LGA Governance


Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Online via Zoom. View directions

Contact: Jonathan Bryant  Email: Jonathan.Bryant@local.gov.uk - 07464652746

Items
No. Item

1.

Welcome, Apologies and Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed members to the meeting.

 

The following apologies were recorded: Cllr Jayne McCoy, Cllr Janet Willis, Cllr Peter Lewis, Cllr Darren O’Donovan (sub Cllr Steve Tulley), CFO Jason Thelwell, Cllr Maggie Wright, Cllr Tina McKenzie-Boyle, Cllr Andy Crump, Cllr Morris Bright, Cllr Andrew Reid, Cllr Byron Quayle, Cllr Peter Hogarth, Cllr Tony Taylor, Cllr Sara Randall Johnson, Cllr Duncan Crow.

 

There were no declarations of interest.

 

The Chair then paid tribute to Chief Fire Officer for Bedfordshire, Paul Fuller, who sadly passed away on 7 June after a short illness. On behalf of the Fire Commission and FSMC, sincerest condolences were extended to Paul’s friends, family and work colleagues. The Chair then ran through the highlights of Paul’s long and distinguished career in the fire service and held a minute’s silence in remembrance.

 

 

2.

Minutes of the previous meetings held on 25 September 2020 and 26 March 2021 pdf icon PDF 421 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meetings held on 25 September 2020 and 26 March 2021 were agreed as an accurate record.

 

3.

Update on the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme Full Business Case

Minutes:

The Chair invited Ian Taylor (IT) – the lead officer from the NFCC; Simon Parr, the new Home Office Senior Responsible Owner for ESMCP; and Assistant Chief Fire Officer Ben Norman from Lancs FRS, the new Operational Communications Lead for the NFCC, to introduce the confidential report.

 

IT briefly presented the Full Business Case (FBC) to members, which was now out to consultation. It was hoped that it would receive sign off from the UK governments in July 2021 with transition to the new network taking place from 2024-26. The FBC concluded that the cost of the new system (£11.8 billion) represented good value when compared to the existing Airwave. However, IT acknowledged that 2 key areas of concern remained: (i) resilience – no risks had been flagged up on the technical side but it would be stress-tested for at least 9 months before final roll out, for example, in a high-rise scenario; (ii) cost in life for FRAs could be an additional £5 million per year at a local level when compared to Airwave – the Government had been made aware of this. Consideration was also being given to how expenditure on Airwave for the last users before transition could be made more equitable

 

IT asked the Commission to consider whether a Members focus group for ESMCP would be beneficial in addressing concerns and providing assurance to members as the project progressed towards implementation.

 

Members comments and questions:

·       Members accepted the offer of setting up a focus group and considered that it would be a useful opportunity for officers to provide reassurance over some of the concerns held by FRAs. Thought would need to be given to how learning from this could be rolled out nationwide through a training programme. An initial meeting of the group could also formulate an official LGA response to the consultation. On the latter point, IT advised members that the consultation closed at the end of June and so a meeting would need to be held at the earliest opportunity.

·       Concerns were expressed about coverage in rural areas which currently suffered from reception black holes. Would this be addressed by ESN?

·       Concern was expressed about the length of time it would take to roll out ESN and replace Airwave.

·       It was stressed that FRAs needed to have realistic and viable delivery dates for ESN and a financial tool to enable them to budget for both implementation and running costs over the lifetime of the system.

Decisions:

·       Fire Commission noted the content of the report and agreed that a member ESMCP focus group should be established to both draft a response to the Home Office on the Full Business Case, and to address wider concerns of FRAs moving forward.

 

4.

New Providence Wharf Fire and Building Safety Update pdf icon PDF 476 KB

Deputy Commissioner Richard Mills to attend

Minutes:

The Chair invited Deputy Commissioner Richard Mills (RM) of the London Fire Brigade (LFB) to give his presentation.

 

RM ran through the details of the fire which occurred on the 8th floor of the block on 7 May 2021, and in particular spoke about the improvements in the LFB’s response compared to the Grenfell Tower fire. The vastly improved resident engagement during and after the incident was highlighted. An immediate review of the operation had been launched by LFB and this report was now in the public domain. The main points coming from the review were as follows:

·       Wooden balconies were the main cause of the fire spreading, not ACM cladding, which covered approximately 20% of the building.

·       There were a number of failures by the Responsible Person including ensuring the adequacy of interim measures, particularly the waking watch, which wasn’t effective when the fire took hold.

·       There was no audible alarm in the common areas of the block

·       The smoke control system didn’t operate as it should

·       Failure of the fire lift.

 

The LFB investigation was ongoing and they were considering the extent of breaches of the Regulatory Reform Order by the block owners Ballymore.

 

RM said that the LFB were working closely with the NFCC to share learning since Grenfell, including developing fire survival guidance and a new evacuation policy which would be shared shortly.

 

Mark Hardingham (MH), NFCC Chair, added his thanks to the LFB for their efforts in tackling this nationally significant incident and the improvements introduced since Grenfell. MH agreed that the Responsible Person had fallen short in a number of areas and this was very concerning. This incident was yet another example of how the entire building safety system has been failing for a number of years and it was not realistic to expect the fire service to have to continue to act as a safety net for poor building standards. MH added that this was not an isolated incident and cited a recent significant balcony fire in Leeds.

