programme of meetings 2017 - 2018 · 1.1 it is necessary to give consideration to the programme of...

Purpose To agree the programme of Authority and Committee meetings for 2017 - 2018.

Recommendations That the programme of meetings for 2017 - 2018 be approved as detailed in the report now submitted.

Summary A programme of meetings for the forthcoming municipal year has to be agreed by the full Authority prior to it becoming effective immediately following the Annual General Meeting and any changes to an agreed programme require the approval of the full Authority.

OFFICIAL

Programme of Meetings 2017 - 2018 Full Authority Date: 17 February 2017 Agenda Item: 13 Submitted By: Chief Legal and Governance Officer

Local Government (Access to information) Act 1972

Exemption Category: None

Contact Officer: Nicola Houseman, Committee Services Manager T: 01274 655740 E: [email protected]

Background papers open to inspection: None

Annexes: Draft Programme of meetings 2017 – 2018

54

1 Introduction 1.1 It is necessary to give consideration to the programme of meetings for the next municipal year

based on a quarterly cycle. In advance of the commencement of the programme the Authority will hold its Annual Meeting on 30 June 2017 as approved at the February 2016 meeting of the Authority.

1.2 In accordance with the agreed Terms of Reference the Local Pension Board will meet on a six-monthly basis scheduled in July and January of each municipal year.

2 Information

2.1 The Annual Meeting marks the start of the programme of meetings. The programme of meetings for 2017 - 18 attached at Annex A is recommended for adoption by the Authority.

3 Financial Implications

3.1 There are no direct financial implications arising from this report. Members are entitled to claim mileage / out of pocket expenses for meetings they attend in accordance with the Authority’s approved Constitution.

4 Human Resources and Diversity Implications

4.1 There are no direct human resources and diversity implications arising from this report.

5 Health and Safety Implications

5.1 There are no direct health and safety implications arising from this report.

6 Service Plan Links 6.1 This report and the approval of a programme of meetings enables the Authority to “provide

effective and ethical governance ” in a well-structured and publicised manner.

55

WEST YORKSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY

PROGRAMME OF MEETINGS 2017 / 2018

FRIDAY 10.30AM

HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE

FRIDAY 11.30AM

LOCAL PENSION BOARD

FRIDAY 10.30AM

FINANCE & RESOURCES COMMITTEE

FRIDAY 10.30 AM

AUDIT COMMITTEE

FRIDAY 10.30AM

COMMUNITY SAFETY

COMMITTEE

FRIDAY 10.30AM

AUTHORITY

7 July 2017 7 July 2017 14 July 2017 28 July 2017 21 July 2017 22 September 2017

6 October 2017 - 13 October 2017 15 Sept 2017 27 October 2017 15 December 2017

12 January 2018 12 January 2018 26 January 2018 2 February 2018 19 January 2018 16 February 2018

13 April 2018 - 20 April 2018 27 April 2018 6 April 2018 29 June 2018

(AGM)

Annex

56

Purpose To inform Members of the Authority’s performance against key performance indicators.

Recommendations That Members note the report.

Summary This report provides Members with information regarding the performance of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service against targets to enable the Authority to measure, monitor and evaluate performance.

OFFICIAL

Performance Management Report Full Authority Date: 17 February 2017 Agenda Item: 14 Submitted By: Chief Legal and Governance Officer



Contact Officer: Alison Davey Corporate Services Manager Tel. 01274 655801 [email protected]


Annexes: Performance Management Report 1 April 2016 – 31 December 2016

57

1 Introduction 1.1 The attached Performance Management and Activity Report outlines the Authority’s

performance against key performance indicators thereby enabling the Authority to measure, monitor and evaluate performance against targets.

1.2 The report shows a summary of the cumulative performance for the year 2016/17 to date against each of the indicators.

1.3 The Performance Management and Activity Report is monitored bi-monthly by Management Team and the Full Authority at each meeting.

1.4 An abridged version of the Performance Management Report is presented to each Audit Committee highlighting where targets are not being achieved.

1.5 A traffic light system is used to provide a clear visual indicator of performance against each of the indicators compared to the position at the same time in the previous year.

1.6 Other performance and activity information is also included within the report.


2.1 There are no financial implications arising from this report.


3.1 Measurement against key indicators on human resources and diversity are included in the Performance Management Reports.


4.1 There are no health and safety implications arising from this report.

5 Service Plan Links

5.1 This report links to all of the Service Plan 2015-2020 priorities as the Performance Management Report covers all areas of performance of WYFRS.

6 Conclusions

6.1 That Members note the report.

58

Performance Management and Activity Report 2016/17

Period covered: 1 April – 31 December 2016 Date Issued: 23 January 2017

59

Performance Management Report Page 2 of 27

Table of Contents

1. Introduction/Summary 22. Service Delivery Targets 33. Operational Risk Visits (including Fire Safety) 94. Home Fire Safety Checks 105. Incidents 116. Fire-Related Incidents attended by Six Pumps and Above 137. Other Incidents or Activity of Note 228. Violence at Work 23

1. Introduction/Summary

The purpose of this report is to provide information regarding the performance of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service against selected national and local targets to enable the Authority to measure, monitor and evaluate performance.

In this report, monthly statistics have been utilised to identify trends in performance. Information regarding a selection of local performance targets has also been provided in this report and comparisons have been made with the previous year’s performance.

All data, unless specified, is for the reporting period 1 April – 31 December 2016.

A traffic light system has been employed to provide a straightforward visual indicator of performance against each of the FRS indicators.

Graphical representation of the performance of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is available through the Performance Management Information System (PMIS), which is accessed via the Service’s intranet site.

60


2. Service Delivery Targets

Not achieving target (by more than 10%) Satisfactory performance (within 10% of target) Achieving or exceeding target

Actual Data

(2009/10)

Three Year Average Target

(2013/16)

Actual Data to date

(2016/17)

Performance Against Three Year Average

(2016/17)

End of Year Projection (2016/17)

Arson 10897 5758 5048 16.3% 6694

Actual Rescues 875 802 550 -9.1% 729

Total Activity 34270 22094 17745 6.5% 23531

Dwelling Fires 1549 1241 852 -9.0% 1130

Non-Domestic Building Fires 513 420 371 17.1% 492

Prevalence of False Alarms 16750 10860 8278 1.1% 10977

Fire-Related Injuries 270 215 159 -1.9% 211

Road Traffic Collisions 1060 654 444 -10.0% 589

No. of Operational Risk Visits 5765 3812 -12.3% 5055

Malicious False Alarms 713 343 256 -1.0% 339

No. of Home Fire Safety Check Points

293850 221570 6.6% 294084

61


Service Delivery Indicators

Indicates a worse performance compared to the same period last year (by more than 10%) Indicates a worse performance compared to the same period last year (up to 10%) Indicates a similar or better performance compared to the same period last year

Description 2016-17 To Date

Same Period 2015-16

Compared to Last Year

Accidental Dwelling Fires (per 10,000 dwellings) 8.04 8.35

Number of deaths arising from accidental fires in dwellings (per 100,000 population)

0.09 0.44

(See Section 5 for more details)

Number of Fire-Related Deaths (per 100,000 population) arising from fires other than Accidental Dwelling Fires

0.13 0.09

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16

Accidental Dwelling Fires per 10,000 Dwellings

0102030405060708090

100

1991-1996 1996-2001 2001-2006 2006-2011 2011-2016

Number of Deaths arising from Accidental Fires in Dwellings

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1991-1996 1996-2001 2001-2006 2006-2011 2011-2016

Number of Deaths arising from Fires other than Accidental Dwelling Fires

62


Description Performance 2016-17 To Date

Performance Same Period

2015-16

Performance Compared to

Last Year Number of Injuries arising from accidental fires in dwellings (per 100,000 population)

4.73 5.03

(a) Number of Serious Injuries(per 100,000 population) 0.75 0.44 (b) Number of Slight Injuries (per 100,000 population) 3.98 4.59

The percentage of dwelling fires attended where there was a working smoke alarm which activated

55.4% 55.9%

The percentage of dwelling fires attended where a working smoke alarm was correctly fitted but did not activate

17.1% 17.2%

The percentage of dwelling fires attended where a smoke alarm, because it was faulty or incorrectly sited, did not activate

5.0% 5.5%

The percentage of dwelling fires attended where no smoke alarm was fitted

22.7% 21.4%

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16

Number of Injuries arising from Accidental Fires in Dwellings per 100,000 Population

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

2008/9 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16

Working Smoke Alarmwhich Activated

Working Smoke Alarmwas Correctly Fitted butdid not Activate

Percentage of Dwelling Fires Attended where there was a Working Smoke Alarm

63




2015-16


Last Year Number of calls to malicious false alarms (per 1000 population) – attended

0.11 0.11

False alarms caused by automatic fire detection equipment (per 1000 non-domestic properties)

32.17 31.56

False alarms caused by automatic fire detection equipment (per 1000 domestic properties)

3.34 3.29

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16

Number of Calls to Malicious False Alarms Attended

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16

False Alarms caused by Automatic Fire Detection Equipment (Non-Domestic Properties)

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16

False Alarms caused by Automatic Fire Detection Equipment (Domestic Properties)

64




2015-16


Last Year Fires in non-domestic premises (per 1000 non-domestic premises)

5.01 4.17

Number of Primary Fires (per 100,000 population) 125.78 110.58

Number of Fire Casualties – excluding Precautionary Checks (per 100,000 population)

6.85 7.42

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16

Fires in Non-Domestic Premises per 1000 premises

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16

Number of Primary Fires per 100,000 Population

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16

Number of Fire Casualties per 100,000 Population

65




2015-16


Last Year Arson Incidents – All Deliberate Fires (per 10,000 population) 22.61 22.32

Arson Incidents – Deliberate Primary Fires (per 10,000 population)

6.02 4.87

Arson Incidents – Deliberate Secondary Fires (per 10,000 population)

16.58 17.45

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16

All Deliberate Fires per 10,000 Population

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16

Deliberate Primary Fires per 10,000 Population

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16

Deliberate Secondary Firesper 10,000 Population

66


3. Operational Risk Visits (including Fire Safety)

The Fire Safety Strategy determines that operational crews will carry out visits to risk premises in support of fire protection personnel. These visits are known as Operational Risk Visits (ORVs).

Crews carrying out an ORV will collect both operational risk information (risks and mitigating control measures which would be invaluable information in the event of an incident at the premises) and fire protection information in one single ORV.

An action was set in the 2016/17 WYFRS Action Plan ‘to implement a revised ORV process’. Following a systematic review of the process it is apparent that the process, as currently designed, is collecting a very significant amount of data about a large number of premises. However. the needs of the service are better serviced by collecting more, and better quality data, about a smaller number of higher risk premises, and supporting this with more generic data about lower risk premises. In order to redesign the process a decision has been made to cease the current programme of ORVs other than in the case of work already in progress, and in respect of new high risk premises which come to our attention. The outcome of this is that the target set at the beginning of the year will not be met. All existing ORV data remains live and available to operational crews.

A small team of officers are now working on a revised process. This change has been well received by operational staff who recognise that the issues which they have raised about the ORV process during our consultations with them have been recognised, and acted upon. Further information will be reported to members in due course.

401

919

1451

1914

2457

2862 3241

3728 3812

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000 Total Operational Risk Visits Completed

Annual Target = 5765

Approximate Monthly Target = 480

67


4. Home Fire Safety Checks

Over the past ten years West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has undertaken an intensive programme of Home Fire Safety Checks (HFSCs) aimed primarily at reducing the impact of domestic dwelling fires in terms of injury, death and damage to property through increasing smoke detector ownership.

Despite the successes in reducing house fires and associated injuries and deaths, it is clear that there is more to do in terms of targeting those households at most risk and, from 1 April 2013, WYFRS have adopted a points-based strategy, which seeks to identify such households through an assessment of both individual and geographical risk. The allocation of points for each HFSC aims to incentivise those personnel carrying out prevention activities to identify risk and to reduce this risk to the maximum extent within the individual household.

Over the past three years, this strategy has delivered excellent outcomes in terms of risk reduction across West Yorkshire, despite a lower number of HFSCs being carried out.

So far this financial year WYFRS have achieved 221,570 points against a target to date of 220,387, exceeding the target by 1,182 points (0.5%).

32450

62257

90938

118850

139866

160987

183850 204081

221570

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

Total Home Fire Safety Check Points

2016/17 Annual Target = 293,850

68

5. Incidents

The table and chart below show the operational activity of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service for the financial year to date (1 April – 31 December 2016) categorised by incident type and compared with the same period last year.

Incident Category

Number of Incidents

1 April 2016 to 31 Dec 2016

Number of Incidents

1 April 2015 to 31 Dec 2015

Percentage Change in

Incident Type since last year

Primary Fires - Accidental 1,484 1,401 5.92%Primary Fires - Deliberate 1,364 1,103 23.66%Secondary Fires - Accidental 1,090 915 19.13%Secondary Fires - Deliberate 3,755 3,950 -4.94%Road Traffic Collisions 443 500 -11.40%Special Service Calls 1,501 1,546 -2.91%False Alarm - Apparatus Non-Domestic 2,537 2,489 1.93%False Alarm - Apparatus Domestic 3,192 3,145 1.49%False Alarm - Other (e.g. Shed or Private Garage) 5 4 n/aFalse Alarm - Good Intent 2,303 2,212 4.11%False Alarm - Malicious 256 250 2.40%Total 17,930 17,515 2.37%

1484 8%

1364 8%

1090 6%

3755 21%

443 3% 1501

8%

2537 14%

3192 18%

5 0%

2303 13%

256 1% Primary Fires - Accidental

Primary Fires - Deliberate

Secondary Fires - Accidental

Secondary Fires - Deliberate

Road Traffic Collisions

Special Service Calls

False Alarm - Apparatus Non-Domestic

False Alarm - Apparatus Domestic

False Alarm - Apparatus Other (e.g. Shed or PrivateGarage)False Alarm - Good Intent

False Alarm - Malicious

69

The table below shows the total number of incidents ten years ago, five years ago, and last year, and can be used as a comparison with the current year’s data above.

Comments on Fatal Fires

No fatalities to report

Incident Category

Number of Incidents

1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 Percentage

Number of Incidents


Number of Incidents


Primary Fires - Accidental 2,638 6.2% 2,123 7.1% 1,825 8.2%Primary Fires - Deliberate 3,494 8.2% 1,575 5.2% 1,402 6.3%Secondary Fires - Accidental 1,541 3.6% 1,637 5.4% 1,132 5.1%Secondary Fires - Deliberate 11,376 26.6% 7,148 23.7% 4,707 21.3%Road Traffic Collisions 1,109 2.6% 874 2.9% 655 3.0%Special Service Calls 2,846 6.7% 2,032 6.8% 1,971 8.9%False Alarm - Apparatus 13,452 31.5% 9,661 32.1% 7,256 32.8%False Alarm - Good Intent 4,719 11.0% 4,412 14.7% 2,859 12.9%False Alarm - Malicious 1,595 3.7% 641 2.1% 331 1.5%Total 42,770 100% 30,103 100% 22,138 100%

70

6. Fire-Related Incidents attended by Six Pumps and Above

General Commentary

UK fire and rescue services determine the size of a fire by the final number of pumps mobilised to deal with it.

A number of additional pumping appliances and special appliances are often mobilised to these types of incidents to undertake supporting activities. These are described as support and specials.

The following chart details the numbers and severity of such incidents over the last five years up to 31 December 2016:

Fire-related incidents of this type require the attendance of a fire investigation officer to determine the cause of the fire. The cause is included in the table, but in some circumstances, it may be uncertain, as follows:

Not known - the evidence that remained after the fire was insufficient to determine the cause

Not Yet Determined / Pending Investigation -

as stated

For fires identified as deliberate, we work in accordance with a regionally agreed Memorandum of Understanding with the police, who are responsible for the investigation of all deliberate fires.

119

6

15

9 10

16

12 11

2

6 7

11

31 1

26

20

6

1715

18

28

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17

No.

of i

ncid

ents

Year

Six pumps and above 2012/13 - 2016/176-9 pumps

10-20 pumps

>20 pumps

Total

71

New incidents added to the table are shaded in white.

Date & Time Address Premises

Use Station

Area Cause Pumps

Plus Specials

Number of Personnel

Monday 30/05/16

Waterloo Lane Bramley Leeds

Derelict 31 (Stanningley) Deliberate

10 pumps 3 support 9 specials

70 Ffs 7 Officers

Saturday 04/06/16

18:27

Aireworth Mills Aireworth Road

Keighley

Multi-use Garage

46 (Keighley)

Not Known


52 Ffs 7 Officers

Thursday 09/06/16

00:05

Upper Isle Farm Isle Lane Oxenhope

Dwelling 67 (Illingworth)

Electrical Appliance


56 Ffs 8 Officers

Thursday 16/06/16

20:48

Kirklees College Portland Street Huddersfield

Disused College

60 (Huddersfield) Deliberate

6 pumps 1 support 1 special

30 Ffs 6 Officers

Friday 17/06/16

00:13

Grantham Works Grantham Road

Halifax

Multi-occupancy Warehouse

64 (Halifax)

Electrical Distribution


54 Ffs 8 Officers

Sunday 19/06/16

07:24

Enviro Wipes Hammerton Street

Bradford Factory 40

(Bradford)

Accidental (Waste

Batteries)


64 Ffs 8 Officers

Friday 01/07/16

20:36

Pakistani Community Centre

Conway Road Harehills Leeds

Community Centre

32 (Killingbeck) Deliberate


44 Ffs 7 Officers

Sunday 03/07/16

11:41

Thorn Tree Farm Bowl Shaw Lane

Northowram Halifax

Scrapyard 67 (Illingworth)

Not Known


78 Ffs 10 Officers

Sunday 03/07/16

16:15

Rathbone Kear Ltd Stephenson Way

Wakefield Bakery 91

(Rothwell) Cooking 15 pumps 3 support 3 specials

78 Ffs 8 Officers

Thursday 14/07/16

19:15

Airedale Junior School Fryston Road

Castleford

School 82 (Castleford) Blowlamp


52 Ffs 7 Officers

Saturday 23/07/16

14:03

Prospect Mill Thornton Road

Bradford Derelict Mill

42 (Fairweather

Green) Not

Known


78 Ffs 8 Officers

72


Use Station

Area Cause Pumps

Plus Specials

Number of Personnel

Saturday 06/08/16

21:03

Clutch Centre Handel Street

Bradford

Commercial Garage

40 (Bradford)

Not Known


50 Ffs 7 Officers

Sunday 14/08/16

06:18

Robinwood Activity Centre Dobroyd Road

Todmorden

Activity Centre

74 (Todmorden)

Electrical Fault


40 Ffs 7 Officers

Sunday 14/08/16

13:55

SITA Kirklees Waste Services Weaving Lane Thornhill Lees

Dewsbury

Recycling Centre

83 (Dewsbury)

Not Known


72 Ffs 7 Officers

Tuesday 23/08/16

03:44

The Watershed 22 Bridge Street

Slaithwaite

Adult Learning Centre

72 (Slaithwaite)



50 Ffs 8 Officers

Saturday27/08/16

20:25

Elams Garage Huddersfield Road

Mirfield

Sales Garage

87 (Mirfield)

Not Known


48 Ffs 8 Officers

Friday 07/10/16

00:26

Allied Glass Containers

Cross Green Way Cross Green

Leeds

Warehouse 25 (Hunslet)

Blow Torch


134 Ffs 10 Officers

Friday 07/10/16

12:41

Polestar Petty Whitehall Road Lower Wortley

Leeds

Factory 20 (Leeds) Welding


64 Ffs 9 Officers

Tuesday 18/10/16

03:02

Rowanstem Ltd Eyres Avenue Armley Leeds

Steam Complex

20 (Leeds)

Pending Investigation


58 Ffs 8 Officers

Tuesday 08/11/16

20:37

Kirklees College Portland Street Huddersfield

Derelict Building

60 (Hudd’sfield) Deliberate


58 Ffs 8 Officers

Wed’day 09/11/16

23:02

Duncombe Street Bradford Storage 42

(FWG) Deliberate 6 pumps 3 support 4 specials

44 Ffs 6 Officers

73


Use Station

Area Cause Pumps

Plus Specials

Number of Personnel

Saturday 12/11/16

05:27

Gas Works Lane Elland

Derelict Building

61 (Rastrick) Deliberate


44 Ffs 7 Officers

Thursday 17/11/16

04:36

Newsome Mills Ruth Street Newsome

Huddersfield

Derelict building

60 (Hudd’sfield)

Deliberate 20 pumps 3 support 5 specials

102 Ffs 11 Officers

Thursday 17/11/16

17:26

GB Projects Pepper Royd

Street Dewsbury

Factory 83 (Dewsbury)



34 Ffs 7 Officers

Monday 05/12/16

19:40

Rawsons Portobello Road

Wakefield

Mill 80 (Wakefield)



40 Ffs 7 Officers

Wed’day 21/12/16

01:38

White Hart Main Street

Pool in Wharfedale Otley

Public House 48

(Otley) Smoking 6 pumps 2 support 4 specials

40 Ffs 9 Officers

Saturday 24/12/16

04:08

Ice Stone Gelato Spring Mill Street

Bradford

Warehouse 40

(Bradford) Deliberate 8 pumps 3 support 4 specials

52 Ffs 9 Officers

Thursday 29/12/16

00:14

Copriding Farm Thurgory Lane

Lepton Huddersfield

Barn 60 (Hudd’sfield) Deliberate


54 Ffs 7 Officers

Further detail on recent six pumps and above fire-related incidents:

Kirklees College 16-16A Portland Street, Huddersfield, HD1 5NN

This incident occurred in Huddersfield station area and involved a derelict building at the old Kirklees College site. The fire involved the first floor 10m x 30m of a 3 story derelict building. The floor was 100% involved.

The initial pre-determined attendance to the incident comprised of 3 pumps from Huddersfield and Rastrick. At the height of the fire a make pumps 10 message was sent. Appliances from Slaithwaite, Halifax, Dewsbury, Cleckheaton, Meltham and Mirfield were then mobilised.

The following support appliances attended;

74

The Command Unit and Personnel Welfare Unit from Fairweather Green, the Hose Layer Unit from Mirfield, a rapid deployment safety crew from Skelmanthorpe, Command Unit Sector Support from Rawdon and Command Unit Assistants from Illingworth.

At the height of the incident 6 large jets and 6 breathing apparatus were used to bring the fire under control.

The initial Incident Commander at make pumps 5 was Station Manager Lawton with Group Manager Clare as Senior Advisor. As the incident progressed and increased to 10 pumps Area Manager Bitcon became Incident Commander With Deputy Chief Fire Officer Walton as Senior Advisor. Station Manager Austin as Command Support Officer, Station Manager Rivers was Hazardous Materials Environmental Protection Officer, Station Manager Greenwood was Health and Safety Auditor and Station Manager Fox was Breathing Apparatus support officer. Watch Manager Miller was mobilised as Fire Investigation officer.

The time of call for the incident was 20:38 on 08/11/16 and the stop message was received by Control at 22:33 on the 08/11/16. The incident was closed at 03:30 on 09/11/16.

A WYFRS investigation has concluded that the fire was deliberate, caused by heat source and combustibles (furniture) brought together deliberately.

Red Oak House, Duncombe Street, Bradford, BD8 9AJ

This incident occurred in Fairweather Green station area and involved a fire in a single storey storage unit measuring 50m x 50m. 50% of the building was involved with an exposure risk to one side.

The initial pre-determined attendance to the reported incident was 2 pumps comprised of Fairweather Green and Bradford. This was then increased to 6 pumps with an assistance message to control by the initial attending Pumps. Appliances from Shipley, Odsal, Idle and Bradford were then mobilised.

The following support appliances attended the incident;

The CARP from Halifax, Command Unit and Welfare Unit from Fairweather Green, Hose Layer from Stanningley, Command Unit assistants from Leeds, Command Unit Sector Support from Brighouse and the Rapid Deployment Safety Crew from Bingley.

