ESSEX FIRE AUTHORITY
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE AUDIT, GOVERNANCE & REVIEW COMMITTEE
HELD ON
WEDNESDAY 17 JULY 2013 AT 14:00 HOURS
Present:
Draft Minutes Audit, Governance & Review Committee 17 July 2013
Page 7 of 7
Councillor A Erskine Councillor R Gadsby
Councillor C Guglielmi Councillor P Honeywood
Councillor M Hoy Councillor M Maddocks
Councillor M McEwen Councillor P Wexham
The following Officers were present in support throughout the meeting:
The Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Adam Eckley
Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Paul Hill
Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Dave Bill
Finance Director & Treasurer, Mike Clayton
Director of HR & OD, Lindsey Stafford-Scott
Service Solicitor, Roy Carter
Engineering Manager Peter Warner
Property Services Manager Jon Doherty
Minute Secretary, Laura Needham
53. apologies for absence and substitution notices
Apologies were received from Councillors Danvers, Evans, Helm, Knapman, Okunade, Turrell and Wood
54. declarations of interest
There were no declarations of interest made by Members in respect of items included on the agenda.
55. Election of a chairman
The Deputy Clerk and Monitoring Officer supervised the election of a Chairman of the Audit, Governance and Review Committee for 2013/14.
Councillor Maddocks nominated Councillor Knapman. This was seconded by Councillor Guglielmi.
There were no other nominations.
Councillor Knapman was elected as Chairman of the Audit, Governance and Review Committee for 2013/14.
56. Election of a vice chairman
The Deputy Clerk and Monitoring Officer supervised the election of a Vice Chairman of the Audit, Governance and Review Committee for 2013/14.
Councillor Guglielmi nominated Councillor Maddocks. This was seconded by Councillor Erskine.
There were no other nominations.
Councillor Maddocks was elected the Vice Chairman of the Audit, Governance and Review Committee for 2013/14. In the absence of Councillor Knapman, Councillor Maddocks would Chair today’s meeting.
57. minutes
The Committee received the minutes of the meeting held on 17 April 2013.
Resolution:
It was resolved that Members;
- Confirmed the minutes as a correct record and were signed by the Vice Chairman.
58. TREASURY MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
The Finance Director & Treasurer presented his report, EFA/068/13. Members were informed that the set of treasury management and capital financing indicators were approved by the Authority in February 2012, which were intended to demonstrate that capital investment plans are affordable and that consequential borrowing will be based upon sound treasury management strategy. The report bought forward a review of the Authority’s performance in 2012/13 against these indicators.
Members were informed that underspend related to projects not have progressing in such a way as the Service had hoped, or that these had been cancelled. Also that the Authority’s capital finance requirement currently stands at £29.2m from a previous level of £47.1m.
Councillor Guglielmi enquired as to what the cause of the reduction was. The Finance director & Treasurer stated that this was due to a lower level of capital spend and voluntary provision for capital financing. Members were informed that in part, there had been a different policy in putting the capital budget together. Members were advised that previously the budget had to be adjusted throughout the year. Members were told that this had now been ‘tightened up’ and only included projects which have been through a full business case cycle. Councillor Guglielmi asked what measures would be taken should a project come up which has not been budgeted for. The Finance Director & Treasurer stated that amendments can still be made to the budget by Members if the project has a sound business case.
The Finance Director & Treasurer informed Members that in relation to the table at the top of page six, there were regulations in place which prevented the Service having any financial gain in paying off the Public Works Loan Board debts early.
Members were also informed that the Service was not expecting to borrow in the next few years to fund capital expenditure.
Councillor Guglielmi requested clarification as to what the fixed rate mentioned at the foot of page seven was. The Finance Director & Treasurer explained that this rate is set for the life of the loan that the Service has. Councillor Guglielmi asked for confirmation as to what this rate stood at. Members were informed that the average rate across the loan portfolio is 4.5% however should the Service re-finance on the same profile, this rate would increase.
