Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from County Councillors Lorraine Beavers and David Stansfield.

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.

Updated minutes following CFA Meeting held 18 September 2017, (emboldened sections of resolution 7/17 refer).

It was noted that resolution 7/17 (as identified on page 5 of the minutes) had been updated following the Authority meeting held 18 September 2017.

RESOLVED: - That the Minutes of the last meeting held on 28 June 2017 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Committee approved the draft Statement of Accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2017 at the June meeting, prior to the audit being carried out by Grant Thornton.  The Statement of Accounts had now been updated to reflect two adjusted misstatements and one disclosure change identified during the audit as now presented. 

The Director of Corporate Services reassured Members that it was not unusual for the auditors to find something in the statement of accounts and that the changes identified were minor changes.  The Audit Findings report considered under appendix 2 of the report (as detailed on page 92 of the agenda pack) confirmed that the accounts were prepared to a high quality, were supported by comprehensive working papers and that the Auditors anticipated providing an unqualified audit opinion in respect of the financial statements.

The Head of Finance confirmed that a short-term investment was for a period of 12 months or less.  Checks had been put in place to ensure investments were classified correctly in future reports.

The Director of Corporate Services advised that the changes requested by Grant Thornton had been made to the accounts and the updated version would be presented to the Audit Committee on 28 September 2017 for information, alongside the full Audit Findings Report.

RESOLVED: - That the Committee re-approved the revised Statement of Accounts.

The report set out the current budget position in respect of the 2017/18 revenue and capital budgets and performance against savings targets. 

Revenue Budget

The overall position as at the end of July showed an under spend of £0.2m.  Trends were being monitored to ensure that they were reflected in future years budgets as well as being reported to the Resources Committee.  In terms of the year end forecast, it was still early in the year however, the latest forecast showed an overall underspend of approximately £0.8m.

The Committee was provided with detailed information regarding the position within individual departments, with major variances relating to non-pay spends and variances on the pay budget being shown below:-

The Director of People and Development presented the current version of the Workforce Plan which set out Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service’s (LFRS) objectives based on the organisational context, structure and workforce profiles.  The report also detailed labour demand, turnover and forecasting together with recruitment, retention and succession planning and talent management. 

The objective of the plan was to ensure that the organisation had:-

·      The right number of people with the right skills employed in the right place, at the right time to deliver the short and long term objectives of LFRS.

·      The right people in the right roles considering the experience, skills and qualifications required for the role.

·      A better understanding about what sort of workforce was likely to be needed in the future.

·      The right resources allocated to work areas to fulfil the demands for the Service now and in the future.

·      A diverse workforce recruited and developed which could meet the differing needs of the communities of Lancashire.

For workforce planning purposes the data collected related to a position in time as at 31.3.2017.  Members considered the Workforce Action Plan, as now presented. 

It was noted that the Action Plan would be reviewed regularly in light of changes to the political, economic, sociological, technological and legal environment.  It would also be updated in light of any change projects which impacted on the LFRS workforce and monitoring would be undertaken by the Workforce Development Programme Board.

Workforce planning priorities 2017/18 were:

·        Deliver a whole time recruitment campaign to replace those exiting LFRS due to the current age profile.

·        Deliver the organisational development plan to ensure a consistent understanding of leadership within LFRS, developing the skills and competences of our leaders ensuring individual responsibility for personal development and leadership was displayed ensuring a diversity of ideas, experiences, backgrounds were valued and innovative solutions to problems identified. 

·        Increase the diversity of the workforce.

·        Increase the number of apprentices within LFRS through the recruitment of Fire Fighter apprentices following the launch of the new trailblazer in October 2017.

·        Review the reasons for high levels of turnover within the RDS through a qualitative questionnaire.

·        Review how leaders (in particular underrepresented groups) can be supported to develop and progress through consultation with existing staff and sharing good practice.

·        Explore opportunities for improving the physical fitness of the older workforce to aid retention in light of the aging profile.

In response to a question from CC Wilkins the Director of People and Development confirmed that the Service actively promoted the health and wellbeing of staff which included: training on distress management and mental wellness, the provision of an Occupational Health Unit, an employee assistance programme, the use of cogitative behavioural therapy where appropriate and the Service had signed the MIND pledge on Mental Health to deliver greater awareness and support to staff.

