Agenda and minutes

To approve, and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Fire Authority held on 6 December 2023 (item 2)

RESOLVED –

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Fire Authority held on 6 December 2023, be approved, and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Chairman to invite officers to provide verbal updates on any actions noted in the Minutes from the previous meeting.

FA41 – Chairman’s Announcements – In answer to a question from a Member about the costs to the Authority of supporting the White Ribbon campaign the Chairman advised that the costs were approved by the Executive Committee; and that a copy of the approved bid submission would be provided to the Member. The Director of Finance and Assets advised that the cost was £2,000 over a three-year period, as noted in Section 3 (In-Year Growth Bids) of the Budget Monitoring reports presented to the Executive Committee.

FA42 – Firefighters Manifesto Presentation - the Chairman thanked the FBU Brigade Secretary for his presentation, and advised he would respond back on each point at a future meeting of the Authority and make it a regular part of Authority meetings to track progress on the Improvement Agenda and an invitation to the FBU Brigade Secretary to attend a future meeting – The Chief Fire Officer advised that there would be an annual invitation to the FBU Brigade Secretary. A progress report would be brought to the next meeting.

The Chairman advised that there would be a quick response on the Station issues so they could be addressed – The Director of Finance and Assets advised that work to address the issues highlighted at Newport Pagnell would be completed by the end of the financial year.

(Councillor Fuller joined the meeting)

FA44 Health, Safety and Wellbeing Annual Report 2022-23 - Members agreed to the suggestion from the Deputy Chief Fire Officer that the Authority receive a presentation from the Welfare Officer at a future meeting on the support that was in place and the referral process – the Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that a future date would be arranged.

FA46 – Operational Learning and Assurance: Progress Against Grenfell and Manchester Arena Inquiry Recommendations - The Chairman advised that he and the Chief Fire Officer were due to meet with all the local MP’s over the next few weeks, and asked if officers could provide a briefing paper of what was needed – The Head of Protection, Assurance and Development advised that this had been done.

FA48 – HMICFRS – BFRS 2023 Action Plan - The Chairman felt it would be helpful for Members to have a station by station assessment of what the actions were – the Director of Finance and Assets advised that an “audit” of station facilities was being undertaken as part of the wider EDI staff engagement exercise during February to April and a summary of the assessment and gap analysis will be presented to Members as soon as possible in 2024-25.

FA49 – White Ribbon Presentation - In answer to a request from Members it was advised that the video made by officers would be uploaded to the Authority’s YouTube Channel – the Democratic Services Officer advised that the video had been uploaded to the Fire Authority Members Teams Group and this has been sent to all Members.

Members to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests they may have in any matter being considered which are not entered onto the Authority’s Register, and officers to disclose any interests they may have in any contract to be considered.

None.

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

The Chairman announced that:

Officers are working through the Wholetime (WT) (Cohort 12) campaign. Below are the numbers for each stage of the current campaign so far –

·         Applications received = 176

·         Applications shortlisted and sent the SHL (psychometric tests) link = 118

·         Invited to the Behaviour workshop = 84

·         Invite to Role Related Testing (RRT) = 71

An attraction and recruitment campaign focussed at under-represented groups started on Friday 12 January. This involved the Service inviting candidates from under-represented groups within the current recruitment campaign to a non-assessed RRT. This will allow us to identify barriers and create a programme of physical training activities and consolidation events aimed at minimising disadvantage, with the aim to increase representation. Further work is scheduled in following RRT to offer workshops on Interview and Presentation techniques.

We are in the position to offer employment to 6 candidates who will commence on 9 September 2024. We will also be able to create a pool of candidates should any of the 6 leave the course unexpectedly. All these recruitment activities are continuing to show the increase of numbers on our establishment and the Workforce Planning Group ensure that we’re keeping above the global target of 300 (WT).

Alongside the Wholetime recruitment, we have 13 new On Call starters who commenced on 5 February 2024 at different stations across the Service. In addition, there is another On Call intake planned to commence in August 2024.

Executive Committee – 8 February 2024

The recommendations below are recommendations from officers to the Executive Committee. Revisions by the Executive Committee, if any, will follow.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE – 8 FEBRUARY 2024

“It is recommended that:

(a) the report and Statement of the Chief Finance Officer (see Section 8 of Annex A) be noted.

