Agenda and minutes

The Clerk invited nominations for the appointment of Chair for 2024/25. County Councillor Singleton proposed County Councillor O’Toole which was seconded by County Councillor Woollam. County Councillor Serridge proposed County Councillor Hennessy which was seconded by Councillor Hugo. The Clerk held a named vote with the second nomination; County Councillor Hennessy taken first, 14 members voted in favour and 11 against. 

The motion was therefore CARRIED and it was:

Resolved: That County Councillor Hennessy be appointed Chair of the Combined Fire Authority for 2024/25.

The Chair invited nominations for the appointment of Vice-Chair for 2024/25. County Councillor Hennessy proposed County Councillor Serridge which was seconded by County Councillor Z Khan MBE. County Councillor Clarke proposed County Councillor Shedwick which was seconded by Councillor Hurn. The Clerk held a named vote with the second nomination; County Councillor Shedwick taken first, 11 voted in favour and 14 against. The Clerk then held a named vote for the first nomination; County Councillor Serridge, 15 members voted in favour, 7 against and 3 abstained.

The motion was therefore CARRIED and it was:

Resolved: That Country Councillor Serridge be appointed Vice-Chair of the Combined Fire Authority for 2024/25.

Standing item.

The Chair thanked Members for their support and took the opportunity to thank the outgoing Chair, County Councillor O’Toole for his professionalism, enthusiasm, and love of the Combined Fire Authority (CFA). She recognised that both County Councillors O’Toole and Shedwick had been very respectful of her position as spokesperson for the majority opposition.

The Chair acknowledged that there would be a period of change for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) with the retirement of both the Chief Fire Officer (CFO) and Director of People and Development, and plans to build a world class Training Centre.

The Chair welcomed County Councillor Serridge as Vice Chair of the authority and took the opportunity to welcome returning Member Frank De Molfetta, and new Members County Councillor’s Usman Arif, Mark Clifford, and Blackburn with Darwen Council Member, Councillor Mustafa Desai. She highlighted, especially for new Members, the value of attending the Leadership Essentials – Fire and Rescue training available through the Local Government Association (LGA).

Resolved: That the Composition approved by the 3 Constituent Authorities for 2024/25 for the Combined Fire Authority be noted and endorsed, and the new Members appointed by Lancashire County Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council to serve on the CFA for 2024/25 be welcomed.

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.

The Chair, County Councillor Hennessy presented the proposed Chairs and Vice?Chairs for the Authority's Committees and Working Groups. The Chair proposed an amendment to the Chair and Vice-Chair of Performance Committee with County Councillor Frank De Molfetta proposed as Chair and County Councillor Hasina Khan as Vice-Chair.

It was noted that the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Strategy Group were the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Authority.

In response to a query from Councillor Desai as to whether independent Members would be appointed on committees, the Clerk explained that, due to the political balance of the CFA, parties of a single Member would not be allocated any places on Committees. It was highlighted by the Chair that any Members were welcome to attend committee meetings as member of the public, however, County Councillor Howarth stated that Members should be able to attend as a Member of the Fire Authority and not a member of the public.

Resolved: That in accordance with Standing Order 5.1(b) of the Authority, the following Members be appointed as Chairs and Vice-Chairs of Committees and Working Groups of the CFA for 2024/25:

Appeals Committee                      Chair                  County Councillor M Pattison

                                                         Vice-Chair        County Councillor M Salter

Audit Committee                           Chair                  County Councillor M Clifford

                                                         Vice-Chair        County Councillor J Shedwick

Performance Committee              Chair                 County Councillor F De Molfetta

                                                         Vice-Chair       County Councillor H Khan

Planning Committee                     Chair                 Councillor J Hugo

                                                         Vice-Chair        County Councillor N Hennessy

Resources Committee                 Chair                 County Councillor S Serridge

                                                         Vice-Chair        County Councillor M Pattison

Member Training &                       Chair                 Councillor D Smith

Development Working Group     Vice-Chair        County Councillor S Morris

Resources Sub-Committee         Chair                 County Councillor F De Molfetta

for Injury Pensions

Service HQ Relocation                Chair                  County Councillor D O’Toole

Working Group

ii) That the Authority confirmed appointment of the following four Member Champions for 2024/25 as:-

•   Community Safety – County Councillor Matthew Salter;

•   Equality, Diversity and Inclusion - Councillor Zamir Khan MBE;

•   Health & Wellbeing - County Councillor Hasina Khan;

•   Road Safety – Councillor Fred Jackson.

