Agenda and minutes

The Clerk invited nominations for the appointment of Chairman and County Councillor De Molfetta was nominated for 2019/20.  No further nominations were received. 

RESOLVED: - That County Councillor De Molfetta be appointed Chairman of the Combined Fire Authority (CFA) for 2019/20.

The Chairman invited nominations for the appointment of Vice-Chairman and County Councillor Parkinson was nominated for 2019/20.  No further nominations were received. 

RESOLVED: - That County Councillor Parkinson be appointed Vice-Chairman of the CFA for 2019/20.

Standing item.

The Chairman was pleased to announce that the Vice-Chairman, County Councillor Parkinson had been awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his Political Service in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

The Chairman welcomed County Councillor Hasina Khan from Lancashire County Council to the Authority who had replaced County Councillor Matthew Tomlinson.  He also welcomed County Councillor John Fillis who had replaced County Councillor Lorraine Beavers.  On behalf of the Authority, the Chairman gave thanks to Matthew and Lorraine for their contributions to the work of the Authority during the past year. 

The Chairman announced that he had received an invitation from Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service for Members to attend a joint visit to North West Fire Control on Friday 19 July 2019.  Any Members who wished to attend were asked to notify Democratic Services.

The Chairman also announced that this year the Mayoral Networking Day would be a Joint Emergency Services Fun Day held at Service Training Centre, Euxton on Saturday 20 July 2019 which was open for the public to attend from 10:30am – 4:30pm.  Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service along with partners from North West Ambulance Service, Lancashire Constabulary, Bolton Mountain Rescue, Blood Bikes, Air Ambulance, Fire Investigation Dogs, Urban Search and Rescue and others would be in attendance on the day. 

RESOLVED: - That the Composition approved by the 3 Constituent Authorities for 2019/20 for the Combined Fire Authority be noted and endorsed, and the new Members appointed by Lancashire County Council to serve on the CFA for 2019/20 be welcomed.

Apologies were received from County Councillors D O’Toole, S Clarke, J Eaton, A Kay, D Stansfield and G Wilkins and Councillors S Blackburn and T Williams.

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.

The Chairman, County Councillor De Molfetta presented the proposed Chairmen and Vice?Chairmen for the Authority's Committees. 

He also confirmed that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Strategy Group were the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Authority.

RESOLVED: - 

(1) That in accordance with Standing Order 5.1(b) of the Authority, the following Members be appointed as Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of Committees of the CFA for 2019/20.

(i)  Appeals                      Chairman             County Councillor J Fillis

                                          Vice-Chairman    County Councillor G Wilkins

(ii)  Audit                           Chairman             County Councillor N Hennessy

                                          Vice-Chairman    County Councillor J Shedwick

(iii)  Performance            Chairman             County Councillor S Holgate

                                          Vice-Chairman    Councillor M Khan

(iv)  Planning                    Chairman             County Councillor M Parkinson

                                          Vice-Chairman    Councillor F Jackson        

(v)  Resources                 Chairman             County Councillor F De Molfetta

                                          Vice-Chairman    County Councillor T Martin

(2)  That Councillor D Smith be appointed as Chairman and County Councillor I Brown be appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Member Training and Development Working Group for 2019/20.

(3) That County Councillor D O'Toole be appointed as Chairman of the Injury Pensions Sub-Committee for 2019/20.

(4) That the Authority confirmed appointment of the following four Member Champions for 2019/20:-

·        Community Safety - County Councillor Mark Perks;

·        Equality, Diversity and Inclusion - Councillor Zamir Khan;

·        Health & Wellbeing - County Councillor Hasina Khan;

·        Road Safety - Councillor F Jackson.

The Authority was requested to determine its representation on outside bodies for the 2019/20 municipal year.