At the height of the incident 4 large jets, 1 hose reel, 4 breathing apparatus and 1 aerial were used to bring the fire under control.

The officer in charge was Group Manager May with Area Manager Butters as Senior Advisor. Other officers were mobilised to carry out certain roles. Station Manager Bates attended as Command Support Officer, Station Manager Hall as Hazardous Materials and Environmental Protection Officer, Station Manager Helliwell as Health and Safety Officer and Station Manager Goldwater as a Working Officer. Station Manager Asquith was sent as Fire Investigation officer.

The time of call for the incident was received at 23:02 on 09/11/2016 and the stop message was received by Control at 06:47 on the 10/11/16. The incident was closed at 12:58 on 10/11/16.

A WYFRS investigation has concluded that the fire was deliberate, caused by heat source and combustibles (furniture) brought together deliberately.

75

Gas Works Lane, Elland, HX5 9HJ This incident occurred in Rastrick station area and involved a fire on the first floor of a 2 storey derelict building. The floor was 30% involved in fire.

The initial pre-determined attendance to the reported fire comprised of 3 pumps from Rastrick, Halifax and Huddersfield. At the height of the incident a make pumps 6 and 1 High Volume Pump message was sent to control. The appliances mobilised on this request were from Odsal, Illingworth and Huddersfield.

The following support appliances also attended the incident:

The Command Unit Assistants from Cleckheaton, Command Unit Sector Support from Rawdon, Rapid Deployment Safety Crew from Slaithwaite, High Volume Pump from Stanningley, Hose Layer Unit from Mirfield, Command Unit Light and Personal Welfare Unit from Fairweather Green.

The officer in charge was Group Manager Speed with Area Manager Butters as Senior Advisor. Station Manager Watson was Command Support Officer, Station Manager Taverner was Hazardous Material and Environmental Protection Officer, Station Manager Helliwell was a working officer, Station Manager Archer was Health and Safety Auditor. Watch Manager Lister was the attending Fire Investigation Officer.

The time of the call for the incident was 05:07 on 12/11/16 and the stop message was 10:22 and the incident was closed at 12.58 on the same day.

The cause of the fire was deliberate ignition.

Newsome Mills, Ruth Street, Newsome, Huddersfield, HD4 6JF

This incident occurred in Huddersfield Station area and involved a fire in a 4-storey mill. The mill was 100% involved in fire.

The initial pre-determined attendance to the reported fire was 5 pumps due to the nature of calls received. These appliances were from Huddersfield, Rastrick, Holmfirth and Slaithwaite.

At the height of the incident a make pumps 20 message was sent to Control. Pumps were then mobilised from Wakefield, Morley, Ossett, Odsal, Halifax, Cleckheaton, Fairweather Green, Skelmanthorpe, Bradford, Mirfield, Meltham, Illingworth and Dewsbury.

The following support appliances attended:

The Command Unit and Command Unit Support from Pontefract, Personal Welfare Unit from Fairweather Green, Hose Layer Unit from Mirfield, Rapid Deployment Safety Crew from Mytholmroyd, Command Unit Sector Support from Rawdon and Command Unit Assistants from Leeds.

At the height of the incident there was 5 Ground Monitors, 2 Aerials and 2 large jets over 2 sectors to bring the fire under control.

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The officer in charge was Deputy Chief Fire Officer Walton with Chief Fire Officer Pilling as Senior Advisor. Station Manager Austin was Command Support Officer, Station Manager Lawton was Health and Safety Auditor, Station Manager Rivers as Hazardous Materials and Environmental Protection Officer with Station Manager Milne shadowing. Area Manager Bitcon, Group Manager Clare and Station Manager Helliwell were all Working Officers. Group Manager Brown was in Control and Watch Manager Miller was the attending Fire Investigation Officer.

The time of call for the incident was 04:37 on 17/11/2016 and the stop message was sent at 10:29. The incident was closed at 11:39 on 17/11/2016


GB Projects, The Mill, Pepper Royd Street, Dewsbury, WF13 1PA This incident occurred in Dewsbury station area and involved a fire in a single-storey workshop approximately 40m x 20m. The building was 100% involved in fire.

The initial pre-determined attendance to the incident was 2 pumps from Dewsbury. At the height of the incident a make pumps 6 message was sent to control. Pumps from Ossett, Cleckheaton, Huddersfield and Mirfield were then mobilised.

The following support appliances also attended:

The Hose Layer Unit from Mirfield, Command Unit and Welfare Unit from Fairweather Green and Rapid Deployment Safety Crew from Morley.

6 large jets, 2 hose reels, 4 breathing apparatus and positive pressure ventilation were used to bring the fire under control.

The officer in charge of the incident was Group Manager May with Area Manager Smith as Senior Advisor. Station Manager Hall was a Working Officer (originally OIC at make pumps 4) Station Manager Bates was Command Support Officer, Station Manager Booth wasHazardous Materials and Environmental Protection Officer and Station Manager Furby was Health and Safety Auditor. Watch Manager Firth was the attending Fire Investigation Officer.

The time of call for the incident was 17:26 on 17/11/16 and Control received the stop message at 09:53 on 18/11/16. The incident was closed at 10.44 on 18/11/16.

The cause of the fire was accidental with the fire starting in a paint spraying area at the rear of the building due to a faulty electrical appliance.

Rawson, Portobello Road, Wakefield, WF1 5PS

This incident occurred in Wakefield station area and involved a fire in a building. The fire was in a plastic fibre machine deep within the mill. The building was 120m x 100m with exposure risk to 3 sides. The percentage of the fire was unknown.

Initial pre-determined attendance was 2 pumps due to the nature of the calls. Appliances from Wakefield and Ossett were mobilised. At the height of the incident a make pumps 6 message was sent to Control. Appliances from Dewsbury, Featherstone and Normanton were mobilised.


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Rapid Deployment Safety Crew from Castleford, Command Unit Assistants from Hunslet, Hose Laying Unit from Mirfield, Command Unit Light – Fairweather Green and the Welfare Unit from Cookridge. The officer in charge of the incident was Group Manager May with Area Manager Kirby as Senior Advisor. Station Manager Goodall was Hazardous Materials and Environmental Protection Officer, Station Manager Heath as Command Support, Station Manager Benson as Health and Safety Auditor and Station Manager Booth as a working officer. Station Manager Helliwell was the attending Fire Investigation Officer.

The time of the call for the incident was 19:42 on 05/12/2016 and the stop message was received by Control at 22:20 on 05/12/2016. The incident was closed at 22:20 on 05/12/2016.

The cause of the fire was thought to be a faulty electrical appliance.

White Hart Public House, Main Street, Pool In Wharfedale, Otley, LS21 1LH

This incident occurred in Otley station area and involved a fire in a public house. The building was over 2 floors, 50m x 20m approx and was 25% involved in fire. The fire was in the kitchen.

The intial pre-determined attendance to the incident was 2 appliances from Otley and Cookridge due to the nature of the calls. At the height of the incident a make pumps 6 message was sent to Control and appliances from Moortown, Rawdon, Leeds and Idle were mobilised.


Command Unit Light from Fairweather Green, Hose Layer and Command Unit Assistants from Stanningley, Aerial from Leeds, Personel Welfare Unit from Slaithwaite, and the Rapid Deployment Safety Crew from Bradford.

At the height of the fire there was 1 CARP, 1 ground monitor, 4 hose reels, 3 large jets and 4 breathing apparatus used to bring the fire under control. The incident was also sectorised.

The incident commander was Group Manager Langan with Area Manager Bitcon as Senior Advisor. Station Manager Atkins was a Working Officer, Station Manager Bates was Command Support Officer with Station Manager Fox assisting, Station Manager Lloyd was Health & Safety Auditor, Station Manager Booth was Hazardous Materials and Environmental Protection Officer with Station Manager Milne shadowing. Station Manager Helliwell was the attending Fire Investigation Officer.

The time of the initial call was 01:38 on 21/12/16 and the stop message was received by Control at 04:49.

The cause of this fire was thought to be carelessly discarding of smoking materials.

Ice Stone Gelato, Spring Mill Street, Bradford, BD5 7EE

This incident occurred in Idle station area and involved a fire in a commercial warehouse building. The building was a large mill complex approx 200m x 50m over 2 storeys with individual units within. 1 unit was involved approx 40m x 10m and was 90% involved in fire. The unit was used for storage for food items.

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The initial pre-determined attendance to the incident was 2 pumps due to the nature of the calls. Appliances from Idle and Shipley were mobilised.

At the height of the incident there was a make pumps 8 message sent to Control. Appliances from Cleckheaton, Bradford, Illingworth, Stanningley, Hunslet and Huddersfield were then mobilised.

The following support appliances also attended;

An Aerial appliance from Halifax, Command Unit Light from Fairweather Green, Hose Laying Unit and Prime Mover from Stanningley, Personal Welfare Unit from Cookridge, Rapid Deployment Safety Crew from Bingley, Command Unit Assistants from Leeds and Command Unit Sector Support from Rawdon.

At the height of the incident there were 2 sectors in use, Sector 1 had 2 large jets, 6 breathing apparatus, 1 aerial and positive pressure ventilation in use. Sector 2 had 2 large jets, 1 ground monitor, 1 water curtain and 2 breathing apparatus in use.

The incident commander at make pumps 4 was Station Commander Hesselwood who then became a Working Officer. As the incident progressed the incident commander changed to Group Manager Teggart with Area Manager Kirby as Senior Advisor. Station Commander Heath was Command Support Officer, Group Manager Bush as Hazardous Materials & Environmental Protection Officer, Station Commander Holdsworth as Health & Safety Auditor, Station Commander Williams as a Working Officer, and Station Commander Pearson as Breathing Apparatus Officer. Station Commander Gomersall was the attending Fire Investigation Officer.

The time of call for the incident was 04:08 on 24/12/2016 and the stop message was received by control at 08:47 on 25/12/2016. The incident was closed at 09:37 on 25/12/2016.


Copriding Farm, Thurgory Lane, Lepton, Huddersfield, HD8 0NL

This incident occurred in Huddersfield station area and involved a fire in an agricultural barn. The barn was used for storage for hay bales and was approximately 20 x 30m in size.

The initial pre-determined attendance to the incident was 2 appliances from Huddersfield due to the nature of the calls. At the height of the incident a make pumps 8 message was sent to control and appliances from Rastrick, Cleckheaton, Halifax, Skelmanthorpe, Slaithwaite and Mirfield were mobilised.


Command Unit Light from Fairweather Green, Hose Layer from Stanningley, Personnel Welfare Unit from Slaithwaite, Rapid Deployment Safety Crew from Meltham and Command Unit Assistants from Hunsworth.

At the height of the fire there were 2 ground monitors and 3 handheld jets used to bring the fire under control.

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The incident commander was Group Manager Teggart with Area Manager Bitcon as Senior Advisor. Station Manager Donegan was a Working Officer, Station Manager Hesselwood was Command Support Officer, Station Manager Hitchcock was Health & Safety Auditor, Group Manager Bush was Hazardous Materials & Environmental Protection Officer. Station Manager Gomersall was the attending Fire Investigation Officer.

The time of the initial call was 0014 on 29/12/16 and the stop message was received by control at 18:14 on 29/12/2016. The incident was closed at 10:24 on 02/01/2017.


7. Other Incidents or Activity of Note

None to report

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8. Violence at Work

Attacks on Personnel There have been 78 incidents reported by West Yorkshire FRS so far this financial year, which is 70% more than this time last year, when there had been 46 incidents reported at this stage.

The table below summarises the events reported by firefighters and other staff. Where stations have not reported any incidents, they are not shown within this table.

For clarification, 'stoning' covers any thrown object identified as a stone; 'firework' covers fireworks thrown or launched; and 'missile' covers any other object used as a projectile.

The above table shows the number of incidents in which firefighters were subject to violence as a percentage of attendance, by station and by district (0.32% overall). Some smaller stations might appear to suffer a relatively high percentage of attacks, but this is largely due to the smaller number of incidents attended from such stations.

2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 to dateAttacks on Firefighters 88 77 40 76 64 60 78

Attacks on Firefighters as a Percentage of TurnoutsDistrict / Station No.of

TurnoutsPhysical Assault

Weapon Brandished

MissileThrown

FireworkThrown

Stoning Aggressive Behaviour

Verbal Abuse

Total Percentage

Bradford District

Bradford 2247 1 6 3 2 3 15 0.67%

Bingley 329 1 1 2 0.61%

FWG 1176 6 11 1 18 1.53%

Idle 460 1 1 2 0.43%

Keighley 530 1 1 0.19%

Odsal 753 1 1 1 3 0.40%

Shipley 589 1 1 0.17%

District Total 6228 2 0 15 12 3 3 7 42 0.67%

Calderdale District

Halifax 751 1 3 4 0.53%

Illingw orth 524 1 1 2 0.38%

Todmorden 146 1 1 0.68%

District Total 2055 0 0 2 3 0 1 1 7 0.34%

Kirklees District

Huddersfield 1486 1 1 0.07%

Cleckheaton 624 1 1 0.16%

District Total 3793 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 0.05%

Leeds District

Leeds 2765 1 1 1 1 1 5 0.18%

Cookridge 376 2 2 0.53%

Hunslet 1769 1 2 3 0.17%

Moortow n 451 1 1 0.22%

Stanningley 814 1 2 1 1 5 0.61%

Killingbeck 1510 3 3 1 7 0.46%

District Total 9172 1 1 3 5 5 3 5 23 0.25%

Wakefield District

Wakefield 928 1 1 0.11%

Pontefract 473 1 1 2 0.42%

South Kirkby 347 1 1 0.29%

District Total 2880 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 4 0.14%

Totals 24287 4 1 21 21 9 7 15 78 0.32%

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The Chief Fire Officer re-emphasises that even one attack is one too many and that every assistance and encouragement will be given to the police to bring offenders to court. Work is continuing with a variety of agencies from the police and district councils to community groups and youth leaders to address these issues.

District Actions to Address Violence

All districts are undertaking the following actions:

• Communicating a positive image of the Fire Service in the community

• Taking part in community events to support this image

• Asking questions to firefighters at Performance Monitoring Visits (PMVs) regardingthe e-learning package that was sent out in relation to reading the body language ofpersons and diffusing certain situations

• Encouraging all staff to use the SCIP when intelligence or other information isreceived for risk issues

• Encouraging any watch who place the information on SCIP to email other localstations to alert them to the fact that the address has been added and to make surethat they then view the SCIP for the details

• Consistently promoting the knowledge of Silent Witness cameras with crews and tothe public at events etc. to discourage anti-social behaviour

• Where incidents do occur, publicising through the media any arrests made by thepolice and any sentences given by the courts

Bradford On 1st November at 20:37hrs missiles were thrown during a small fire in the open on Laburnum Place, Manningham.

On 1st November at 21:39hrs missiles were thrown during an incident at Folkstone Street, Bradford.

On 4th November at 19:50hrs a crew from Fairweather Green were attending a fire in the open on Priestman Street, Bradford when they had fireworks thrown at them.

On 4th November at 20:45hrs an egg was thrown at the appliance whilst they proceeded to an incident at Parkside Road.

On 4th November at 21:39hrs the Fire Car from Fairweather Green came under attack after an incident at Undercliffe Lane. The bodywork and window of the car was damaged but there were no injuries to personnel.

On 5th November the following attacks occurred

At 15:47hrs missiles were thrown at crews attending a small fire in the open on Patent Street.

At 16:05hrs stones and fireworks were thrown at firefighters whilst attending a large bonfire on Hinchcliffe Street, Bradford. There were two more instances at the same location at 16:10hrs and 16:48hrs.

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At 16:38hrs fireworks were thrown at firefighters whilst attending a small fire in the open on Agar Street, Bradford. At the same location crews were attacked by fireworks and eggs at 21:07hrs.

At 17:34hrs crews were attacked by youths throwing fireworks whilst attending a small refuse fire on Bonn Road, Bradford.

At 17:45hrs crews had fireworks thrown at them whilst tackling a fire on Legrams Lane, Bradford.

At 18:37hrs fireworks were thrown at the fire car attending a small fire in the open at Newlands Place, Bradford.

At 18:42hrs a firework was thrown at the fire car whilst it attended a fire in the open at Beamsley Walk, Bradford.

At 20:21hrs whilst attending a refuse fire the police and Bradford crew were targeted by youths throwing stones and fireworks. The appliance was struck and a firefighter was hit on the leg but had no injuries.

At 22:48hrs whilst approaching an incident at Violet Street, Haworth, fireworks were thrown at the appliance. Approximately 50 youths gathered around the bonfire and burnt out car. Crews left the incident after making sure there was no risk of spread, for the safety of the crews.

On 6th November at 16:00hrs crews were subjected to fireworks thrown whilst attending an incident on Bonn Road, Manningham.

On 13th November at 18:45hrs whilst attending a fire in the open on Crediton Avenue, Allerton the crew suffered racist abuse from a group of youths.

On 10th December at 16:31hrs whilst attending a false alarm at William Street, Denholme the occupier gave verbal abuse to the attending crew.

Calderdale

On 5th November at 18:18hrs whilst attending a large bonfire on Plum Street, Halifax, fireworks were thrown at the crews.

On 5th November at 21:00hrs at St Augustines Terrace a vehicle had been deliberately driven onto a bonfire. A group of 40 youths threw fireworks at attending crews and the Police.

On 5th November at 23:40hrs whilst attending a car fire on Little Baines Street, Halifax a crew from Halifax came under attack by youths throwing bricks and other missiles causing minimal damage to the appliance.

On 11th December at 18:45hrs the Todmorden crew had an egg thrown at the appliance which hit the driver’s window with some force whilst passing Todmorden Police Station, Burnley Road, Todmorden en route to an incident.

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Kirklees On 5th November at 19:30hrs whilst attending a fire in the open on Rashcliffe Hill Road, Lockwood, Huddersfield a large number of youths threw fireworks at two of the Huddersfield appliances. Four exploded adjacent to the pumps, the crew remained on the appliances and no damage was sustained. On liaison with police it was decided to let the bonfire burn out to prevent further attacks.

Leeds On 2nd November at 17:30hrs a fire in the open was attended by a Leeds crew when a firework was thrown at them which exploded and caused damage to the ears of several firefighters.

On 4th November at 19:00 hours fireworks were thrown at two crews from Moortown whilst they attended an incident at Northside Retail Park, Meanwood.

On 5th November the following attacks occurred:

At 18:31hrs missiles were thrown and verbal abuse was given to a crew attending a wheelie bin on Stratford Street, Beeston.

At 19:02hrs fireworks were thrown and hit the appliance of a crew attending an incident on playing fields on Alexandra Road, Hyde Park, Leeds.

At 19:05hrs verbal abuse was given to crews attending a large bonfire on Thorpe Gardens, Middleton.

At 20:05hrs a crew attended a moped on fire at Heights Way, Armley. Over 10 youths surrounded the burning moped who threw eggs at the appliance.

On 6th November at 00:05hrs crews were attending a fire close to a garage on Easdale Crescent, Seacroft when they were verbally abused by the occupiers of the property.

On 14th November at 04:35hrs crews were verbally abused by the occupier of a property on Carlton Close, Sheepscar whilst attending an incident there.

On 17th November at 18:36hrs whilst attending a wheelie bin fire at the rear of shops on Ganners Hill, Bramley, crews were confronted by a gang of youths throwing bricks.

Wakefield No attacks reported.

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West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Oakroyd Hall

Birkenshaw

Bradford BD11 2DY

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Purpose To request approval of the Pay Policy Statement under the Localism Act 2011

Recommendations That Members approve the Pay Policy Statement 2017 - 18

Summary This report seeks approval of the Pay Policy statement as required by the Localism Act 2011. The Pay Policy Statement has been revised in line with Local Government Association Guidance ‘Pay policy and practice in local authorities – A guide for councillors’

OFFICIAL

Pay Policy Statement 2017-18 Full Authority Date: 17 February 2017 Agenda Item: 15 Submitted By: Chief Employment Services Officer



Contact Officer: Ian Brandwood, Chief Employment Services Officer Tel: 01274 655709 E: [email protected]


Annexes: Annex A – Pay Policy statement 2017 - 18

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1 Introduction

1.1 Under Section 38 (1) of the Localism Act 2011, relevant Authorities, (which include Fire and Rescue Authorities) are required to prepare a pay policy statement. These statements must articulate an Authority’s own policies towards a range of issues relating to the pay of its workforce, particularly its senior staff (or ‘Chief Officers’) and its lowest paid employees.

1.2 Pay policy statements must be prepared each financial year. They must be approved by ‘Full Council’, or a meeting of members in the case of a Fire and Rescue Authority, and published. The statement must be approved by March 31st each year.

1.3 Each local Authority / Fire Authority is an individual employer in its own right and has the autonomy to make decisions on pay that are appropriate to local circumstances and which deliver value for money for local taxpayers. The provisions of the Act do not seek to change this or determine what decisions on pay should be taken or what policies individual employing Authorities should have in place. They require that Authorities are open about their own local policies and how their local decisions are made.

2 Information

2.1 The guidance, to which Authorities must have regard when exercising their functions under pay accountability provisions, sets out what the pay policy statements should include and these are:

• The level and elements of remuneration for each Chief Officer• Remuneration of Chief Officers on recruitment• Increases and additions to remuneration of each Chief Officer• The use of performance related pay for Chief Officers• The approach to the payment of Chief Officers on their ceasing to hold office

under, or being employed by, the Authority and• The publication of and access to information relating to remuneration of

Chief Officers

The guidance also sets out what ‘remuneration’ for these purposes covers.

• The Chief Officer’s salary or, in the case of a Chief Officer engaged by theAuthority under a contract for services, payments made by the Authority tothe Chief Officer for those services

• Any bonuses payable by the authority to the Chief Officer• Any charges, fees or allowances payable by the Authority to the Chief

Officer• Any benefits in kind to which the Chief Officer is entitled as a result of the

Chief Officer’s office or employment• Any increase or enhancement of the chief officer’s pension entitlement when

the increase or enhancement is as a result of a resolution of the authority,and

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• Any amounts payable by the authority to the Chief Officer on the ChiefOfficer ceasing to hold office, under or be employed by the authority otherthan the amounts that may be payable by virtue of any enactment

2.2 For the purposes of clarity, Chief Officers in this context will be those officers in this Authority on either gold or blue book conditions i.e. members of the Management Board. The attached pay policy statement addresses all the points and guidance set out above.

2.3 The draft Pay Policy statement for 2017-2018 is attached for approval as Annex A


3.1 There are no financial implications arising from this report.


4.1 Demonstrating that the Authority has had due regard to advance equality of opportunity (particularly equal pay for employees with protected characteristics) would provide evidence of compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty. The job evaluation scheme to which the Authority subscribes aims to deliver this.


5.1 There are none arising from this report


6.1 Provide effective and ethical governance and achieve value for money in managing resources.

7 Conclusions

7.1 The attached Pay Policy Statement meets the requirements of Section 38 (1) of the Localism Act 2011. The statement will be published on the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority website.

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Annex A

WEST YORKSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY PAY POLICY STATEMENT

1 April 2017 - 31 March 2018

Introduction and purpose

This Pay Policy Statement (the ‘statement’) sets out West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority’s (WYFRA) approach to pay policy in accordance with the requirements of Section 38 of the Localism Act 2011. The purpose of the statement is to provide transparency with regard to the WYFRA’s approach to setting the pay of its employees by identifying:

• The methods by which salaries of all employees are determined.

• The detail and level of remuneration of its most senior staff i.e. Chief Officers, asdefined by the relevant legislation.

• The Committees/Departments responsible for ensuring the provisions set out in thisstatement are applied consistently throughout WYFRA and recommending any paypolicy amendments to the Fire Authority.

This policy statement has been approved by the Fire Authority and is effective from April 1st, 2017. It will be subject to review annually and in accordance with new or proposed legislation to ensure that it remains relevant and effective.

Accountability and decision making

The WYFRA Constitution outlines the responsibilities for decision making in relation to the recruitment, pay, terms and conditions and severance arrangements in relation to employees of WYFRA.