RESOLVED: - That the Committee noted the Workforce Plan.

The Equality Act 2010 stated that everyone had the right to be treated fairly and equally.  The Act had two main purposes.  It brought together and simplified all of the existing discrimination law, and strengthened the law to further support progress on equality.  In the exercise of its functions (including any function carried out by an external supplier/organisation), the Service must have due regard to the need to:

·        Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act;

·        Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not;

·        Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

These were often called the three main aims of the “general duty” and were detailed in the Equality Act 2010 Section 149.  The Equality Duty was supported by two main specific duties which required public bodies to:

·          Publish equality information at least annually;

·          Set and publish equality objectives at least every four years.

Members considered the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report as now presented.  This was the way in which the Service demonstrated it was meeting its legal requirements, the report contained information (based on information that had been disclosed or that was publically available) about:-

·          Our corporate planning and policy approach to equality and diversity;

·          The composition and the equality profile of our workforce;

·          An overview of equality-related activities.

The Annual Report made reference to how equality, diversity and inclusion activity was embedded within its Corporate Planning process and how LFRS was shaping and delivering its services to meet the needs of its diverse communities.  The Report included data that it was required to report in terms of its workforce profile, its completed action plan for last year and its actions for next year. The delivery of the action plan was monitored through the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group.

In response to Members questions the Director of People and Development confirmed that the Authority complied with the Equality Act 2010.  Firefighters dealt with incidents which exposed them to people from different ethnic origins and colour was not seen as a barrier. Our values were based on ‘STRIVE’ – Service (delivering the best service at all times); Trust (being open and honest with each other); Respect (treating people fairly); Integrity (accepting responsibility and accountability for performance); Valued (engaging people and recognising achievements); Empowered (giving people the support they need to deliver change).  Where there had been incidents these were dealt with seriously.  In addition, exit interviews were held to receive feedback from individuals. 

Positive action campaigns were held on an ongoing basis to improve the diversity of the workforce.  Although there was more to be done to improve diversity, Home Office requirements for female recruits had been exceeded in the last recruitment campaign.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that now the Service was able to recruit on a regular basis it was possible to better engage with the community in readiness for recruitment campaigns.

In  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21/17

The Authority currently held £5.5m of debt.  Borrowing was at fixed rates, ranging between 4.10% and 4.88% and as a result of this the Authority incurred annual interest charges of £0.25m.

As part of the 2017/18 Treasury Management Strategy, presented to Members in February, a review of debt restructuring opportunities was undertaken which identified that the cost of repaying the loans in the year would be in the region of £1.6m. This would result in lower interest payments over the period of the loans of £2.7m, a net gain over the period of the loans of £1.1m. However, paying the loans early would result in a loss of investment income, and allowing for future interest rate forecasts, once this was taken into consideration then it was estimated that the repayment of the loans would cost rather than save the Authority money. Hence it was recommended that debt restructuring was not undertaken at that time, but that the situation would be reviewed again as part of the mid-year update.

Mid-Year Update

It was noted that a loan for £330k matured on 31 December 2017, and as such was excluded from the review as this would be repaid at that time.

The level of penalty applicable on early repayment of loans had been reviewed again and this now stood at £1.7m.  (As previously reported the level of penalty was dependent upon two factors, the difference between the interest chargeable on the loan and current interest rates, the greater this difference the greater the penalty, and the length to maturity, the greater the remaining time of the loan the greater the penalty. Hence as interest rates increase or as loans got closer to maturity, the level of penalty would reduce.) This compared with the outstanding interest payable between now and maturity of £2.6m; giving a gross saving of £0.9m.  However as highlighted as part of the strategy, and referred to above, any early repayment meant that cash balances available for investment would be reduced and hence interest receivable would also be reduced. The extent of which was dependent upon future interest rates.

Comparison Utilising Base Rate 0.25%

As a starting point a forecast was provided based on interest rates remaining at their current level of 0.25%.  Based on this the anticipated reduction in interest receivable, as a result of the early repayment of loans, was £0.2m.  Hence the net saving by repaying loans early was £0.7m.  The overall position was broken down into a loan by loan analysis in the report as now presented.  This showed at current interest rates it would be financially advantageous to pay off all loans. However, using 0.25% as an interest rate forecast throughout the duration of the loan period seemed unrealistic, as forecasts suggested that interest rates would increase in future years.

