PAPER B

 

                                                                                                                Purpose : for Decision

                        REPORT TO THE EXECUTIVE

 

Date :              25 FEBRUARY 2004

 

Title  :              SOUTH EAST FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICES REGIONAL MANAGEMENT BOARD

 

REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR FIRE EMERGENCY PLANNING AND CONSUMER PROTECTION

 

IMPLEMENTATION DATE : 10 March 2004

SUMMARY/PURPOSE

 

1.                  The White Paper “Our Fire and Rescue Service” and the draft National Framework stipulate that Fire Authorities must establish Regional Management Boards by 1st April 2004.  A draft agreement constituting the South East Fire and Rescue Services Regional Management Board has been emailed to members of the Executive and is available as a background paper to this report. A copy has also been placed in the Members Resource Room.

 

2.                  This decision was advertised on the Forward Plan for 10 March 2004. It is being taken at this meeting, under the urgency provisions in Rule 15 Access to Information Procedure Rules, as the national timescale for establishing regional management boards has been brought forward by the Office of The Deputy Prime Minister and the inaugural meeting of the South East Regional Management board is now listed for 10 March. The revised and shortened timetable was not known at the time of publication of the February Forward Plan, and to delay the decision until 10 March will create constitutional and operational problems in the establishment of the Regional Management board.

 

BACKGROUND

 

3.                  The White Paper “Our Fire and Rescue Service” and the draft National Framework both stipulate that Fire Authorities must establish within their Region on Regional Management Board by 1st April 2004.

 

4.                  At the meeting on 3rd December 2003 the Executive resolved that:-

 

            (i)        THAT the Government’s modernising agenda for the Fire and Rescue Service as outlined in the White Paper be noted, and that the tensions between that agenda and established corporate strategic priorities be observed

            (ii)       THAT the Portfolio Holder for Fire, Emergency Planning and Consumer Protection be authorised to negotiate and in particular by pressing the case for

 

a.         the establishment of a Regional Management Board which best reflects the established strategic priorities set out in the Corporate

            Plan and,

 

b.         the recommendations of the Select Committee particularly, to pursue the objectives of

 

§         Sub regional status

§         Maintaining a control room on the Island

§         Combining the Control Room with the Ambulance Service on the Island

 

(iii)     THAT Portfolio Holder for Fire, Emergency Planning and Consumer Protection and the Chief Fire Officer take all available opportunities to develop alternative, on Island, provision of a multi agency (police, ambulance service, fire and out of hours social services) control room including, but not limited to, the developing of the Great Access to Great Services agenda

 

              (iv)    THAT these objectives be pursued through all available avenues including the regional assembly, ministerial lobbying as well as through the Regional Board when established

 

5.                  Officers and Members from each of the 9 Fire and Rescue Services in the South East have drawn up a draft agreement constituting the South East Fire and Rescue Services Regional Management Board over recent weeks.  This document is currently being considered by each of the Fire and Rescue Authorities to constitute an inaugural meeting of the Board on 10th March 2004.

 

6.                  The Agreement sets out that:

·                    the Board is established under sections 101 and 102 of Local Government Act 1972.

·                    each Fire and Rescue Authority will be represented by one voting Member.

·                    each Fire and Rescue Authority will chair the Board for one year in rotation

·                    Schedule 2 sets out the Board’s terms of reference particularly relating to the 6 “action areas” laid down in the National Framework.

·                    That the costs of administration and of pursuing the action areas will b split between the constituent Fire and Rescue Authorities

·                    That each Fire and Rescue Authority effectively has a veto over the budget and spending of the Regional Board or any steps proposed or taken in the “action areas”.

 

STRATEGIC CONTEXT

 

7.                  The Councils Corporate Plan acknowledges that the various Local  Government Acts since 1999 have set the direction of change for the Council.  This White Paper and draft National Framework sets the direction of change for the Fire and Rescue Service.

 

8.                 The Corporate Plan sets out the Councils commitment to working in partnership with other public sector agencies.

 

9.                 We have an objective to “promote and deliver services which are sustainable in economic, social and environment terms.”

 

10.             We state that we will “continue to develop new models of service delivery particularly through partnership arrangements with other agencies.” And, “Extend the use of pooled budgets’ and joint delivery with other agencies”.

 

11.             The White Paper gives us the opportunity to put all of the above into practice.

 

12.             The Corporate Plan also commits the Council to “support the continued provision of a locally controlled, managed and delivered fire service.” and particularly to “provide and maintain an Island Fire and Rescue Service supported by a locally based emergency Control Room.

 

CONSULTATION

 

13.             The Fire and Public Safety Select Committee considered the White Paper at its meeting on 14 July 2003 and recommended to the Executive, and the ODPM that

 

(i)                 “In the event that the Government pursue the White Paper then

this Committee would wish to see the Isle of Wight set up as a

sub-region”.

 

14.             The Fire Brigades’ Union, the local pressure group “Our Fire Service” and the Retained Firefighters Union were invited to put their views on the White Paper to the Fire and Public Safety Select Committee on 10 November 2003

 

15.             On 10 November 2003 the Select Committee resolved to recommend:

 

(i)                THAT the Control Room should be maintained on the Island and any attempts to relocate it to the mainland be resisted.

 

(ii)              THAT consideration be given to the impact of combining the Control Room with the Ambulance Service on the Island.

 

16.             The recommendations listed above were taken into account when the Executive made its resolution on 3rd December 2003 (see paragraph 4 above).