Responsibility and scale

WYFRA is directly responsible for a budget of £80 million and for the employment of 1,489 staff (as at December 31st, 2016).

Pay strategy and design

In determining the pay and remuneration of its employees, WYFRA will comply with all relevant employment legislation. This includes the Equality Act 2010, Part Time Employment (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000, The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 and, where relevant, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Earnings) Regulations. WYFRA takes the following approach to assessing individual and overall pay levels.

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• Salaries of ‘Green Book’ employees in the Service are set using locally determinedpay scales and the nationally agreed Job Evaluation Scheme, with the Hay JobEvaluation Scheme being used for posts at Grade 14 and above.

• Salaries of ‘Grey Book’ employees in the Service are set using nationally agreed paylevels.

• Where applicable, annual awards are normally made in April for Green BookEmployees and July for Grey Book Employees.

• WYFRA does not use performance related pay for its Chief Officers.

• WYFRA does not award bonuses to Chief Officers.

Pay structure

To encourage Green Book employees to develop in their role and to improve their performance, WYFRA has arranged salaries within 18 pay grades. There are also pay increments within each grade. Progression through the pay grade is based on:

• Meeting identified performance goals

• Length of service

• Promotion and development

New employees will usually be appointed to the minimum pay level for the relevant grade unless relevant supporting experience can be identified. Managers have the discretion to recommend an employee for acceleration of increments within the grade when they have demonstrated exceptional performance.

Grey Book employees can move between roles through successfully completing the promotion assessment process. Within role, individuals will either be paid at a competent or development rate. This will be dependent upon them completing the requirements of development for that role.

From time to time it may be necessary to pay special allowances or supplements to individual employees as part of their employment contract and/or outside of their employment contract, where specific circumstances require this and where it can be justified in accordance with WYFRA policies.

Other employment-related arrangements

Subject to meeting the qualifying conditions, employees have a right to belong to a pension scheme. The pension schemes WYFRA employees are currently members of include:

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• The Local Government Pension Scheme - The employee contribution rates, whichare defined by statute, currently range between 5.5 per cent and 12.5 per cent ofpensionable pay.

• Firefighters Pension Scheme 1992 – The employee contribution rates currently rangebetween 12.2 per cent and 17 per cent of pensionable pay.

• New Firefighters Pension Scheme 2006 - The employee contribution rates currentlyrange between 8.5 per cent and 12.5 per cent of pensionable pay.

• Firefighters Pension Scheme 2015 - The employee contribution rates currently rangebetween 10 per cent and 14.5 per cent of pensionable pay.

Under the LGPS, the Authority has the discretion to augment membership of the scheme up to a maximum of ten extra years, or enable early access to the scheme.

Pay arrangements for Chief Officers

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority Chief Officers’ pay is determined by the conditions of service to which officers are subject.

In this case, they are the National Joint Council for Brigade Managers of Fire and Rescue Services (Gold Book) and the Joint Negotiating Committee for Chief Officers of Local Authorities (Blue Book).

The information detailed below is approved by the Full Authority of elected members and the statement is available on the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority website, www.westyorksfire.gov.uk.

Salary Point One

Salary Point Two

Salary Point Three

Lease Car % Increase from 2016

Chief Fire Officer £150,497 £154,356 £158,216 £6,520 1%

Deputy Chief Fire Officer £127,923 £131,202 £134,483 £6,351 1%

Assistant Chief Fire Officer £120,398 £123,485 £126,572 £6,351 1%

Chief Legal and Governance Officer (CLGO)

£104,115 £4,536 1%

Chief Finance and Procurement Officer (CFPO)

£78,365 £80,375 £82,384 £4,536 1%

Chief Employment Services Officer (CESO)

£72,720 £74,235 £75,750 £4,536 1%

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http://www.westyorksfire.gov.uk/

The above are based on Full Time Equivalents.

• The Chief Fire Officer is currently paid at salary point 1• The Deputy Chief Fire Officer is currently paid at salary point 2• The Assistant Chief Officer is currently paid at salary point 3• CLGO is currently paid £72,847 (0.7 FTE)• CFPO is currently paid £53,414 (0.65 FTE)• CESO is paid at salary point 3

Chief Officers also receive reimbursement for internet and telephone charges and for professional subscriptions.

Lowest paid employees

The lowest paid persons employed under a contract of employment with WYFRA are employed on full time 37 hours equivalent salaries in accordance with the salary scale currently in use within WYFRA.

As at 1 April 2017, this is the top spinal point of a grade 2 post and has a salary of £16,191. This post also receives a supplement to bring the salary into line with the Living Wage. * (The Living Wage is £8.45/ hour which equates to a salary of £16,309. Source – Living Wage Foundation.)

The term ‘lowest paid employees’ is defined as a full time equivalent employee on the bottom scale column point of the Green Book pay scale or the lowest paid role/rank for Grey Book employees. These are the lowest paid employees other than apprenticeships which are paid less to reflect the nature of the training and development role. (Apprentice pay is currently subject to review)

The Authority adopts this definition because pay arrangements for employees’ who are not Chief Officers, is based upon nationally negotiated pay scales from the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services ('Grey Book') and the National Joint Council for Local Government Services ('Green Book’).

The relationship between Chief Officers’ pay and other Authority employees is represented by the pay multiple between the two categories:

• The pay multiple between the highest and lowest paid salaries is 9.23. (9.82 in 2016-17)

• The pay multiple between the highest paid salary and the median salary of the wholeof the Authority’s workforce is 5.08. (5.35 in 2016-17)

Chief Officers’ salaries are determined by reference to appropriate National Joint Council conditions of service, comparison of salaries in similar authorities and occasionally by reference to employment consultants.

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All the information relating to the remuneration of Chief Officers is available in West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Statement of Accounts published on the website and is also available under ‘Transparency’ in the Finance section on the Authority website.

In addition, the pay scales of all other staff within the Authority are available under ‘Transparency’ in the Finance section on the Authority website.

Payment on termination of employment

Those Chief Officers who are contracted to the National Joint Council for Brigade Managers of Fire and Rescue Services are members of the Firefighters Pension Scheme (FPS). Those within the FPS pay contributions of 17%. Any payments made to them on retirement are subject to the rules and regulations of this pension scheme.

Similarly, those Chief Officers contracted to the Joint Committee for Chief Officers of Local Authorities are members of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and are subject to the rules and regulations of that pension scheme. Those within the LGPS pay pension contributions of between 8.5% and 9.9%. In addition there is provision at a local level for them to request flexible retirement via the Flexible Retirement Policy which is available on the Authority website.

Under the LGPS, the Authority also has the discretion to augment membership of the scheme up to a maximum of ten extra years, or to enable early access to the scheme.

In cases where an employee’s contract is terminated on the grounds of redundancy or on grounds of efficiency there is discretion to pay a lump sum of up to 104 weeks’ pay. Further details of these payments can be found within the Authority’s ‘Early Termination Policy’ sited within the Human Resources section of the Authority website. This will be reviewed once the Government plans to cap public sector exit payments are enacted to ensure full compliance.

Those Chief Officers who are members of the Firefighters Pension Scheme do not receive any enhancements to redundancy payments.

Publication of pay policy statement

Upon approval by the Fire Authority, this statement will be published on the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority website; www.westyorksfire.gov.uk. In addition, for posts where the full time equivalent salary is at least £50,000, the Authority’s annual statement of accounts will include a note setting out the total amount of:

• Salary, fees or allowances paid to or receivable by the person in the current andprevious year

• Any bonuses so paid or receivable by the person in the current and previous year

• Any sums payable by way of expenses allowance that are chargeable to UK incometax

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http://www.westyorksfire.gov.uk/

• Any compensation for loss of employment and any other payments connected withtermination

• Any benefits received that do not fall within the above.

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Purpose To update Members of the progress on the Service Plan Action Plan 2016-2017

Recommendations That Members note the report

Summary This report is to update Members of the progress on the Service Plan Action Plan 2016-2017

OFFICIAL

Service Plan - Action Plan 2016-2017 Update Full Authority Date: 17 February 2017 Agenda Item: 16 Submitted By: Chief Legal and Governance Officer



Contact Officer: Alison Davey, Corporate Services Manager 01274 655801 [email protected]


Annexes: Action Plan 2016-2017 updated 17 February 2017

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mailto:[email protected]

1 Introduction 1.1 At the Full Authority meeting held on 19 February 2016, Members approved the Service Plan

Action Plan 2016-2017 for publication.

2 Information

2.1 Progress on the implementation of the action plan is reported to each Full Authority meeting and the attached is the latest update.


3.1 Financial implications of each of the actions are incorporated within each project as appropriate.


4.1 Human resources and diversity implications are incorporated within each project as appropriate.


5.1 Health and safety implications are incorporated within each project as appropriate.


6.1 This report links to all the Service Plan 2015-2020 priorities.

7 Conclusions 7.1 That Members note the report.

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ACTION PLAN 2016 - 2017 West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service

Update: 17 February 2017 DELIVER A PROACTIVE COMMUNITY SAFETY PROGRAMME

We will: Our action Progress Ensure the authority’s statutory fire protection duties are discharged efficiently and effectively in order to reduce the risk of fire and the effects of fire should it occur

Implement a revised Operational Risk Visit process A detailed analysis of the issues associated with the collection of Risk Information and the integration with Fire Protection information has been jointly carried out by Operations Support and Fire Safety. This has led to the development of an action plan and will lead to the streamlining of the process. A specialist team has been approved and is being established to ensure that the very highest risk premises are dealt with appropriately. It is evident that WYFRS holds a large amount of data on buildings that have been classified as low risk. Scoring applied to generate risk scores needs further analysis to determine an accurate generic risk rating for each premises type (in line with the national guidance). This will be applied to the system to provide a consistent approach to similar premises. Work is currently being carried out to develop an ORV strategy that will work in harmony with the newly developed risk based inspection programme.

Review the Fire Protection function to develop and deliver a structure that supports current ways of working whilst being flexible to enable us to meet our statutory duties now and in the future

Initial scoping of this work and informal consultation with the Fire Protection team has been carried out. This will allow development of a structure that not only meets needs now and in the future but will have been shaped by those who represent it. Recent posts which have become vacant due to any reason have been reviewed and as a result a vacant Supervisor post was recruited on a temporary basis pending completion of the review. Proposals have been drafted around the development of the support and performance function which is likely to be impacted upon with the potential development of apprenticeships. This will create a more effective service and these proposals will be presented to senior managers for their consideration with a view to progressing to the Human Resources Committee on 31 March 2017.

Work with partners to reduce the risk of fires, road traffic incidents, other emergencies and enhance community well-being

Develop a comprehensive strategy to include community safety, health and well-being and working practices

The Safer Communities Programme has been established and will be managed through the Change Management Programme Board. A series of stakeholder events have taken place with both internal and external stakeholders in order to shape the way we meet the needs of the community in the future. Work is now underway to pilot new safe and well home visits across districts and the implementation of the new strategy is set for April 2017. The programme involves developing a new vulnerability matrix, a set of interventions that will link WYFRS with relevant support teams in other agencies when individuals need signposting for additional support. This work also links with the progress on using data to target the most vulnerable people and will ensure delivery of appropriate resources to those most at risk. WYFRS is also engaged with local public health teams and a national working group on the evaluation of new community safety activities.

Implement a volunteer programme A draft Volunteer Strategy has been developed and will be built upon, with advice and expertise from Elected Members, over the summer and autumn. A completed strategy is expected to be presented to Community Safety Committee in November 2016. WYFRS is involved with a Community Advocates programme in partnership with West Yorkshire Police, Trading Standards and Victim Support. The Community Advocates are students studying public service courses across the five district colleges and basic training is delivered from each organisation involved in the programme to allow the

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advocates to develop their skills and awareness of relevant public sector services. The advocates then have the opportunity to support a number of planned events relative to their skill set and experience.

Develop partnerships through the Health Service Vanguard Projects Work continues with the West Yorkshire Urgent and Emergency Care Vanguard specifically around the issue of mental health and with the West Wakefield Vanguard with regards to integrated care in the community. It is clear that both of these present some exciting opportunities for ‘Making West Yorkshire Safer’. Recent developments have resulted in WYFRS having discussions with the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) leadership team and there is a single point of contact from the STP leadership team who will act as a champion for the activities carried out by WYFRS that can support the objectives of health services across West Yorkshire.

Collect, analyse and act on data to target the most vulnerable people in our communities

Trials on how to best use the Exeter Data, which details every person over 65 years of age within the county, have been carried out and the information is being shared at a district level. Further, we are pursuing other ways to layer data to ensure we are identifying those at the highest risk within the community. WYFRS are waiting for the next update of the data set (expected in November 2016) and will review the information before allowing its use across the districts in targeting those most vulnerable to fire.

DELIVER A PROFESSIONAL AND RESILIENT EMERGENCY RESPONSE SERVICE

We will: Our action Progress Work with blue-light partners and other agencies to provide a safe and effective emergency response

Continue the Emergency First Responding Pilot with Yorkshire Ambulance Service and evaluate the findings to inform future strategy

The pilot scheme is now up and running at Skelmanthorpe, Ilkley and Featherstone fire stations with positive feedback from the volunteers and Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS). The pilot scheme was suspended during late April and early May due to a change in YAS operating model. In practice this has had limited impact on the pilot scheme which is now back up and running. The NJC has extended the national trials until February 2017 which means the Authority will now receive the full evaluation in June 2017. The University of Hertfordshire is employed to carry out this evaluation and WYFRS has already provided them with information from the pilots. Local evaluation of the scheme is now taking place to compliment that being carried out by the NJC.

Develop the concept of a multi-agency 'emergency planning hub' The multi-agency 'emergency planning hub' concept is being developed in conjunction with the West Yorkshire Resilience Forum partners. Due to staffing changes within the Local Resilience Forum this objective has been pushed back by partners but is likely to be picked up again next year. West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service will support the progress of this work but will need to wait until partners are in a position to follow suit.

Lead a regional operational Specialist Resources Review Initial terms of reference have been agreed with the Yorkshire and Humberside Operational Resilience Group (YHORG). Regional lead officers identified. An initial review of all specialist appliance requirements has taken place and the first work stream will consider foam provision across the region. This review has been completed with an initial draft report being finalised. The report will detail the areas where there is scope for regional collaboration on specialist resources.

Introduce a command support software system to enhance command and control of incidents

The Command Support Software development process is underway with a number of different options being considered. These include in-house software development and purchase from an existing supplier. The Command Support Software market continues to evolve as the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) gathers pace. New solutions are coming online from differing suppliers over and above the existing competitors. WYFRS has identified Resilience Direct as a possible platform to facilitate the command support needs and officers are now contributing to a national work stream to develop this platform. A programme of awareness sessions have been conducted and we are now awaiting requested

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additions to the platform ahead of introducing this in West Yorkshire.

Continue to progress the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) in collaboration with other blue light partners

The Yorkshire region should transition over to the new network in 2018. A regional project resource plan is in place. West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Emergency Service Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) Project Board and local governance arrangements have been established and a regional programme manager and WYFRS project manager have been appointed. Workshops are taking place to understand the requirements and prepare within West Yorkshire to transition onto the network. The national timeline to begin transition has been delayed by nine months. Analysis of what this means for Yorkshire and Humberside is now underway and consultation is taking place nationally.

Facilitate and consider recommendations of a peer assessment of the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) arrangements

Working towards the peer assessment of our Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) arrangements. These include a new department structure and a cost neutral charging scheme to be rolled out during 2016-2017. A department re-structure has taken place that will ensure continual professional engagement with COMAH sites, blue-light partners and other Category 1 and 2 responders. An exercise programme has been established for the next three years to test all COMAH sites on external planning should a major incident be declared at any of the sites. Greater use of the Resilience Direct suppository facility and better use of JESIP principles for joint working are being introduced. Further consideration to a cost neutral charging scheme with engagement from COMAH site representatives is being finalised and this will come into force from April 2017. Following a peer review by the Metropolitan Fire Brigades COMAH Group, nine minor recommendations are being considered by the COMAH department, some of which have been highlighted as good practice with the recommendation to share with the Met Brigades COMAH Forum.

Ensure emergency response is dynamic and resilient reflecting changes to the level of risk and demand

Carry out a review of the provision of aerial appliances Operations Equipment Team has started the process through visits to all Combined Aerial Rescue Platform (CARP) stations to gain feedback on the performance of these vehicles. IRMP have begun the review of operational planning assumptions for aerials. This work will link to the action above to ‘lead a regional specialist resource review’. A draft report has been prepared and will be consulted on more widely over the coming months. This review has been completed and will be reported to Management Team in February 2017.

Implement the recommendations from the reviews of National Resilience and Technical Rescue capabilities

Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) and Technical Rescue capabilities at Cleckheaton are being reviewed in line with recently identified changes. Once approval is gained the implementation will commence with the displacement of staff as per the business case. The changes faced by the fire service nationally with regards to the movement of the Fire and Rescue Service into the Home Office has had an impact on the work stream to complete the reviews on the provision of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) assets, Incident Response Unit (IRU) and Detection Identification and Monitoring (DIM). The outcomes of the flood response review will be reviewed to take account of the lessons learned from the Boxing Day floods of 2015. A number of stakeholder objective meetings have taken place. The Swift Water and Flood Response review has been updated to include the outcomes of the Boxing Day flood debrief. This has led to a significant investment in swift water and flood response assets, with Finance and Resource Committee approval to purchase additional equipment. The (USAR) and Technical Rescue capabilities at Cleckheaton are being considered as part of the latest IRMP package. The High Volume Pump (HVP) project is on track with training taking place at Cookridge in the first instance to provide additional resilience to the mobilisation of the HVP.

Implement a day-crewing system at Rawdon fire station Staff selection is ongoing; implementation is on track with the change to Day Crewing programmed for the beginning of August 2016. The station is now up and running on the day crewing duty system. Completed

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Carry out a review into the availability of appliances at Retained Duty System (RDS) stations making recommendations for improvements

A dedicated whole-time retained Watch Manager has been seconded into the Operations Policy Team with the specific reference of completing this review. Initial information gathering has begun from other fire and rescue services that have implemented changes to their retained duty systems. A draft report has been prepared and will be consulted on more widely over the coming months. This review has been completed with approval being sought from Management Board in January 2017 to implement the recommendations from the report.

Continuously improve our emergency response by learning from ours and others experiences

Review, evaluate and implement new and improved ways of working in Control

A review of the current working arrangements in Control commenced during April 2016. A non-flexi Station Manager from Control is now in place to lead the work. A strategy document is being developed to capture all the areas of this review. An action plan is in place which includes learning from incidents and other Control rooms to improve both incident support and command support arrangements within Control. The delivery of the action plan for new ways of working will continue throughout 2017/18.

Assess effectiveness of existing fireground communications Initial investigations into the problems of fireground communications has been started by the Operational Learning Team. A review of the existing equipment has been completed and a capital bid has been submitted to replace the outdated stock of fireground radios. The review of communication procedures will continue and be implemented alongside the new radio equipment next year. Completed

Improve the approach to operational research and development and explore opportunities to include station based personnel

Inclusion in the national Research and Development work streams is being explored. Focus groups are being planned to involve station based personnel in this work. WYFRS are now represented on the national Research and Development group and will use the work from this group to inform current projects. The two areas of national focus are Body Worn Cameras and battery powered cutting equipment. WYFRS are now actively involved in the national Research and Development group.

Review existing district training facilities and make recommendations for improvements

This work is underway and will be informed by the Training Needs Analysis review.

Deliver the Command, Leadership and Management Programme The Command, Leadership and Management Programme (CLM) Authority as an IRMP 3 proposal. CLM will not form part of IRMP 3 however the improvements in effectiveness that have been identified by the programme will be progressed in the coming years.

Develop the operational training Exercise Programme This work is ongoing and will continue to develop the programme to ensure staff at all levels are challenged and tested in a meaningful way.

PROVIDE A SAFE SKILLED WORKFORCE THAT SERVES THE NEEDS OF A DIVERSE COMMUNITY

We will: Our action Progress Promote the health, safety and well-being of all employees

Complete the actions arising from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) audit

This is ongoing with all directorates working towards implementation of the recommendations. The current status was reported to Human Resources Committee in September 2016.

Review and refresh Health and Safety training for senior officers All senior officers have attended the IOSH Leading Safely course. Completed

Review the effectiveness of the Mental Health Training Programme Delivery of the courses is now completed. Initial feedback remains positive with staff gaining good awareness of mental health issues and where to access support. Guidance for all frontline staff for working within the community is to be provided in early December 2016.

Continue with the second year of the Equality and Diversity self-assessment action plan

The action plan has been reviewed by Corporate Driving Diversity Board (CDDB) and actions are being progressed in line with the plan. Reviewed by Human Resources

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Committee on 13 January 2017.

Evaluate the changes made to lone worker arrangements This piece of work is ongoing and is looking at tracking devices and has made changes to those posts that are included on our register of those posts involving lone working.

Provide training and development to maintain a skilled and flexible workforce

Complete a Training Needs Analysis for all staff Work is ongoing and was presented to Management Team in August 2016. Further work is being progressed to capture specialist roles. The Analysis has been carried out for operational firefighters.

Devise a Training Strategy and Implementation Plan A draft strategy has been prepared and consultation is about to begin.

Evaluate the revised Personal Development Review process Evaluation meetings have been carried out and the results fed back at the Service Managers meeting. Further feedback will be forthcoming from the Staff Survey and will be fed in to the PDR process. Further work has been carried out to include the revised values which are being developed

Create an environment that enables our staff to develop and embrace organisational and cultural change

Complete the rollout of training associated with ‘Promoting a Positive Working Environment’

Delivery of courses is on schedule to deliver the course to Grade 6 and above and Crew Commander and above. A plan has been developed to increase the mix of Station Managers on the programme.

Review the Training and Development Framework This piece of work will be informed by the Command, Leadership and Management (CLM) and will be completed upon delivery of those outcomes. Work continues to progress specific areas whilst the outcome of CLM is determined

Develop and implement an Employee Engagement Strategy The strategy will be developed as part of the work emerging from the staff survey findings and the culture and values review. Revised values and behaviours are currently subject to consultation and an update report was provided to the Human Resources Committee on 13 January 2017.

Conduct a review of organisational values and develop an underpinning behavioural framework

The review is now complete and this has informed the revised values and behaviours referred to above. Values and behaviours agreed by Human Resources Committee on 13 January 2017.

Undertake a detailed staff opinion survey in order to gain a more detailed insight into working life at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS).

Survey has been completed. Following the publication of results, action plans have been developed with progress being reported to the Human Resources Committee.

PROVIDE EFFECTIVE AND ETHICAL GOVERNANCE AND ACHIEVE VALUE FOR MONEY

We will: Our action Progress Provide buildings, vehicles, equipment and technology that is fit for purpose to maximise organisational effectiveness

Complete the construction of a new fire station at Ossett and sell the legacy buildings/land.

New fire station at Ossett now complete and fully operational with the official opening taking place on the 14 November 2016. Marketing to sell off the existing Ossett fire station is underway with final bids due in December 2016. Completed

Remove the second appliance at Wakefield when the new fire station at Ossett becomes operational as detailed in the Integrated Risk Management Plan.

Wakefield now operating with one pump. Completed

Commence the construction of a fire station at Valley Road, Shipley to enable the merger of Idle/Shipley fire stations.

Construction started in June 2016 on the Valley Road site. The build programme is on track and within budget with completion due in June 2017. A temporary fire station is no longer required which will make the process much simpler and allow transfer of both Shipley and Idle to Incommunities by September 2017.

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Commence the construction of a fire station in the Weetwood area of Leeds to enable the merger of Cookridge/Moortown fire stations.

Negotiation to purchase the Leeds City Council land on Blackmoor Road, Moor Allerton is ongoing. The intention is to purchase the land in January 2017 subject to planning with completion of purchase by the end of the financial year.

Review the outcome of the Asset Strategy Review and produce a long term investment plan.

The main high cost refurbishment of fire stations and other buildings has been included in the Capital plan. Completed

Deliver the vehicle replacement programme. Orders now placed for six new appliances and the flood response vehicle contract has been awarded. All vehicles expected by 31 March 2017.