(b) a Council Tax precent of £79.46 for a band D equivalent property (equal to an increase of approximately 4p per week) and the revenue budget as set out in Appendix 1 be approved.

(c) the capital programme as set out in Appendix 2 be approved.”

The Deputy Director of Finance and Assets advised Members the funding figures in the existing report were based on the provisional settlement when this report was produced.  Since then, the final settlement figures and NNDR had been received and the revised tables in Appendix 1 and 2 had been updated.

The key changes were the expenditure budget had increased from £38.194m to £39.391m, due to the increase in employer pension contribution costs in the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme. To mitigate these additional costs, the Service had been provided with a Fire Pensions Grant of £1.107m.  For future years a reduction in this grant, similar to the pressure seen with previous pension grant allocations, had been forecast.

The Settlement Funding Assessment (SFA) for 2024/25 had been revised downwards from £10.500m to £10.061m following receipt of updated NNDR figures.  For 2024/25 this reduction was offset with a one-off grant of £598k received as part of the minimum funding guarantee. Future years’ SFA forecasts had been updated to reflect this reduction in NNDR funding.  Previous figures used were an estimate and more accurate figures were provided when billing authorities confirmed them, usually after the 31 January.

The previous pension grant line of £1.208m had been merged into the SFA line on a flat cash basis as this grant going forward would be included as part of the SFA funding streams.  This brought the total SFA figure for 2024/25 to £11.269m. The Council Tax surplus figure from 2023/24 had been revised upwards from £94k to £101k as the billing authorities had revised their projections. The Services Grant allocation had also improved slightly by £3k when the final settlement figures were published.

Taking into account all these changes, the Revenue Contribution to Capital budget in Appendix 1(a) and 1(b) for 2024/25 to 2028/29 had been revised in order to balance the budget. Total usable reserves at the end of 2028/29 were now forecast to be £7.877m, a reduction of £2.008m from the figures in the original paper.

(Councillor Darlington joined the meeting)

A Member asked if consideration had been given to the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) Brigade Secretary’s request at the December meeting for cancer screening and mental health. Was there scope in the budget to build those in this year?

The Director of Finance and Assets advised that given how late they were raised, they had not been built into this year’s budget. However, they would be considered in the upcoming budget, depending on how future decisions around grant funding for USAR and pensions. There were workshops coming up imminently with the FBU to discuss priority areas where they would like to see funding increased.

The Chairman asked for clarification regarding the Urban Search and Rescue capabilities, and where it mentions funding will end in March 2025, this related to all USAR teams not just Buckinghamshire.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that as part of the New Dimensions review, there would be a bid submitted as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review, which does  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8a

“That the Authority be recommended to approve:

1.                  The prudential Indicators for 2024/25

2.                  The Minimum Revenue Provision policy statement”.

The Principal Accountant advised Members that the Prudential Code was established to ensure the capital investment plans were affordable, prudent and sustainable, and that treasury management decisions were taken in accordance with good professional practice. The Prudential Indicators presented here demonstrated that the current plans for capital investment met those criteria and presented an acceptable level of risk to the Authority.

Minimum Revenue Provision was a statutory charge to the General Fund (revenue budget), which ensured that the Authority had sufficient cash balances to repay borrowing upon maturity, reducing the refinancing risk. Since 2015/16, there had been sufficient funds set aside to cover the repayment of the long-term borrowing, this could be seen in the background paper. Historically, due to prohibitive penalties, the early repayment of this borrowing had not been an option. However, due to the recent rises in interest rates during 2023/24, the Authority took the opportunity to make early repayment on a loan totalling £627k, achieving a discount of £46k.

According to the MTFP, there were no plans for additional borrowing.

The Chairman asked for an explanation of the finance lease at Gerrards Cross.

The Director of Finance and Assets advised that the Gerrards Cross finance lease, related to the day crewed housing which use to be owned by the Authority, but was managed by a sale and lease back in 2003/4 and had to be accounted for in the Minimum Revenue Provision.

The Chairman asked if officers felt that against the context of the transformation needed, was there sufficient financial support to do what was needed this year.

The Director of Finance and Assets advised that as the Responsible Officer, he had given his statement in the previous report that he felt reserves were adequate to do what was needed to be done.

