson – Chief Fire Officer, North
Yorkshire, as lead officer) to consider the Audit Commission’s recommendations and to research processes and procedures adopted
by other Regional Management Boards; and
(iv) That the work of the group at (iii) above be incorporated into the
Programme Management System to facilitate monitoring and review of
the working group’s progress.
13 Fire and Rescue Service National Framework 2008 – 2011 – Role of the RMB
The Secretary submitted a report which advised of the requirements of the Fire and Rescue Service National Framework 2008 – 2011 with specific reference to the role of the Regional Management Board.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That the main requirements facing Regional Management Boards, as
detailed at annex A to the report now submitted, be considered by the
Chair’s Working Group (Min. 12 (iii) refers)
14 Treasurer's Report
Consideration was given to a report of the Treasurer which provided an update with regard to the following issues;
• Regional Control business case publication
• Regional Control Centre Local Authority Controlled Company (LACC) –
West Yorkshire to retain funding pending any decision of Project Director,
early decision required about role of Finance Officer / adviser, insurance
provision (building and Directors), provisional budget
• RMB Financial statement – chair to sign off accounts
• New Burdens funding
• Firelink costs
• Intra-regional cost apportionment (RCC)
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That a report be submitted to the next meeting of the RMB with regard to the apportionment of costs for the Regional Control Centre.
Strategic Functions – Update
15 Resilience
Consideration was given to a report of the Chief Fire Officer (South Yorkshire)
which provided an update on the issue of regional resilience.
Members were advised of the following issues which had arisen since the date
of the last meeting;
• Thanks to Councillor Jane Bird for her support as Member Champion
(resilience)
• New Dimension vehicles - clarification awaited with regard to insurance
and licensing issues
• Roll-out of additional prime movers would compete allocation of New
Dimension assets to the region
• Uncertainty with regard to funding of New Dimension assets (asset
management and maintenance)
• Regional Planners – funding received for two posts up to 2010
• National Security Strategy – potential impact on the Fire and Rescue
Service (FRS)
• FRS secondee with Counter Terrorism Unit based in West Yorkshire
• Pitt Review – publication of final independent report including the
recommendation that the Fire and Rescue Authorities play a leading role,
underpinned as necessary by a statutory duty
Resolved
That the report be noted;
16 Specialist (Common) Services
Consideration was given to a report of the Assistant Chief Officer of Humberside Fire and Rescue Service and Director of Community Protection advising of the progress made with the work in the Common Services strategic functional theme and specifically in the following areas;
• Information Technology – website to undergo an update
• Technical support – fire safety, community safety, fire investigation and
road safety
• Operational collaboration – final drafts of incident Command protocol and
Mutual assistance protocol now completed
• Peer review
Resolved
That the report be noted.
17 Regional Control Rooms
The Deputy Chief Fire Officer with West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
submitted a report which updated Members on the status of the Yorkshire
and Humberside FireControl Regional Control Centre project and made specific reference to the following;
• third party rights to be deferred until nearer the cut-over date of 2011
• Infrastructure services
• Transition plans – staff to be transferred under TUPE, call handling
• Finance – further clarification sought with regard to pensions / severance
payments, out of scope activities and where RCC costs exceed current
Mobilising and Control costs, cost apportionment
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted;
(ii) That a regional response to the draft Business Case be debated by the
Regional Strategy Group and drafted in consultation with the Chair and
the Vice chair of the Regional Management Board; and
(iii) That consideration be given to the possibility of agreeing a combined
strategy with other losing regions.
18 Procurement
Consideration was given to a report of the Assistant Chief Fire Officer (Director of Support Services, South Yorkshire) which advised on progress with the procurement workstream.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
19 HR Management and Training
Consideration was given to a report of the Assistant Chief Fire Officer (Director of Human Resources) of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service which updated Members on the combined HR Management and Training functions and specifically on the following issues;
• Identification of workstreams and lead authorities (Employee resourcing,
Employee Development, Equality and Diversity, Employee relations and
Occupational Health and Safety)
• Driving examiners – possible regional approach to examination
• Assessment and Development Centres – significant savings for in-house
and regional ADC’s compared to external providers
Resolved
That the report be noted.
20 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.
Members were advised that there were no projects which were running
significantly behind schedule.
It was further reported that the audit into the effectiveness of the programme
management system would be deferred pending the results of research into
facilities used by Regional Management Boards nationally.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
21 Date of Next meeting
Resolved
That the next meeting of the Yorkshire and Humberside Fire Authorities’ Regional Management Board be held on Thursday 2 October at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Birkenshaw to be followed by a visit to the Regional Control Centre at Wakefield.
Chair
Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Accessibility | Access Keys | Search Site