Minutes from GPWG meeting 5 September 2022

ITEM 3

Present:    

• Cllr Ged Potter (Chair)
• Cllr Kevin Gillott
• Cllr Jack Woolley
• Robert Taylor – Deputy Chief Fire Officer
• Judi Beresford – Director of Corporate Services
• Louise Taylor – Solicitor/Monitoring Officer
• Simon Allsop – Director of Finance/Treasurer
• Clive Stanbrook – Area Manager Community Safety & Central Policy
• Fiona Cragg - Organisational Governance Officer
• Mandy Marples - Derby City Council/CMAP
• Hannah McDonald - Derby City Council/CMAP 

Guest Speaker:        Robert Leverton – Station Manager Protection Policy

Committee Clerk:    Leanne Mellors

1. APOLOGIES

Cllr Sue Burfoot, Cllr Nigel Gourlay

2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

None.

3. MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 23 MAY 2022

The Minutes were reviewed. Members confirmed the minutes as an accurate record.   

4. GOVERNANCE & PERFORMANCE WORKING GROUP TERMS OF REFERENCE

L Taylor, Solicitor/Monitoring Officer provided Members with an up to date version of the Governance & Performance Working Group Terms of Reference. Members accepted the changes made to the updated document.  

5. PROPOSED SCRUTINY PROGRAMME 2022-23

R Leverton, Station Manager Protection Policy presented Members with an overview of the proposed scrutiny programme during 2022-23, proposing key subject topics for review: 

• Fire Protection & new building regulations
• New Breathing Apparatus & Telemetry
• HMICFRS 2022 Inspection action plan
• Fleet Strategy 

Results following the HMICFRS inspection will be published in February 2023. Passed regulations will become legislation next year in 2023, both Fire Safety key subject matters will fall into DFRS role. 

R Leverton provided Members with reassurance regarding multiple-occupancy, multi-agency gateways and how DFRS will manage these changes through training, engagement, and updating procedures and ICT. 

Members considered the key topics for review during 2022-23 and accepted recommendations 2.1. Proposed by the Chair, Cllr G Potter, seconded by Cllr J Woolley. 

6. DRAFT 2021-22 STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS

S Allsop, Director of Finance/Treasurer presented Members with the draft statement of accounts for 2021-22. Members were informed that the 2021 statement of accounts would be finalised on the 9 September 2022. The 2021-22 statement of accounts will be published end of July 2022. 

There have been no changes from the previous statement of accounts and no highlighted risks. S Allsop ensured Members that the raised concerns regarding the cost of living and on-going inflation would be discussed at the next Fire Commissioners meeting. 

Members noted and approved the draft set of unaudited accounts, accepting recommendations 2.1. Proposed by the Chair, Cllr G Potter, seconded by Cllr J Woolley.

7. TRANSPARENCY FINAL REPORT 2022

M Marples from Central Midlands Audit Partnership presented Members with the Transparency final audit report that was prepared for the forthcoming HMICFRS inspection (June 2022), which focused on the relevant requirements of the Service’s web presence and documents giving assurance to members that the Service is adhering to the Transparency Code. This has been a significant piece of work, updating the website and ensuring documents are compliant and accessible. 

Ten low risk areas were identified, four of which have been implemented, two in progress and four which are working towards the agreed action date. 

Members accepted the report and recommendations highlighted in section 1.2.1 of the report. 

8. INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT COLLABORATION ARRANGEMENTS

M Marples from Central Midlands Audit Partnership presented Members with the Internal audit report for collaboration arrangements which focused on the governance arrangements set out in the Joint Fire Control and Derbyshire Emergency Services collaboration agreements. Assurance was provided to Members that robust governance arrangements are in place and are working in practice between DFRS and its partners. 

Six recommendations were highlighted, three being categorised as a moderate risk rating and the remaining three being a low risk rating. 

Members accepted the report and recommendations highlighted in section 1.2.1. 