The Authority was requested to determine its representation on outside bodies for the 2024/25 municipal year.

The Chair approved Councillor Hugo’s request to attend meetings of the Local Government Association pending her reselection for the upcoming year, as previously.

Resolved:

i)     That County Councillor N Hennessy, Chair of the Authority be authorised to cast the Authority’s vote at the LGA Annual General Assembly;

ii)    That County Councillors N Hennessy and S Serridge (as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Authority) be appointed to the Local Government Association Fire Commission;

iii)   That County Councillor N Hennessy, Chair 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 N Hennessy, S Serridge and D O’Toole as Chair, Vice-Chair and main Opposition Spokesperson) be appointed to serve as representatives on the North West Fire Forum for 2024/25;

v)    That County Councillors N Hennessy and S Serridge (as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Authority) be appointed as North West Fire Control Directors for 2024/25.

Resolved: That the Minutes of the last meeting held on 22 April 2024 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

Resolved: That the proceedings of the Planning Committee held on Monday 05 February 2024 be noted and endorsed.

Resolved: That the proceedings of the Performance Committee held on Wednesday 06 March 2024 be noted and endorsed.

Resolved: That the proceedings of the Resources Committee held on Wednesday 27 March 2024 be noted and endorsed.

Resolved: That the proceedings of the Audit Committee held on Thursday 28 March 2024 be noted and endorsed.

The Clerk to the Authority presented a report for Members to consider minor amendments to the Terms of Reference of the Resources, Performance and Planning Committees which represented minor changes to reflect certain recruitment processes being reserved to the full Authority, and to reflect changes in labelling for those committees with responsibilities to the Community Risk Management Plan.

Members were aware that it could be difficult to organise a recruitment sub-committee, despite requiring the appointment of three members, whereby until 2022 seven members were required. In maintaining the requirements of the Constitutional Contractual and Procedural Standing Orders, this would enable the Authority to expedite any recruitment practices, especially in the event of an emergency or if action was required quickly, to avoid any impact that additional delay could have upon the ability of the Authority and the Service to conduct business. Such change would serve to improve resilience and would be consistent with the Constitutional Contractual and Procedural Standing Orders, which also required the appointment of the Chief Fire Officer, Clerk and Treasurer to the Authority to be a matter reserved to the full Authority.

The Clerk highlighted to Member that the changes were to the terminology from IRMP (Integrated Risk Management Plan) to CRMP (Community Risk Management Plan), and a minor change to recruitment with the Resources Terms of Reference.

The Terms of Reference for the Audit and Appeals Committee, as well as the operating procedures for the Strategy Group would remain the same, following review, and remain appropriate and proportionate to the needs of the Authority in conducting its business.

Resolved: - That the Authority approved the amendments to the Terms of Reference for the Resources, Performance and Planning Committees.

County Councillor Arif asking if all meetings were held in the morning and the Chair confirmed that they were.

Resolved: That the proposed programme of meetings for the Combined Fire Authority for 2025/26 be agreed as: - 

23 April 2025

18 June 2025 (Annual Meeting of the CFA)

10 September 2025

10 December 2025

23 February 2026 (Budget Meeting)

The Authority considered the Annual Safety, Health and Environment Report for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) covering the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

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 overall progress and performance in respect of accidents and near misses, carbon emissions and environmental performance, health and wellbeing initiatives, together with a look forward to planned improvement areas for 2024/25. 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 2023 to 31 March 2024.

External Audit of HSE Management Systems 2024

Since initial certification in November 2011 surveillance visits had been conducted annually with re?certification every 3 years to maintain external certification of the Health and Safety and Environment Management Systems. In February and March 2023, the auditor from British Assessment Bureau (BAB) carried out an audit against the International Standards for health and safety ISO 45001:2018 and environment ISO 14001:2015. The audit scope for both standards was ‘The Provision of Fire, Rescue and Supporting Services across Lancashire’. This broad scope encompasses all LFRS activities with audit visits to the Service Headquarters (SHQ) site, Service Training Centre (STC), four fire stations operating different duty systems together with several supporting departments.Continued certification was granted without any non-conformance and 1 opportunity for improvement was identified. Improvement actions during 2023/24 were identified in the report.

