Meeting documents

To approve, and the Chairman to sign as a correct record, the Minutes of the meeting of the Fire Authority held on 18 December 2013 Item 2

RESOLVED –

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Fire Authority held on 18 December 2013, be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To receive the Chairman’s announcements (if any).

The Chairman announced that:

(a)   Fire Minister Brandon Lewis had visited Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service on Monday 10 February. After a meeting with the Chief Fire Officer and the Chairman, he was taken by the Chief Operating Officer to Marlow to see what the Service had been doing to protect flood-threatened homes in Marlow.

(b)   Mr Eric Pickles in his role as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when responding to a question in the House of Commons from Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) praising the fire service and the local authorities who are pumping out and saving buildings from flooding by the River Misbourne in Old Amersham and Chalfont St Peter, mentioned the fact that Brandon Lewis had just come back from Marlow, where he had been examining the state of preparedness and reported the fantastic work of local firefighters.

On this note the Chief Fire Officer had received a number of letters of thanks from residents of Marlow, scanned copies of which had been placed in the Member’s Library.

(c)   Crews have been working to assist the firefighters of Devon and Somerset on the Somerset Levels.

(The Chairman asked the Head of Service Development to give a brief update on the current situation. The Chief Fire Officer also clarified the position regarding the question of future funding and flood preparation. He explained that the fire service responded to flooding calls for assistance as a moral duty not a legal one and shared his view that a statutory duty might add extra burdens with no extra funding. He explained that the Authority can legitimately use its resources for almost any purpose it wished to without the need for regulatory change.  He also explained that many local authorities received money nominally for flooding in their grants but CFAs do not.)

Members rose to join the Chairman to give their thanks to the firefighters for their flood relief work.

(d)  At a previous meeting of the Authority, members had requested further information to help them better understand how the Retained Duty System operated. An information paper has been posted in the member’s library which gave a brief background and a forward look as further improvements are planned and being worked upon; and if members would like any further information, Mick Osborne would be happy to oblige.

(e)  The new FBU Chairman’s letter to members and the CFO’s response has been distributed today. Members would be aware that the firefighters industrial action had taken place over the Christmas and New Year periods, but that no strikes had been called for the past 6 weeks which was generally felt to be a positive sign; and would like to offer thanks on behalf of all of the Members to those who gave up their family celebrations to keep Bucks and Milton Keynes safe. 

(f)   He had attended a Fire Commission meeting on Friday 14 February. Topics discussed were: a review of the defence fire risk management organisation and the objective of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

Executive Committee – 5 February 2014

Executive Committee – 5 February 2014

The Authority considered the recommendations of the Executive Committee held on 5 February 2014 relating to:

·         Treasury Management

·         The Prudential Code, Prudential Indicators and Minimum Revenue Provision

·         Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2014/15-2017/18

·         BMKFA Pay Policy Principles and Statement 2014 15

"That the Authority be recommended to approve the Treasury Management Policy Statement, Treasury Management Strategy Statement and the Annual Investment Strategy for 2014/15."

The report considered by the Executive Committee is attached at Item 7(a)

The Authority considered the Treasury Management Policy Statement, the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and the Annual Investment Strategy. 

The Authority noted the main changes were an increase from £5 million to £7.5 million to the counterparty limit for Lloyds, that a limited number of non-UK based banks were added to the counterparty list and that a limited number of additional UK based building societies were added to the counterparty list.

RESOLVED –

That the Treasury Management Policy Statement, Treasury Management Strategy Statement and the Annual Investment Strategy for 2014/15 be approved.

"That the Authority be recommended to approve the prudential indicators and the minimum revenue provision policy statement."

The report considered by the Executive Committee is attached at Item 7(b)

The Authority considered the Prudential Code, Prudential Indicators and the Minimum Revenue Provision.

The Authority noted that the Prudential Code had been established to ensure that capital investment plans were affordable, prudent and sustainable and equated to an acceptable level of risk to the Authority.

The Authority was currently in an over-borrowed position but due to the prohibitive penalties early repayment of borrowing was not an option. The Authority would therefore ensure that no additional borrowing be undertaken for the foreseeable future.

RESOLVED –

That the prudential indicators and the minimum revenue provision policy statement be approved.

"That recommendations for two options for precept be considered by the full Authority: i) 0% and ii) a percentage rise up to the referendum limit."

The report considered by the Executive Committee is attached at Item 7(c)

It was noted that the recommendations from the Executive Committee had been superseded by the report on the Medium Term Financial Plan at Item 8 of the agenda.

RESOLVED –

That the two options for precept be noted: i) 0% and accept council tax freeze grant and ii) a percentage rise up to the referendum limit.

"That the draft Pay Policy Principles and Statement be recommended as its statutory Pay Policy Statement for 2014/15."

The report considered by the Executive Committee is attached at Item 7(d)

The Director of People and organisational Development advised the Authority that the purpose of this report was to recommend approval for the Pay Policy Principles and Statement for 2014/15, thus achieving compliance with the requirements of sections 38 to 40 of the Localism Act 2011 with regards to Openness and Accountability in Local Pay.

The Authority also noted that the Pay Policy Statement was based on last year’s, with minor amendments to align with guidance from the Department of Communities and Local Government. It also noted that the pay policy statement could be updated by the full Authority within year.