Councillor Wexham mentioned that in the report comment was made that the Government had changed policy of capital financing and asked what the policy was prior to this change. The Finance Director & treasurer stated that each Authority could now set its own policy, and the the Authority’s policy was to fund capital expenditure over the life of the assets purchased. He explained that the purchase of an appliance which had a 15 year life span, would be therefore be funded as a capital financing charge for 15 years. Councillor Wexham questioned if this provides the Authority with more flexibility. The Finance Director & Treasurer explained that the policy is reviewed and set at the time of planning the budget.
Councillor Maddocks asked Members if they had any further questions.
Councillor Hoy asked if the £3.5m referred to under ‘capital receipts’ on the table on page 3 of the report related to Hutton. The Finance Director & Treasurer stated that it was.
Resolution:
It was resolved that Members;
- Noted the treasury management outturn position for 2012/13; and
2. Noted the performance against the capital financing indicators for 2012/13.
59. BUDGET REVIEW – MAY 2013
The Finance Director & Treasurer presented his report EFA/069/13. The paper reported on expenditure against budget as at 31st May 2013 and identified major variances to the budget for the year to date. In addition the report included key indicators that acted as lead indicators for expenditure across the Authority. New Members to this committee were advised that this is a monthly report, and the figures for May were being reported on as there had not been sufficient time prior to the meeting to include figures for June.
The Finance Director & Treasurer added that the position with On-Call Firefighters was more a measure of activity levels; he added that this would see a further increase should we continue to have a long, dry summer. He also advised Members that any funding not spent would look to be ‘clawed back’ in next year’s budget.
Members were also advised that there are currently no plans to recruit wholetime firefighters but the Service is in discussion with the Union for any shortfall to be covered by staff working additional shifts. Members were informed that this will enable the Service to keep a high number of appliances available, however the table on page four of the report also showed Members that the Service has enough firefighters available to crew all appliances.
Councillor Hoy asked if there could be a shortfall with swapping people around. Councillor Guglielmi added that in his opinion the Station Commander should be making sure that there is the correct number of personnel on station. Assistant Chief Fire Officer Bill commented that Pre-Arranged Out Duties are organised in advance by the Watch Managers, however should a Station find that it has a last minute requirement for personnel, then Dynamic Out Duties can be arranged through Control.
The Finance Director & Treasurer referred to capital expenditure updating Members that the dominant spend is the Kelvedon Park Development, however spend is currently below where the Service anticipated it would be. Councillor Guglielmi asked if it would be possible to get some background information on the Kelvedon Park expenditure, specifically how the project was being funded. The Property Service Manager stated that the total project cost was £8.5m, however the project was currently ‘behind’ however this would be ‘caught up’. The Finance Director & Treasurer stated that the project was Authority funded and not externally funded. Members were advised that there would be some Government funding for the installation of the new Control system. Councillor Guglielmi enquired as to the proposed completion date of the project, which is approximately April/May 2014.
Councillor Hoy enquired as to the reason behind an underspend in training. The Director of HR & OD advised that the Workforce Transformation Project was originally a five year plan but this had been cut to a three year plan. The Finance Director & Treasurer also added that the majority of the training is undertaken in-house.
Resolution:
It was resolved that Members;
- Noted the position on the income and expenditure at 31 May compared to budget; and
- Noted the actual position on capital expenditure.
60. HEALTH & SAFETY ROSPA QUALITY SAFETY REPORT (QSA)
The Deputy Chief Fire Officer presented report EFA/070/13. The paper provided Members of the Audit, Governance and Review Committee a six month update on the progress from the action plan developed to deliver the outcomes of the ROSPA Quality Safety Audit (QSA) Report of the Service’s Health and Safety arrangements. The audit was undertaken by Kent Fire and Rescue Service in July 2010 and presented to the Audit, Governance and Review Committee in December 2010. The original time frame for completion of the action plan was December 2012. Members were advised of significant delays in reaching this target had been reported in previous updates.