 

Charles Loft (CL), LGA Senior Adviser, expressed serious concerns about the effectiveness of the interim measures, and that they were based upon assumptions about how the building would perform in a fire that were wrong. This was also likely to be the case in many other at-risk buildings across the country. However, he reassured members that the NFCC and the LGA were working to try and address this.

 

CL highlighted the Government’s current consultation on Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) and stressed that their potential wider introduction in high-rise buildings needed careful thought. There were resourcing and capacity issues for landlords and this might distract from their wider building safety work which was ultimately the most effective way to ensure that vulnerable people would be safe in the event of a fire.

 

Jonny Bugg (JB), Deputy Director Home Office Fire Safety and Reform Unit, added his thanks to the LFB for their response to the fire and challenged other FRA’s to ask themselves whether  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Member induction and development offer 2021 pdf icon PDF 212 KB

Minutes:

The Chair invited Rachael Aldridge (RA), Policy Adviser, to introduce the update.

 

RA outlined the proposed member induction and development offer for FRA members for 2021/22. In particular, she highlighted:

·       Governance and leadership workshops to be held in July to support members in the context of the Government’s proposed Fire Reform White Paper.

·       Two further Fire Leadership Essentials programmes.

 

Further details would be cascaded to members in due course.

 

Members comments and questions:

·       Members endorsed the proposed programme, in particular the governance and leadership sessions. It was requested that the County Councils’ Network be represented in these sessions to put the perspective of the county brigades.

 

The Chair put on record his thanks to RA for all her hard work in putting together the programme which would be of great benefit to members.

 

Decision:

·       Fire Commission endorsed the proposed member induction and development offer for 2021/22.

 

6.

NFCC update and new Chair - Mark Hardingham pdf icon PDF 275 KB

Minutes:

The Chair invited Mark Hardingham (MH), NFCC Chair, to introduce the update and to expand on his priorities for the organisation.

 

MH outlined 3 short-term and 3 long-term priorities for the NFCC and stressed his continued commitment to working with the LGA to achieve them.

 

Short-term:

1.    Influencing 2 current Government consultations – (i) Proposed updating of Building Bulletin 100 on fire safety in school buildings; and (ii) New legal requirements on high rise building owners/managers to carry out PEEPs for vulnerable residents.

2.     Spending Review submission to try and achieve the best possible financial settlement for the sector.

3.     Addressing issues around operational guidance on fires in tall buildings.

 

Longer-term:

1.     Responding to the Fire Reform White Paper and working with partners on its implementation.

2.     Building on the excellent national resilience work that has been ongoing for a number of years as the initial investment tranche comes to an end.

3.     Delivery of a significant programme of work with the LGA and the Home Office, particularly on the building safety agenda.

 

Decision:

·       Fire Commission noted the update.

 

7.

Workforce update pdf icon PDF 206 KB

Minutes:

The Chair invited Gill Gittins (GG), Senior Adviser (Workforce & Negotiations), and Clair Alcock (CA), Senior Fire Pensions Adviser, to introduce the update.

 

CA highlighted the following points from the report:

·       The first national Firefighter pension website www.fpsmember.org went live in May, to provide a central resource for firefighters to find out about their pension scheme and the benefits and options that are available.

·       Scheme Advisory Board launched a consultation with FRAs to better understand the current arrangements for managing the pension scheme in general and, more specifically, for implementing the age discrimination remedy.

·       There were still a number of gaps in the new updated Home Office guidance on immediate detriment which pose problems for FRAs with retiring firefighters who wanted to access benefits on the old system. The LGA was having urgent discussions with legal officers but the issues were complex and caveated by legal privilege.

 

Decision:

·       Fire Commission noted the update.

 

8.

Fire Standards Board update pdf icon PDF 425 KB

Minutes:

Decision:

·       Fire Commission noted the update.

 

9.

Fire Commission update pdf icon PDF 164 KB

Minutes:

The Chair invited Rachael Aldridge (RA), Policy Adviser, to introduce the update.

 

RA reported that FSMC Lead Members had agreed to set up a governance task and finish group to inform the LGA’s response to the Fire Reform White Paper.

 

Members comments and questions:

·       Cllr Redman (Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Authority) raised the issue of coterminosity in the south west of England and whether members from this region could hold discussions ahead of any decisions being made on the White Paper. Jonny Bugg agreed that it would be useful to get conversations started on this issue and said that he would be happy to talk to south west members about it. RA agreed to talk to Cllr Redman following the meeting and also to approach the LGA’s Principal Adviser for the south west for advice.

·       Members asked how the Fire Commission could be involved in the White Paper consultation process? The Chair advised that, depending on the timing of its publication, members could either discuss it at the scheduled meeting on 24 September, or have an additional meeting before then.

 

Decision:

·       Fire Commission noted the update.

 

Action:

·       RA to speak to Cllr Redman and south west Principal Adviser about coterminosity issues.