Lancashire Combined Fire Authority
Meeting to be held on Monday 16 September 2024
Proposed Amendment to Committee Terms of Reference
(Appendix 1-5 refers)
Contact for further information: Mark Nolan, Clerk and Monitoring Officer
Telephone: 01772 866720
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Executive Summary
The Authority last reviewed the terms of reference of all its committees in April 2018 (resolution 89/17 refers), the Resources Committee in October 2022 (resolution 29/22 refers) and the Resources, Performance and Planning Committees in June 2024 (resolution 14/24 refers).
Members are asked to consider an amendment to the Terms of Reference of the Committees of the Authority, following notification by external audit to the Clerk to the Authority in July 2024 that a recommendation had been made in last year’s Audit Report to include unambiguous guidance around the circumstances in which the respective Committees were quorate, and the arrangements for circumstances when the Committees were inquorate.
Further changes to the Resources Committee recruitment arrangements have been deemed necessary to ensure that as many members as possible are potentially available to the Committee, to enable it to proceed with selecting recruitment panels, when making appointments to the Executive Board, save and except for the appointment of the Chief Fire Officer, the Clerk to the Authority and the Treasurer to the Authority, which are appointments reserved to the full Authority, by the Constitutional and Procedural Standing Orders.
Recommendation
The Authority is asked to approve the amendment to the revised terms of reference for the Committees, as outlined at Appendices 1-5 inclusive.
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Information
The recommendation, following an external audit, is for the respective committees of the Authority to include in their Terms of Reference the basis on which each respective committee would be quorate and therefore able to transact business, as well as the arrangements should the committee not be quorate. This would remove any scope for uncertainty in the event several members were unable to attend and gives direction to the Chair of the affected committee to ensure the correct outcome in those circumstances. This will ensure that governance of the Authority and the business conducted in its Committees remains resilient and robust.
With regard to specific changes to the Resources Committee recruitment arrangements, Members will be aware that as busy professionals it can often be difficult to organise a recruitment sub-committee that must have no less than three elected members and also must be politically balanced under the current Terms of Reference. By enabling the Resources Committee to cast its net wider than the Resources Committee, this will enable the Authority to expedite any recruitment practices, especially in the event of an emergency or if action is required quickly, to avoid any impact that additional delay may have upon the ability of the Authority and the Service to conduct business. Such change would serve to improve resilience.
Business Risk
Governance arrangements form a key element of the control framework within which the Authority operates. The changes proposed are merely procedural and do not impact on the effectiveness of this.
Environmental Impact
None identified
Equality and Diversity Implications
None identified
HR Implications
None identified
Financial Implications
None identified
Paper: Report to CFA and subsequent minute 14/24
Date: 24 June 2024
Contact: Clerk and Monitoring Officer to the Authority
Reason for inclusion in Part 2 if appropriate: N/A
Paper: Report to CFA and subsequent minute 29/22
Date: 3 October 2022
Contact: Clerk and Monitoring Officer to the Authority
Reason for inclusion in Part 2 if appropriate: N/A
Paper: Report to CFA and subsequent minute 89/17
Date: 23 April 2018
Contact: Clerk and Monitoring Officer to the Authority
Reason for inclusion in Part 2 if appropriate: N/A