RESOLVED –

1.      That the prudential indicators for 2024/25 be approved.

2.      That the Minimum Revenue Provision policy statement be approved.

“That the Authority note the BFRS HMICFRS 2023 Update.”

The Chairman advised Members that he, the Chief Fire Officer and the Deputy Chief Fire Officer had attended their first Fire Performance Oversight Group meeting. The Chairman felt that the Chief Fire Officer and Deputy Chief Fire Officer had done an excellent job in setting out the action and progress. It had been a very good supportive session. The Service had received support from the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), the Home Office and the Local Government Association. HMI noted the good progress that had been made and recognised the transformation reserve the Authority had put in place, and welcomed both the reaction of the Service and Authority to the report.

The Chief Fire Officer advised Members that the Inspectorate were very positive about the progress so far, they noted the good progress and acknowledged the huge amount of work to get to the position the Service was now in.  The Inspectorate wanted to see sustained progress and that was what officers were working towards.

The Head of Technology, Transformation and PMO advised Members that in October 2023, the Service received its 2023-2025 Round 3 HMICFRS Inspection report. An HMICFRS Action Plan was developed and submitted to HMICFRS on 15 November and presented to the Authority on the 6 December.

This report showed high level progress against the Action Plan. Four actions were completed as at the end of December 2023. A more detailed update would be presented to the Overview and Audit Committee on the 13 March 2024.

Actions shown as not started, were due to their start date being after the report’s submission. As at the end of January 2024, the number of actions not started had reduced to one for Protection and five for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

In November 2023, HMICFRS informed the Service that it would be entering the supportive engage process. The focus of the engage process was to assist the Service in finding ways to improve and resolve the identified causes of concern and provide a better service to the public.

To ensure focus on the HMICFRS action plan and to support the engage process, the Service had set up an HMICFRS Improvement Board chaired by the Chief Fire Officer. The terms of reference could be found at Appendix 1. Alongside delivering the Action Plan and preparing for the Fire Performance Oversight Group, officers were starting to focus on the HMICFRS Revisit in May 2024.

Officers had continued to engage with a wide range of key partners and peers to provide scrutiny over the last 8 months and the Service thanked them for their continued support.

A Member noted that the Fire Performance Oversight Group had met with some key partners, why was there no mention of Milton Keynes City Council or the FBU in that group.

The Head of Technology, Transformation and PMO advised that officers did continue to meet with the FBU on a regular basis, and it should be captured in the report, and would ensure it was going forward.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8c

“it is recommended that the Performance Management – Q2 2023/24 be noted.”

The Director of Finance and Assets advised Members that there were two good news stories high-lighted within the report. The first one being accidental dwelling fires and the continued focus on prevention activity. Looking at those most at risk had reduced the accidental dwelling fires number to an all-time low.

This also meant the number of injuries at accidental dwelling fires had reduced. The other good news story was around fire safety audits. The new Protection Strategy provided a framework for planned activity, with the key focus on targeting high risk premises.  The revised risk based inspection programme had identified an audit schedule in very high risk premises which would require a significant increase in planned audit activity.

The Director of Finance and Assets highlighted a few items that were discussed at the Executive Committee when this report was presented. At the time this report was produced, appraisals and objective setting completion was showing as 63% and 66% respectively. Officers had since run the Q3 figures, and following a concerted effort, these had increased to 86% and 93% respectively.

From 2024/25 a new Facilities Management software was being introduced, which would allow officers to capture and monitor carbon emissions on a more regular basis, rather than annual updates.

On call recruitment continued to be a challenge, but the positive news was there were 13 new starters this month, so availability should start to increase over the coming months.

Separating out prison fires and drilling down into the data behind it, highlighted an issue at a particular prison. Officers had engaged with the prison, and whilst it was too soon to draw firm conclusions, officers were starting to see a reduction in incidents and this would be monitored over the coming months.

The Chairman asked if the Service was showing green if there were more than 11 pumps, as he thought green was above 12 pumps?

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that it related to wholetime pumps only. The wholetime and on call had been separated out. Green was above 11 pumps and blue 12 pumps and above.

The Chairman asked about the progress on over the border mobilisation.

