Agenda and minutes

To approve, and sign as a correct record, the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 10 February 2021 (Item 2)

The Director of Legal and Governance took Members through the matters arising from the last minutes:

EX32 – Christmas Floods – Verbal Update

Firstly, in respect of the debrief and the Thames Valley Local Resilience Forum (TVLRF), the debrief was attended by officers from the Authority, a report was being prepared by the TVLRF and the outcomes would be considered by the Service. Secondly, in connection with the report under Section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 that was being complied by officers from Milton Keynes Council, officers from the Authority had contacted the Milton Keynes Council Environmental Lead and input had been provided into the report.

EX33 – Budget Monitoring Report April – November 2020

Regarding the Blue light Hub, the Director of Finance and Assets confirmed that potential recovery of costs from the Professional Advisors, in terms of a potential legal claim, were being evaluated. The final account was still being evaluated with the main Contractor of the scheme, the majority of the work packages had been agreed and the final ascertainment was looking to finalise the evaluation of the extension of time requests and that would allow the Director of Finance and Assets to evaluate the value of the legal claim. The final date for the final ascertainment was the end of April 2021. Once this was completed, a potential legal claim would be considered. The Director of Finance and Assets would update Members in due course.

RESOLVED –

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on Wednesday 10 February 2021, be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

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.

The Chief Fire Officer and Deputy Chief Fire Officer both declared they were Members of the Firefighters Pension Schemes.

Overview and Audit Committee – 17 March 2021

Corporate Risk Management Policy

OVERVIEW AND AUDIT COMMITTEE – 17 MARCH 2021

CORPORATE RISK MANAGEMENT POLICY

The Lead Member for Health and Safety and Corporate Risk advised that given the events of the last year, Members would appreciate the importance of maintaining a robust and up-to-date approach to identifying, evaluating, and controlling risks that could potentially compromise the Authority’s ability to maintain its services to the public. This update to the Corporate Risk Management Policy and Guidance was therefore timely and welcome. As Lead Member for Health and Safety and Corporate Risk, I have been consulted during its development and support the changes and updates to the preceding policy and guidance that are presented here. The document had also been reviewed by our colleagues on the Overview and Audit Committee and they have recommended it to us for approval today.

The Corporate Planning Manager advised Members that the last update to the Corporate Risk Management Policy was approved by this Committee in March 2015. Although there wasn’t anything fundamentally wrong with that policy, it had become overdue for review and therefore undertook to update it before the end of this financial year. Members would see from the cover paper, the opportunity had been taken in this review to look at recent good practice guidance from authoritative sources, in particular, the relevant International Standards Organisation (ISO) Standard, and used this to strengthen and supplement what was contained in the previous policy documentation. It had also been updated to reflect recent changes to the Service’s internal governance arrangements, particularly in relation to improvements to its project control environment. Updates and changes relative to the preceding guidance were shaded grey in the document.

The Corporate Planning Manger advised Members that before publication, and following feedback from the Chairman, arrows would be added to indicate the upward escalation process through the governance of corporate risks structure (6.1). There were also a couple of small typographical adjustments that would be made to the document before publication.

RESOLVED –

That the Corporate Risk Management Policy set out at Annex A and Guidance at Annex B, be approved.

To consider Item 6

The HR Advisory and Development Manager advised Members that the Authority was advised on 23 February 2021, that due to the continuing impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) announced that employers would have an additional six months after the current reporting deadline to report their gender pay gap information. All employers now have until 5 October 2021 to report their gender pay gap information and no enforcement action would be taken if they report by then. Notwithstanding the suspension of the compulsory reporting of the gender pay gap for the second year, for openness and transparency the intention was for this data to be published once approved.  As an organisation, the Authority had a duty to carry out gender pay gap reporting, and to annually publish six pieces of prescribed data about the pay and bonuses of male and female employees. the snapshot date for public sector employers was 31 March each year, and the data presented within the report was based on data as at 31 March 2020.

