Agenda and minutes

The Chairman, County Councillor Hennessy, thanked County Councillor Parkinson for his dedication and diligence as the former Chairman of this Committee. 

County Councillor Hennessy then welcomed Authority Members and members of the press and public to the virtual committee meeting of the Planning Committee.  She advised that in response to the Covid-19 Pandemic the Government had made regulations that enabled virtual meetings.  This meeting was accessible for Committee Members via Microsoft Teams and for members of the press and public via a live webcast on YouTube.

The Committee Members individually confirmed their attendance at the start of the meeting.

None received.

Members are asked to consider any pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the agenda.

None received.

In relation to page 4, regarding the establishment of a wildfire burn team, County Councillor Eaton wanted to express his thanks to the staff team where their successful interventions at several incidents resulted in prevention of further fire spread and no reported injuries.

In relation to page 5, regarding the tools to improve the appraisal conversation, County Councillor Hennessy queried whether the 360° appraisal tool had been launched.  In response, the Chief Fire Officer confirmed that this had been launched, starting with the senior management and this would be extended throughout the Service over the forthcoming months.

In relation to page 7, regarding collaboration with other public services, County Councillor Hennessy requested an update on site sharing opportunities.  In response the Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that most of the former, non-covid work had slowed (as detailed later on the agenda) and consideration was currently being given as to whether fire stations could be used in support of the vaccination programme.

In relation to page 9, and County Councillor Shedwick’s request at the previous meeting for detail regarding ongoing vacancies across all on-call stations, he confirmed that the information was received immediately and at July there were 43 vacancies across the fleet of 32 on-call pumps.  He requested that if there were any significant changes in future that he be advised as a matter of course.

In relation to page 13, County Councillor Hennessy requested a further update on how the Service was preparing for any potential second wave of the pandemic in the winter months, particularly the level of physical and mental wellbeing support provided to staff.  In response the Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that from a business continuity planning point of view staff absence had been predicted including how best to mitigate this; work continued with representative bodies and health and safety consultation meetings to keep staff absence as low as possible.  For example, normal absence rate was around 40 staff at any given time which increased in the winter months due to seasonal flu however, at the moment due to self-isolation this had slightly increased to around 60 staff. He assured Members that the measures that had been put in place ensured pump availability and response to incidents was high.  In addition, he confirmed that training for staff on operational fire stations continued where it was safety critical and other training had been reviewed and amended where possible including delivering digital training sessions to new fire safety enforcement staff and the digital delivery of fire safety training in schools.  With respect to wellbeing, the Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer confirmed that the core support from Occupational Health and Human Resources continued and there were regular staff dial-ins for staff to discuss concerns or key topics with managers.  Feedback on this had been strong in relation to wellbeing provision and there was currently a survey open at the moment which should provide further reassurance once it had concluded.

RESOLVED: - That the Minutes of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38/19

The Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer presented the report.  At the previous meeting Members discussed a high level of detail with regards to the Fire Safety Bill (due Royal Assent in January 2021) and Building Safety Bill (due Royal Assent in 2021/22) and endorsed the proposed internal restructuring necessary to underpin the transformation plan to ensure that Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) was well positioned to deliver Fire Protection duties in accordance with the new legislation and associated best practice (resolution 31/19 refers). 

This included the introduction of a strategic lead at Head of Department level for Prevention and Protection. It was noted that following an internal and external recruitment and selection process, Group Manager Mark Hutton was successfully appointed to the Area Manager level post and he would commence in role from 1 December 2020. This change enabled the Head of Prevention and Protection sufficient capacity to lead the Prevention and Protection functions in a manner commensurate with the expectations of the Building a Safer Future Report, which would place LFRS in a strong position to deliver the National Fire Chief Council Competency Framework and successfully implement requirements under the new Fire Safety Bill and Building Safety Bill.  The Protection Reform related changes provided an opportunity to review the areas of responsibility and associated resources within the Director of Service Delivery and Director of Strategy and Planning portfolios. 

It was proposed that the new Area Manager Prevention and Protection would operate within the Director of Service Delivery portfolio which would result in all aspects of Prevention and Protection policy and delivery sitting within the same functional area. This was a change from the current position whereby Protection and Prevention policy was shaped within the Strategy and Planning team and subsequent prevention delivery operated from Service Delivery.

To further strengthen capacity within the Prevention and Protection area it was proposed that LFRS established a new dedicated Group Manager for Protection (with a temporary Protection transformation team) and a repurposing of the Group Manager (GM) (Central Area) to become the GM Prevention, to continue to lead Fire Investigation, Road Safety, Prevention policy plus all Youth Engagement activities.

It was further proposed that the Area Manager, Head of Training and Operational Review be re-aligned to the Director of Strategy and Planning portfolio in order to bring closer alignment between the key areas of training specification, operational learning and competence, to the operational policy elements delivered by the Response and Emergency Planning team.

The Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that, subject to Committee approval, it was proposed to move to the new structure with effect from 1 January 2021 which would align with the arrival of the new Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Steve Healey who would have responsibility for this work as Director of Service Delivery.  Members considered the diagrams on page 17 and 18 which set out the proposed structure changes and a number of councillors commented that it would have been helpful to have a key to the acronyms  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39/19

The Acting Assistant Chief Fire Officer presented the report.  Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspection of Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) was due to be conducted in April/May 2020. This was suspended due to the recall of staff within HMICFRS returning to their own Fire and Rescue Services to plan and manage the implications of the Covid-19 outbreak.