The Director of Finance and Assets advised there had been a continued reduction and it was reflected in the budget monitoring report as there had been a sustained reduction in the cost of numbers of mobilisations.

A Member asked about fire safety visits. From the report it appeared that it was negative until May and now appeared positive, why was this.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that in May and June the Service was under staffed in the Prevention capability and was recruiting for home fire safety technicians, which was successful. The Service also refocussed some of the work of operational crews which helped achieve those targets during that period.

A Member asked about the on call response model and pumps available broken down by day or night crew.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised at present there was a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8d

To consider item 9

The Principal Accountant advised Members that there were no significant changes to the strategy and Officers would continue to invest surplus funds in secure short-term deposits, maturing on a frequent basis, while ensuring the Authority could maintain adequate liquidity and meet short-term expenditure requirements.

During 2023/24 a loan of £627k was repaid early along with the repayment of a £1m loan on maturity in March 2024. Therefore, at the start of 2024/25 the overall borrowing position would be £4.550m with maturity between 2–28 years, with annual interest payable of £214k. These repayments do not directly impact the revenue budget and funds had been set aside to ensure the Authority could repay these loans when due.

As of 31 December 2023, the Authority had nearly £20m invested in various banks, building societies, money market funds(MMF) and current account balances. By the start of 2024/25, this was likely to be £13m, plus funds sat in MMF and current accounts.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had voted to increase the interest base rate at 14 of the last 18 meetings, with no increase at the four most recent meetings. Currently the interest base rate was 5.25%. Link the Authority’s treasury advisors, were projecting this to stay the same until June, before steadily reducing to 3.25% by September 2025.

The Authority had been able to benefit from the increases in interest rates with projections in 2023/24 to exceed £900k, which was £550k higher than the budget set for the year. This additional income had enabled the Service to run two in-year growth bid budget challenges approving £523k worth of spending.

For 2024/25 the investment income budget had doubled to £700k as part of the MTFP, which was very achievable and again allowed the Service to have additional funds to support the expenditure shown in the MTFP.

A Member asked the real term value of the money and if Members could see some bench marking against similar organisations to see how the Authority compares.

The Director of Finance and Assets advised that when a report was next brought to the Overview and Audit Committee, it would look at the impact of inflation over the last five years on the value of the Authority’s investments.

The Principal Accountant advised that the Authority was part of a contract with Link Asset Group and were part of a benchmarking group with 12-14 different councils. In terms of the Authority’s portfolio, it was comparatively small, but he could look at the Authority’s investment strategy compared to others.

RESOLVED –

That the Treasury Management Policy Statement, Treasury Management Strategy Statement and the Annual investment Strategy for 2024/25 be approved.

To consider item 10

The HR Advisory and Development Manager advised Members that the Pay Policy was required to be updated each financial year and was presented to the Authority today for approval, effective 1 April 2024.

This pay policy was based on the current 2023/24 pay policy, apart from the yearly updates to figures. The other changes within this year’s Pay Policy included the removal of the section on the employee merit award payment setting scheme. This was a non-statutory aspect of the Statement. The opportunity for merit award payments continued and a review of the process would be undertaken.

The use of Brigade Manager/Gold Book/Strategic Management Board terminology had been amended. For consistency with the terms of reference for the Fire Authority and its Committees, reference to Brigade Manager roles in Section 8 had been amended to gold book.

The HR Advisory and Development Manager advised that the majority of operational staff were employed on Grey Book conditions but a few people would be employed on local terms and conditions.

RESOLVED –

That the Pay Policy Principles and Statement as set out in Appendix one, as the statutory Pay Policy Statement for 2024/25,be approved for publication.

To consider item 11

The Director of Legal and Governance advised Members that the proposed Scheme of Allowances for 2024/25 was set out in Appendix 1. The proposed scheme maintains the indexation that was approved last year. The Authority had a wide discretion on what steps it takes to adopt its Scheme of Allowances. This report and appendices met all the statutory requirements.

RESOLVED –

That the Scheme for Members’ Allowances for 2024/25 be approved.

To consider item 12

The Head of Prevention and CRMP advised Members that the current Authority’s Public Safety Plan, (PSP) which came into effect from 1 April 2020, included the following “we may change how we mobilise to incidents, the capabilities we use, and where we mobilise from. Specifically, we will review our approach to attending reports of automatic fire alarm (AFA) systems operating.”