RESOLVED:- 

i)       That the County Councillor F De Molfetta, Chairman of the Authority is authorised to cast the Authority’s vote at the LGA Annual General Assembly;

ii)     That County Councillors F De Molfetta and M Parkinson (as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Authority) be appointed to the Local Government Association Fire Commission;

iii)    That County Councillor De Molfetta, Chairman of the Authority can authorise additional representation(s) to either the LGA Fire Commission or the Fire Services Management Committee as appropriate;

iv)    That 2 members of the Labour Group and 1 member of the Conservative Group (County Councillors F De Molfetta, M Parkinson and D O’Toole, as Chairman, Vice-Chairman and main Opposition Spokesperson) be appointed to serve as representatives on the North West Fire Forum for 2019/20.

v)      That County Councillors F De Molfetta and M Parkinson (as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Authority) be appointed as North West Fire Control Directors for 2019/20.

RESOLVED: - That the Minutes of the CFA held on 29 April 2019 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

In response to a question raised by County Councillor Oades regarding Section 31 grant in respect of business rates relief, the Director of Corporate Services confirmed that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) had not issued guidance explaining a revised funding formula for pilot pools.  This had been queried and response had now been received from MHCLG confirming that the Authority’s share of the shortfall, which was £273k would be provided on condition that this was included in the budget and that the Authority required the income.

RESOLVED: - That the proceedings of the Resources Committee held on 29 May 2019 be noted and endorsed.

RESOLVED: -   That the proposed programme of meetings for the Combined Fire Authority for 2019/20 and 2020/21 be agreed as: - 

2019/20

29 April 2019

17 June 2019 (Annual Meeting of the CFA)

16 September 2019

16 December 2019

24 February 2020 (Budget Meeting)

2020/21

27 April 2020

15 June 2020 (Annual meeting of the CFA)

14 September 2020

14 December 2020

22 February 2021 (Budget Setting Meeting)

Chapter 7 of Part 1 of the Localism Act 2011 made provision in relation to standards matters.  The Authority had a duty to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by Members and co-opted Members which included the appointment of one or more Independent Persons.

At its meeting held 19 June 2017 Mrs Hilary Banks was re-appointed to the role of Independent Person for a further term of 2 years, continuing in that role until June 2019 with the option for Mrs Banks to continue to hold office after that date if the Authority so wished and she was prepared to do so (resolution 12/17 refers).  The Authority was asked to consider formally extending the period of office for a further period of 2 years.

RESOLVED: -   That the Authority re-appointed Mrs Hilary Banks as the Authority’s Independent Person as required by the Localism Act for further a period of 2 years thereby continuing in that role until the CFA AGM in June 2021 with an option to continue to hold office after that date if the Authority so wished and Mrs Banks was so prepared.

Verbal report.

The Director of People and Development advised that David Russel had been appointed as Deputy Chief Fire Officer on 7 May 2019 and the post of Assistant Chief Fire Officer was in the process of being recruited to.  In the meantime, Area Manager Ben Norman would be acting in the post.

RESOLVED: - That the report be noted and endorsed.

The Authority considered the Annual Safety, Health and Environment Report for Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service covering the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019.

As the body with ultimate responsibility for staff health, safety and environmental compliance it was important that all CFA Members were aware of performance in this respect. The report therefore provided a summary of key actions, overall progress and outturn performance in respect of accidents and near misses and carbon emissions, together with a look forward.

The report summarised the arrangements in place to deliver the Service's Safety, Health and Environment Policy and provided a summary of safety, health and environment performance data.  It included the reporting on occupational safety, health and environmental issues that had arisen during the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019.

The Director of People and Development was pleased to report that the Service had again seen a very positive year in terms of overall safety, health and environment performance. 

External Audit

Since initial certification in November 2011 annual surveillance visits had been conducted with re?certification every 3 years to maintain external certification of the Health and Safety and Environment Management Systems.  In February 2019 the auditor from British Assessment Bureau carried out a surveillance audit for ISO 14001:2015 and they also carried out an audit against a new health and safety standard ISO 45001:2018 (formerly OHSAS 18001:2007).  The scope for both standards was ‘The Provision of Fire, Rescue and Supporting Services across Lancashire’.  This included all operational activity with visits to fire stations that operated different duty systems and to a number of supporting departments.  Continued certification was granted without any non-conformance or opportunities for improvement identified. 

During the audit process, complimentary comments had been received from the auditor which included:

·        The systems were fantastic;

·        The health and safety and environmental management systems were consistent across all sites;

·        Health and Safety Consultation arrangements with the Fire Brigades Union were good;

·        The Recruitment Process was well managed;

·        LFRS was committed to continual improvement; and

·        Staff showed commitment and were friendly and enthusiastic.

