Agenda item

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

The Chairman announced that Louise Harrison was attending her first meeting of the Authority since her appointment as Chief Fire Officer. Louise commenced employment on Monday 4 December. Louise has over 30 years of experience working in public safety, most recently working at Executive level as the Director of Operations within the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.

On 21 November, HMI Wilsher wrote to the Chairman inviting him to attend the Fire Performance Oversight Group (FPOG) in February/March 2024, along with the Chief Fire Officer. This was alongside a notification to the interim Chief Fire Officer that HMICFRS had decided to move the Service into its ‘engage’ phase of monitoring.  The FPOG will assist the Service in addressing the causes of concern raised during the recent HMI report and includes representatives from HMICFRS, Home Office, NFCC and LGA.

On 1 November, the Chairman attended an HMICFRS event for Chairs and Chief Fire Officers.  The event covered overall themes from recent findings, a speech from the Policing and Fire Minister and discussions on priorities for future thematic reviews.

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Summit (AISS) 2023 took place on the 1 and 2 November at Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes Buckinghamshire. A significant location in the history of computer science development and once the home of British Enigma codebreaking. The AISS brought together international governments, leading AI companies, civil society groups and experts in research to consider the risks of AI, especially at the frontier of development, and discuss how they can be mitigated through internationally coordinated action.  BFRS were tasked with providing critical support for the operation put in place to organise the AI Safety Summit. This operation required meticulous coordination, resource allocation and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. BFRS assembled a dedicated team of experts within our service, each responsible for a specific aspect of the support required, tasking roles to over 20 members of staff.  To help facilitate the multi-agency operation, the Blue Light Hub was transformed into a Gold Multi-Agency Command Centre, where strategic leaders and important participants from Thames Valley Police (TVP), South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS), Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), and Milton Keynes City Council (MKCC) co-located. Making effective use of meeting spaces, breakout areas, and the surrounding station premises.

Work is now well underway at Service headquarters to exit the leased Unit 7 building. Meeting room 1 has been temporarily reconfigured into office space, to progress adaptations within the headquarters building itself. Thank you to Members of the Authority for agreeing to convene the Authority meeting here at the Blue Light Hub, and special thanks for the patience of all staff who will experience disruption whilst the necessary works take place at the headquarters site.

There was a recent completion of a full hardware technical refresh of the Vision Mobilising system in the Thames Valley Fire Control Service. This replaces the equipment installed from the initial go live in 2015 and sustains the control room until 2030. Special thanks to Megan Carroll for her hard work to ensure BFRS had a smooth transition.

The Long Service Awards Ceremony was held on Thursday 16 November at the Gateway in Aylesbury. The event was well attended with family, friends, Members of the Fire Authority, the senior leadership team and our newly appointed Chief Fire Officer, all celebrating the achievements of those receiving their Long Service and Good Conduct medals and Long Service Certificates. The Awards were presented by Countess Howe, His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, who gave a moving speech highlighting some of the achievements of the Service.

On Saturday 18 November, the Blue Light Hub hosted a visit from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Honourable Jeremy Hunt MP, who was accompanied by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Laura Trott MBE MP. Both Treasury Ministers met in private with senior leaders from Thames Valley Police, South Central Ambulance Service and Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (Mark Hemming our Director of Finance and Assets). After a cup of tea and a chat with front line staff from all three services, they were given a tour of the Hub and had a look around some of the emergency appliances. Both Ministers were really engaged with those that they met, discussing productivity and how to remove burdensome processes, such as administrative tasks, to create greater capacity, this ahead of delivering the Government’s Autumn Statement. 

Five employees attended the Asian Fire Service Association (AFSA) winter conference hosted by West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in Leeds on 22 and 23 November.  Speakers from the Police, Fire, HMICFRS and private sector organisations – Getaway Girls, Black Solicitors, Motorola, Happy Eva After as well as individuals speaking about their personal struggles/addictions. They spoke about their EDI journey, Values and Culture, lived experience, how they have made a difference to organisations, support and how delegates can make a difference too. There were opportunities for networking, sharing best practice and attending workshops on accessibility, purpose, employment vetting, LGBT staff networks, challenging bullying, harassment and discrimination and workplace culture. The fifteenth Annual Personal Fair and Diverse awards dinner celebrated AFSA members in the following areas – Equality role model, Partnerships, EDI Champion, Positive Action, Addressing Health Inequalities, Going the Extra Mile, Charity, Service to AFSA, Shining Light and Special Recognition. AFSA have produced an employee resource on “Working Life during Ramadan Month”  it is packed full of useful information, we have a copy for each station and HQ and plan to distribute them soon.

Saturday 25 November was national White Ribbon Day and this is followed by ’16 Days of Activism’. The Service achieved White Ribbon accreditation in August of this year and since then, a small group has been planning a schedule of activities around White Ribbon Day and the subsequent fortnight. Members of staff have held a number of events so far, these have included inviting representatives and their children from Wycombe Women’s Aid into High Wycombe station for a visit; an engagement session as the M40 Service area at Beaconsfield where we invited members of the public to make the White Ribbon promise; input into training events and drop-in sessions at Aylesbury fire station.  Attendance has also been made at the White Ribbon Vigil held at the MK Gallery and MK Rose and at various other external events including dialling into national podcasts. Work will begin to develop our Service three year action plan in the New Year.  In the meantime, I would encourage anyone who has not already done so, to make the White Ribbon Promise and wear the White Ribbon badge.

A reminder that the annual Christmas Carol Service takes place tomorrow night (Thursday 7 December) at 7.30pm, at St Mary’s Church in Aylesbury, all are welcome to attend.

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.