Meeting Details

• A sod cutting ceremony on Monday 1 February to celebrate the start of building the new Evesham Fire Station. The build was due to be completed at the end of November 2016.

• A tour of the new bungalow for the Day Crewing Plus crew at Worcester Fire Station. The crew were working towards being in on 21 March 2016 subject to snagging.

The Head of Legal Services updated members on progress towards the recruitment of a Chief Fire Officer. The Appointments Committee met on 27th January to review the applications but concluded there was an insufficient breadth of candidates, either in number or range of experience, to take forward to interview.

RESOLVED that:

i) Nathan Travis, Deputy Chief Fire Officer of Oxfordshire FRS, be seconded as Interim Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive for a period of six months with effect from 1^st April 2016;

ii) the secondment be on the same terms and conditions as the current Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive together with reimbursement of any reasonable expenses and such additional terms as may be agreed with the employing authority by the Head of Legal Services, in consultation with the Chairman; and

iii)  the interim Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive undertake a review of the terms and conditions of the role, so as to enable the Appointments Committee to recommence recruitment for a permanent appointment as soon as possible.

The Treasurer presented a report that informed Members of the current position in relation to budgets for 2016/17 and beyond. It was highlighted that since the Authority papers were published the final grant settlement had been received and was more generous than anticipated. Amended appendices and recommendations had been circulated to reflect this.
 
Councillor Richard Udall proposed the use of an additional £60,000 from reserves for investment into community fire safety to focus on areas of social deprivation and in particular houses with multiple occupancy.

It was agreed that Policy and Resources consider this matter at the next Committee meeting following further detail from the Chief Fire Officer about where and how the investment can have the most impact.

RESOLVED that:

i) the Capital Budget and Programme as attached at Appendix 1 to the minutes be approved;

ii)    the Revenue Budget as attached at Appendix 2 to the minutes be approved;

iii)  the Authority calculates that in relation to the year 2016/17:

a)    the aggregate expenditure it will incur will be £33,055,000.00;

b)    the aggregate income it will receive will be £11,572,980.00;

c)     the net amount transferred from financial reserves will be £631,000.00;

d)    the net amount of its Council Tax Requirement will be £20,851,020.00;

e)    the basic amount of Council Tax will be £78.00 (Band D);

f)      the precept demands on the individual Billing Authorities are:

• Bromsgrove           £2,761,550.31
• Herefordshire        £5,216,038.18
• Malvern Hills         £2,291,088.98
• Redditch                £1,961,249.23
• Worcester              £2,390,128.42
• Wychavon              £3,678,286.20
• Wyre Forest           £2,552,678.68

iv) the Medium Term Financial Plan as attached at Appendix 3 to the minutes be approved;

v) the Statement of Prudential Indicators and Minimum Revenue Provision Policy attached at Appendix 4 to the minutes be approved; and

vi) Policy and Resources to consider allocating a further £60,000 from reserves to improve community safety campaigns in areas of social deprivation, particularly with regards to Houses of Multiple Occupation.

Members were given a presentation by Opinion Research Services (ORS) summarising the outcomes of public consultation undertaken in relation to the proposed Wyre Forest Blue Light Hub. Whilst the consultation had been valuable in highlighting key issues in respect of identifying levels of support for the principle of a Blue Light Hub, consultation found a level of concern amoungst communities over site location. 

It was concluded that evidence supporting the creation of a hub would be better understood once a suitable site location has been chosen. Some Members expressed disappointment that a location had not been identified prior to the start of the consultation. The Chief Fire Officer explained that Members had previously agreed the principle of a hub needed to be ascertained prior to the identification of any potential site.

RESOLVED that:

i) the report from ORS, which sets out the feedback from formal public consultation exercises in respect of the proposal to create a Wyre Forest Emergency Services Hub, be noted;

ii)    a further report be brought to the next meeting of the Authority with a recommendation as to the preferred location for a potential Hub having regard to land availability, attendance times, cost and the Hub’s impact on local residents, businesses, and the environment; and

iii)  subject to (ii) above, a further phase of consultation be undertaken on the preferred location prior to a final decision by the Authority on whether to proceed with the Wyre Forest Hub.

• Members asked about the possibility of siting Automated External Defibrillators (AED) at all fire stations across the two counties. The Chief Fire Officer encouraged Members to support their communities and parishes to explore public access AEDs whether on a fire station or other locations.

• Many Members were very supportive of the roll out of the MIND scheme across the Service and supported the sign up to the Mental Health Anti-Stigma Pledge.

[12:10 Councillor Derek Prodger MBE left the room, Councillor Roger Phillips took the Chair]

[12:12 Councillor Pat Agar left the room]