During this period the Service’s Liaison Officer, Charlene Johnston had maintained contact with Service Liaison Lead (SLL), Jo Hayden by having two weekly conversations to update on how the Service was managing the pandemic in Lancashire and to inform her understanding on how the Service operated.  Jo Hayden returned to HMICFRS on 29 June this year, however there would be a period of time during which the HMICFRS would continue work to re?populate their inspection teams and a full inspection was not expected to take place until far into 2021.

Covid-19 Thematic Inspection

HMICFRS were legislated to report on Fire and Rescue Services annually and announced, as expected, that they would be conducting a Covid-19 Thematic Inspection of all Fire and Rescue Services. This would be an ungraded sub-diagnostic under the forthcoming but delayed round 2 inspection programme.

The inspection of LFRS took place over two weeks commencing 28 September and involved a data return and self-assessment survey followed by digital interviews with key staff members. The HMICFRS Service Liaison Lead met, via Microsoft Teams, with the Group Manager Prevention and Protection, Group Manager Response and Emergency Planning, Director of People and Development, Director of Corporate Services, Group Manager Training and Operational Review, and Head of Safety, Health and Environment as well as the Chief Fire Officer and Combined Fire Authority Chairman.

The inspection was light touch and looked at how Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service delivered its functions safely and how it worked for the greater good of the community alongside partners.

It was noted that the inspection of other Fire and Rescue Services would conclude in December, at which point the Service would receive a letter from HMICFRS detailing results with a full thematic report covering all Services expected in January 2021.

As yet there were no indications as to when the round two inspections would commence which would depend on the Covid-19 situation nationally.

In response to a question raised by County Councillor Hennessy, the Acting Assistant Chief Fire Officer confirmed that the data return was similar to those submitted on a biannual basis (in spring and autumn) which focussed on the Service’s ability to deliver some of its duties (to understand the impact of the pandemic).  Throughout the pandemic the Service had dynamically assessed the consequences of both Government and NHS Public Health guidance to ensure a balance between delivering an effective Service (using different technologies and methods where appropriate) and the protection of staff wellbeing.  He confirmed that broadly the data set spanned those topics.  Since then the autumn data had been submitted which assessed staffing, types of facilities  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40/19

The Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer presented the report.  The quarterly Blue Light Collaboration (BLC) meetings had largely been placed on hold due to the ongoing support provided by the blue light agencies to Lancashire Resilience Forum (LRF) in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the increased internal pressures felt by the three blue light organisations in adapting and responding to the ever-changing and demanding operational landscape. It was noted that there were some exceptions in relation to the progression of some long-term pieces of work (including meeting infrequently in relation to fire investigation and the International Standards Organisation for accreditation alongside the National Fire Chiefs Council and National Police Chiefs Council).

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) and partners had entered into an amended working relationship where areas which were not previously highlighted through the BLC had continued to gather pace, evolve and be delivered to support the multi-agency response to Covid-19.

Many areas of delivery that had been supported (or would be supported if requested) were closely linked with the tripartite agreement (NFCC, Employers and FBU) which was constantly evolving.

To date, LFRS had been involved in the preparations for, or delivery of, the following:

•      Face fitting for masks to be used by frontline NHS and clinical care staff working with Covid-19 patients;

•      Mass casualty transportation (movement of bodies in support of Coroner functions);

•      Vulnerable person contacts and visits (delivery of essential items);

•      Delivery of PPE and other medical supplies to NHS and care facilities;

•      Lead agency for collating all PPE requirements through the Joint Intelligence and Planning Group.

In terms of support to the LRF, the Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer chaired the Response and Containment Group and there were a number of officers embedded within the various LRF sub-groups, delivering leadership and co-ordination to these teams. At present there was an Emergency Planning Watch Manager and Station Manger supporting the county?wide response. 

The Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that there were discussions ongoing currently as to whether any second wave would require the Service to: i) support local authorities to distribute PPE as it had previously (with the Training Centre acting as a distribution centre); ii) retrain staff regarding transportation of the deceased; and, iii) support partners in the provision of the vaccination programme which was expected to start for the most vulnerable in the next few weeks and conclude by spring.  In addition, early conversations were being held whether staff who were first aid trained could be upskilled to deliver vaccinations.

All activity was being collated within the collaboration log which would provide an overview of outcomes delivered and benefits realised, and would form a definitive evidence base for any future HMICFRS inspections. The evidence also informed some aspects of a collaboration review report being delivered by Shared Architect Services, through which it was expected that further beneficial collaboration opportunities could be identified and explored.

In conjunction with partners the joint collaboration officer post was being reviewed,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41/19

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee has been agreed for 10:00 hours on 8 February 2021 – venue to be confirmed.

Further meetings are proposed for 12 July 2021 and 15 November 2021

The next meeting of the Committee would be held on 8 February 2021 at 10:00 hours – venue to be confirmed.

Further meeting dates were agreed for 12 July 2021 and 15 November 2021.