Meeting Details

Cllr R Phillips declared that he was Vice Chair of the Firefighters Pension Scheme Advisory Board (England and Wales), Chair of the Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board (England and Wales), and Chair of the NJC for Fire Service (Grey Book).

Cllr R Bennett declared that his son was a Fire Risk Assessor for a company on the Hartlebury Trading Estate.

Cllr J Shaw declared that her husband was an employee of HWFRS.

Cllr D Birch declared that his father was an employee of HWFRS as a Watch Commander.

The Chairman announced the following:

• The Fire Minister's visit to Hereford had been postponed until the build completion.
• The Chairman attended a 2 hour induction briefing with the HMICFRS inspection team last week and they will now be with the Service for the next 6-8 weeks.

The Clerk and Monitoring Officer presented a report to note recent changes to the membership of the Authority.

Members were informed of two recent resignations, as since writing the report Cllr Kearsey had also resigned.

Cllr David Aubrey had resigned as a Member of the Fire Authority with effect from 19 January 2026. The County Council had confirmed the appointment of Cllr Roger Bennett as a replacement for Cllr Aubrey.

Cllr Emma Kearsey had resigned as a Member of the Fire Authority with effect from 16 February 2026. The County Council had confirmed the appointment of Cllr Dan Birch as a replacement for Cllr Kearsey.

RESOLVED that:

i)  the resignation from the Fire Authority of Cllr David Aubrey and the appointment of Cllr Roger Bennett in his place, be noted;

ii) the resignation from the Fire Authority of Cllr Emma Kearsey and the appointment of Cllr Dan Birch in her place, be noted;

iii) Cllr Bennett be appointed as a Member of the Audit, Scrutiny and Standards Committee; and

iv) Cllr Birch be appointed as a Member of the Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committee.

The Treasurer presented a report on the Budget and Precept 2026/27 and Medium-Term Financial Plan for approval.

[Cllr S Bastow left the meeting at 10.36am].

Members recalled that in the summer the government announced the principles of the long awaited "Fair-Funding" Review which was the basis of the Provisional Local Government Financial Settlement in December. Although government promised a reformed multi-year settlement for future years this had now emerged as a one-year settlement with indicative 2nd and 3rd year figures.

Members noted the Capital Programme which had the usual annual provision of £0.600m for minor buildings and ICT schemes.

The Treasurer explained that as well as the introduction of the "Fair-funding Review" the government had also implemented the delayed re-set to the Retained Business Rate system meaning that it was difficult to do a direct comparison between resources across years. Members were pleased to note that the lobbying appeared to have been successful in that the final settlement had increased the level of the floor protection and provided more grant.

Members were asked to approve the £5 increase of council tax, which equated to a 4.89% increase for a Band D property, in order to protect services to communities which is what government was assuming Fire Authorities would do over the next 3 years. The government would not look favourably on future grant if an Authority did not maximise the funding opportunities already offered.

The Treasurer assured Members that although the Authority had been adversely affected by the "Fair-funding" review, following on the loss of grant and increase cost imposed in the current year, sound financial planning meant that the Authority is in a good place to weather this storm although this may not be achievable without impact on the services provided in the future.

The Authority confirmed the Treasurer's view that it remained a going concern and noted that the Treasurer did not consider that there was any likelihood of the need to issue a Section 114 notice in the foreseeable future.

[Cllr S Bastow returned to the meeting at 10.44am].

RESOLVED that:

a. The Capital Strategy (paragraphs 13-29) be approved;

b. The Capital Budget and Programme (Appendix 2) be approved;

c. The Core Net Revenue Budget of £46,290,195 (Appendix 4) be approved;

d. The Medium-Term Financial Plan (Appendix 5) be approved;

e. Under the provisions of the relevant sections of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended), in relation to the year 2026/27 the Authority calculates, as set out in Appendix 6, that:

i) S42A(2)(a): the aggregate expenditure it will incur will be £46,365,995.00.

ii) S42A(2)(c): the amount to be transferred to financial reserves will be £0.00.

iii) S42A(3)(a): the aggregate income it will receive will be £14,390,549.07.

iv) S42A(3)(b): the amount to be transferred from financial reserves will be £0.00.

v) S42A(10): the net Collection Fund surplus is £122,796.38.

vi) S42A(4): the net amount of its Council Tax Requirement will be £31,852,649.55.

vii) S42B: the Basic Amount of Council Tax will be £107.22 (Band D).

viii) S47: the proportional tax-bands will be:

• Band A £71.48
• Band B £83.39
• Band C £95.31
• Band D £107.22
• Band E £131.05
• Band F £154.87
• Band G £178.70
• Band H £214.44

ix) S48: the precept demands on the individual Billing Authorities are:

• Bromsgrove £4,118,298.75
• Herefordshire £7,968,081.11
• Malvern Hills £3,691,755.08
• Redditch £2,839,196.32
• Worcester £3,618,638.55
• Wychavon £5,811,978.04
• Wyre Forest £3,804,701.70

f. The Reserves Strategy, including the proposed reallocations, (paragraphs 66-73 and Appendix 7) be approved;

g. The Investment Strategy (paragraphs 74-79) be approved;

h. The fees and charges for 2026/27 (Appendix 8) be approved; and

i. The Statement of Prudential Indicators and revised Minimum Revenue Provision Policy (Appendix 9) be approved.

The Clerk and Monitoring Officer presented a report to propose an increase in the allowances for 2026/27 in accordance with the previous decision that increases be linked to the National Joint Council annual pay award for 'Green Book' staff.

Members agreed to the 3.2% increase, which equated to an additional cost overall of £1,855 which had been allowed for within the current draft budget.

 RESOLVED that:

i)   the existing basic and special responsibility allowances paid to Members be increased by 3.2% for 2026/27, in line with the NJC pay award for Green Book' staff for 2025;

ii)  the Dependent Carers' allowance be increased to £12.71 per hour in line with the national living wage; and

iii) the revised Members' Allowances Scheme for 2026/27 be approved.

The Assistant Chief Officer - Director of Prevention presented the Pay Policy Statement for 2026/27 for approval and publication on the Service website and explained the legal requirement for the Authority to publish such a statement prior to the start of each financial year.

RESOLVED that the Pay Policy Statement for 2026/27 be approved and published on the Service website.

The Assistant Chief Officer - Director of Prevention presented the Fleet Plan 2025-30 for approval.

Members were informed that this Plan was designed to support delivery of the Asset Management Strategy. Following questions from Members on the current fleet, in particular responding officers' cars, Members were satisfied that the current fleet was value for money over the life of the vehicle, whilst providing the user with the most appropriate and best quality vehicle. Vehicles were procured in accordance with all relevant guidelines, standing orders and legislative requirements and were either procured directly through the appropriate tender process or off an existing framework or other means.

[Cllr J Kenyon left the meeting at 11.43am].

[Cllr M Bayliss left the meeting at 11.47am].

RESOLVED that having scrutinised the details of the Fleet Plan 2025-30, it be agreed that the Fleet Plan be approved. In particular it be noted that:

i)   The Fleet Plan 2025-30 supports delivery of the Asset Management Strategy;

ii)  The Fleet Plan provides an overview of the current position of the fleet and a rolling replacement capital spend programme for the 5-year period; and

iii) The financing costs of the revised vehicle replacement programme are contained within the existing Budget and Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP).

[Cllr M Bayliss and Cllr J Kenyon returned to the meeting at 11.50am].

The Assistant Chief Officer - Director of Prevention presented the HMICFRS Improvement Plan and progress made on actions during Quarter 3 2025-26 for scrutiny following the inspection report dated 29 November 2023.

[Cllr R Morris left the meeting at 11.54am].

Members were pleased to note that updates had been received for all 11 specific Areas for Improvement identified by HMICFRS following the 2023 inspection and that all evidence of progress and change was robust for evaluation and scrutiny by the Inspectorate. There were no areas being raised as a particular concern and further progress was expected during Q4 which could potentially see the Areas for Improvement progressed to completion.

The Service was now preparing for the next inspection starting next week.

[Cllr R Morris returned to the meeting at 11.59am].

RESOLVED that the Fire Authority:

i)  noted the progress made on the actions to deliver the HMICFRS Improvement Plan and that further progress had been made up to the end of December 2025 (Q3); and 

ii) noted that the Service was preparing for the next HMICFRS inspection in February 2026.

The Assistant Chief Fire Officer - Director of Protection updated Members on progress of the Fire Alliance Fire Control Project.

[Cllr B Hopkins left the meeting at 12.04pm].

Members were pleased to note that the project programme was currently on track to deliver phase 1 by late summer and phase 2 by the end of 2026.

RESOLVED that Members note the update, confirming the progress of the new joint fire control system in partnership with Shropshire FRS, Cleveland FB and County Durham & Darlington FRS.

The Chairman of the Committee presented the minutes of the Audit, Scrutiny and Standards Committee meeting held on 14 January 2026.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Audit, Scrutiny and Standards Committee meeting held on 14 January 2026 be received and noted.