Agenda item

The Chair presented the report and invited members’ comments on the priorities for 2015/16. It was agreed that although there was nothing in the LGA’s major priorities that directly dealt with the concerns of the FSMC, there were certainly issues raised which the FSCM could feed into. This would be especially pertinent in relation to health and wellbeing and the prevention role of the fire and rescue service. All members were in agreement that the FSMC should continue to work closely with the public health service and should look to expanding further into that area of work.

During the discussion members raised the following points:

·         Members commented that the report must be more ambitious in its scope and include wider collaboration with local councils and health services. The Fire Service must be presented as a way of keeping people safe in their homes in a way that expands beyond fire. It was agreed that the FSMC needed to have closer links with the CWB, which needed to be aware of its work and that of the FRS.

·         There were concerns that the further cuts to funding may result in the number of fire fighters and engines dropping below a critical level. All members agreed that the LGA must represent this point to ensure that FRAs can continue to meet their statutory requirement to keep people safe.

·         Members debated whether to call on the government to produce the results of the Thomas report into firefighter’s terms and conditions, but it was decided that this was a matter for government.

·         The Chair suggested refreshing and updating ‘Beyond Fighting Fires’ for the Fire Conference in March

Decisions

·         Members agreed the draft priorities for the FSMC for 2015/16, subject to amendments outlined above.

·         Members agreed to collectively come up with a response to the fire authorities that reflected all the decisions that had been made.

Actions

·         Agreed priorities will be revised and presented to the next Fire Commission meeting on 20 October 2015.

·         Officers to explore how the FSMC can link into the work of the CWB.

·         ‘Beyond Fighting Fires’ to be updated for the Fire Conference.