Comparison Utilising Forecast Increase in Base Rate to 0.50%

The latest indications from the Bank of England were that base rates were likely to rise to 0.50% earlier than previously anticipated; hence the calculations had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22/17

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee has been agreed for 10:00 hours on 29 November 2017 in the Main Conference Room, at Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service Headquarters, Fulwood.

Further meetings are:           scheduled for 21 March 2018 and 13 June 2018

                                                proposed for  26 September 2018.

The next meeting of the Committee would be held on Wednesday 29 November 2017 at 1000 hours in the Main Conference Room at Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Fulwood.

A further meeting date was noted for 21 March 2018. 

It was agreed that the meeting scheduled for 13 June 2018 be moved by the Clerk to during week commencing 21 May 2018 to accommodate signing of the accounts. 

A further meeting was agreed for 26 September 2018.

The Local Government Finance Settlement was the basis by which the Government allocated out funding to individual authorities.  The Department for Communities and Local Government issued a consultation document titled “The 2018/19 local government finance settlement – technical consultation paper” on 14 September 2017, with a deadline for a response of 26 October 2017.  The proposed 2018-19 settlement was framed in the context of the overall Spending Review package.  The 2016-17 settlement offered local authorities a four-year settlement, giving greater certainty over their funding. The Authority was amongst the 97% of local authorities who accepted this offer. The proposed 2018-19 settlement funding was therefore allocated in accordance with the agreed methodology announced by the Secretary of State at that time.

The National Fire Chiefs Council was drafting a response to the consultation document, and it was felt there was merit in utilising that response as a basis for an individual response by the Authority. As such it was proposed that any response be delegated to the Treasurer, in consultation with the Chief Fire Officer and the Chairman of the Resources Committee.

However, Members considered two particular areas which were relevant to the Fire Authority as highlighted in the report.

The third year of the multi-year settlement offer

The document confirmed that “barring exceptional circumstances and subject to the normal statutory consultation process for the local government finance settlement, the Government intended to present these figures to parliament as part of the 2018-19 provisional local government finance settlement in due course.” The four-year settlement showed the Authority’s funding being reduced by £5.5m (18%) over this period, although it was noted that the majority of this reduction occurred in the first two years of the settlement.

Hence, barring exceptional circumstances, we expected to receive £24.4m of funding in 2018/19, a reduction of £0.9m.

However, the four-year funding settlement was predicated on the Government maintaining its public sector pay cap at 1%. Any pay awards in excess of this would either require additional funding or would directly impact on future council tax levels.

Question 1: Do you agree that the government should continue to maintain the certainty provided by the 4-year offer as set out in 2016-17 and accepted by more than 97% of local authorities?

Issues to consider in any response

We welcomed the certainty that the four year settlement provided, and supported the principle that, other than in exceptional circumstances, this would not change. However we felt that the lifting of the 1% public sector pay cap qualified as exceptional circumstances and therefore believed that the settlement needed to take account of both this and future years pay awards, in order to ensure that local government funding, and in our case Fire Authority funding, kept pace with pay increases.

The Fire and Rescue Services National Employers had made an offer to the Fire Brigades Union of a 2% pay increase in 2017/18 followed by a further 3% increase in 2018/19, however the 3% offer in 2018/19 was conditional upon governments  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24/17

The Committee 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.

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RESOLVED: - That the Committee noted the recommendation as outlined in the report.

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The Chief Fire Officer and Deputy Chief Fire Officer were not present for this item.

Members considered the report in detail and asked for further information to be provided to the Resources Committee Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Leader of the Opposition to make a decision at a separate meeting to be arranged for as soon as possible and to which other Members of the Resources Committee would be welcome to attend.

RESOLVED:- that delegated authority be given to the Resources Committee Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Leader of the Opposition to determine how to proceed.

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Members considered a report that provided an update on all contracts for one-off purchases valued in excess of £50,000 and high value procurement projects in excess of £100,000 including: new contract awards, progress of ongoing projects and details of new projects with an anticipated value exceeding £100,000.

RESOLVED:  That the Committee noted the report.