The Deputy Chief Fire Officer reiterated to Members that despite previous delays that plans were all ‘back on track’. Members were also given some background information to the groups and sub-groups used. It was added that the Service had engaged with other local service and the Deputy Chief Fire Officer stated that he was confident that a good structure was in place.
Resolution:
It was resolved that Members;
- Noted the contents of this report.
61. PERFORMANCE REPORT – MAY 2013
The Director of HR and OD presented report EFA/071/13. The report provided an update on performance for May 2013.
The Director of HR and OD added that for this report more commentary had been included around the sickness figures at the request of the previous Audit, Governance and Review Committee. Members were advised that the Service is targeting this area, specifically how to help people on long term sickness get back to work sooner. The Director of HR and OD added that she hoped to have more information on how the Service will target this area in next month’s report.
Councillor Guglielmi questioned if the target set for next year in relation to AFA’s was over ambitious. Assistant Chief Fire Officer Bill commented that there was an element of ambition; however that he felt this was necessary due to the potential for life risk. Assistant Chief Fire Officer Hill added that there were a number of issues around this area including the impact on the Service’s availability to respond and also to the premises in question. Members were informed that one of the targets for the Operations directorate is to ensure that fire alarms are used for their purpose and nothing else.
Councillor Guglielmi asked if there could be more information provided as to the reasons behind sickness levels. The Director of HR and OD informed Members that the Service’s attendance management policy is currently being discussed with the Unions and in turn this will help the Service monitor sickness levels better.
Councillor Hoy enquired if the sickness targets would be the same for uniformed and non-uniformed employees. The Director of HR and OD stated that the targets for both groups of employees are stretch targets but at the same time are realistic targets.
Councillor Hoy went on to ask how on-call firefighter appliance availability is measured. Members were informed that since the introduction of the electronic rota book, on-call staff are now able to ‘text on and text off’. Councillor Hoy questioned what would happen should a responding firefighter find themselves in traffic. The Deputy Chief Fire Officer stated that should there be any circumstance where the crew would not be complete, then the appliance would not attend, however this would only be found out at the time of mobilisation. Councillor Hoy also enquired as to whether on-call firefighters receive any financial incentive to remain available. It was confirmed that on-call firefighters receive a ‘retainer’ and are paid for any hours they complete at a call but that there is no additional payment.
Councillor Hoy asked if availability was across all appliances, and included ladder crews and water crews. Assistant Chief Fire Officer Bill stated that this was the case and that specialist crews were also included. He added that the Service wants to have as many appliances as possible available, adding that resilience has been included in planning, for example where an appliance may have to be taken ‘off the run’ for training.
Councillor Guglielmi asked if on-call firefighters carry portable blue lights. The Deputy Chief Fire Officer confirmed that they did not. Councillor Guglielmi asked if this is something which the Service should be challenging. Councillor Maddocks commented that such facility probably would have been challenged in the past however, there is potential for such facility to be mis-used.
Councillor Guglielmi asked if there a National table for Fire and Rescue Services existed. The Deputy Chief Fire Officer explained that there had been in the past however, this was now obsolete. He mentioned that statistics from CIPFA would be able to show where Essex was performing in relation to other Fire and Rescue Services.
Resolution:
It was resolved that Members;
1. Noted the contents of the report; and
2. Made appropriate recommendations as to actions in response to reported performance.
62. VEHICLE AND EQUIPMENT ASSEST MANAGEMENT STRATEGY & ACTION PLAN – ANNUAL UPDATE AND REVISION
The Deputy Chief Fire Officer presented his report EFA/072/13. The report provided Members of the Audit, Governance & Review Committee with an update on the performance of the Fleet and Equipment Services Department against the action plan identified in the Vehicle and Equipment Asset Management Strategy (VEAMS) 2010-2013.
The report, attached as Appendix 1 contained a high level performance review of the VEAMS action plan and a Red, Amber, Green (RAG) assessment of progress.