Carry out a review of the introduction of alternative fuelled vehicles. Various alternative fuelled vehicles have been reviewed. An electric vehicle has been leased on a three year term to allow for a long term evaluation to take place. Completed

Scope and commence implementation of the Information and Communications Technology Strategy.

Following approval of the ICT Strategy at the Finance and Resources Committee in April, work has commenced on the scoping of the first projects. The strategy was launched in June 2016. An ICT Training Coordinator has been appointed and work is underway on the ICT training needs analysis. The main projects for system security, Human Resources and rostering, ITIL service management and Information Management Strategy are underway and form the foundation for all future ICT projects.

Provide effective systems of control, performance and assurance to ensure the service operates efficiently

Embed the new Service Delivery Assurance toolkit across the organisation.

Work is ongoing to develop a methodology for auditing and providing assurance across the entire organisation.

Audit the following Key Areas of Assessment: Response, Training and Development, Health and Safety.

The audits of these areas are currently underway and on track. The Service Delivery Audit Report was presented to the Full Authority in September 2016.

Introduce the new assurance process for support functions. This is currently being developed and will be implemented as soon as the final version receives approval.

Demonstrate transparent and accountable decision making throughout the organisation

Produce a plan to implement efficiencies identified by the Efficiency Research Programme

A set of proposals were submitted to Full Authority in December 2016 and approval was given to undertake consultation.

Identify and implement strategic change to reflect the economic environment

Work with blue light and local authority partners, as part of the Combined Authority collaboration programme, to identify opportunities and options for closer working and integrated service development.

Continue to work with blue light partners with a pledge to establish greater collaboration via the Tri Services Collaboration Board chaired by the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, with representation also from executives from all blue light organisations within the West Yorkshire Region. Project framework and governance arrangements have been agreed with a programme of work being initiated through the Tri Services Collaboration Board with the intention of scoping out collaboration opportunities through proven business cases.

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Purpose To seek Members approval for the publication of the Service Plan Action Plan2017-2018

Recommendations That Members approve the publication of the Service Plan Action Plan 2017-2018

Summary This paper requests approval to publish the Service Plan Action Plan 2017-2018 which details the actions to be taken during the next year to meet the challenging needs and risks within the community and contribute towards the Ambition, Aim and Priorities set within the Service Plan 2015-2020.

OFFICIAL

Service Plan Action Plan 2017 - 18 Full Authority Date: 17 February 2017 Agenda Item: 17 Submitted By: Chief Legal and Governance Officer



Contact Officer: Alison Davey – 01274 655801 Corporate Services Manager [email protected]


Annexes: Action Plan 2017 - 18

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1 Introduction 1.1 At the Full Authority meeting on 19 February 2016 Members approved the publication of the

Service Plan Action Plan 2016-2017.

1.2 The Service Plan 2015-2020 is a five year electronic document outlining the ambition, aim, priorities and objectives and provides details of what West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) intends to do over the forthcoming years to meet the challenging needs and risks within the community.

1.3 An annual action plan is produced for implementation on 1 April each year.

2 Information

2.1 The Action Plan 2017-2018, attached to this report, incorporates the actions from the Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) and associated service delivery actions, thereby providing a fully integrated annual action plan for the year ahead.

2.2 Progress against the annual action plan is reported to Members at each Full Authority meeting.

2.3 Members are requested to approve the Action Plan 2017-2018 for publication.

3 Financial implications

3.1 The financial implications associated with this report are presented to Members within reports on the IRMP projects and associated service delivery actions and have been taken into account within the budget.

4 Human Resources and diversity implications

4.1 Human resources and diversity implications have been taken into account during the IRMP process and within the Service Plan.

5 Health and safety implications

5.1 Health and safety implications have been taken into account during the IRMP process and within the Service Plan.

6 Service Plan links

6.1 This report links to all the Service Plan priorities and details the actions to be taken during 2017-2018 contributing to the Ambition, Aim and Priorities of WYFRS.

7 Recommendations

7.1 That Members approve the publication of the Service Plan Action Plan 2017-2018.

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ACTION PLAN 2017 - 2018 West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service

DELIVER A PROACTIVE COMMUNITY SAFETY PROGRAMME

We will: Our action: Ensure the authority’s statutory fire protection duties are discharged efficiently and effectively in order to reduce the risk of fire and the effects of fire should it occur

Implement the findings of the review of the Fire Protection function to support current ways of working and develop flexibility in order to further improve services and support statutory duties

Progress Primary Authority Partnerships and explore alternative options to support business so they become safer

Introduce a revised risk based inspection programme to ensure it increases benefits for both Fire Protection and Operations

Work with partners to reduce the risk of fires, road traffic incidents, other emergencies and enhance community well-being

Implement the new Safer Communities Strategy

Review the Performance Management System to ensure it is fit for purpose, accurate, reliable and timely

Explore and develop innovative community safety projects with other emergency services and partners

DELIVER A PROFESSIONAL AND RESILIENT EMERGENCY RESPONSE SERVICE

We will: Our action: Work with blue-light partners and other agencies to provide a safe and effective emergency response

Work collaboratively across the Yorkshire and Humber Region to prepare for transition to the Emergency Services Network as part of the national Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP)

Evaluate and determine the future of the Emergency First Responder scheme

Introduce a revised operational guidance framework to align to National Operational Guidance Programme

Implement the outcomes of the Fireground Communications Review

Develop the use of Resilience Direct to support command decision making

Ensure emergency response is dynamic and resilient reflecting changes to the level of risk and demand

Complete and evaluate the Control Collaboration Project

Implement the Integrated Risk Management Planning interventions and develop further options for the future

Implement the outcomes of the National Resilience and Technical Rescue Review

Improve resilience arrangements for operational and support roles in response to major incidents/spate conditions

Implement the outcomes of the Retained Duty System Review

Implement the outcomes of the Aerial Review

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Continuously improve our emergency response by learning from ours and others experiences

Improve the protocols for operational monitoring at incidents to improve service performance

PROVIDE A SAFE SKILLED WORKFORCE THAT SERVES THE NEEDS OF A DIVERSE COMMUNITY

We will: Our action:

Promote the health, safety and well-being of all employees Investigate and implement ways of improving levels of engagement and understanding of health and safety within the workforce (also referred to as ‘Behaviour Based Safety’)

Review and develop procedures and ways of working with partners to reduce attacks on Firefighters

Provide training and development to maintain a skilled and flexible workforce Carry out recruitment, selection and training of firefighters during 2018

Develop and implement a revised process for promotion from Firefighter to Crew Commander

Complete the review of district based training facilities

Complete an organisational training needs assessment

Develop and implement an Information and Communications Technology skills framework

Create an environment that enables our staff to develop and embrace organisational and cultural change

Conduct a follow up staff survey

Implement the Culture and Values Review findings

Implement the Command Leadership and Management Programme

PROVIDE EFFECTIVE AND ETHICAL GOVERNANCE AND ACHIEVE VALUE FOR MONEY

We will: Our action: Provide buildings, vehicles, equipment and technology that is fit for purpose to maximise organisational effectiveness

Complete the merger of Cookridge and Moortown fire stations

Complete the second phase of the Information and Communications Technology Strategy

Provide effective systems of control, performance and assurance to ensure the service operates efficiently

Audit Fire Protection and Prevention key areas of assessment (assurance)

Develop a service support assurance process

Review the range of budget delegations and approval procedures where this can improve service delivery

Review, update and improve governance standards

Demonstrate transparent and accountable decision making throughout the organisation

Review the Corporate Health indicators

Design and implement changes arising from the outcomes of the Communications Review conducted by the Local Government Association in December 2016

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Identify and implement strategic change to reflect the economic environment Commence the implementation of the building modernisation strategy

Review and implement changes in collaboration with Blue Light Partners in relation to support functions and service delivery to the community

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Purpose To note progress with the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP).

Recommendations That Members note the content of this report.

Summary West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is working with the region to transition to the new Emergency Services Network. This new network is critical to our ability to communicate during our response to emergency incidents. A programme delivery structure is now in place at a national, regional and local level to oversee its delivery. Funding has been received from the Government to support this and further funding is expected. This report provides detail of progress to date and further reports will be presented in due course.

OFFICIAL

Emergency Services Mobile Communications programme (ESMCP) - update Full Authority Date: 17 February 2017 Agenda Item: 18 Submitted By: Director of Service Support



Contact Officer: AM Nick Smith, Senior Operations Response Officer E: [email protected] T: 012754 655867

Background papers open to inspection: ESMCP update – Authority meeting 19 February 2016

Annexes: Annex A - Regional and WYFRS Governance Chart for the programme

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1 Introduction 1.1 The Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) is a national, government

led programme to procure a resilient and secure communications network for use by the emergency services. This will replace the existing communications network provided by Airwave Solutions Ltd (ASL). The new network will be called the Emergency Service Network (ESN).

1.2 The new ESN will utilise the 4G LTE commercial mobile communications network. It is believed that this network will:

• Provide integrated broadband data services; public service functionality; national coverageand high availability.

• Be smarter and more flexible, evolve and improve over time, with pay only for featuresrequired by the users.

• Be cheaper to address budget pressures, re-competed regularly to leverage marketforces.

2 Information 2.1 Transition to ESN

2.1.1 In February 2016, WYFRA gave approval to the CFO to inform the Fire and Resilience Directorate within DCLG that WYFRS will transition to the new ESN. All other emergency services within the Yorkshire and Humber region have given the same indication to central government.

2.1.2 The next commitment required from WYFRS will be to formally enrol on to the ESN, which is expected to be completed by May 2017. This process will require authorisation by the Chief Legal and Governance Officer and the Director of Service Support.

2.2 Timeline for Delivery

2.2.1 The existing ASL contract comes to an end in December 2019 and as such this is the target date for the new ESN network to be live and fully operational across the country. This timeline is challenging and this is recognised by the national programme, suppliers and individual user services. Any delay in the delivery beyond December 2019 would result in a significant cost to the public which is estimated to be £475 million per year nationwide.

2.2.2 Originally it was planned that the new network will be ready for the emergency services to begin transitioning in Autumn 2017. A recent review of the programme timeline has determined that the new network will not be ready until Summer 2018. Therefore this is the earliest date that services will be able to transition onto the network once they have assured themselves that their service and the system are ready.

2.2.3 The Public Accounts Committee reported in January 2017 that the network “may require more testing and assurance work than the current December 2019 delivery date seems to allow for.” Given this recent delay and the findings of the Public Accounts Committee, WYFRS is now reviewing the programme timeline to determine the earliest point for transition on the assumption that all other aspects that are beyond our control go to plan. WYFRS will not transition on to this new network until officers are confident and assured that the system is operating as intended and is providing the functionality, coverage and resilience required for critical incident communications.

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2.3 Programme Delivery at a National, Regional and Local Level

2.3.1 ESMCP is a Government led programme. Kellogg Brown and Root, a professional programme management company, is employed to deliver ESMCP on behalf of the Government at a national level.

2.3.2 Group Transition Managers are a key role within this national delivery structure. These positions report to the national programme and provide an ‘acid test’ of each service’s progress and readiness to transition. WYFRS is actively engaged with the group transition manager for our region.

2.3.3 The Government has also employed a number of Regional Implementation Managers to work in support of the FRS. This role assists with the communication and understating of national, regional and local requirements, issues and priorities. The officer supporting our region is seconded from Tyne and Wear FRS and has extensive experience in radio and operational communications.

2.3.4 Regionally, the four FRS have made an undertaking to deliver the programme collaboratively. A regional governance framework is now in place and the government has provided the region with grant funding to finance programme delivery. (See Section 3 Financial Implications) The Director of Service Support is the Programme Sponsor for WYFRS and the Chair of the Fire Regional Programme Board. He is also regional representative on the national Fire Customer Group.

2.3.5 The regional programme board is overseeing the delivery of ESMCP across the region, ensuring each FRS is coordinating their implementation and taking every opportunity to collaborate where possible. It also has representation from the police and ambulance services.

2.3.6 WYFRA now employs a Regional Programme Manager for Fire on behalf of the four FRS. This position is a full time, fixed term contract that is funded from the regional government grant. Although WYFRA is the employer the position is responsible to the Regional Programme Board. A Regional Programme Coordinator is also to be recruited to support the regional programme manager. This too will be a full time officer; however in order to provide sector competence to the regional programme team this will be a secondee from one of the four FRS within the region. WYFRS also seconds 10% of an administrative assistant’s role to the programme which is also funded from the government grant.

2.3.7 The four FRS in the region have agreed to use Kirklees MBC Audit to provide assurance to their respective FRAs that the regional programme is providing best value and complying with all applicable legal and financial obligations.

2.3.8 Within WYFRS, a local governance structure is now in place. At present the officers employed on the programme are doing so within their established role. However, as and when workloads increase there will likely be a requirement to establish temporary, fixed term positons dedicated to ESMCP. There is provision made within the regional grant for such local funding requirements. Any requirements for local employment will be reported in future updates to the Authority.

2.3.9 Attached in Annex A is a Regional and WYFRS Governance Chart for the programme.

2.4 Preparation for Transition to ESN

2.4.1 A number of key work-streams have now been initiated to prepare WYFRS for transition onto the ESN and these are explained below. Most of these involve work packages that are mandated from the national programme. Clear reporting protocols are in place between the national programme and regional and local delivery teams.

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2.4.2 In order to connect to the ESN a new security standard must be met by users. In readiness for this connection an IT Health Check has been undertaken to assess the security of WYFRS IT systems. The cost of this check was met by a Government grant. This IT health check has identified a number of improvements and upgrades required to meet the new standard. A remediation plan has now been produced and an application for funding to cover the associated costs has been submitted to the Government.

2.4.3 All command and control systems throughout the country require upgrading in order to operate on the new ESN. Systel, WYFRS supplier, is currently engaged with the ESN suppliers to develop their system in readiness for this. These developments will require testing and certification before the transition to ESN. During this transition phase an interworking solution has been developed to enable users to seamlessly operate both the old and new radio systems. This solution is designed to ensure a continuation of service delivery and interoperability with other emergency services whilst all emergency services transition. This interworking solution also requires some development within the Systel system. The development of the command and control systems is to be funded by a separate government grant.

2.4.4 Prior to transitioning onto the ESN, WYFRS will conduct a robust test of the systems functionality and coverage. This will involve end to end testing with all critical communication equipment as well as drive testing the county to assess coverage. There is opportunity to collaborate with West Yorkshire Police and the Yorkshire Ambulance Service when we test coverage. These local tests will be supported by a national testing programme which include major operational trials to stress test the network, simulating periods of high demand, as well as the networks resilience.

2.4.5 New radio equipment will be required for both appliances and officers. A catalogue of devices will be made available from which local services will be able to determine their requirements and purchase equipment. The benefits of procuring collaboratively are being explored by the regional and local programme. An analysis of WYFRS use of the radio system is also being conducted to determine what the future requirement will be. As a minimum there will be a like for like replacement which will be funded by the Government. However, this programme provides opportunity to review wats of working and consequently the numbers of radios required. A business case will be presented to the Authority in due course should a need for investment be determined.

2.4.6 When the equipment has been selected and procured, the operational fleet of appliances will require fitting out, this will also require the decommissioning of the existing Airwave equipment. Alongside this fit out a training programme will be put in place to ensure personnel are competent on the new equipment. Both of these workstreams may provide further opportunity to work collaboratively.

2.4.8 Consultation with representative bodies has taken place and this will continue throughout the programme’s delivery to ensure all stakeholders remain fully informed and engaged.

3 Financial Implications 3.1 The implementation of ESMCP will be funded regionally by Central Government and the region

has been allocated £1.496m to fund the implementation of the scheme. The funding is to cover the cost of planning and preparation as well as implementation.

3.2 WYFRS has agreed to manage the funding and host both the project manager and the project support officer.

3.3 The Government have provided estimates of ongoing cost following full implementation which indicates that there will be small ongoing revenue savings, although this will depend on the level of usage. Kirklees Internal Audit form part of the review team and are monitoring commitments on behalf of the regional Authorities.

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4 Human Resources and Diversity Implications 4.1 As WYFRS is required to deliver some elements of the programme locally, an assessment of

capacity and internal resources will be undertaken and monitored. If capacity is an issue temporary, fixed-term contracts may be required to ensure the programme is resourced appropriately.


5.1 The programme will aim to ensure that the health and safety of personnel is maintained throughout the delivery and transition phase by assessing the impact on internal departments workloads and providing additional resource where required.

5.2 The existing and replacement radio network is critical for incident communications. It is vital that this system is reliable and resilient to minimise the risk to the health and safety of the public and firefighters.


6.1 This programme supports WYFRS strategic priorities to:

• Deliver a professional and resilient emergency response service• Provide effective and ethical governance and achieve value for money

There is a specific objective within the 2017/18 Service Action Plan to:

• Work collaboratively across the Yorkshire and Humber Region to prepare for transition tothe ESN as part of the ESMCP.

7 Conclusions

7.1 WYFRS is working collaboratively with the region towards being ready to transition to the new Emergency Services Network. This programme is being led by the Government and is critical to communications during emergency incidents. A programme structure is now in place at a national, regional and local level to oversee its delivery. Funding has been received from the Government to support the delivery of this programme, and further funding is expected for both this and the purchase of new radio equipment and command and control system development. The Authority is asked to note progress to date and further reports will be presented in due course.

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.

Appendix 1

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Purpose To present the Treasury Management Strategy 2017 – 18.

Recommendations Members are asked to; a) approve the investment strategy outlined in section 2.3 and Appendix A b) approve the borrowing strategy outlined in section 2.4 c) approve the policy for provision of repayment of debt outlined in Appendix C d) approve the Treasury Management indicators in Appendix D

Summary The Authority has formally adopted CIPFA’s Code of Practice on Treasury Management, and is thereby required to consider a treasury management strategy before the start of each financial year. In addition, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) issued guidance on local authority investments in March 2010, which requires the Authority to approve an Investment Strategy before the start of each financial year.

OFFICIAL

Treasury Management Strategy 2017 - 18 Full Authority Date: 17 February 2017 Agenda Item: 19 Submitted By: Chief Finance and Procurement Officer



Contact Officer: Geoff Maren, Chief Finance and Procurement Officer T: 01274 655711 E: [email protected]


Annexes: Appendix A : investment strategy Appendix B : borrowing strategy Appendix C : provision for repayment of debt Appendix D : Treasury Management indicators

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1 Introduction

1.1 The Authority has formally adopted CIPFA’s Code of Practice on Treasury Management, and is thereby required to consider a treasury management strategy before the start of each financial year. In addition, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) issued guidance on local authority investments in March 2010, which requires the Authority to approve an Investment Strategy before the start of each financial year.

1.2 This report meets the requirements of both the Code and the DCLG Guidance.

1.3 The Finance and Resources Committee undertake a scrutiny role with regard to treasury management. Training has been provided to members of that committee.

2 Key points 2.1 Outlook for the economy, credit risk and interest rates

2.1.1 The major external influence on the Authority’s treasury management strategy for 2017/18 will be the UK’s progress in negotiating a smooth exit from the European Union. Negotiations are expected to start once the UK formally triggers exit in early 2017 and last for up to two years. Uncertainty over future economic prospects will therefore remain throughout 2017/18.

2.1.2 The Bank of England is forecasting that the 2% inflation target will be breached in

2017, mainly due to the weakening pound and the rising cost of imports, together with the rising price of oil. Initial post-referendum economic data showed the feared collapse in business and consumer confidence had not immediately led to lower GDP growth, but forecasts for 2017/18 showed weakened economic growth.

2.1.3 Markets have expressed concern over the financial viability of a number of

European banks recently. Sluggish economies and continuing fines for pre-crisis behaviour have weighed on bank profits. Bail-in legislation, which ensures that large investors including local authorities will rescue failing banks instead of taxpayers in the future, has now been fully implemented in the European Union, Switzerland and USA. In terms of investment policy, where the making of secured deposits is impractical/restrictive, diversification is key.

2.1.4 It is thought unlikely that there will be a change in Base Rate in the foreseeable

future. The risk is to the downside - a 25% chance of rates dropping closer to zero, with a small chance of rates going into negative territory, particularly if the UK enters recession as a result of concerns over Brexit. Longer term rates will remain relatively low as well. Forecasts for interest rates for the next three years is as follows:

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Table 1: Interest Rate Forecasts

Average Base Rate 20 Year PWLB Rate

2017/18 0.25% 2.30%

2018/19 0.25% 2.35%

2019/20 0.25% 2.55%

2.2 Borrowing and Investment – General Strategy for 2016/17

2.2.1 As at 31 March 2017, the Authority is expected to have £46.1 million of external debt liabilities and £8.0 million of investments.

2.2.2 Forecasts for CFR as at 31 March are as follows:

2017/18

£m

2018/19

£m

2019/20

£m

CFR 63.6 67.7 66.7

2.2.3 The Capital Financing Requirement (CFR) represents the Authority’s underlying

need to finance capital expenditure by borrowing or other long-term liability arrangements. An authority can choose to borrow externally to fund its CFR. If it does this, it is likely that it would be investing externally an amount equivalent to its total reserves, balances and net creditors. Alternatively, an authority can choose not to invest externally but instead use these balances to effectively borrow internally and minimise external borrowing. In between these two extremes, an authority may have a mixture of external and internal investments / external and internal borrowing.

2.2.4 Prior to 2009/10 the Authority’s policy had been to borrow up to its CFR and investing externally the majority of its balances. With the onset of instabilities in the financial markets and the economic downturn, the policy changed to one of ensuring the security of the Authority’s balances. This coincided with dramatic falls in investment returns making the budgetary benefit of maximising external borrowing more marginal. Over the past few years, the Authority has chosen to finance its capital expenditure by ‘borrowing’ internally. This has principally been because of the relatively low rates of interest receivable on investments, less than 0.5%, particularly when compared to the cost of borrowing longer term loans from the PWLB, the average rate for a 10 year maturity loan in 2016/17 has been around 2%. This practice is made more complicated by the Government’s method of funding pension contributions – the year’s funding plus any shortfall from the previous year, is paid as a lump sum in July each year. The grant in 2016/17 was £32.5 million.

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2.2.5 The Chief Finance & Procurement Officer believes that the borrowing and investment strategy for 2017/18 must continue to place emphasis on the security of the Authority’s balances. As noted in section 2.1, pressure is possibly expected on the economy following the referendum decision on exiting the EU. Credit conditions had been steadily improving but the global recovery is still fragile and uncertainty still exists within the markets

2.2.6 As at 31 March 2017, the Authority is expected to have around £8 million invested externally, primarily in instant access accounts or short-term deposits, with the major British owned banks, building societies or Money Market Funds (MMFs). This figure includes the remainder of a £3.6m grant awarded jointly to West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire Fire Authorities to fund a joint control centre. The balance of the grant is being ringfenced as an investment until it is required to fund expenditure.

2.3 Investment Strategy

2.3.1 Investment guidance issued by DCLG requires that an investment strategy, outlining the authority’s policies for managing investments in terms of risk, liquidity and yield, should be approved by full Authority or equivalent level, before the start of the financial year. This strategy can then only be varied during the year by the same executive body.

2.3.2 The guidance splits investments into two types – specified and non-specified.

• Specified investments are those offering high security and liquidity. All such investments should be in sterling with a maturity of no more than a year. Investments made with the Government (DMADF) and a local authority automatically count as specified investments, as do investments with bodies or investment schemes of “high credit quality”. It is for individual authorities to determine what they regard as “high credit quality”

• Non-specified investments have greater potential risk, being investments with: bodies that have a credit rating below “high credit quality”; bodies that are not credit rated at all; and investments over a year.

2.3.3 It is estimated that the Authority could have up to £35 million to invest at times during the year; a combination of cash received in advance, reserves and creditors.

2.3.4 It is proposed to continue with a low-risk strategy in line with previous years and where possible to borrow internally. This will help in reducing the amount of money the authority has invested at any one time and minimise the cost of borrowing.

