Agenda item

The Fire Minister, Penny Mordaunt MP, informed Members that she welcomed the opportunity to speak to the Fire Commission. She welcomed Cllr Jeremy Hilton as the new chair of the Fire Commission and thanked Cllr Kay Hammond for her work as the previous chair. She explained that the fire and rescue service was a vital part of the front line emergency services, which was evidenced in the reduction in the number of deaths caused by fire. She recognised the difficult job all Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRA’s) were facing with reductions in budgets, industrial action and actions short of a strike.

She informed members that the firefighter pension scheme regulation was nearing implementation. In addition there would be a joint working group looking at ways of supporting firefighters fitness issues. 

There were areas that needed greater improvement and investment, most notably around leadership and collaboration. This would, in the future, provide a better return on investment and drive further efficiencies within the fire service.

The Government had recently announced an Independent Review of Conditions of Service for Operational Staff in the Fire and Rescue Service. This was to be led by Adrian Thomas in response to the Knight Review on terms and conditions. Adrian Thomas was a specialist in HR, and had not worked within the fire and rescue service previously. The terms of reference had been drafted by government; however it would be up to Adrian Thomas to decide on what to report back. Members were informed that Adrian Thomas was now in post and that there had been over 2,500 responses to the questionnaire. It was hoped that this independent review would shape the future of the fire service and bring about more collaborative working between the emergency services.

Members were informed that the £75 million transformation fund had now been allocated on a range of services and products. Members were encouraged to view the DCLG website to see what had been allocated.

Members thanked the Minister for speaking to them and raised a number of questions, which the Minister responded to:

·         The successful projects had not yet been announced, however they would soon be available on the DCLG’s website. The Minister encouraged Members to  look on the website for more information.

·         Members were keen for the Minister to visit as many FRAs as possible over the coming months. The Minister assured Members that she was keen to visit as many FRA’s as possible and had already started  that process.

·         The Minister discussed the importance of  interoperability, there needed to be more in depth conversations with relevant government departments to ensure emergency services work closely together in the future.

·         The Minister  re-iterated the independence of the Thomas Review of Terms and Conditions and stated that the Government had no say in the final recommendations from Adrian Thomas.

·         The Firefighter Pension Scheme had been consulted on and the views of FRAs had been taken into account.

·         The increased figures in payments to retained firefighters as a result of the changes in pensions were not yet known. This was dependent on the number of retained firefighters taking up the option of the pension scheme.

Decision:

Members thanked the Minister for attending and responding to questions raised.