Agenda item

Mark Norris, Principle Policy Adviser, introduced the report which set out the agreed priorities of the Fire Services Management Committee for 2016/17.

In the discussion which followed the following points were raised:

·         The FSMC priorities reflected the priorities of the Home Office and CFOA.

·         Individual FRAs had different opinions on Retained Duty Service (RDS) firefighters, and it was important that each FRA had its own working arrangements. Cllr Simon Spencer, the FSMC representative on the CFOA RDS Working Group, encouraged all FRAs to have representation on the Working Group in order to share best practice and concerns from authorities across the country.

·         Discussions were ongoing with the armed services on shared learning on recruitment, retention, payments, shift patterns, and how primary employees could be incentivised.

·         Communications on the Leadership Essentials programme should be improved, and information on the programme should be recirculated and promoted to a wider audience.

·         Sprinklers remained on the agenda, and the Fire Commission agreed to write to the Department for Education regarding the mandatory installation of sprinklers in new schools.

Decisions

The Fire Commission:

1.    Noted the priorities for 2016/17 as agreed by FSMC; and

2.    Agreed that a letter from the Fire Commission should be written to the Department for Education calling for mandatory installation of sprinklers in new schools.

Action

Letter to be sent to DfE as agreed by Members.