2.3.5 The Authority’s investment criteria has been slightly adapted over the years but is largely based on a strategy of when the Authority had relatively small investment balances. Since the pensions’ payments have increased and the Government has chosen to provide the Authority with an annual grant to cover the costs, the Authority has found itself with more significant levels of investment. Officers carried out a review of the strategy prior to 2015/16 and are confident that it is fit for purpose in terms of the current strategy of prioritising security and liquidity while enabling returns above that offered by Government to be achieved.

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Key features of the strategy are as follows:

• The Authority is able to invest up to £6 million on an instant access basis with foreign based banks with a “high to upper medium grade” credit rating

• The Authority can invest up to £6 million in individual MMFs (instant access or two day notice). MMFs are pooled investment vehicles, having the advantage of providing wide diversification of risk, coupled with the services of a professional fund manager.

• The Authority can invest in DMADF for up to 6 months

The above criteria would apply to the Authority’s specified investments. The limits on non-specified investments are as follows:

• The Authority is able to invest up to £1 million and up to two months with individual UK banks and building societies with a “medium grade” credit rating.

• The Authority adopts an overall limit for non-specified investments of £2 million.

2.3.6 A maximum limit of £6 million applies to any one counterparty and this applies to a banking group rather than each individual bank within a group. For illustrative purposes, the last column of Appendix A lists which banks and building societies the Authority could invest with based on credit ratings as at the beginning of January 2017.

2.3.7 The policy allowing the Authority to invest up to £6 million with part-nationalised UK banks with mid “medium grade” credit ratings has been removed. With the Government steadily divesting themselves of their stake in these banks and the recent bail-in legislation, it is unlikely that the Government would bail these banks out if they got into further trouble. Lloyds have strong enough ratings now to meet the Authority’s criteria for specified investments whereas RBS’s current ratings would mean that the bank only meets the non-specified criteria. However, the Authority has not invested with RBS for some time anyway as the rates of return offered have been relatively poor.

2.3.8 Reverse Repurchase Agreements A change to the treasury management strategy for 2017/2018 is the inclusion of collateralised products, in particular reverse repurchase agreements (REPOs). These products are secured on the borrower’s assets (such as gilts or corporate bonds) and are exempt from bail-in. The rates are currently comparable to unsecured investments but entry levels are likely to be for investments of £10 million plus. It is proposed that reverse repurchase agreements are available to use under the strategy at the higher level indicated above. For the purpose of the Treasury Management Strategy a reverse repurchase agreement is defined as :- “Repo/Reverse Repo is accepted as a form of collateralised lending and should be based on the GMRA (Global Master Repo Agreement). Should the counterparty not meet our senior unsecured rating then a 102% collateralisation would be required. The acceptable collateral is as follows

• Index linked gilts • Conventional gilts • UK treasury bills • DBV (Delivery by Value) • Corporate bonds

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2.3.9 The Authority uses credit ratings from the three main rating agencies - Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s to assess the risk of investment defaults (Appendix B). The lowest credit rating of an organisation will be used to determine credit quality. Long term ratings are expressed on a scale from AAA (the highest quality) through to D (indicating default). Ratings of BBB- and above are described as investment grade, while ratings of BB+ and below are described as speculative grade.

2.3.10 Where an entity has its credit rating downgraded so that it fails to meet the

approved investment criteria:

• No new investments will be made; • Any existing investments that can be recalled at no cost will be recalled; • Full consideration will be given to the recall or sale of all other existing

investments with the affected counterparty.

2.3.11 Where a credit rating agency announces that a rating is on review for possible downgrade (“negative watch”) so that it is likely to fall below the required criteria, then no further investments will be made in that organisation until the outcome is announced. This policy will not apply to negative outlooks.

2.3.12 Full regard will be given to other available information on the credit quality of banks and building societies, including credit default swap prices, financial statements and rating agency reports. No investments will be made with an organisation if there are substantive doubts about its credit quality, even though it may meet the approved criteria.

2.3.13 Investments may be made using the following instruments:

• Interest paying bank accounts • Fixed term deposits • Call or notice deposits • Callable deposits • Shares in money market funds • Reverse repurchase agreements

2.3.14 Annual cash flow forecasts are prepared which are continuously updated. This helps determine the maximum period for which funds may be prudently committed.

2.3.15 Investment policy and performance will be monitored continuously and will be reported to Members during the year and as part of the annual report on Treasury Management.

2.4 Borrowing Requirement and Strategy

2.4.1 As at 31 March 2017, the Authority is expected to have £46.1 million of external debt liabilities and £8 million of investments. Forecast changes in these sums for the next three years are shown in the balance sheet analysis overleaf:

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Balance Sheet Forecast

2016/17

£m

2017/18

£m

2018/19

£m

2019/20

£m

CFR 66.7 63.6 67.7 66.7

Less: External borrowing 46.1 46.1 51.8 51.8

Internal Borrowing 20.6 17.5 15.9 14.9

Investments 8.0 2.0 2.0 2.0

2.4.2 When taking new borrowing, due attention will be paid to the authority’s debt maturity profile. It is good practice to have a maturity profile for long-term debt which does not expose the Authority to a substantial borrowing requirement in years when interest rates may be at a relatively high level. In accordance with the requirements of the Code, the Authority sets out limits with respect to the maturity structure of its borrowing later in this report.

2.4.3 It is predicted that as at 31 March 2017, the Authority will have total external borrowing and other long-term liabilities of around £46.1 million. This is analysed as follows:

Estimated Total debt as at 31 March 2017

£m

%

PWLB fixed loans 44.1 95.7

LOBOs 2.0 4.3

TOTAL 46.1 100.0

2.4.4 Historically, the biggest source of borrowing for local authorities has been PWLB loans. These Government loans have offered value for money and also flexibilities to restructure and make possible savings. Although, the Government decided to raise rates for new PWLB loans in October 2010 by around 0.90%, it has since introduced a discounted rate for local authorities joining the new “certainty rate” scheme. The Authority has joined the scheme and will have access to loans discounted by 0.20% in 2017/18.

2.4.5 The Authority also has a LOBO (Lender’s Option, Borrower’s Option) loan. The way this loan works is that the Authority pays interest at a fixed rate for an initial period and then the lender has the option in the secondary period to increase the rate. If the option is exercised, the Authority can either accept the new rate or repay the loan. The Authority’s loan is in its secondary period with intervals of 5 years between options. The next option date is May 2021. There have been moves by some lenders to amend the terms of their LOBO loans to convert them to ‘vanilla’ fixed rate loans. No approach has yet been made by Dexia Credit Local, the lender to the Authority to amend any of the conditions of the loan.

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2.4.6 The Local Capital Finance Company was established in 2014 by the Local Government Association as an alternative source of local authority finance. It plans to issue bonds on the capital markets and lend the proceeds to local authorities. This will be a more complicated source of finance than the PWLB for three reasons: borrowing authorities may be required to provide bond investors with a joint and several guarantee over the very small risk that other local authority borrowers default on their loans; there will be a lead time of several months between committing to borrow and knowing the interest rate payable. The Company is not yet operational and officers will continue to monitor developments.

2.4.7 In terms of meeting the Authority’s borrowing requirement over the next three years, as short-term rates are forecast to stay low, it may be opportune to take short-term loans either at fixed or variable rates. However, with long term rates forecast to rise in the coming years, any such short term savings will need to be balanced against potential longer term costs.

2.4.8 The PWLB allows authorities to repay loans before maturity and either pay a premium or receive a discount according to a set formula based on current interest rates. The Authority may take advantage of this and replace some of the higher rate loans with new loans at lower interest rates where this will lead to an overall saving or reduce risk.

2.4.9 Borrowing policy and performance will be continuously monitored throughout the year and will be reported to Members.

2.5 Statement of Policy on the Minimum Revenue Provision

2.5.1 The Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) Regulations 2008, which came into effect on 31 March 2008, replaced the former statutory rules for calculating MRP with a requirement for each local authority to determine a “prudent” provision. The regulations require authorities to draw up a statement of their policy on the calculation of MRP which requires approval by full Authority in advance of the year to which it applies. The recommended policy statement is detailed at Appendix C.

2.6 Other Matters

2.6.1 The DCLG Investment Guidance also requires the Authority to note the following matters each year as part of the investment strategy:

(i) Investment Consultants

The Council’s adviser is Arlingclose Limited. The services received include:

• Advice and guidance on relevant policies, strategies and reports;• Advice on investment decisions;• Notification of credit ratings and changes;• Other information on credit quality;• Advice on debt management decisions;• Accounting advice;• Reports on treasury performance;• Forecasts of interest rates; and• Training courses.

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The quality of the service is monitored on a continuous basis by the Council’s treasury management team.

(ii) Investment Training

The needs of the Council’s treasury management staff for training in investment management are assessed on a continuous basis, and formally on a 6-monthly basis as part of the staff appraisal process. Additionally training requirements are assessed when the responsibilities of individual members of staff change. Staff attend training courses, seminars and conferences as appropriate.

(iii) Investment of money borrowed in advance of need

The Authority may, from time to time, borrow in advance of need, where this is expected to provide the best long term value for money. However, as this would involve externally investing such sums until required and thus increasing exposures to both interest rate and principal risks, it is not believed appropriate to undertake such a policy at this time.

2.6.2 Banking

The Authority moved its current account banking to Barclays in July 2015. There is nothing to report on the operation of the accounts.

3 Implications for the Authority

3.1 The strategies outlined have been reflected in the treasury management budget.

4 Consultees and their opinions 4.1 This report has been prepared by the Chief Finance & Procurement Officer.

5 Next steps

5.1 This will be considered at the meetings of the Finance & Resources Committee and the Full Authority and monitored in future reports submitted to Finance & Resources Committee as outlined within the report.

6 Officer recommendations

Members are asked to approve the following:

(i) the investment strategy outlined in section 2.3 and Appendix A;

(ii) the borrowing strategy outlined in section 2.4;

(iii) the policy for provision of repayment of debt outlined in Appendix C of the report;

(iv) the treasury management indicators in Appendix D.

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APPENDIX A

Specified

Short-term Credit Ratings /

Long-Term Credit Ratings

Investment Limits per Counterparty

Counterparties falling into category as at Jan 2017

Fitch Moody’s S & P £m Period (1)

Banks / Building Societies (Reverse Repurchase Agreements) (2)

F1 P-1 A-1 10 Up to 364 days HSBC, Lloyds Group, Santander UK, Nationwide BS, Coventry BS, Close Bros, Svenska Handelsbanken

AAA,AA+,AA, AA-,A+,A

Aaa,Aa1,Aa2,

Aa3,A1,A2


Banks / Building Societies

(Deposit accounts, fixed term deposits)

F1 P-1 A-1 6 Up to 364 days HSBC, Lloyds Group, Santander UK, Nationwide BS, Coventry BS, Close Bros, Svenska Handelsbanken


Aaa,Aa1,Aa2,

Aa3,A1,A2


MMF (3) - - - 6 Instant access/ up to 2 day notice

UK Government

(Fixed term deposits)

- - - Unlimited <6mth

UK local authorities


- - - Unlimited Up to 364 days

Non-Specified (4)

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Short-term Credit Ratings /

Long-Term Credit Ratings

Investment Limits per Counterparty

Counterparties falling into category as at Jan 2017

Fitch Moody’s S & P £m Period (1)

UK Banks / Building Societies


F1,F2 P-1,P-2 A-1,A-2 6 <2mth Barclays Nottingham BS

Leeds BS Yorkshire BS

RBS Group

Higher than BBB

Higher than Baa2

Higher than BBB

Unrated Building Societies


- - - 1 <2mth Cumberland, Darlington, Scottish, Furness, Vernon, Harpenden,

Hinckley & Rugby, Leek, Marsden,

Loughborough, Mansfield, Nat Counties, Mkt Harborough, Newbury, Melton Mowbray

Tipton & Coseley, Stafford Railway

(1) The investment period begins from the commitment to invest, rather than the date on which funds are paid over. (2) These investments are secured on the bank’s assets, which limits the potential losses in the unlikely event of insolvency, and means that they are exempt from

bail-in. Where there is no investment specific credit rating, but the collateral upon which the investment is secured has a credit rating, the higher of the collateral credit rating and the counterparty credit rating will be used to determine cash and time limits. The combined secured and unsecured investments in any one bank will not exceed the cash limit for secured investments.

(3) Overall limit for investments in MMFs of £24 million. (4) Overall limit of £18 million.

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APPENDIX B

Credit ratings

Moody's S&P Fitch

Long-term Short-term Long-term Short-term Long-term Short-term

Aaa

P-1

AAA

A-1+

AAA

F1+

Prime

Aa1 AA+ AA+

High grade Aa2 AA AA

Aa3 AA- AA-

A1 A+ A-1

A+ F1

Upper medium grade A2 A A

A3 P-2

A- A-2

A- F2

Baa1 BBB+ BBB+

Lower medium grade Baa2 P-3

BBB A-3

BBB F3

Baa3 BBB- BBB-

Ba1

Not prime

BB+

B

BB+

B

Non-investment grade speculative Ba2 BB BB

Ba3 BB- BB-

B1 B+ B+

Highly speculative B2 B B

B3 B- B-

Caa1 CCC+

C CCC C

Substantial risks

Caa2 CCC Extremely speculative

Caa3 CCC-

In default with little prospect for recovery Ca

CC

C

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C

D /

DDD

/ In default / DD

/

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APPENDIX C

STATEMENT OF POLICY ON THE MINIMUM REVENUE PROVISION (REPAYMENT OF DEBT)

1. Background 1.1 The Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) Regulations 2008 which

came into force on 31 March 2008, replaced the detailed statutory rules for calculating MRP with a requirement to make an amount of MRP which the authority considers “prudent”.

2. Prudent Provision 2.1 The regulation does not itself define “prudent provision”. However, guidance issued

alongside the regulations makes recommendations on the interpretation of that term.

The guidance provides two basic criteria for prudent provision:-

• Borrowing not supported by government grant (prudential borrowing) – the provision for repayment of debt should be linked to the life of the asset.

• Borrowing previously supported by revenue support grant (supported borrowing) - the provision should be in line with the period implicit within the grant determination (4% reducing balance).

3. Proposed policy for 2017/18 3.1 The Authority has always been prudent when making provision for the repayment of debt. In

addition to the minimum revenue provision of 4% of debt outstanding previously required, the Authority had regularly made additional voluntary contributions. These voluntary contributions have been calculated to reflect asset life. Thus, for example, debt used to finance vehicles and many types of operational equipment has been fully provided for over a 12 year period and all new buildings over 40. These additional voluntary contributions covered all debt, not just unsupported, and have been calculated using an annuity method with reference to asset lives.

3.2 It is recommended that this policy is continued for 2016/17. The features of the policy can be summarised as follows:

• Provision to be made over the estimated life of the asset for which borrowing is undertaken • To be applied to supported and unsupported borrowing • Provision will increase over the asset life using sinking fund tables • Provision will commence in the financial year following the one in which the expenditure is

incurred

3.3 The continuation of the existing policy is fully accounted for in the proposed three year treasury management budget.

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Appendix D

TREASURY MANAGEMENT INDICATORS

Gross Debt and the Capital Financing Requirement (CFR)

The Code requires that where gross debt is greater than the CFR, the reasons for this should be clearly stated in the annual strategy. This does not apply to this Authority as its gross debt will not exceed the CFR.

Interest Rate Exposures

While fixed rate borrowing can contribute significantly to reducing the uncertainty surrounding future interest rate scenarios, the pursuit of optimum performance justifies retaining a degree of flexibility through the use of variable interest rates on at least part of the treasury management portfolio. The Code requires the setting of upper limits for both variable rate and fixed interest rate exposure.

It is recommended that the Authority sets an upper limit on its fixed interest rate exposures for 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 of 100% of its net interest payments. It is further recommended that the Authority sets an upper limit on its variable interest rate exposures for 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 of 40% of its net interest payments.

This means that fixed interest rate exposures will be managed within the range 60% to 100%, and variable interest rate exposures within the range 0% to 40%.

Maturity Structure of Borrowing

This indicator is designed to prevent the Authority having large concentrations of fixed rate debt* needing to be replaced at times of uncertainty over interest rates. It is recommended that the Authority sets upper and lower limits for the maturity structure of its borrowings as follows:

Amount of projected borrowing that is fixed rate maturing in each period as percentage of total projected borrowing that is fixed rate

Upper Limit (%) Lower Limit (%)

Under 12 months 20 0

Between 1 and 2 years 20 0



More than 10 years 100 20

*LOBOs are classed as fixed rate debt unless it is considered probable that the loan option will be exercised.

Total principal sums invested for periods longer than 364 days

The Authority is not intending to invest sums for periods longer than 364 days.

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[Type text]

Purpose To present a draft capital investment plan, a draft revenue budget and medium term financial plan.

Recommendations That the resolution set out in section 10 of the report be approved

Summary This report presents details of the draft revenue budget for 2017/2018 along with the four year medium term financial plan and capital programme. Included within the report are details of the Draft Local Government Finance Settlement 2017/2018, a standstill budget, and a summary of activity in the 2016/2017 financial year.

OFFICIAL

Draft Capital Investment Plan/Draft Revenue Budget and Medium Term Financial Plan Full Authority Date: 17 February 2017 Agenda Item:

20 Submitted By: Chief Finance & Procurement Officer, Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive and Chief Legal and Governance Officer


Exemption Category: Nil

Contact Officer: Geoff Maren – Chief Finance & Procurement Officer T: 01274 655711 E: [email protected]

Background papers open to inspection: Budget working papers Local Government Finance Settlement CIPFA’s Code of Practice on Treasury Management in the Public Services; CIPFA’s Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities; Local Government Act 2003.

Annexes: A – Standstill Revenue budget B- Draft Capital Plan 2017/2018 to 2020/2021 C - Home Office letter re publication of WYFRA efficiency plan

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1 Introduction 1.1 This is a consolidated report which presents the Management Board's proposals for:-

(i) a Capital Investment Plan for the five years to 2020/2021; (ii) the Prudential Indicators to support the financing of the Capital Plan; (iii) a Revenue Budget and Medium Term Financial Plan for the same period.

2 Proposed Capital Investment

CAPITAL INVESTMENT

2.1 The Management Board are proposing a four year capital investment plan of £22.041m with expenditure of £7.62m in 2017/2018. Over the past five years the Authority has invested heavily in a station relocation programme which has generated long term revenue savings of over £10m per annum. However this level of investment is not sustainable particularly where it is not generating significant long term savings and it has been necessary to reduce the capital investment in the draft plan.

2.2 The plan includes £4m for the construction of the new fire station at Moor Allerton which should be completed in 2018/2019 and is the last of the comprehensive programme of station rationalisations.

2.3 Whilst there remain stations that require significant investment an extension of the new build programme is not affordable and the plan therefore includes provision for some major refurbishment.

2.4 In addition the management Board has reviewed the replacement policy for Fire appliances which will be extended from 12 years to 13 years which will also deliver savings in the capital plan.

2.5 Details of the individual schemes included in the draft capital plan is included in Annex B to this report.

Total 2017/2018 2018/2019 2019/2020 2020/2021

Property £10,179,000 £3,170,000 £3,545,000 £2,434,000 £1,030,000IT £2,998,900 £1,163,000 £601,300 £864,600 £370,000Transport £4,105,000 £1,470,000 £0 £735,000 £1,900,000HR £227,700 £132,700 £95,000 £0 £0Finance £60,400 £60,400 £0 £0 £0Fire safety £2,000,000 £500,000 £500,000 £500,000 £500,000Operations £2,470,500 £1,120,500 £450,000 £450,000 £450,000

£22,041,500 £7,616,600 £5,191,300 £4,983,600 £4,250,000

Financing

Capital receipts £2,500,000 £1,000,000 £1,500,000 0 0Borrowing £19,541,500 £6,616,600 £3,691,300 £4,983,600 £4,250,000

£22,041,500 £7,616,600 £5,191,300 £4,983,600 £4,250,000

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CAPITAL FINANCING

2.6 There are three main sources of capital finance available; capital grants, capital receipts, and borrowing, which are explained below.

2.7 Capital Grants

The Authority does not anticipate the receipt of any capital grants in 2017/2018.

2.8 Capital Receipts

The IRMP process, once fully implemented, will release up to 17 sites which will be available for disposal. These sites will not be available until each of the new stations is operational and the value will depend upon the size, location and planning approvals as well as the market condition. The Authority has already realised some of these capital receipts year and it is anticipted that further receipts of £2.5m will be generated over the next 3 years. If additional capital receipts are generated these will be used to reduce future borrowing.

2.9 Borrowing

The balance of the expenditure will be funded by borrowing, the table shows a total borrowing requirement of £19.541m over the period.

Over recent years the Authority has been borrowing internally to fund capital expenditure using its revenue balances and reserves. However the majority of these resources will have been used by the end of the current financial year and the plans to use some of these reserves to support the revenue budget means it may be necessary to take external borrowing later in the financial year.

However the Authority will use the pension grant in the early months of the financial year to support the capital programme..

3 Prudential Indicators

3.1 The CIPFA Prudential Code requires that local authorities produce a number of prudential indicators before the beginning of each financial year and have them approved by the same executive body that approves the budget. The purpose of the indicators is to provide a framework for capital expenditure decision making, highlighting the level of capital expenditure, the impact on borrowing levels, and the overall controls in place to ensure the activity remains affordable, prudent and sustainable.

Some of the indicators are specific to the Authority’s treasury management activity and are set out in the Treasury Management Report. The rest of the indicators are set out below.

3.2 Capital Expenditure, Capital Financing Requirement and External Debt

The Authority’s capital expenditure projections, detailed in paragraph 2, impacts directly on the Capital Financing Requirement (CFR) and the Authority’s debt position. The CFR is a calculation of the Authority’s underlying need to borrow for a capital purpose. When external borrowing is below the CFR, this reveals that the Authority is using some internal balances, such as reserves/creditors, to temporarily finance capital expenditure as is currently the case

2017/18

£m

2018/19

£m

2019/20

£m

CFR 63.6 67.7 66.7

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The table shows an estimated borrowing requirement of £66.7 by 2019/2020. Long term external debt currently stands at £46.1m as set out in the treasury management strategy.

3.3 Limits to Borrowing Activity

The first key control over the Authority’s borrowing activity is a Prudential Indicator to ensure that, over the medium term, net borrowing will only be for a capital purpose. Net external borrowing should not, except in the short-term, exceed the total Capital Financing Requirement in the preceding year, plus the estimates of any additional capital financing requirement for 2017/2018 and the next two financial years. This allows some flexibility for limited early borrowing for future years.

The Authority comfortably complied with the requirement to keep net borrowing below the relevant Capital Financing Requirement in 2015/2016, and no difficulties are envisaged for the current or future years.

3.4 A further two Prudential Indicators control the overall level of borrowing. These are the Authorised Limit and the Operational Boundary. The Authorised Limit represents the limit beyond which borrowing is prohibited. It reflects the level of borrowing which, while not desired, could be afforded in the short-term, but is not sustainable. It is the expected maximum borrowing need with some headroom for unexpected movements. This is the statutory limit determined under section 3(1) of the Local Government Act 2003.

3.4.1 The Operational Boundary is based on the probable external debt during the course of the year. It is not a limit and actual borrowing could vary around this boundary for short times during this year.

The Authority is asked to approve the following limits for its total external debt, gross of any investments. These limits separately identify borrowing from other long term liabilities such as finance leases.