“If the outcome of the review recommends significant changes to our current policy, we will consult with affected stakeholders before making any decisions.”

At the time of the PSP’s publication, the Service was one of only two fire and rescue services that routinely attended such reports, which were predominantly found to be false alarms.

The perceived benefit from reviewing this policy was primarily to free up capacity to deal with an increase in higher risk incident types. However, since publication of the PSP, further potential benefits had been identified, which included but was not limited to; improved utilisation of work time for activities such as Prevention, Protection and Training. Reduced inherent road risk from fewer blue-light appliance movements, reduced costs and environmental impacts through fewer appliance movements and reduced use of over the border appliances, as well as applying more efficient and effective business rules within the joint Thames Valley Fire Control Service.

The 2023 to 2025 HMICFRS inspection report stated in one of its Areas for Improvement (AFI):

“The Service should review its response to false alarms to ensure that protection and operational resources are used effectively.”

The HMICFRS report also stated:

“The Service isn’t taking action to reduce the burden of false alarms. The service is taking only limited action to reduce the number of false alarms that it responds to. It hasn’t reviewed its policy since our last inspection and continues to respond to all false alarm calls it receives.”

To help facilitate this project and to effectively evaluate future proposals, a pilot period to obtain sufficient data for assessment would be beneficial in future decision making, to consider a long-term solution to the identified risk. Therefore, approval was being sought to run a six-month pilot.

Not mobilising to AFAs at medium and low risk premises could reduce the number of AFAs in non-domestic properties by as much as 80%.

Tactical and Strategic leads had been appointed in each service and officers had been working closely with colleagues in Oxfordshire and Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Services to identify opportunities and develop an aligned proposal for consideration as a collaborative Thames Valley AFA mobilising policy. An agreed position had been reached across the three services in relation to categorising premises by low, medium or high risk, and a range of options for amending the mobilising policy had also been developed in collaboration, and for consideration by respective Authorities.

No changes were proposed for high-risk buildings. For these buildings a fire appliance would still be sent to an AFA activating. High risk buildings were those that specifically house vulnerable people or provide sleeping accommodation for people or, they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

To note that the next meeting of the Fire Authority will be held on Wednesday 12 June (Annual Meeting) 2024 at 11 am at Milton Keynes City Council, 1.02 Suite, 1 Saxon Gate East, Milton Keynes, MK9 3EJ.

To note that the next meeting of the Fire Authority will be held on Wednesday 12 June 2024 (Annual Meeting) at 11 am.

To consider excluding the public and press representatives from the meeting by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as the report contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of a person (including the Authority); and on these grounds it is considered the need to keep information exempt outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Chairman advised Members they would be voting on the exclusion of the press and public, this would be done by a show of hands. There should not be a debate as it may entail discussing the item.

A Member stated they would not refer to the content of the report but more as a point of principle as the Local Government Association sets out that all affairs should be conducted as transparently and openly as possible. The Member felt it was right to have some confidential information, and it was very clearly set out what should be done but felt that some of this report should be open to scrutiny by the public and press.

The Chairman set out for members of the public that Members had received a detailed explanation from the Director of Legal and Governance setting out why this item was proposed for exempt session. It was important to be clear that it was a decision of the Director of Legal and Governance as Monitoring Officer.

A Member accepted the advice from the Director of Legal and Governance, but as a point of principle there were occasions of public interest when Members should be able to override the Monitoring Officer.

A Member asked what was the standard process when a discussion had been taken in exempt session, when was it decided when it would become public record or not.

The Director of Legal and Governance advised that the balance of public interest in disclosing the information was a dynamic exercise and was time bound. If certain decisions were made today, then certain other actions may follow. The report should be considered exempt and confidential until notified otherwise. There would be actions that follow from this meeting that officers would take and Members would be appraised of any developments that would change the confidentiality or sensitivity of these papers.

RESOLVED –

That the public and press representatives be excluded from the meeting by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as the report contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of a person (including the Authority); and on these grounds it is considered the need to keep information exempt outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

To consider item 14

The Authority considered the report and appendices, and approved the recommendations, details of which were noted in the exempt minutes.

THE CHAIRMAN CLOSED THE MEETING AT 12.58