Agenda item

Mark Norris, Principal Policy Adviser, introduced the report which updated the Leadership Board on the work being undertaken by the LGA to support Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs). The report outlined the priority areas of work agreed by the Fire Services Management Committee for 2019/20 and the work which would involve FRAs.

Members noted that the FSMC priorities were set by the Home Office reform agenda. This included the inspections by HMICFRS which had been conducted over the last 18 months. A final report on inspections was due soon. Funding was also a key issue, and FSMC was working with the National Fire Chiefs Council and the Home Office on the spending round and the bid to be submitted to the Treasury for the Spending Review in 2020. Priority work would also continue on governance, transparency and standards, and in particular the transfer of fire services to oversight by Police, Fire and Crime Commissioners.

In addition to this, building safety was also a primary focus for FSMC. The Phase 1 report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry had been released earlier in the day, and included a number of recommendations. These included building owners notifying their FRA on the types of cladding in place, regular reports to FRAs on lifts, a range of changes to evacuation procedures, the clear numbering of floors, and checking that fire doors were compliant with the required standards. The FSMC would consider the Phase 1 report at their next meeting. The Chief Executive added that Lord Porter, the LGA’s building safety spokesperson, had been doing interviews throughout the day regarding the LGA’s response to the phase 1 report.

In the discussion which followed the following points were raised:

·         Prevention and road safety were now some of the main areas of work for FRAs. The balance between retained and full-time firefighters could affect the ability of fire authorities to ensure that prevention work continued to be prioritised. 

·         The narrative around fire safety in high-rise buildings post Grenfell should not centre on the frontline services, but on how the building safety regime was reformed and government needed to progress implementing the Hackitt reforms.

·         Fire safety concerns went beyond just high-rise buildings and any reforms to the building safety regime needed to give councils the powers they needed to take effective enforcement action.

·         A leadership essentials course on building safety would take place shortly, and the LGA’s work regarding the recommendations in the Phase 1 Grenfell Tower Inquiry report (including around any changes to evacuation procedures) would be communicated to members as soon as possible.

·         There were concerns that the fire inspection regime did not take into account the financial viability of the FRA, which needed to be funded to risk and not demand. A question was also raised on the future funding of national resilience assets.

·         The LGA’s work with FRAs would continue to be a regular part of the Leadership Board agenda.

Decision

The Leadership Board noted the Fire Services Management Committee’s priorities for 2019/20 and the work with Fire and Rescue Authorities associated with them.