2015/16 £m

2016/17 £m

2017/18 £m

2018/19 £m

Authorised limit for external debt 75 65 68 68

Operational boundary for external debt 70 60 60 60

3.5 Affordability Prudential Indicators

The previous sections cover the overall capital and control of borrowing prudential indicators but within this framework prudential indicators are required to assess the affordability of the capital investment plans. The following two indicators provide an indication of the capital investment plans on the overall finances of the Authority:

3.5.1 Ratio of financing costs to net revenue stream This indicator identifies the trend in the cost of capital (borrowing costs net of investment income) against the net revenue stream (amounts met from Revenue Support Grant, local taxpayers and balances):

Actual Rev Est Estimate Estimate Estimate

2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20

Ratio of financing costs to net revenue stream

8.02 8.09 8.05 9.00 8.43

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3.5.2 Effect on the Precept

This indicator estimates the incremental impact of capital investment decisions proposed in the budget report, over and above capital investment decisions that have been previously taken by the Authority:

Proposed Budget

Forward Projections

2017/18 2018/19 2019/20

Increase in expenditure (£000s) 308 984 1236

Increase in Precept (Band D) 0.49 1.55 1.91

4 Revenue Budget and Medium Term Financial Plan 4.0 Attached to the report, at Annex A, is a Draft Revenue Budget for 2017/18 and a Medium Term

Financial Plan covering the period to 2020/2021is included in paragraph 7 of the report. Whilst the Authority will only be required to approve the precept for 2017/2018 it is important that the Authority consider the medium term impact of the decision.

This section is split into 3 key areas:-

1. review of the current year’s budget and financial performance; 2. the cost of a standstill budget for 2017/18; 3. revenue balances.

4.1 Review of 2016/2017

4.1.1 National Context

Economic Outlook

Following better than forecast economic growth towards the end of 2015/2016 the outlook for the economy was good at the start of 2016/2017. This changed dramatically in June following the results of the referendum on EEC membership. This resulted in a more pessimistic projection for future economic growth prompting substantial monetary policy easing including a further drop in the bank base rate to 0.25%

There is an expectation that inflation will rise as a result of the rising cost of imports resulting from the weakness of the pound. It is therefore unlikely there will be an early increase in interest rates with the possibility of a further reduction to a zero base rate in the future.

4.1.2 Impact on West Yorkshire FRA

The Authority received a draft 4 year financial settlement as part of the 2016/2017 budget showing a loss of grant of £7.9m to 2019/2020 with £6m lost in the first two years (£2.67m in 2016/2017) Authorities were given the option to fix this settlement by submitting a four year efficiency plan to the Home Office by October 2016.

The Authority considered its revenue budget and precept strategy on 19th February 2016 and approved a precept increase of 1.99% requiring a package of revenue savings totalling £3.7m.

The Authority considered the benefits of a fixed 4 year settlement and approved publication of a 4 year efficiency plan to secure the long term settlement. The certainty offered by the long term

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settlement enabled the Authority to plan for the reintroduction of firefighter recruitment commencing in January 2018. In terms of the financial outturn, the Authority has forecast to under-spend the budget by around £1.4m for the financial year.

4.2 A Standstill Budget for 2017/2018 – Maintaining the current level of service

A standstill budget has been prepared for 2017/18, for the purpose of providing a baseline from which to measure changes in the proposed budget. This is calculated by updating the 2016/17 budget for increases in pay and prices, new financing charges and other adjustments. It also takes account of the impact of the areas of underspending in 2016/2017. A standstill budget for 2017/2018 would amount to £79.706m. The changes from the 2016/2017 budget are detailed in the table below.

There is one change in presentation from previous years with the full year effect of savings from firefighter retirements in 2016/2017 being shown in the standstill budget rather than as service plan savings. This change in presentation provides a more accurate assessment of the standstill budget.

The main changes to the 2016/2017 budget are explained below:

• Pay increases 2016/2017 This is the full year cost of the 2016/2017 pay award for both grey and green book staff.

• Support staff – the budget has been constructed based on the approved establishment, savings from staff turnover are identified later in the report.

• APT&C Pension revaluation Following the 2016 valuation of the West Yorkshire pension fund the employer contribution will increase from 14.2% to 17.2%

• Apprentice costs this is the cost of the apprentice levy and the salary costs of new apprentices

• Full year effect of leavers this is the full year effects of savings generated through firefighter retirements

• Change in government grants This is increased to reflect the inflationary increase in firelink grant.

• Changes in level of income Reductions in income from Young firefighters, telecom licences and secondments offset by increases in income from false alarms.

4.3 Revenue Balances

4.3.1 In recent years the Authority has been using its revenue balances to fund capital expenditure in order to reduce both external borrowing and investment. Over the last 24 months this practice has saved the Authority over £1m in external interest charges. The Finance and General purposes

£m2016/2017 approved revenue budget £80.528Pay and price increase 2016/2017 £0.372Support staff £0.479APT&C pension revaluation £0.261Apprentice costs £0.550Other changes £0.178Full year effect of 2016/2017 leavers -£2.708Change in government grants -£0.106Changes in level of income £0.150

2017/2018 standstill budget £79.706

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Committee on 27th January 2017 agreed to set aside £10m of the Authority’s balances to establish a Capital Finance Reserve to provide a long term provision for capital financing. The Authority will therefore have a general fund balance of £14m at 1 April 2017.

4.3.2 Minimum Revenue Balances

The Authority needs to maintain a level of General Fund Balances as a safety net to meet any unforeseen and unplanned expenditure. This would include changes in interest rates, greater than budgeted pay awards, legal challenges and increases in activity.

The minimum level of balances required is calculated using the Authority’s corporate risk register. This document identifies all the major risks to business continuity the Authority may face, evaluates the potential cost and looks at measures to control or limit the risk. The risk register is maintained by the Risk Management Group, which is chaired by the Deputy Chief Fire Officer and reports annually to the Audit Committee. The current risk matrix was approved by the Audit Committee in September 2016.

The current register identifies a requirement to maintain a minimum revenue balance of £5.0m leaving £9.0m to support the revenue budget.

4.3.3 Strategy for Use of Balances

The Authority has in recent years been able to fund the full cost of the service through government grants and precept without the use of revenue balances.

The Authority is planning to use revenue balances over the next three years to support the revenue budget and bring forward firefighter recruitment. As explained in the 2016/2017 budget report the front loading of the grant cuts meant that whilst the Authority has difficulty achieving the required savings in the early years, it can achieve a balanced budget by the end of the spending review period. Under these circumstances the Authority can use balances to support the budget in the next couple of years as these will be replaced by sustainable savings in the final year of the spending review. The strategy for the use of balances is included within the medium term financial plan which is section 7 of this report.

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5 Local Government Finance Settlement

5.1 Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2017/2018

5.1.1 Background

As part of the 2016/2017 Local Government Finance Settlement the government provided a draft settlement for the following three years to 2019/2020 giving authorities the option to fix the settlement by submitting a 4 year efficiency statement. The Authority approved the submission of the 4 year efficiency statement and received confirmation on 16th December that this had been accepted and the 4 years settlement has been fixed. A copy of this letter is attached to this report. (Annex C)

The Authority will not receive the final settlement until 20th February 2017 which is after the date of the budget meeting. It is not anticipated that there will be any significant changes from the draft settlement. However if there are any changes these will be adjusted through changes in the amount of balances used.

5.1.2 Draft Settlement

A consultation paper on the Local Government Finance Settlement was published on 16 December 2016, including the provisional grant allocations for 2017/2018.

.

The settlement shows a small increase in top up grant from £14.95m to £15.79 which is offset by an assumed fall in local business rate income delivering an overall increase of £16k which is a result of an increase in the rate of inflation.

Referendum Principles

5.1.5 As in the previous three years the Government will set a maximum precept increase limit for capping purposes. If authorities wish to exceed this limit they are required to hold a referendum of all council tax payers and are bound by the results.

5.1.5 The proposed limit for 2017/2018 included in the draft settlement is 2% as in previous years.

Increase in Business Rates

5.1.6 The settlement indicates the Authority will receive £23.1m in business rate income with £15.79m paid directly from central government in the form of top up grant and the balance of £7.31m being paid by the five district councils which equates to 1% of the income they collect.

The overall level of business rates notified by the 5 districts total £7.57m an increase of £0.26m over the amount included in the settlement. However each of the districts has suffered significant losses on collection and this Authority has to meet its share of these losses. The Authority share

Comparison 2016/2017 2017/2018 2017/2018 2018/2019 2019/2020Actual Draft Provisional Provisional Provisional

£m £m £m £m £mTop up grant central pool £14.66 £14.95 £15.79 £16.29 £16.87Top up grant local £7.98 £8.13 £7.31 £7.55 £7.82Growth in business ratesBase line funding (business rates) £22.64 £23.08 £23.10 £23.84 £24.69Revenue support grant £20.50 £16.75 £16.75 £14.67 £13.34Local government finance settlement £43.14 £39.83 £39.85 £38.51 £38.03Grant loss -£3.31 -£3.29 -£1.34 -£0.48

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of these losses is £0.73m meaning that overall business rate income received will be £0.47m below the figure included in the settlement.

5.2 Precept Income

5.2.1 As Members are aware, the Authority is also dependent upon precept income from the five districts which provided £36.9m of its income in 2016/2017. This income is dependent upon two factors:

• The precept set by the Authority;

• The tax base set by the five district councils. The Authority has now received details of the tax base set by each district which has grown by 1.78%

5.2.2 The Authority has been notified that its share of council tax surplus in 2017/2018 will be £470,617 which will be used to support the revenue budget.

6 Positive Assurance Statement

6.1 Under Section 25 of the Local Government Act (2003) the statutory Chief Financial Officer is required to give positive assurance statements in the robustness of budget estimates and the adequacy of reserves and balances.

6.2 If Members approve the recommendations in this report on the level of specific reserves and the strategy for use of balances, I can give the Authority positive assurance on the adequacy of reserves and balances. This assurance is given having considered the following matters:-

a) This Authority has robust risk management arrangements and the Chief Finance and Procurement Officer uses a Risk Management Matrix to calculate the minimum level of balances.

b) The Authority is single purpose and does not face a full a range of risks to manage as a multi-purpose authority.

c) The Authority's revenue reserves have not generally been consumed during the year by overspendings but have been maintained throughout the year.

6.3 I can also give you positive assurance on the accuracy and robustness of all the forecasts and estimates in the budget proposals.

In giving these assurances I have considered the following matters:-

(i) The internal control environment and, in particular, the checks and balances within our budget process and our arrangements for budgetary control. In addition, I am satisfied that the Authority’s financial systems provide a sound basis for accurate financial information.

(ii) The detailed work on risk assessments.

(iii) The long-term tradition and track record of the Authority in managing its overall budget.

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7 2017/2018 Revenue Budget and Medium Term Financial Planning 7.1 As mentioned in the introduction to the report, the Authority will be asked to approve a four year

Medium Term Financial Plan, including the Revenue Budget for 2017/2018, to align with the spending review period and long term budget settlement.

7.2 The Medium Term Financial Plan provides a forecast of the cost of the service based on the establishment of the Authority along with an estimate of the available resources

7.3 As mentioned in paragraph 5, the Government have provided details of the four year settlement that is available to those authorities that submit a 4 year efficiency plan. The grant figures included within this offer have been incorporated in the medium term financial plan which is provided in and summarised below.

7.4 Precept Strategy

Once again the Government have indicated that any precept increase above 2% would require the Authority to hold a referendum and this option is not being considered. The report therefore looks at the 2 key options available to the Authority which are a precept freeze and a 1.99% increase in the precept.

7.5 Proposed Revenue Budget 2017/2018 The table below compares the standstill budget with available resources based on the two options

referred to in the previous paragraph. Both options will require the use of balances to support the revenue budget.

Included within the proposed revenue budget are a number of service developments and some proposed savings which are detailed below.

Precept IncreaseFreeze 1.99%

Standstill Budget £79.706 £79.706Cost of recruitment £0.638 £0.638Staffing of resilience pumps £0.100 £0.100ICT strategy £0.173 £0.173Training budget growth £0.253 £0.253Non recruitment -£0.879 -£0.879Vacancy mangement support staff -£0.250 -£0.250IRMP savings -£0.092 -£0.092Revenue budget £79.649 £79.649

Top up grant central pool -£15.785 -£15.785Top up grant local -£7.579 -£7.579Section 31 grant -£0.540 -£0.540Revenue support grant -£16.751 -£16.751Precept income -£37.555 -£38.302Loss on business rates collection £0.732 £0.732Collection fund surplus -£0.471 -£0.471Income -£77.949 -£78.696Use of balances £1.700 £0.953

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7.5.1 Service developments

Whole time recruitment £638,000

The Authority has approved the commencement of recruitment in 2017/2018, this the cost of the recruitment process and the part year cost for the first 32 recruits.

Staffing of resilience pumps £100,000

The use of resilience pumps underpins fire cover as part of the IRMP changes, this provision is being reviewed and this is the estimated additional cost.

ICT strategy £173,000

These are revenue cost falling out of the IT strategy Made up of maintenance cost of £61,000 and additional staffing costs of £112,000. Detailed reports on this expenditure will be presented to the Finance and Resources Committee.

Training budget growth £253,000

The total value of essential external training bids exceeds the current approved budget by £253,000

7.5.2 Efficiency savings

Non recruitment savings -£879,000

This the part year effect of firefighters retirements and leavers forecast in 2017/2018, a large proportion of those leaving will be replaced by new recruits. The actual number of retirements will influence the number of recruits required in future years.

Vacancy management support staff -£250,000

As in previous years it is proposed to reduce the support staff budget by £250k to take account of staff turnover. This will not result in the holding of vacancies as it should be achieved through normal staff turnover.

IRMP savings -£ 92,000

When the Authority was looking for sites for new Fire Stations there were some costs which had to be charged to revenue expenditure and these were funded from within this budget. Now this programme is reaching its conclusion this budget provision is no longer needed.

7.6 Medium Term Financial Plan

As well as impacting on the 2017/2018 revenue budget the precept strategy has a long term impact on the medium term financial plan. The certainty offered by the 4 year financial settlement coupled with the IRMP proposals and recruitment strategy provides more certainty to the medium term financial planning process. The tables below provide two options for the medium term financial plan, the first based on the strategy of increasing the precept by 1.99% per year and the second based on an annual precept freeze. Both options assume the same inflationary increases and assume there will be an annual growth in the tax base of 1.5%.

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1.99% Precept Strategy

The strategy based on an annual precept increase of 1.99% will require the use of £5.3m of balances over the next 3 years and will deliver a balanced budget by 2020/2021 based on an establishment of 900 whole time firefighters. Clearly if there are further cuts in funding in 2020/2021 additional savings will need to be identified

Precept Freeze

A strategy of freezing the precept over the same period would result -in a total loss of income of £2.6m by 2020/2021. The Authority would need £9.0m of balances to support the budget over the next 3 years and would leave an ongoing budget deficit of £2.6m in 2020/2021 to maintain a whole

MEDIUM TERM FINANCIAL PLAN1.99% PRECEPT INCREASE

2017/2018 2018/2019 2019/2020 2020/2021

Standstill budget £79.706 £81.688 £82.944 £84.208Net savings -£0.057 -£0.751 -£2.588 -£3.851Forecast revenue budget £79.649 £80.937 £80.356 £80.357

FUNDINGCentral governmentTop up grant central pool £15.785 £16.293 £16.872 £16.872Local business rates £6.846 £6.983 £7.123 £7.265Revenue support grant £16.751 £14.670 £13.340 £13.340Section 31 grant £0.540 £0.500 £0.500 £0.500

£39.922 £38.446 £37.835 £37.977Local taxationPrecept based on 1.99% £38.773 £39.640 £41.023 £42.455

Total income £78.695 £78.086 £78.858 £80.432

Budget shortfall -£0.953 -£2.851 -£1.498 £0.075

MEDIUM TERM FINANCIAL PLANPRECEPT FREEZE

2017/2018 2018/2019 2019/2020 2020/2021

Standstill budget £79.706 £81.688 £82.944 £84.208Net savings -£0.057 -£0.751 -£2.588 -£3.851Forecast revenue budget £79.649 £80.937 £80.356 £80.357

FUNDINGGrants and NNDR £39.922 £38.446 £37.835 £37.977Local taxationPrecept based on precept freeze £38.027 £38.597 £39.176 £39.764

Total income £77.949 £77.043 £77.011 £77.741

Budget shortfall -£1.700 -£3.894 -£3.345 -£2.616

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time establishment of 900 firefighters. This deficit is equivalent to a further cut in the whole time establishment of an additional 50 full time posts.

Based on the long term impact on the medium term financial plan Management are recommending a precept increase of 1.99% for 2017/2018.

8 Restrictions on Voting 8.1 Members are reminded of the provisions of Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act

1992 which also applies to Members of a Metropolitan Joint Authority, namely that if they are liable to payment of Council Tax and an amount payable by them has remained unpaid for 2 months or more and, if they attend the Precept setting / Budget meeting, then they must disclose the fact that Section 106 applies to them and, whilst they can remain in the meeting and speak on the issues arising, they must not actually vote on the Precept/Budget setting calculation, recommendation, or decision. Breach of this restriction may give rise to a criminal offence on the part of the Member concerned

9 Proposed Revenue Budget 9.1 Recommendations

(a) Members to consider the joint report of the Chief Fire Office/Chief Executive, the Chief Finance & Procurement Officer and, the Chief Legal & Governance Officer, which presents an overview of the financial position for the current year together with the draft revenue budget and capital plan for 2017/2018 and four year financial strategy and the precept options.

The detail of the report advises Members of:

(i) The content of the four year capital plan (£22.04m) with a forecast spend by the end of 2017/2018 of £7.62m (as set out in Appendix A);

(ii) Capital Financing Requirement of £63.6m in 2017/2018;

(iii) The Authorised Limit for external debt of £68m and an Operational Boundary of £60m;

(iv) Capital finance charges of 8.05% of the revenue budget;

(v) Forecast revenue balances of £14m by 31 March 2017 with a minimum balance to be maintained at £5.0m;

(vi) A collection fund surplus of £470,617;

(vii) Details of the local government finance settlement 2017/2018;

(viii) Positive assurance from the Chief Finance Officer under section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003 of the adequacy of balances and the robustness of the budget estimates.

(b) Medium Term Financial Strategy 2017/2018 – 2020/2021 (incorporating revenue budget and capital plan)

(i) Set a Revenue budget of £79.649m incorporating the service development set out in paragraph 7.5.1 and efficiency savings in paragraph 7.5.2.

(ii) Approve the use of £953,385 of revenue balances to support the revenue budget in 2017/2018.

(iii) Approve a precept increase of 1.99% for 2017/2018

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10 Resolution 10.1 That Members give approval to the Prudential Indicators in respect of:

a) the Capital financing Requirement as set out in paragraph 3.2;

b) the level of External Debt also set out in paragraph 3.2;

c) the Authorised limit for external debt as set out in paragraph 3.4.1;

d) the Operational Boundary for external debt also set out in paragraph 3.4.1.

10.2 Having considered the recommendations of the Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive and the Chief Finance and Procurement Officer on service delivery and related budget requirements and, having taken account of the views of the consultees and, acting in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended) (“the Act”) and, having approved a capital expenditure programme for the financial year 2017/2018 of £7.616m and, having calculated its basic amount of council tax for the year by dividing its council tax requirement by its council tax bases, which the Authority notes have been determined by the District Councils, the figures are as follows for financial year 2017/2018.

10.3 The Authority calculates its council tax requirements under Sections 40 to 47 of the Act for Financial Year 2017/2018 as the aggregate of the following:

10.3.1 The Authority calculates the aggregate of (A) as set out in Appendix C.

• £79,649,000 The expenditure the Authority estimates it will incur in the year in performing its functions and will charge to the revenue account for the year in accordance with proper practices.

• £0 The allowance as the Authority estimates will be appropriate for contingencies in relation to amounts to be charged or credited to the revenue account for the year in accordance with proper practice.

• £0 The financial reserves which the Authority estimates it will be appropriate to raise in year for meeting estimated future expenditure.

• £0 Financial reserves as are sufficient to meet so much of the amount estimated by the Authority to be a revenue account deficit for any earlier financial year as has not been provided for.

2017/2018Authority Taxbase

£Bradford 136,252.00Calderdale 59,916.56Kirklees 115,371.39Leeds 221,937.70Wakefield 95,512.00

628,989.65

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10.3.2 The Authority calculates the aggregate of (B) as set out in Appendix C

• £40,393,169 The income which it estimates that will accrue to it in the year and which it will credit to a revenue account for the year in accordance with proper practices other than income which it estimates will accrue to it in respect of any precept issued by it to be.

• £953,385 The amount of financial reserves which the Authority estimates that it will use in order to provide for the items mentioned.

10.3.3 Council Tax Requirement

• £38,302,446 The aggregate calculated under subsection 42a(2) (aggregate of A) of the Act exceeds the amount calculated under subsection 42a(3) (aggregate of B) which is calculated to be the council tax requirement for the year.

10.3.4 Basic amount of council tax

• £60.90 The Authority calculates its basic amount of council tax by dividing the council tax requirement by the council tax base. The council tax requirement is £38,302,446 and the council tax base is £629,989.65 which is equal to £60.90 at band d. This calculation meets the requirement under S42B of the Act.

10.4 The Authority calculates the Council Tax sums pursuant to Section 47 of the Act as follows:

Band A 40.60 Band B 47.36 Band C 54.13 Band D 60.90 Band E 74.43 Band F 87.96 Band G 101.49 Band H 121.79

10.5 The Authority calculates the resultant precept amounts payable by each constituent District Council pursuant to Section 48 of the Act as follows:

Bradford £ 8,297,092

Calderdale £ 3,648,630

Kirklees £ 7,025,563

Leeds £ 13,514,939

Wakefield £ 5,816,222

£ 38,302,446

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10.6 Resolved that the precept for each constituent District Council, as calculated and set out above, be issued to them pursuant to Section 40 of the Act.