Health and Safety Performance

During 2023/24 there were 97 accidents, 85 near misses and 11 RIDDOR events.  The report provided a summary of the total accident and ill-health statistics for 2023/24. Comparison against the previous 8 year’s performance data showed an overall downward trend from absence following work related injury/illness however the figures reported in 2018/19, 2020/21 and 2021/22 had seen a smaller number of staff away from work for long term absence which related to safety events which had impacted the overall performance. 

Health and Wellbeing

In September 2023 LFRS launched Peer Support Ambassadors to bolster its peer support network. Colleagues who volunteered to be a Peer Support Ambassador attended a 2-hr workshop about active listening, signposting, raising awareness of mental health and reducing the stigma around mental conversations. Workshops would be held every year to increase the number of peer supporters available. The focus of mental health awareness training across the Service was personal resilience; building and maintaining. This also supported the Service’s continued embedding of ISO 45003, with the introduction of a 12-month pilot of a co-developed programme (with the Fire Fighters Charity). The aim of the programme was to increase personal resilience of staff and included elements of positive psychology, relaxation coping strategies and suicide awareness. There were specific operational elements that included  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16/24

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 judged to be unreasonably persistent or vexatious. 

Resolved: That the report be noted and endorsed.

The concept of Member Champions was introduced in December 2007. A review of the areas of focus for Member Champions was considered at the Authority meeting held in June 2017 where new areas of responsibility were agreed. The current Member Champions and their areas of responsibility were:

·         Community Safety – Vacated by Councillor Jean Rigby – new member champion appointed County Councillor Matthew Salter

·         Equality, Diversity and Inclusion – Councillor Zamir Khan MBE;

·         Health and Wellbeing – County Councillor John Singleton JP;

·         Road Safety – County Councillor Ron Woollam.

Reports relating to the activity of the Member Champions were provided on a regular basis to the Authority. This report related to activity for the period up to 23 June 2024. During this period all had undertaken their respective role in accordance with the defined terms of reference.

County Councillor O’Toole took the opportunity to acknowledge the work of Councillor J Rigby’s who had been a member of the Authority for almost 17 years. County Councillor O’Toole highlighted that Councillor J Rigby was an excellent champion who took the role very seriously, was reliable and would be sadly missed by all at the authority. The Chair agreed and expressed her thanks to Councillor J Rigby and other members that have left the authority; Councillors Beavers, Dad and Mein.

Member Champions went through the detail of their reports and expressed thanks to the officers who supported them in their roles. 

County Councillor Woollam commented that he had been delighted to be a Member Champion and thanked the Road Safety Team for all their hard work over the last couple of years.

County Councillor Howarth asked for clarification on the figures for measured carbon emissions as the report stated that there had been a 25% reduction from the baseline but a 1% increase. County Councillor Singleton JP advised that the service was working to address the increase and the overall reduction was still a positive. The DCFO confirmed the service had seen a significant decline but a slight increase last year and referred to page 129 of the agenda pack where there was information regarding the Service’s carbon journey since 2007/2008.

The Chair expressed her thanks to all champions.

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

The report summarised Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service prosecutions pertaining to fire safety offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety Order) 2005 and set out convictions resulting from arson incidents which had progressed via the criminal justice process.

There were currently three cases in the court system. Of these, one was set for sentencing on 01 July 2024 in Crown Court with the other two set for plea and case management hearings on 11July 2024. One of these cases had a trial start date set for 30 June 2025 for 10 days. A fourth case was currently awaiting a Magistrates Court date following summons. Protection teams continued to investigate and build files in relation to eleven further cases where offences were believed to have been committed, which involved a number of premises types as outlined in the report.

An update on fire protection and business support was included in the report. Members noted that 3,372 Business Fire Safety Checks (BFSCs) had been undertaken during the 2023/24 performance year, with 452 deemed unsatisfactory and triaged by protection teams with both informal and formal enforcement taken. A total of 790 BFSCs had been undertaken in quarter 4, with 103 deemed unsatisfactory.