 

FINANCIAL/BUDGET IMPLICATIONS

 

17.             There are a number of costs which are incurred in being a stand alone Fire Authority.  These can in some instances be offset to some extent by collaborating with other Fire Authorities.  The establishment of the Regional Management Board could put such collaboration on a more formal footing.

 

18.             Costs will be incurred by the Regional Management Board, for both administering the Board and for running each of the 6 action areas.

 

a)     Administration and support. The modest cost of administering and supporting the Board will be shared equally among the 9 constituent Fire and Rescue Authorities and will be met from existing budgets in financial years 2003-2004 and 2004-2005.

           

b)     Each of the 6 action areas will be run as distinct projects using a Project Management Methodology; this will include the apportionment of costs for each project.  As yet these are unknown

           

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

 

19.             The power to establish a Regional Management Board bearing a delegations of Executive functions in relation to Fire and Rescue are contained within s20 Local Government Act 2000.

 

20.             The Government currently has powers under various Acts of Parliament (particularly Local Government Act 1999) to intervene if Fire Authorities’ performance is not up to an acceptable level and also to force combination schemes of Fire Authorities if necessary.  Additionally, a new Fire Service Bill based upon the White Paper was proposed in the Queens’ speech.   This Bill includes wide ranging intervention powers for the Government and is likely to be on the statute book by Autumn 2004

 

21.             As the Regional Management Board bears some delegation of Executive Functions, the representative appointed to the Board, and any substitute, must be members of the Executive. The Regional Management Board is a Joint Arrangement for the purposes of s20 Local Government Act 2000 and the constitution must be amended to refer to it.

 

OPTIONS

 

22.             1.  To reject the Agreement Constituting the South East Fire and Rescue

                  Services Regional Management Board.

 

2.           To agree the establishment of the South East Fire and Rescue Services Regional Management Board and delegate to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Fire, Emergency Planning and Consumer Protection and the Chief Fire Officer to enter into the agreement on behalf of the Executive as the Fire Authority.

 

3.                  To appoint the Portfolio Holder for Fire, Emergency Planning and Consumer Protection as the Isle of Wight council’s member on the Regional Management Board.

 

4.                  To appoint a member of the Executive as substitute member of the Board.

 

EVALUATION/RISK MANAGEMENT

 

23.             The Government is hopeful that voluntary arrangements for Regional Management Boards will succeed, if not they intend to use their powers (either the existing or new) to intervene or combine Fire Authorities.

 

24.             There is a significant risk that if the Isle of Wight does not participate in the Regional Management Board or at some stage withdraws from the RMB, then the Government will intervene, which could adversely affect the Council ‘s CPA score in the future, or cause combinations of fire authorities.

 

25.             There is a risk to the Fire Authority that if we do not sign up to the wider agenda the Fire CPA score would reflect this and impact upon our overall CPA score.

 

26.             The agenda for change is wide-ranging and extensive.  Some of the measures will be costly for instance I.P.D.S. and there is a risk that unless we collaborate within the Regional Management Board the Council will not be able to provide the resources to take the agenda forward as required.

 

27.             There is a risk that the Island has insufficient capacity to take the agenda forward if we do not collaborate and that we will be judged as failing by the Service Improvement Team and suffer intervention as a consequence.

 

28.             On 24 September 2003 the Executive approved the Fire Authority Integrated Risk Management Plan (FAIRMaP) and Improvement Plan to go out for public consultation.  This consultation process finished in December 2003.

 

29.             The responses to the consultation exercise will be reported to the Executive who will then consider the responses as the decision is made on how to implement the FAIRMaP and Improvement Programme.

 

30.             The FAIRMaP will therefore be a document written for the Island and owned by the whole Island and all this is because the Isle of Wight Council is the Fire Authority for the Island.  If the Island were to become part of some larger Combined Fire Authority then significantly the Island will have lost the power to set its own FAIRMaP and thus fire protection for the Island would be determined within the context of such a larger Combined Fire Authority’s overall priorities.  It is highly likely that within any Combined Fire Authority area there will be areas at higher risk from fire than exist on the Island.

 

31.             Seeking agreement between Fire and Rescue Authorities, each with slightly different corporate objectives and priorities, is a difficult and time consuming task, which progresses is sages. Each Fire authority has received a report in substantially similar terms to this report, with a recommendation that power to agree the final draft of the agreement and to enter into it be delegated. As, at this late stage, negotiations over the detail of the agreement are being conducted by legal advisors seeking to ensure that the principles set out in paragraph 5 above

are effectively delivered by the agreement, it is suggested that the delegation be to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

32.       i.   To reject the Agreement Constituting the South East Fire and Rescue

                 Services Regional Management Board.

 

ii. To agree the establishment of the South East Fire and Rescue Services Regional Management Board and delegate to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Fire, Emergency Planning and Consumer Protection and the Chief Fire Officer to enter into the agreement on behalf of the Executive as the Fire Authority.

 

iii. To appoint the Portfolio Holder for Fire, Emergency Planning and Consumer Protection as the Isle of Wight Council’s member on the Regional Management Board.

 

iv. To appoint a member of the Executive as substitute member of the Board.

 

 

BACKGROUND PAPERS

 

    Draft Agreement

    The White Paper “Our Fire and Rescue Service”

          The draft Fire and Rescue National Framework

Report to the Executive 3rd December 2003 “White Paper – Our Fire and Rescue Service”

 

Contact Point :           Richard Hards, Chief Fire Officer. 01983 823199

                                                                        [email protected]

 

R HARDS

 Chief Fire Officer

 D KNOWLES

Portfolio Holder for Fire, Emergency Planning and Consumer Protection