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2016/2017 2017/2018 2017/2018Revenue REVENUE BUDGET Standstill StandstillBudget Budget Budget

£m £m £m£55.152 Service delivery £52.792 £52.013£21.837 Service support £24.090 £24.812

£2.678Legal Finance and Corporate

Services £1.960 £1.960£0.861 Contingency for pay and prices £0.864 £0.864

£81.861 Net Expenditure £79.706 £79.649

£20.497 Revenue support grant £16.751£14.662 Top up grant £15.785

£7.455 Local business rates £6.847£0.443 Business rate relief £0.540£0.372 Collection fund surplus £0.471£0.200 Revenue balances £0.953

£36.900 Precept £38.302

£80.528 Gross expenditure £0.000 £79.649

£59.71 Precept band d £60.90£1.17 Increase £1.19

2016/2017 2017/2018 2017/2018Budget REVENUE BUDGET Standstill Revenue

£m £m £m£52.026 Firefighters £49.423 £49.207

£8.321 Support staff £9.646 £9.508£2.359 Pensions £2.219 £2.219£1.171 Other employees £1.622 £1.906£3.409 Premises £3.748 £3.748£2.569 Transport £2.686 £2.686£4.850 Supplies and services £5.535 £5.550£0.290 Lead authority charges £0.293 £0.293£6.918 Capital financing £6.944 £6.943£0.861 Contingency £0.000 £0.000

£82.774 Gross expenditure £82.116 £82.060-£2.246 Less income -£2.411 -£2.411

£80.528 Net Expenditure £79.705 £79.649

Annex A

146

2016/2017 2017/2018 2017/2018Budget SERVICE DELIVERY Standstill Revenue

£m £m £m£45.258 Firefighters £43.215 £42.438

£3.199 Support staff £3.184 £3.184£0.000 Pensions £0.000 £0.000£0.034 Other employees £0.001 £0.001£1.958 Premises £2.109 £2.109£0.815 Transport £0.734 £0.734£2.299 Supplies and services £2.212 £2.212£0.000 Lead authority charges £0.000 £0.000£3.385 Capital financing £3.311 £3.311£0.000 Contingency £0.000 £0.000


£55.152 Net Expenditure £52.792 £52.015

2016/2017 2017/2018 2017/2018Budget SERVICE SUPPORT Standstill Revenue

£m £m £m£6.558 Firefighters £6.010 £6.571£3.910 Support staff £5.457 £5.319£2.359 Pensions £2.219 £2.219£1.136 Other employees £1.621 £1.906£1.450 Premises £1.639 £1.639£1.704 Transport £1.916 £1.916£1.765 Supplies and services £2.073 £2.089£0.046 Lead authority charges £0.089 £0.089£3.324 Capital financing £3.422 £3.422£0.000 Contingency £0.000 £0.000


£21.837 Net Expenditure £24.090 £24.814

2016/2017 2017/2018 2017/2018Budget LEGAL FINANCE & CORPORATE Standstill Revenue

£m £m £m£0.209 Firefighters £0.198 £0.198£1.211 Support staff £1.005 £1.005

Pensions £0.000 £0.000Other employees £0.000 £0.000

Premises £0.000 £0.000Transport £0.036 £0.036

£0.786 Supplies and services £1.250 £1.250£0.245 Lead authority charges £0.204 £0.204£0.210 Capital financing £0.211 £0.211£0.000 Contingency £0.000 £0.000£2.712 Gross expenditure £2.904 £2.904

-£0.033 Less income -£0.081 -£0.081£2.678 Net Expenditure £2.823 £2.823

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Annex B

2017 TO 2022 DRAFT CAPITAL PLAN

BID NUMBER DESCRIPTIONESTIMATED

TOTAL CAPITAL COST

2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21

PROPERTY INCLUDING IRMPIRMP Phase 2 £3,581,000 £1,370,000 £1,570,000 £641,000 £0Halifax Refurb £270,000 £270,000Huddersfield Refurb £458,000 £458,000Keighley Refurb £149,000 £149,000Oakroyd Hall Refurb £550,000 £550,000Wakefield Refurb £735,000 £560,000 £175,000Boilers £151,000 £50,000 £46,000 £20,000 £35,000Towers £280,000 £120,000 £99,000 £58,000 £3,000Interior Decoration £600,000 £115,000 £255,000 £200,000 £30,000Tarmac/Hard standing £445,000 £95,000 £165,000 £160,000 £25,000Electrical £757,000 £112,000 £480,000 £115,000 £50,000Ext DEC Includes district smoke houses £740,000 £100,000 £295,000 £335,000 £10,000Roofs £390,000 £80,000 £225,000 £85,000 £0Ablutions £295,000 £20,000 £145,000 £130,000 £0security £273,000 £253,000 £20,000 £0 £0Interceptor Tanks £505,000 £295,000 £70,000 £140,000 £0

SUB TOTAL £10,179,000 £3,170,000 £3,545,000 £2,434,000 £1,030,000

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYComputer Hardware £305,000 £95,000 £70,000 £70,000 £70,000Software Licences £800,000 £200,000 £200,000 £200,000 £200,000VMWare Servers and Storage £192,000 £192,000Replacement Communications Test Equipment £50,000 £50,000Replacment MDT's £15,000 £15,000ICT Strategy ProgrammeInformation management £10,000 £10,000HR& Rostering £300,000 £300,000System security £220,000 £220,000Electronic forms £80,000 £80,000Paperless meetings £41,000 £41,000Operational risk information £50,000 £50,000Protection database £50,000 £50,000Thin client £240,000 £140,000 £100,000ID cards £15,300 £15,300Hydrant management £30,000 £30,000Equipment management & RFID tagging £293,000 £293,000BYOD £116,000 £116,000Tranman upgrade £51,600 £51,600Command support software £100,000 £100,000Asset management software £40,000 £40,000

SUB TOTAL £2,998,900 £1,163,000 £601,300 £864,600 £370,000

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HUMAN RESOURCESCycle to work scheme £190,000 £95,000 £95,000 £0 £0Casualty Care Training £37,700 £37,700 £0 £0 £0

SUB TOTAL £227,700 £132,700 £95,000 £0 £0TRANSPORT

Vehicle Replacement Appliances £4,105,000 £1,470,000 £0 £735,000 £1,900,000

SUB TOTAL £4,105,000 £1,470,000 £0 £735,000 £1,900,000DIRECTORATE TOTAL £17,260,600 £5,935,700 £4,241,300 £4,033,600 £3,050,000

FIRE SAFETYSmoke Alarms £2,000,000 £500,000 £500,000 £500,000 £500,000

DIRECTORATE TOTAL £2,000,000 £500,000 £500,000 £500,000 £500,000FINANCE & PROCUREMENTPhotocopiers £60,400 £60,400 £0 £0 £0

DIRECTORATE TOTAL £60,400 £60,400 £0 £0 £0OPERATIONSULPP - Ultra Lightweight Portable Pumps £45,000 £45,000 £0 £0 £0Line Rescue £12,000 £12,000 £0 £0 £0Lay Flat Hose £50,000 £50,000 £0 £0 £0Gas Tight Suits £14,000 £14,000 £0 £0 £0Gas Detectors £25,000 £25,000 £0 £0 £0Water Rescue £12,000 £12,000 £0 £0 £0Incident ground radios £500,000 £500,000Hydrants £1,800,000 £450,000 £450,000 £450,000 £450,000Satellite Communications £12,500 £12,500 £0 £0 £0

DIRECTORATE TOTAL £2,470,500 £1,120,500 £450,000 £450,000 £450,000GRAND TOTAL £21,791,500 £7,616,600 £5,191,300 £4,983,600 £4,000,000

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Annex C

151

Purpose To agree the process to recruit an Independent Person as required by the Localism Act 2011 upon expiry of the term of office for the current serving Independent Person.

Recommendations a) That authorisation be given to the Chief Legal and Governance Officerto commence the necessary process and make relevant arrangements in respect of the recruitment of an Independent Person for a term of office to commence on 1 July 2017.

b) That a term of office for the Independent Person be agreed.

Summary The Localism Act 2011 which took full effect on 1 July 2012 requires local authorities to appoint a Designated Independent Person (DIP) in relation to Members Code of Conduct complaints

OFFICIAL

Independent Person - recruitment Full Authority Date: 17 February 2017 Agenda Item: 21 Submitted By: Chief Legal and Governance Officer



Contact Officer: Nicky Houseman, Committee Services Manager E: [email protected] T: 01274 655740


Annexes: Annex A – Independent Person role description Annex B – proposed advertisement

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1 Introduction 1.1 Section 28 (7) of the Localism Act 2011 requires that at least one Designated Independent Person

be appointed.

1.2 An appointment to the role (Mr Mike Wilkinson) was made and ratified by the Full Authority on 29 June 2012. It was agreed that the term of office would be five years with effect from 1 July 2012.

2 Information

2.1 Mr Wilkinson’s term of office will expire at midnight on 30 June 2017.

2.2 This report seeks Member approval for the necessary arrangements to be put in place and managed by the Chief Legal and Governance Officer for an appointment to be made with effect from 1 July 2017.

2.3 There is no statutory limit to the term of office for the Independent Person and Members are invited to consider how long the Independent Person should serve. Mr Wilkinson’s office was originally set at five years to allow specifically for the transition period prior to the implementation of Section 28 of the Act.

2.4 A copy of the role description and the proposed public advertisement are attached as annexes to this report.

2.5 As reported in June 2012, there is a possibility that the District Councils and other relevant authorities may establish a joint pool of Independent Persons. This, whilst still appropriate, has not been the case to date.


3.1 The Independent Person receives travel and subsistence allowances as appropriate together with an annual allowance of £500.


4.1 Recruitment and selection of the Independent Person should comply with the Authority’s Equality Framework document.




6.1. This report aligns to the Authority’s priority to “provide effective and ethical governance and achieve value for money”

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West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority

Localism Act 2011 – Standards – Independent Person

Outline of Skills required and Role Description

1. To be a person of good standing in the West Yorkshire community with a residentialor business or employment link within the community and preferably with someexperience of governance or ethical standards in local government or other publicbodies or experience in the discharge of regulatory legal or judicial functions.

2. To demonstrate a keen interest in promoting high ethical standards in localgovernment.

3. To have the ability to operate effectively at a high level with both elected Membersand senior officers of the Authority without compromising their personalindependence.

4. To discharge the statutory role of an Independent Person as set out in the LocalismAct 2011 namely the ability to give their views when consulted either by an electedMember who is the subject of an allegation of misconduct contrary to the AuthorityCode of Conduct or by the Authority complaints sub-committee before it reaches anydecision about complaints about Members which have been investigated or in anyother circumstances if so requested.

5. In order to discharge the statutory role any person seeking appointment as anIndependent Person will need to demonstrate the ability to expediently assimilate and assess the content of detailed investigation reports into complaints of breach of the Code of Conduct and the ability to form and give views on issues arising to both elected Members under investigation and to the complaints sub-committee prior to the sub-committee making any decisions about such matters. This may involve an assessment by the Independent Member of whether the evidence indicates that the Member subject to an allegation has breached the Code of Conduct and on the issue of whether any sanction should be imposed. The final decision on such matters is the responsibility of the complaints sub-committee. The Independent Person will be expected to attend on request meetings of the complaints sub-committee and may on occasion be required to give their views in public meetings.

6. The Independent Person will attend such other meetings as are necessary todischarge their role in the complaints process at the request of the AuthorityMonitoring Officer. The Independent Person may be required to undergo trainingrelevant to the role – the expenses incurred in undergoing training will be met by theAuthority.

7. The Independent Member shall, if requested, attend meetings of theFull Authority in order to assist the Authority generally in discussing and promotinghigh standards of ethical conduct.

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8. The Independent Person will hold a statutory office under the terms of the LocalismAct 2011 and shall not be an employee of the Authority. The term of office will be fora fixed term as notified to the Independent Person on appointment and will be subjectto the Independent person maintaining high standards of personal conduct andcompliance with the Code of Conduct. The Authority may terminate an appointmentat any time for good cause.

9. An Independent Person must not be subject to any statutory bar on appointment andin particular must not have been a Member or Co-opted Member of another relevantlocal authority as defined in the legislation during the last 5 years. Applicants forappointment must submit an application in the approved format and may be requiredto undergo DBS or other checks as deemed appropriate by the Authority and anyoffer of appointment may be made conditional upon and subject to satisfactoryclearance.

10. The Independent Person will receive an annual payment of £500 payable quarterly inarrears together with reimbursement of reasonable travel and subsistenceallowances necessarily incurred subject to the limits imposed under the Memberallowances scheme. Payment will be subject to deduction of taxes and any otherstatutory charges by the Authority in accordance with HMRC requirements.

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WEST YORKSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY

Localism Act 2011

Appointment of Independent Person

The Authority is seeking to appoint an independent person from 1 July 2017. The role of the independent person involves giving their views on matters involving Authority Members and ethical standards issues.

Applicants should live or work in West Yorkshire, have an interest in local government, have high standards of integrity with good communication skills. Whilst not a current requirement, you may be required to participate in joint arrangements with other West Yorkshire local authorities. Previous experience in public administration or adjudication processes would be useful.

You cannot be appointed if you have served as a member or officer of the Authority or of any other local authority in the last 5 years nor if you are a relative or close friend of a member or officer of the Fire Authority. Applicants should not be active in party politics.

Travel allowances will be paid for any meetings attended together with a small annual honorarium (£500 p.a.).

The closing date for the receipt of applications is Friday 28 April 2017. Interviews will be carried out in June.

Application forms are available from Mrs N Houseman, on (01274) 655740, [email protected] or by post from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority, Oakroyd Hall, Birkenshaw BD11 2DY

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Purpose To approve a nomination from the Local Pension Board for representation on a national sub-committee.

Recommendations That the Local Pension Board nomination be approved.

Summary The Local Pension Board has a national overarching body, the Scheme Advisory Board, which is chaired by Malcolm Eastwood.

The Scheme Advisory Board has established a number of sub-committees to help discharge its duties and has sought nominations from Local Pension Boards.

OFFICIAL

Local Pension Board - nomination for representation on national sub-committee Local Pension Board Date: 17 February 2017 Agenda Item: 22 Submitted By: Chief Legal and Governance Officer



Contact Officer: Nicola Houseman, Committee Services Manager E: [email protected] T: 01274 655740


Annexes: None

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1 Introduction 1.1 The national Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) was established to support and advise Local Pension

Boards (LPBs) to ensure cost effectiveness and best practice. It held its inaugural meeting in April 2016.

2 Information

2.1 Local Pension Boards were statutorily required to be established by 1 April 2015 in accordance with Section 5 and s.30 (1) of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 and Regulation 4A of the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme (Amendment) (Governance) Regulations 2015. The West Yorkshire Local Pension Board held its inaugural meeting on 10 July 2015.

2.2 As a regular feature of the West Yorkshire LPB agendas, consideration is given to updates from the Scheme Advisory Board.

2.3 Subsequent to the 13 January 2017 meeting of the Board, an email was received from the Local Government Association Firefighters’ Pensions Adviser seeking interest and nominations for a variety of national roles, including membership of three SAB sub-committees as follows;

• Cost effectiveness• Improved scheme administration• Ensuring the effectiveness of Local Pension Boards

2.4 Members of the LPB were circulated with the request for a volunteer to be nominated for one of the sub-committees detailed at 2.3.

2.5 Stuart Wilson (Scheme member representative) has indicated an interest in being nominated. This has been supported by the rest of the Board membership.

2.6 Whilst it is envisaged that the first meeting of the sub-committee will be held in London, it is a possibility that any future meetings would be via a videoconferencing link. Terms of reference for the sub-committee have yet to be agreed.


3.1 Members of the Local Pension Board will be reimbursed with out of pocket expenses. The cost associated with membership of the national sub-committee will be met from within existing revenue budgetary provision.


4.1 There are no direct human resources and diversity implications arising from this report




6.1 Having a West Yorkshire representative on a national SAB sub-committee supports the Authority’s priority to “provide effective and ethical governance”.

158

Purpose To present the outcome of the formal consultation process in relation to the two Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) proposals submitted to the Fire Authority on 16 December 2016

Recommendations The Authority is requested to note the consultation responses detailed in this report and take them into account when making determination on the IRMP proposals submitted by the Chief Fire Officer / Chief Executive

Summary To present the outcome of the 7-week consultation period (16 December 2016 – 03 February 2017)

OFFICIAL

Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) Feedback on Consultation Full Authority Date: 17 February 2017 Agenda Item: 23 Submitted By: Chief Legal and Governance Officer



Contact Officer: Martin Langan, GM Strategic Development E: [email protected] T: 01274 473781


Annexes: Annex A – Fire Brigades Union formal consultation response

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1 Introduction 1.1 On 16 December 2016 West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority (WYFRA) gave approval to

undertake external consultation in relation to two proposals which form the Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) 2017-18. The consultation period closed 3 February 2017.

1.2 The two proposals are:

• The removal of the Fire Response Units (FRU), (reduction of 32 posts by way of planned retirements)

• The revision of the Technical Rescue Unit (TRU) capability, (reduction in staffing of the from five to three, giving a total reduction of 12 posts)

1.3 The ongoing efficiency saving realised by these proposals would be £1.28m (FRU) + £568k (TRU) = £1.85m per year.

1.4 Each of the proposals have been analysed to determine:

• The potential effect on service delivery standards

• The impact there may be on firefighter safety

• How the change would affect community safety

• How much money could, in theory be saved

2 Information 2.1 Proposal One - Proposal 1 - Remove both Fire Response Units (FRUs) from Stanningley

and Fairweather Green (FWG) fire stations, and remove 32 establishment posts by way of planned retirements.

2.2 Fire Response Units (FRUs) are smaller fire engines which deal with incidents of a less serious nature such as refuse fires, car fires and automatic fire alarm actuations (AFAs) in commercial premises. FRUs do not respond to life risk incidents or to incidents where it is apparent that the fire is likely to spread to adjoining premises.

2.3 The FRU is crewed on a wholetime basis aligned to the 2 x 2 x 4 duty system, with three firefighters instead of the usual four or five. Despite the relatively high operational levels of activity experienced when first introduced into service, incident activity of FRUs has declined significantly:

2.4 The number of Incidents the Leeds FRU responded to has reduced by 64% since its introduction in 2011/12. This is a reduction from 1610 incidents to 594 per year.

2.5 The number of Incidents the Bradford FRU responded to has reduced by 35% since its introduction in 2013/14. This is a reduction from 1011 incidents to 666 per year.

2.6 These reductions reflect a fall in activity across all incident types.

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2.7 Proposal Two – Reduce the staffing on the Technical Rescue Unit (TRU) based at Cleckheaton Fire Station from Five to Three Crew members (a total reduction of 12 posts)

2.8 Cleckheaton fire station operates the Day-Crewing (Specialist) duty system employing 52 firefighters who crew one frontline fire engine and WYFRS’ Technical Rescue Unit (TRU), along with three Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) prime movers provided under the government’s New Dimension (ND) programme.

2.9 In July 2015 a review of West Yorkshire’s Technical Rescue and USAR provision was undertaken as part of a wider National Resilience project. The review found that whilst the TRU should continue to provide highly specialised technical support at incidents across the County, efficiencies could be made in the way the TRU is crewed due to it having a low operational workload (number of incidents) and demand (percentage of time at incidents).

2.10 After considering a number of different crewing models for the TRU, the most appropriate option is presented in this business case is a reduction in the standard staffing level of the TRU from five to three (comprising of 1 Team Leader and 2 firefighters).

3 Consultation Activity

3.1 The IRMP communication strategy was designed taking cognisance of the governments’ consultation principles 2016. The objectives of the strategy were:

• To ensure stakeholders are aware of the IRMP, understand why it is necessary and the benefits it will deliver

• To deliver information in a clear and transparent format to stakeholders • Provide stakeholders the opportunity to feedback • Build trust amongst all stakeholders. Engagement with stakeholders at the earliest

opportunity will allow for smoother implementation of viable options • Provide timely and accurate information to stakeholders about the steps to be taken • Ensure stakeholders have the opportunity to provide input and feedback on potential

options, raise issues, and use their experience to contribute to the success of the project. • Provide acknowledgements/responses to those that engage

3.2 The consultation process spanned a 7 week period; at the request of the Fire Brigades Union this was extended from 6 weeks to allow for the Christmas period.

3.3 205 key stakeholders including MPs, local councillors, neighbouring fire authorities, partner agencies, high risk business’s, local press and representative bodies were identified for direct contact.

3.4 The consultation was advertised on social media including Twitter and Facebook.

3.5 A hotline, email address and postal address were established for those without access to social media.

3.6 Local media including The Huddersfield Examiner and The Yorkshire Post reported on the consultation and published the feedback mechanisms.

3.7 The consultation was advertised in the journal of Fire Risk Management.

3.8 Briefings were held with the crews who currently staff the FRU and TRU.

3.9 Briefings were held with Unison, the Fire Officers Association (FOA) and the Fire Brigades Union (FBU).

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3.10 Summary of Formal Representations

3.11 Proposal 1 – Removal of Fire Response Units

3.12 Responses:

• 07 formal objections were received from members of the community and partner agencies.

• 01 formal objection has been received from WYFRS personnel.

• 03 formal responses have been received supporting the proposal.

Concerns:

• The reduction in fire cover in the Bramley area

• Reduction in overall fire cover and its impact on the WYFRS response to Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust Hospitals

• Reduction in fire cover in Bradford may impact on WYFRS response to Bradford Hospitals

• Concern about the long term future of Stanningley Fire Station and “closure stealth”.

3.13 Proposal 2 – Technical Response Unite reduced staffing

3.14 Responses:

• 03 formal objections were received from members of the community and partner agencies.

• 08 formal objections have been received from WYFRS personnel

• 04 formal responses supporting the proposal

Concerns:

• Reduction in line rescue support to the Holme Valley Mountain Rescue Team

• Risk assessments for safe working and concern regarding the number of skilled personnel if the staffing of the TRU is reduced to 3

• Fire Cover in Cleckheaton and surrounding areas if the Cleckheaton appliance is supporting the TRU more often

• That WYFRS operational personnel who do not work with the TRU regularly, do not understand its capability and are not competent with its specialist equipment.

3.15 Social Media

3.16 Twitter – 18k people follow WYFRS on Twitter. 98 followers engaged with the site to read the proposals.

3.17 Facebook – 4k people are reached by the WYFRS Facebook page. The ‘Have your say’ post was accessed 378 times and the link to the full proposals was used 196 times.

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3.18 West Yorkshire FRS Intranet – WYFirespace IRMP3 Frequently Asked Questions

Two questions were submitted by WYFRS personnel requesting further information regarding the wider impact of the proposals.

3.19 Response from Representative Bodies

3.20 Fire Brigades Union (FBU) – The response from the FBU was received after the formal consultation closing date on 07 February 2017 and is included in Annex A of this paper.

3.21 Fire Officers Association (FOA) - Email response from WYFRS FOA Secretary David Smalley received 03 February 2017.

3.22 ‘FOA have no issues with the removal of the FRUs.

3.23 FOA would like to thank the organisation for the opportunity to challenge some of the original recommendations which FOA considered adversely affected safe systems of work relating to the reduction of trained operatives at Cleckheaton.

3.24 We welcome the organisations decision to increase the minimum number of trained operatives per shift at Cleckheaton from 6 on the original proposals to 7 following consultation. We also welcome the organisations commitment to ensuring that 7 operatives will be maintain at all times with any shortfall in numbers being address through a number of interventions including overtime to ensure that safe systems of work are maintained.

3.25 We now look forward to discussing the potential changes to terms and conditions affecting our members at Cleckheaton as well as being involved in the development of a fair and credible selection process prior to any staffing changes’.

3.26 Unison - Email response from WYFRS Unison Secretary David Spink received 01 February 2017.

3.27 ‘Subsequent to our consultation meetings in respect of IRMP3, I am happy with the proposals and welcome the news that the change of use, of the FRU’s to Water Rescue vehicles, will involve significant vehicular adaptations which are to be completed “in house” by our experienced and expert teams within the Transport Department.

3.28 Thank you for involving Unison to the extent that you have considering the limited direct impact that IRMP3 will have on Unison members’.


4.1 The cost of the consultation process has been met within the existing strategic development budget.

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5 Human Resources and Diversity Implications 5.1 The equality analysis identified that there may be a requirement to provide proposals in

alternative languages so not to disadvantage cultures / communities where there are non- English speakers or it may not their first language.

5.2 The equality analysis identified that the benefit of providing proposals in alternative languages is disproportionate to the requirement. The diversity of the community is vast and additionally there is a risk that the complexity of the document may be misinterpreted.

5.3 If requested the Strategic Development Team would provide alternative ways to communicate using language line, local representatives and community groups.


6.1 There were no health and safety impacts arising directly from the consultation process.


7.1 The Integrated Risk Management Plan is critical to the delivery of the Service Plan and the Ambition of “Making West Yorkshire Safer”. The four strategic priorities are listed below:

• Deliver a proactive community safety programme

• Deliver a professional and resilient emergency response service

• Provide a safe skilled workforce that serves the needs of a diverse community

• Provide effective and ethical governance and achieve value for money

7.2 IRMP is integral to delivering these priorities as this ensures that both the community and firefighters are protected from risk whilst maintaining the excellent standards that have been achieved with the optimal distribution of resources.

8 Conclusions

8.1 The responses received during the consultation period have been limited in number although not insignificant.

8.2 The responses received have not resulted in amendments to the Proposal One Business Case - Remove both Fire Response Units (FRUs) from Stanningley and Fairweather Green (FWG) fire stations, and remove 32 establishment posts by way of planned retirements.

8.3 The responses received have resulted in minor amendments to the Proposal Two Business Case – Reduce the staffing on the Technical Rescue Unit (TRU) based at Cleckheaton Fire Station from Five to Three Crew members TRU proposal business case presented to WYFRS 16 December 2016.

8.4 The amendments are detailed under Agenda Item 24, Full Authority, 17 February 2017, Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) Proposals.