9. INTERNAL AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT 2022/23

M Marples from Central Midlands Audit Partnership presented Members with the Internal audit progress report for 2022/23, providing evidence of the progress made between 4 May 2022 to 16 August 2022. It was confirmed, there were no changes made to the plan. 

Multi factor authentication has been implemented, two factor authentication is going well. There will be a review audit process to allow for a follow-up opportunity. 

Members noted the report and recommendations. 

10. BUSINESS CONTINUITY ARRANGEMENT (INDUSTRIAL ACTION)

J Beresford, Director of Corporate Services provided Members with a verbal update on the Services business continuity arrangements regarding the potential for industrial strike action, following the cost of living crisis. 

The proposal for strike action will affect Control employees on this occasion. 

It is expected that the ballot will be issued within the next five weeks. Awaiting the outcome prior to further action taking place. Preparation is well in progress. Monthly regional meetings with other FRS Chiefs’ are taking place.  

Members noted the verbal update. 

11. REPORT OF MONITORING OFFICER 

L Taylor, Solicitor/Monitoring Officer provided Members with an update on the outcomes relating to the Fire Authority policies. Development points and improvements to be made following the report, looking into how we can further improve our processes.

L Taylor assured Members that the Service seeks external, legal advice on how to deal with vexatious complaints. J Beresford advised Members not to respond to any vexatious emails sent to them at this time. Cllr G Potter proposed a discussion with Members outside of the meeting including Members who were not present in the meeting today, to discuss further. Liaise with the Monitoring Officer for support. 

Members noted recommendations 2.1 of the Monitoring Officer’s Report.

12.  QUARTER 1 PERFORMANCE SUMMARY 2022/23

R Taylor, Deputy Chief Fire Officer provided Members with an overview of the quarter 1 performance summary. 

Some key areas of performance were highlighted. Call handling is currently at its lowest time of just 88 seconds. What3Words has supported this. 

Between April-June, incident levels have increased. Additional implementation is being carried out to reduce this. 

Malicious calls are becoming a trend during this quarter. This is something the Service is monitoring and an additional push on prevention work and education is taking place within schools. 

Multi-agency exercises, this is something that HMI have brought to the Services attention. Continual commitment to Training exercises is being made. 

There has been a decrease in fatalities and hospitalisation, since recourses have been targeted towards those classed as high risk. The need for protection resources is increasing as more high-level action is being reported by the public. 

There has been a lot more focus on prevention activity and educating the community, focusing on those who are vulnerable. 

There are concerns around the first pump attendance time. The target is 10 minutes, this is currently being achieved only 74.5% of the time. On-Call resources are being used more efficiently where Wholetime cover is required. 

Following the heatwave and dry ground, there has been an increase in reported deliberate fires. The Service is preparing for expected flooding issues following the dry season, however water rescue incidents have decreased following last year’s performance summary. 

Our female workforce has now reached 11.2% and continues to grow. There has been a focus on encouraging promotion within the female workforce. 

Members noted the quarter 1 performance summary report. 

13. CORPORATE RISK DASHBOARD (FIREVIEW)

F Cragg, Organisational Governance Officer presented the live corporate risk register to Members, highlighting the risks and what the Service do to mitigate them. The strategic level risks include; four corporate risks and 28 departmental risks.

•    Recruitment and retention of staff into support function roles, report to be submitted into SLT, this is in progress. 
•    Major loss of ICT infrastructure. 
•    Services ability to take and receive calls and mobilise assets, this is being monitored and actions are in place with Systel to mitigate these. Upgrade due in October. 
•    Operational staff workforce planning, On-Call leave and retention profile. On-Call Station Manager has been working on the On-Call strategy to mitigate this risk. High risk stations have been identified where there are skill gaps. 

J Beresford has requested that industrial action is to be included in the corporate risk register. 

Members noted the corporate risk dashboard summary.