Improvement

Areas for improvement identified by staff had been developed into an Improvement Action Plan which would be taken forward through the Service’s Health, Safety and Environment Advisory Group.  The report included examples of improvements carried out during 2018/19.

Health and Safety Performance

During 2018/19 there were 73 accidents, 109 near misses and 10 RIDDOR events.  The report provided a summary of the total accident and ill-health statistics for 2018/19.  A comparison against previous performance showed the continued reduction of accidents and positive increase in near miss reporting. 

Health and Wellbeing

The management of sickness absence for 2018/19 showed that musculoskeletal and mental health related conditions accounted for 53% of all sickness absence.  In total there were 732 sickness absence cases resulting in 8,737 working days lost within the service, 219 musculoskeletal related absences gave rise to 3,595 working days lost and 31 mental health related absence resulted in 997 working days lost.  In order to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14/19

At its meeting held 20 June 2016 the Authority adopted a formal Policy on Dealing with Habitual and Vexatious Complaints (resolution 13/16 refers) which was fair and proportionate, yet which did not prevent genuine complaints from being properly investigated and fair and equitable outcomes promulgated. 

On an annual basis the Clerk and Chief Fire Officer reviewed the status of complainants judged to be unreasonably persistent or vexatious and reported this to the Authority.  In addition, each year the Clerk reviewed the Policy, as now presented.  This year’s review concluded that the effectiveness of the Policy was demonstrable, accordingly the Policy remained appropriate, proportionate and effective to the needs of Members, Officers and staff.

During the previous 12 months there had been no complainants who were judged to be unreasonably persistent or vexatious. 

In response to a question by County Councillor Britcliffe, the Clerk confirmed that the decision to consider a complainant to be habitual or vexatious was taken together by the Clerk and Chief Fire Officer after what had usually been a sustained period of time and after notice had been given to the complainant that they may be considered under this policy.

RESOLVED: - That the report be noted and endorsed.

A report detailing prosecutions in respect of fire safety management failures and arson related incidents within the period April and May 2019 was provided.  There was one case reported where the sentencing would take place later in the month and details of a case where a simple caution had been issued.  Pre-trial work continued with ongoing cases.  Fire protection and business support information was provided and Members noted that the Service was awaiting the outcomes from court cases in relation to arson cases during the period.

RESOLVED: - That the Authority noted and endorsed 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 on the Service’s response to large fire at a recycling centre in Preston in January 2019.  The Chairman, on behalf of the Authority expressed thanks to all those involved for their work in making Lancashire safer.  In response to a question raised by County Councillor Hennessy, Group Manager Taylor confirmed that the stinger (water tower) appliance had been first class in its performance at the incident and at other large fires.  The appliance improved firefighter safety, assisted the faster containment and extinguishment of the fire and its enhanced pumping capability reduced the number of appliances required at the incident.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that the Community Fire Safety Report provided detailed work undertaken across all districts in relation to the National Fire Chief Council drowning prevention and water safety campaign which ran from 29 April – 5 May 2019.  The campaign aimed to raise awareness of the risk of accidental drowning which County Councillor Mark Perks, as Community Safety Champion had been a valued advocate for. 

In relation to Chorley district report on page 69 of the agenda pack, County Councillor Perks advised that there had been a discussion at a previous Performance Committee around how the greater use of posters could raise public awareness of risk.  He was really pleased to see in Chorley, particularly during water safety week that there were posters in places where people did go into the water.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer also advised that in May, 3 Lancashire Fire Cadets went through to the regional final of the North West IFE under 18 Lecturette which was held at UCLAN.  Each fire cadet presented on a fire related topic.  The Deputy Chief Fire Officer was pleased to announce that the winner was Dylan Fox from Skelmersdale.

Members then considered the content of the report.

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

Standing item.

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 16 September 2019 at 1000 hours at Washington Hall Training Centre, Euxton.

The next meeting of the Authority would be held on Monday 16 September 2019 at 10:00am at the Training Centre, Euxton.