RESOLVED –

That the draft Pay Policy Principles and Statement be adopted and published as its statutory Pay Policy Statement 2014/15.

To consider Item 8 (Report to follow)

The Authority noted the recommendations and report from the Executive Committee held on 5 February 2014 and also considered a revised report and recommendations which took into account the final settlement announced on 5 February 2014 and is included in the funding assumptions for government grant funding, business rates and council tax receipts.

The Chief Fire Officer introduced the report and advised the Authority that each year the Authority was in the thrall of its constituent billing authorities whilst they calculate their respective National Non-Domestic Rate assessments. This year, none of those authorities met the deadline of 31 January set by the Government. If this continued in future years, the Authority might wish to consider delaying the precept meeting until later in February. The Chief Fire Officer proposed to write to the Chief Executives and copy in the Leaders of the billing authorities to make them aware of the subsidiary pressure the Service suffers through their lateness and try and avert having to modify its procedures as that would, in turn, have a delaying impact upon them.

The Chief Fire Officer advised the Authority that each year as they agree a budget, he had not overtly acted to protect the base funding for a number of reasons:

·         He is confident that the Service could deliver below set budgets and thus create healthy underspends,

·         He agreed that the Service should be as low cost as possible without any detriment to service delivery,

·         He wished to instill cost control as a core functional responsibility of all managers,

·         He recognised the political and democratic will of the Authority.

The Chief Fire Officer had not sought to quantify the proportion of erosion the Authority’s base has endured by recent freezes, but he was disappointed that the Government's arrangements on this year’s freeze penalised those authorities for previous restraint because this year’s tax freeze grant was based upon an incremental approach, thus favouring those who raised taxes in previous years.

The Chief Fire Officer reminded Members that in his opinion, a Combined Fire Authority was a special case when it came to funding. Whilst it tends to be politically constrained by the decisions taken in its parent authorities, it has no access to special funds. In setting the grant levels, from which it has done notably poorly over the last six years, the Government assumes that the Authority would utilise its comparatively healthy tax base to raise the required funds for its assessed needs.

In advising that the freeze grant is achievable for 2014/15 and in recognition that next year’s budget setting process will be conducted under the looming shadow of a general election, he implored Members to think of what the decisions taken successively to freeze mean for service delivery. This year’s forthcoming risk management consultation may throw up some difficult issues for Members to deal with if the Authority is to continue to work within budget.

The Chief Fire Officer wished to recognise the efforts of Mick Osborne and Denis O’Driscoll who had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To consider Item 9

The Director of Legal and Governance advised the Authority that this was an annual report on the use of the powers given to the Authority under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA). The statutory guidance requires that the Authority be given an update at least annually on the use by the Authority of surveillance and use of covert human intelligent sources (CHIS) and have the opportunity to review the CHIS and Surveillance policy annually.

The Authority was informed that an inspection by the Surveillance Commissioner was undertaken triennially; the last inspection was in 2012 and was highly complimentary of the Authority’s policy.  The Authority was also informed that the ethos of the Service was to be supportive and facilitative of businesses and employers in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes. As such, enforcement of fire safety legislation would be a last resort and it therefore followed that tools such as RIPA powers that would be used to support enforcement of fire safety legislation, would rarely ever need to be deployed.

RESOLVED:

1.   That the update report be noted.

2.    That the CHIS and Surveillance policy be approved.

To consider Item 10

The Corporate Planning Manager advised the Authority that this report was the outcome of consultation work with the Public via a series of five focus groups across the areas served by the Authority. This early consultation work was designed to help inform the development of the next Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP).

The Authority was advised that the focus groups were run in two phases. The first was exploring the participants’ general awareness and understanding of the Fire and Rescue Service and the issues facing it (without being given any significant background information) and the second was exploring their views and expectations after being more acquainted with the issues and challenges facing the Authority and some potential ways that it could respond to these.

Preparation of the next IRMP, which would cover the period from 2015 to 2020 was currently underway with a view to officers presenting a draft for Members to approve for public consultation at the June 2014 Fire Authority meeting.

RESOLVED -

That the report be noted.

To agree a date for the June AGM.

It is proposed that the date for the AGM be moved from Wednesday 11 June 2014 to Tuesday 24 June 2014 (to allow for Members to be appointed by Milton Keynes Council following their election).

It was agreed to move the date of the AGM from Wednesday 11 June 2014 to Tuesday 24 June 2014 to allow for Members to be appointed by Milton Keynes Council following their election.

RESOLVED -

That the date for the AGM be moved from Wednesday 11 June 2014 to Tuesday 24 June 2014.

It was proposed by the Chairman and seconded by the Vice-Chairman that the meeting on 9 April 2014 be cancelled.

RESOLVED –

That the meeting on Wednesday 9 April be cancelled.

To note that the next meeting of the Fire Authority will be held on Wednesday 9 April 2014 at 11.00am.

The Authority noted that the next meeting of the Fire Authority is to be held on Tuesday 24 June 2014 at 11.00am.

Before closing the meeting the Chairman thanked Councillor Reg Edwards for his service to the Authority.  This meeting would be his last full Authority meeting before retiring prior to the Milton Keynes Council elections on 22 May 2014.

THE CHAIRMAN CLOSED THE MEETING AT 12.50PM