Members noted that Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service continued to carry out inspections using the Risk Based Intervention Programme. Circa 2,300 audits had been undertaken in total during the 2023/24 performance year which had resulted in 164 formal enforcement notices and 24 prohibitions.

Members also noted there was one arson conviction during the period, whereby, following a guilty plea to arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered, the defendant was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment, suspended for 21 months and ordered to attend 30 hours rehabilitation activity. 

County Councillor Shedwick expressed his appreciation and thanks to all officers.

Resolved: That the Authority noted and endorsed the report.

The report provided Members with information relating to operational incidents of note over the period 1 April 2024 – 31 May 2024. As the operational period had been very busy, the report detailed only the larger deployments or more complex incidents. As a result, some incidents that Members had been made aware of locally, may not have formed part of the report. Full details of the following incidents were provided in the report:

·         Eight fire engines attended a commercial building fire in Blackburn (6/4/2024)

·         Fatal building fire in Thornton Cleveleys (19/4/2024)

·         Six fire engines tackled a commercial building fire in Poulton (23/4/2024)

·         Person struck by Train in Parbold (25/4/2024)

·         Firefighters responded to wildfire in Bacup (30/4/2024)

·         Firefighters responded to fatal RTC on the M58 (17/5/2024)

·         Firefighters responded to fatal RTC in Whitewell Bottom, Rossendale (19/5/2024)

·         Firefighters responded to reports of a person trapped in a cave in Leck (20/5/2024)

County Councillor David O’Toole highlighted that operational incidents was one of the most important items on the agenda and represented just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of incidents attended and the difficulties faced by firefighters. The Chief Fire Officer (CFO) agreed and advised that during this reporting period over 4000 incidents have been reported with approximately 18,000 incidents per annum

Resolved: That the Authority noted and endorsed the report.

Group Manager Liam Wilson (GM) gave a presentation to members on the commercial building fire at Witton Business Park, Blackburn.

GM Wilson advised that the site entrance of the commercial property was opposite the entrance to Witton Park. The initial call was received at 19:26 hrs on 6 April 2024 with flames visible from the roof of the building. There was initial attendance of 4 pumps, supported by a Flexi Duty Officer (FDO) and a Tactical Advisor, which was then increased to 8 pumps, 2 Aerial Ladder Platforms (ALP’s), a High Volume Pump (HVP), a Drone,a Command Unit and a Welfare Unit. In total over 65 firefighters were involved in dealing with the incident.

There were a number of hazards and considerations which included a large thick smoke plume, rapid fire spread, gas cylinders present, signs of structural collapse, the presence of an electric substation and gas supply and signs of asbestos. There were access difficulties with a river running along one side of the building and a wall and fence along another side, additionally there was a loaded HGV blocking access.

The priorities were gathering intelligence from site representatives and police in relation to youths reported in the area immediately prior to incident, evacuating surrounding businesses and an Easter fayre taking place at Witton Park, establishing water supplies including a HVP at Witton Park, preventing fire spread by removing the loaded HGV, identifying hazards and removing 30 gas cylinders and requesting Electricity Northwest to attend, considering environmental impact, fire investigation and maintaining Firefighter safety.

There was a multiagency response from Lancashire Constabulary, North West Ambulance Service, Blackburn with Darwen Council emergency planning and building control, Environmental Agency, Cadent Gas, Electricity North  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20/24

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 2024 at 10:30 hours at Washington Hall Training Centre, Euxton.

The next meeting of the Authority would be held on Monday 16 September 2024 at 10:30am at the Training Centre, Euxton.

The Authority is asked to consider whether, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, they consider that the public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the appropriate paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, indicated under the heading to the item.

Resolved: That the press and members of the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the appropriate paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, indicated under the heading to the item.

(Paragraph 1)

The CFO welcomed new members to the authority and thanks County Councillors O’Toole and Shedwick for their service as Chair and Vice Chair of the authority. The CFO then welcomed County Councillors Hennessy and Serridge as the newly elected Chair and Vice Chair of the authority.

Resolved: The authority approved the recommendations outlined in the report.