The gender pay gap shows the difference between the average earnings of males, compared to females, irrespective of role or seniority. It examined the difference in the average pay gap, expressed as a percentage of male earnings. It was important to note that a gender pay gap was not unlawful and the presence of a gender pay gap did not mean the Authority was discriminating against groups of individuals. A gender pay gap was a reflection of a workforce profile at a specific time, i.e., the snapshot date. This was the fourth year of undertaking gender pay gap reporting, and for 2020 the gender pay gap had increased by 3.7 percentage points to 18.8 per cent. This increase took the Service 3.3 percentage points above the UK average, which was 15.5 per cent for April 2020. In comparison, for 2019, the Service was 2.3 percentage points below the UK average. For 2020 the Service’s median gender pay gap had also increased, by 4.9 percentage points, from 10.4 per cent in 2019 to 15.3 percent in 2020.

The HR Advisory and Development Manager advised Members that the action plan detailed key areas of activity to lower the gender pay gap. Whilst the foundations for improvement had been laid through these initiatives, and progress was being made, it would be several years before there was a significant impact on gender parity within pay. The Authority would continue to strive to increase gender diversity in all areas of the organisation and lowering the gender pay gap.

RESOLVED –

That the content of the Gender Pay Gap Report 2020 be noted and approved for submission to the Government’s Website (Gov.UK) as per reporting requirements.

To consider Item 8

The Director of Finance and Assets advised Members that the purpose    of this report was to present the latest legal advice the Authority had received in relation to the Firefighters Pension Scheme age discrimination remedy, and the recent Employment Appeal Tribunal judgment. The background to this and genesis to all the changes in public sector pensions, was part of the Lord Hutton review which led to the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 and regulations made under primary legislation. There were a number of changes and primary legislation required the restriction of existing final salary schemes. However, within this, certain members could be protected and retain the rights to their previous scheme, under what was known as transitional arrangements, which were undertaken in order to protect those closer to retirement.

Within the Firefighters Pension Scheme, there was protection to all members of the scheme who would be 55 by 31 March 2022. It also provided for tapered protection, which meant that members were protected in their original scheme on a tapered basis depending on age until 31 March 2022. Anybody who did not qualify for protection or tapered protection was immediately moved into the 2015 scheme. A legal challenge was bought by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) on behalf of members on whether these protections constituted direct age discrimination, and indirect race and sex discrimination.

The Director of Finance and Assets advised Members that this led to a tribunal and a number of appeals, culminating in the Court of Appeal in December 2018. Essentially, this found that the transitional protection element of the 2015 public service pension reforms constituted unlawful age discrimination. It was important to note that only the transitional protection was unlawful, moving all members to the 2015 scheme on 1 April 2022 wasn’t discriminatory. In order to remedy age discriminatory treatment across public sector schemes by removing the discriminatory treatment while protecting members who may have been better off in the reformed schemes, the Treasury committed to launching a formal consultation in 2020. The remedy period was defined as between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022. The remedy only applied to members who were in service on or before 31 March 2012 and on or after 1 April 2015, including those with a qualifying break in service of less than five years.

The Director of Finance and Assets advised Members that in advance of the consultation being issued, there was also something known as immediate detriment guidance from the Home Office. Immediate detriment in this context referred to those who were due to retire in the very near future, and by extension, those who would retire before the necessary changes in legislation to remove the discrimination were made. This guidance should not be applied to scheme members who had already retired and were in receipt of their pension payments. These cases were more complex to address, especially due to complexities in rectifying the member’s tax position. It was important to note that all cases processed using this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To consider excluding the public and press representatives from the meeting by virtue of Paragraph 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as appendices C and E contain information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings; and on these grounds it is considered the need to keep information exempt outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information:

It being moved, it was

RESOLVED –

That the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting by virtue of Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as the minutes contain information relating to any individual; and Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12a of the Local Government Act 1972 as the minutes contain information relating to the financial or business affairs of a person (including the Authority); and on these grounds it is considered, at this moment in time, that the need to keep information exempt outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Chairman advised viewers of the live webcast that the meeting would now go into private session.

To approve, and sign as a correct record, the Exempt Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 10 February 2021 (Item 9)

RESOLVED –

That the Exempt Minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on Wednesday 10 February 2021, be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

                     THE CHAIRMAN CLOSED THE MEETING AT 11.10 AM.