Agenda and minutes

Standing item.

The Chairman welcomed all Members to the meeting.  He expressed his thanks and gave best wishes on behalf of the Authority to County Councillors Ken Brown, Niki Penney and Ron Shewan who would be retiring as County Councillors and thereby CFA Members at the County elections this year.

Apologies were received from County Councillors P Britcliffe and J Sumner.

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.

RESOLVED: - That the Minutes of the CFA held on 20 February 2017 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

RESOLVED: - That the proceedings of the Performance Committee held on 16 March 2017 be noted.

RESOLVED: - That the proceedings of the Planning Committee held on 20 March 2017 be noted.

RESOLVED: - That the proceedings of the Resources Committee held on 29 March 2017 be noted.

RESOLVED: - That the proceedings of the Audit Committee held on 30 March 2017 be noted.

The Clerk to the Authority had received formal notification from Lancashire County Council (LCC) that its County Councillors ceased to be Members of the Combined Fire Authority (CFA) during an election year at the point when they retired from their term of office as governed by section 7(1) of the Local government Act 1972.  This applied irrespective of whether they were re-elected and covered the period up to the County Council’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) which for this year was from 9 May 2017 - 25 May 2017. 

In line with the Members’ Allowance Scheme, the payment of basic and special responsibility allowances shall be paid pro rata.  Allowances for County Councillors would therefore cease with effect from 9 May 2017.  County Councillors who were appointed to serve on the CFA at LCCs AGM would receive their basic allowance from 25 May 2017 onwards with special responsibility allowances payable from the Authority’s AGM as appropriate.

It was noted that the Clerk had considered the implications of this on the status of councillors representing the unitary authorities and had determined that these arrangements applied to all constituent authorities during election years.

In addition, the Authority needed to ensure there were adequate arrangements to enable any urgent decisions to be taken between the date of the County Council Elections (Thursday 4 May 2017) and the CFA Annual Meeting (Monday 19 June 2017) in the event of the Chairman and Vice?Chairman not being re-elected.

RESOLVED: - That the Authority:

(i)     Noted the status of Councillors during the period following any local elections and the date of constituent authorities’ Annual General Meetings including the impact on the payment of Members’ Allowances with particular reference this year to Lancashire County Council Members; and

(ii)    Authorised the Chief Fire Officer and the Clerk to the Authority to take any urgent decisions upon any matters arising between the date of the Lancashire County Council elections and the CFA Annual Meeting, in the event of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman not being re-elected.

The Assistant Chief Fire Officer presented a report that informed Members of existing commitments to the UK International Search and Rescue Team and additional responsibilities following the introduction of a new logistics role supporting the UK Emergency Medical Team.

RESOLVED: - That the Authority approved the continued involvement and commitment to UK International Search and Rescue Team and supported the wider functions as now presented in the report.

In December 2007 the Authority introduced the ‘Champion’ role and allocated a notional budget per Member in respect of 4 subject areas.  These positions were currently filled by: -

·        Equality and Diversity – County Councillor Terry Aldridge;

·        Older People – County Councillor Mark Perks;

·        Environment – County Councillor Ken Brown;

·        Road Safety – Councillor Fred Jackson.

Reports relating to the activity of the Member Champions were provided on a quarterly basis to the Authority.  This report related to activity for the period up to March 2017.  During this period all had undertaken their respective roles in accordance with the defined terms of reference.

CC Perks suggested and it was agreed that Jane Williams attend a future CFA meeting to present to Members details of the excellent work that the Service was doing regarding Dementia.

Councillor Jackson felt that road safety prevention work had reduced the number of casualties on the roads in Lancashire and gave thanks to all those who participated in this work. Councillor M Khan felt that road safety was something very important for everyone and commended the Safe Drive Stay Alive presentation events which had been delivered recently in Blackburn by parents and partners.  Councillor M Khan welcomed a change in the law which came into force today which would see tougher penalties (points, bans and fines) for speeding.  Councillor Khan also asked that Councillor Jackson consider stronger links with the NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups who had a target to reduce deaths on the road in Blackburn with Darwen.

RESOLVED: - That the Authority noted the report and acknowledged the work of the respective Champions.

A report detailing prosecutions in respect of fire safety management failures and arson incidents within the period 1 February 2017 to 1 April 2017 was provided.  There was 1 successfully completed prosecution under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 which related to a house of multiple-occupancy; this was subject to an appeal.

Members considered the information appended to the report which detailed how the primary authority scheme had progressed to include new areas of regulation and to businesses that shared a common approach to compliance.

Fire protection and business support information were provided together with details relating to 3 arson convictions during the period.

RESOLVED: - that the Authority noted the report.

This report included information for the 2 Unitary and 12 District Authorities relating to Fire Safety Initiatives and Fires and Incidents of particular interest.

As part of the report Members received a presentation by Group Manager Neil Taylor who was incident commander at a large fire at Alston Hall, a grade 2 heritage building in Longridge on 15 March 2017.

In response to a query raised by CC S Holgate, Members were reassured that ‘persons reported’ incidents were processed as a priority through the control room systems and there had been no performance issues identified in terms of mobilising to the incident.

CC A Barnes queried whether the Fire Service was kept informed when large buildings owned by Lancashire County Council (such as Alston Hall) were vacated and whether support was provided to new, (possible community group) occupiers.  The Assistant Chief Fire Officer confirmed that the Service was not made aware of the sale of large buildings but this was possibly something that could be explored.  He reassured Members that business support and fire safety advice was provided to building owners as required.  The Deputy Chief Fire Officer added that, as detailed on page 88 of the agenda pack, the Service had a business support plus website that was specifically designed to provide business owners and responsible persons with comprehensive advice and guidance which also included additional sources for further advice.

In response to a question raised by CC Crompton regarding the impact of the fire on the environment, GM Taylor confirmed that in using the water from the ornamental pond the vast majority of pond life would have been held back by the filter and all the pond water was not used.  In addition, it was usual practice for a risk assessment to be carried out on the effect on the environment of the contaminated fire water which in this case was drained into another ornamental pond at the rear of the premises.

In relation to page 121 of the report, CC Shedwick commended staff involved in the rescue of a workman who suffered a blackout while working at height.

RESOLVED: - That the Authority noted and endorsed the report.

Oral report.

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that there had been no complaints since the last meeting.

RESOLVED: - That the current position be noted.

The next meeting of the Authority will be held on Monday 19 June 2017 at 1000 hours at Washington Hall Training Centre, Euxton.

The next meeting of the Authority would be held on Monday 19 June 2017 at 10:00am at the Training Centre, Euxton.