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Appendix 1 IRMP Communications and Engagement Action Plan 2016/17 Business Case Audience Communication

Channels Date Feedback Mechanism

Fire Response Unit (FRU)

Internal Communication and Engagement:

16 December 2016 to 03 February 2017

1. Dedicated ‘WYFRS IRMP Consultation’

email account

2. Dedicated postal address: WYFRS IRMP 2016/17 Consultation West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Oakroyd Hall Bradford Road Birkenshaw BD11 2DY

3. Dedicated contact telephone number within normal office hours: 09:00 – 17:00 hours: 01274 655784.

4. Social Media – Twitter / Facebook

Fire Authority Members Senior Managers

Fire Station Personnel IRMP Team and Senior Managers

Representative Body Officials Senior Managers

All other employees within other departments and functions

IRMP Team and Senior Managers

External Communication and Engagement:

16 December 2016 to 03 February 2017

Chief Executives - Local Authorities IRMP Team West Yorkshire Police IRMP Team Yorkshire Ambulance Service IRMP Team Regional and Neighbouring Fire and Rescue Services

IRMP Team

Members of Parliament IRMP Team

MEPs IRMP Team Ward / Parish Councillors IRMP Team Emergency Planning Offices IRMP Team Members of the public IRMP and Public

Information Team Other interested Parties IRMP and Public

Information Team

165

Appendix 1 IRMP Communication and Engagement Plan 2016/17 Business Case Audience Communication

Channels Date Feedback Mechanism

Technical Rescue Unit (TRU)

Internal Communication and Engagement:

16 December 2016 to 27 January 2017

1. Dedicated ‘WYFRS IRMP Consultation’

email account

2. Dedicated postal address: WYFRS IRMP 2016/17 Consultation West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Oakroyd Hall Bradford Road Birkenshaw BD11 2DY

3. Dedicated contact telephone number within normal office hours: 09:00 – 17:00 hours: 01274 655784.

4. Social Media – Twitter / Facebook

Fire Authority Members Senior Managers Fire Station Personnel IRMP Team and

Senior Managers Representative Body Officials Senior Managers All other employees within other departments and functions

IRMP Team and Senior Managers

External Communication and Engagement:

16 December 2016 to 27 January 2017

Chief Executives - Local Authorities IRMP Team West Yorkshire Police IRMP Team Yorkshire Ambulance Service IRMP Team Regional and Neighbouring Fire and Rescue Services

IRMP Team

Members of Parliament IRMP Team MEPs IRMP Team Local Councillors IRMP Team Ward / Parish Councillors IRMP Team Emergency Planning Offices IRMP Team Local Resilience Forum IRMP Team Members of the public and other interested parties

IRMP and Public Information Team

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Appendix 2 – Formal Responses Received

Ref number Date received Responder Total

Support Objection

FRU TRU FRU TRU 1 17/12/16 Mr A Bairstow 1 2 20/12/16 Coun R Taylor 2 3 21/12/16 Mr J Ison 3 4 22/12/16 Mr S Westerby 4 5 19/12/16 Coun M Payne 5 6 14/01/2017 Mr D Walker 6 7 14/01/2017 Mr D Walker 7 8 12/01/2017 Named Fire Service Employee 8 9 26/01/2017 Mr K Rawnsley 9

10 02/02/2017 Mr M Crossley 10 11 02/02/2017 Mr S McBarron 11 12 03/02/2017 Mr D Cameron 12 13 03/02/2017 Mr W Gadd 13 14 03/02/2017 Mr M Freeman 14 15 03/02/2017 Mr A Kirkham on behalf of A/CC Battle 15 16 03/02/2017 Mr D Haley 16 17 03/02/2017 Mr R Hudson 17 18 03/02/2017 Mr W Basnett 18 19 03/02/2017 Mr C Arnott 19

20 04/02/2017 Ms K Bannister 20 21 06/02/2017 Jo Webster 21 Request for further information 22 01/02/2017 David Spink 22 Unison formal response 23 03/02/2017 David Smalley 23 FOA response 24 07/02/2017 David Williams 24 FBU Response

3 4 8 12 Indicates the response was received after the consultation period had closed. The response is in included for

awareness.

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Annex A

The Fire Brigades Union response to the

Integrated Risk Management Plan 2016 -17

February 2017

168

Contents. Page.

Introduction 3.

Executive summary 4.

Consultation 5.

Previous IRMP interventions 7.

Current IRMP proposals 9.

Conclusion 11.

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Introduction.

This document contains the response of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) to the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority (WYFRA) proposals for changes to emergency cover in West Yorkshire. The FBU welcomes this opportunity to express our views. The primary concerns of the FBU in making this response are for the protection of the people of West Yorkshire, their homes, businesses and the environment. The FBU is also concerned for the protection and safety of West Yorkshire’s firefighters and Control staff, the very men and women in the frontline of these proposals, whose safety we regard as paramount. West Yorkshire FBU commits to continue to engage with the WYFRA in a constructive and open manner to ensure improvement in West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS). The FBU represents the overwhelming majority of firefighters, both whole-time, retained duty shift systems and control officers in West Yorkshire. Put into context, we represent nearly 90% of all operational staff from firefighters to middle managers. With that wealth of experience and knowledge of their profession we believe we can assist in the development of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. This FBU response is intended to be constructive and based on the principles contained within its IRMP framework document wherever possible. The FBU believes in and supports the IRMP process as described in all of the current national guidance. Like the FBU’s previous IRMP submission, we fully recognises the continued financial constraints imposed by Central Government which has increasingly dictated how the Fire Service is delivered throughout West Yorkshire and has indeed been a major hurdle for both parties.

Executive summary.

Taking into account the world wide banking collapse in 2008 and from 2010 successive governments’ determination to eradicate the UK’s deficit, it has become abundantly clear to the FBU that the austerity programme clearly has not worked and is highly likely never to work. “Cuts cost lives” and this prophecy has unfortunately come true. The FBU note the recently published Government statistics which reveal that in England between April 2015 and March 2016, the number of fatalities from fires in the home increased by 17.4% compared with the same period in 2014/15, and this is despite record number of dwellings being fitted with smoke detectors. The continued rush to save money from front line services has and will further expose WYFRA to an unprecedented risk in relation to response activities.

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Consultation.

The FBU is once again concerned with the level of engagement, the lack of resources and short timescale around this consultation exercise.

Timescale.

The Fire Authority agreed to go to public consultation between the 16th December 2016 to the 3rd February. This meant a maximum of just 7 weeks, or 35 working days to consult not only with the rep bodies but other interested parties and partners. If you take into account Christmas week and the New Year this left just 28 working days to carry out meaningful consultation.

Previous IRMP consultation periods have lasted for 12 weeks, furthermore another FBU official was seconded into the FBU office to deal with the ‘day to day’ issues, freeing up the Brigade Secretary to concentrate on the IRMP response. Neither of these things was afforded this time, resulting in the FBU’s response being late. When you take into consideration that various WYFRS departments have been working on these proposals since May 2015 it is no wonder the FBU feel exasperated by the whole exercise.

Resources.

The FBU note that whilst consultation was taking place with the public over the removal of the 2 Fire Response Units (FRU’s) and the staffing variation of the Technical Rescue Unit, (TRU) the recruitment campaign for wholetime firefighters in 2018 began and whilst tens of thousands of pounds were being spent on a media campaign, including the setting up of a new, very corporate and professional website, just a miniscule amount was spent on informing the tax payer of West Yorkshire just exactly what the future of the fire service will look like.

Engagement.

Because of the short time frame, the FBU asked to jointly attend any meetings the management of WYFRS had pencilled in with the wider community, local authorities, town or parish council meetings etc. It is interesting to note that the FBU haven’t attended one meeting organised by WYFRS.

Again because of the very short timeframe the level of engagement hasn’t been at the levels expected, the FBU are still waiting for to see the “extensive research and risk analysis” and “comprehensive research” often lauded about in the Formal Public Consultation Notice and in the paper to the full Fire Authority on the 16th December 2016. It is also worth noting that the FBU were in receipt of 3 risk assessments in relation to safe systems of working of the TRU on Saturday 4th February, 24 hours after the official close of the consultation period.

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However it hasn’t all been bad. The FBU have met principle officers twice during this time, primarily to discuss the staffing of the TRU and it’s fair to say that those meeting have been fairly constructive.

The Fire Brigades Union are fully committed to working with the management of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to make improvements wherever possible so that the communities that we serve and our members within the organisation will all benefit.

Previous IRMP interventions.

The FBU are extremely concerned in the increase of fire fatalities over the last 18 months, it comes as no surprise that it was the FBU that coined the phrase;

“Cuts cost lives”

Unfortunately it would seem that the prediction is coming true. Furthermore cuts to the service since 2010, due to the Government’s continued attack on the public sector, isn’t abating and the FBU fear that fire fatalities will continue to rise in line with the reduction of front line firefighters.

In order to fully consider these proposals the FBU looked at the ambition of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service;

“Making West Yorkshire Safer” We then asked the question “Can the FBU support these proposals and if we do will this make West Yorkshire Safer?”

The dictionary definition of “safer” is “secure from liability to harm, injury, danger, or risk: a safe place”. Clearly a reduction of 2 FRU’s and a total loss of 44 jobs added to the station closures agreed by the Fire Authority in 2012 and still yet to happen would not make West Yorkshire safer.

The full impact of what the Fire Authority agreed to in December 2012 is yet to be felt. Closure of Shipley/Idle, Moortown/Cookridge, and a new station built in “an optimum location between,” (location yet to be finalised) resulting in the subsequent reduction of 2 full time fire engines, plus the removal of one of the 2 appliances in the very high risk wards surrounding Hunslet station area will have a major impact on the safety of the communities of West Yorkshire. Couple that with the removal of the FRU’s equates to only one thing, an increase in attendance times of both the first appliance in attendance and subsequent supporting appliances.

The FBU believes that only through early intervention will people be saved from dwelling fires and that is a position shared by Communities and Local Government. In Circular 9/2009 Publication of Research report on Response Times it’s reported that an increase of attendance times from 5.5 minutes to 6.5 minutes may have contributed to about 13 additional fatalities in dwelling fires and about 65 additional deaths at Road Traffic Collisions. Bearing in mind the attendance times in West Yorkshire range between 7 - 11 minutes depending on where you live, the difference is substantial and will only get worse.

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http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/liability

So in answer to the question, NO, the FBU cannot support these proposals as we believe that cuts cost lives.

But the FBU are not alone.

At a Commons Local Government Committee held on the 16th July 2012, the then WYFRS Assistant Chief Officer Martyn Redfearn was answering questions (along with principle managers from the other 5 Metropolitan Fire Brigades) about the funding for Fire Services. They were asked if they thought lives would be lost as a result of cuts and he answered honestly, he said “Being a blunt Yorkshireman the answer’s yes, but long term. It’s not going to happen next year, it’ll happen in four or five years’ time…..”

At the same time as Assistant Chief Officer Redfearn’s statement a document was produced by the Association of Metropolitan Fire and Rescue Authorities. In the conclusion it says;

“The cuts planned for years 3 and 4 are unsustainable and would lead to life threatening reductions in fire cover and national resilience

capacity, particularly to deal with terrorism threat, flooding and a high incidence of other events arising from climatic change.”

“The Metropolitan Fire and Rescue Authorities response to the Government Resource Review”

The FBU believe that further cuts of nearly £8 million imposed by this Government between 2016 – 2020 is both reckless and negligent in equal measures, the impact will devastate individual lives and families it is also the view of the FBU that the aftermath in the wider community will be immeasurable.

Current IRMP proposals.

Removal of both FRU’s.

The FBU are opposed to the removal of any frontline appliance.

The introduction in 2011 of the first FRU at Moortown was the result of a “successful” trial, albeit that the trial included the removal of firefighters at Combined Aerial Rescue Platform (CARP) stations in order to staff it 24 hours a day and so eradicated the “Combined” capabilities of those appliances, a position WYFRS haven’t reversed since and now makes all 5 of the CARPs defunct in that aspect.

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In both 2011 and 2012 when the second FRU was introduced at Fairweather Green, the FBU raised concerns about removing second appliances at those stations and replacing them with the FRU’s. The argument from WYFRS at that time suggested;

“The FRU ensured that station based resources were more readily available for community safety initiatives, safety critical risk inspections, watch based training and incidents involving life or property

risk”

Yet it would seem that the focus for removing them in 2017 is based solely on the demand of the incidents that they attend with little or no emphasis on the other positive aspects that they were originally introduced for.

Reduced staffing on the Technical Rescue Unit.

The proposal to remove 12 firefighters from Cleckheaton is somewhat much more of a technical nature than the previous proposal. The FBU suggests further consultation should be allowed to take place to explore the potential impact on the whole Brigade and mitigate any future resilience issues moving forward.

It is worth noting that the FBU is concerned about the highlighted “28% reduction in the operational demand of the TRU”. The figures published show 136 calls in 2012/13 and down to 98 in 2015/16 which does lead you to think demand is reducing.

However a quick check on the IRS will show that:

2011/12 45 calls (only started in June 2011)

2012/13 85

2013/14 85

2014/15 87

2015/16 96

2016/17 112 with 7 weeks to go until end of year...

This clearly shows an INCREASE OF NEARLY 32% since 2012/13

It’s widely recognised that the firefighter technicians at Cleckheaton are some of the best trained and highly motivated firefighters in West Yorkshire, simply reducing the numbers by 12 will have a long lasting, negative legacy that the FBU haven’t yet been able to fully explore.

The FBU would like to draw to the attention of the Fire Authority that the 2 meetings held with senior management of WYFRS since consultation began HAVE been meaningful and constructive and the FBU requests that any decision to reduce staffing at Cleckheaton is deferred until a later date to allow further meaningful consultation to take place.

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Conclusion.

WYFBU have several concerns, none more so than the comment;

“The successes of IRMP 1 and 2….provides reassurances that the methodology used is sound and the decisions made, based on the evidence, have been appropriate. The same methodology has therefore

been applied to develop IRMP 3”

“Integrated Risk Management Plan – proposals for consultation 16th December 2017”.

The FBU would ask to see the rationale of that success. Certainly if using the Government yardstick of measuring fatalities in dwelling fires then the previous 2 IRMP’s haven’t been so successful, what with the numbers of fatalities rising in West Yorkshire during the last 18 months – 2 years. If we look at the wider picture most operational aspects are showing an increase in activity, even after taking into account the new way of recording (three year average, compared to year on year differences);

• total activity is up • arson is up • non domestic building fires are up • prevalence of false alarms are up • fire related injuries is up

Actual rescues are close to the last three years target, but would’ve been up on last years as would dwelling fires. Please bear in mind the communities of West Yorkshire have yet still to feel the full impact of the ‘successful’ previous years IRMP’s. Unfortunately the FBU believe that until WYFRA get the level of funding they had prior to 2010 things will only become less safe for the communities of West Yorkshire and FBU members. We manage risk, not demand.

David Williams, for and behalf of the West Yorkshire Fire Brigades Union.

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Purpose To present proposals for changes to emergency cover for West Yorkshire having had regard to the relevant and substantive issues raised during the consultation period.

Recommendations 1. That Members reconsider the proposals in section 5 of the report and note how the original proposals have been revised as a result of the consultation process. 2. Members are requested to approve the Proposal for the FRUs and approve the reduction in staffing for the TRU subject to the revision in section 5.

Summary On 16 December 2016 the Authority approved commencement of a public consultation exercise on two IRMP proposals. The proposals, if implemented, will result in significant efficiency savings. The implementation of these proposals can be achieved without whole time compulsory redundancies by aligning the changes to the retirement profile. The public consultation concluded 03 February 2017. A separate report submitted to the Authority presents the outcome of that process. Having had regard to the issues raised and captured by the consultation process, this paper now seeks approval to implement the proposals.

OFFICIAL

Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) Proposals Full Authority Date: 17 February 2017 Agenda Item: 24 Submitted By: Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive



Contact Officer: Steve Rhodes, Director of Service Support E: [email protected] T: 01274 655703


Annexes: None

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1 Introduction 1.1 The current IRMP programme (IRMP 1 and 2) is almost fully implemented, there remains one fire

station under construction (Shipley) and negotiations are underway to purchase the land for the merger of Moortown and Cookridge Fire Stations. One fire engine has been removed from Wakefield, leaving only the removal of fire engine from Hunslet yet to be completed. All the other initiatives have been completed. It is, therefore necessary to identify further initiatives to reduce the current operational establishment, this will become IRMP 3.

1.2 On the 16 December 2016, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority (WYFRA) approved the commencement of a public consultation exercise on proposals which have an insignificant impact on service delivery across West Yorkshire. The consultation ended 03 February 2017 and the result of the consultation process is outlined in a separate report.

2 Information

2.1 An Efficiency Research Programme has been undertaken which identified many potential areas for delivering efficiencies, all having varied levels of risk, benefit and complexity. Each individual concept has been analysed to determine:

• The potential effect on service delivery standards

• The impact there may be on firefighter safety

• How the change would affect community safety

• How much money could, in theory be saved

2.2 The modernisation philosophy remains the same for IRMP 3 as it did for IRMPs 1 and 2; it supports the on-going Ambition of “Making West Yorkshire Safer”; with the focus on four pillars:

• Optimal resource allocation and deployment - Ensuring resources are in the locations that will have the greatest impact

• Changing the way that we deliver the Service - The implementation of innovative duty systems, the introduction of new equipment and vehicles, and the changing of working practices

• Value for money - Do the best possible with resources available and ensuring a high quality not a cheap Service

• Public and Firefighter safety – Continuing to deliver fire prevention and other community safety initiatives, ensuring firefighters have the best equipment and training to do their job

2.3 The Efficiency Research Programme looked at a broad range of potential changes; these were reduced down to produce nine options for further consideration, these being:

• Removal of Fire Response Units (FRUs) • A revised Technical Rescue capability (TRU) • The Command, Leadership and Management Programme • Peak Activity Crewing of the second fire engine at fire stations with two fire engines. • Introduction of Day Crew Close Call staffing arrangements at Bingley, Illingworth and

Pontefract • Introduction of Day Nucleus Duty System at Todmorden, Normanton and Garforth • Introduction of Retained Duty System at Garforth • Standard crewing of four on fire engines at selected stations • Merger of Halifax and Illingworth fire stations

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2.4 Following further fire cover modelling and informal consultation with staff, representative bodies and the Authority, it was recommended that the following proposals be included in the next IRMP:

• Removal of Fire Response Units (FRU)

• A revised Technical Rescue capability (TRU)

3 Making West Yorkshire Safer

3.1 Over the past ten years the risk profile of communities has fallen. This has resulted in levels of demand for West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and for that matter nationally, reducing dramatically. In 2004/5 WYFRS responded to over 50,000 incidents, whilst in 2015/16 WYFRS responded to only 22,140 incidents.

3.2 There are a variety of reasons for this reduction in demand, some of which can be attributed to community safety and fire prevention work; some as a result of proactive demand management including call challenge and reducing responses to automatic fire alarms, and some due to changes in lifestyle including smoking cessation, changes in cooking and eating habits and product safety.

3.3 It is therefore appropriate to review the resources that are provided by the Authority and continue to align them to risk and demand.

4 Feedback and Responses from the Consultation Process 4.1 Members have been provided with a summary of the consultation process that commenced 16

December 2016 and concluded 03 February 2017.

4.2 Constructive consultation meetings have been undertaken with the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), Fire Officer’s Association (FOA) and Unison; the proposals have been revised to reflect the key outcomes of the meetings.

4.3 Formal responses have been received from the FBU, FOA and Unison.

4.4 There were a limited number of consultation responses from the public or partner organisations. All the consultation responses have been made available for viewing by Members.

4.5 Information is provided below which responds to general and specific issues raised. Having regard to the outcomes of the consultation process, the proposals remain fundamentally unchanged.

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5 Proposals and Revisions arising as a result of the Consultation Process –

5.1 Proposal 1 - Remove both Fire Response Units (FRUs) from Stanningley and Fairweather Green (FWG) fire stations, and remove 32 establishment posts by way of planned retirements.

5.2 Fire Response Units (FRUs) are smaller fire engines which deal with incidents of a less serious nature such as refuse fires, car fires and automatic fire alarm actuations (AFAs) in commercial premises. FRUs do not respond to life risk incidents or to incidents where it is apparent that the fire is likely to spread to adjoining premises.

5.3 Despite the relatively high operational levels of activity experienced when first introduced into service, incident activity of FRUs has declined significantly. The number of Incidents the Leeds FRU responded to has reduced by 64% since its introduction in 2011/12. This is a reduction from 1610 incidents to 594 per year. The number of Incidents the Bradford FRU responded to has reduced by 35% since its introduction in 2013/14. This is a reduction from 1011 incidents to 666 per year.

5.4 Due to this reduction in demand, the FRU is becoming increasingly underutilised. Reduced risk and low operational activity levels across the service no longer support the continued provision of dedicated FRU vehicles.

The key benefits of removing the FRUs are:

• Both FRUs are under-utilised

• Overall operational demand in Leeds and Bradford Districts has reduced by 25% since 2011/12

• Modelling results indicate that there would be very little impact on service response

• This proposal would release 8 Crew Manager and 24 firefighter establishment posts removing the need to reduce the number of front line fire engines across West Yorkshire

• The estimated ongoing efficiency savings this option will realise would be £1.28m per year

• Second fire engines at WYFRS’s busiest fire stations would be utilised more often to attend minor and nuisance fires (they can still be re-routed to life-saving incidents should a more serious incident occur)

• The effect on overall incident response times in Leeds and Bradford Districts is positive as most Wards will see a reduction in response times.

5.5 Revisions to Proposal 1 Following Consultation

5.6 There are no amendments to the original proposal arising from the consultation.

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5.7 Proposal 2 – Reduce the staffing on the Technical Rescue Unit (TRU) based at Cleckheaton Fire Station from five to three crew members.

5.8 Cleckheaton fire station operates the Day-Crewing (Specialist) duty system employing 52 firefighters who crew one frontline fire engine and WYFRS’ Technical Rescue Unit (TRU), along with three Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) prime movers provided under the government’s New Dimension (ND) programme.

5.9 Firefighters employed at Cleckheaton either work on the fire engine or on the TRU on a rota basis. The fire engine and TRU are permanently crewed for immediate deployment, whilst USAR deployment is provided by Cleckheaton’s off-duty (on-call) personnel.

5.10 In July 2015 a review of West Yorkshire’s Technical Rescue and USAR provision was undertaken as part of a wider National Resilience Project. The review found that whilst the TRU should continue to provide highly specialised technical support at incidents across the county, efficiencies could be made in the way the TRU is crewed due to it having a low operational workload (number of incidents) and demand (percentage of time at incidents).

5.11 Since 2012/13 the number of incident responses made by the TRU has reduced year-on-year from 136 to 98 in 2015/16, and whilst operational demand placed upon the TRU has reduced by 28%, the provision of this resource has remained static over this period. Demand for the TRU is very low, at only 1.5%, which is similar to the quietest fire stations in West Yorkshire.

5.12 After considering a number of different crewing models for the TRU, the most appropriate option is presented in this business case is a reduction in the standard staffing level of the TRU from five to three (comprising of 1 Team Leader and 2 firefighters).

5.13 The key benefits of reducing staffing on the TRUs are:

• Operational demand on the TRU has reduced since 2012 by 28% • Reducing the staffing levels on the TRU from 5 to 3 would have an insignificant impact on

service delivery • This proposal would release 12 firefighter establishment posts, which would be relocated to

provide cover on front line fire engines across West Yorkshire • The estimated ongoing efficiency savings this option will realise would be £568,000 per year

5.14 Revisions to Proposal 2 Following Consultation

5.15 The fire engine at Cleckheaton would be mobilised with the Technical Response Unit as part of the pre-determined attendance for a trial period of 12 months. This will provide the opportunity for any new ways of working to be embedded and evaluated.

5.16 Operating Procedures and Policies are revised to reflect the risk assessment work undertaken by the Operational Support Team. Detailed task analysis work undertaken across all technical rescue disciplines has indicated that the appropriate number of trained specialist crew on duty on the fire engine and Technical Rescue Unit at Cleckheaton is maintained at 7.

5.17 The staffing model is 5 on the fire engine and 3 on the Technical Rescue Unit; it is appropriate that 7 out of the 8 are fully trained, this allows for the training of new personnel when staff leave Cleckheaton.

5.18 The FBU requested that 6 of the displaced firefighters should maintain their technical rescue skills to enable them to stand in at Cleckheaton due to vacancies arising as a result of sickness or other reasons. A further risk assessment will be undertaken by the Operational Support Team and staff at Cleckheaton to determine if such individuals would be able to maintain their technical rescue competencies. The outcomes of the risk assessments and any associated costs will inform a future decision on this issue.

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6.1 The medium term financial plan included in the Budget report which is on this agenda, forecasts that the Authority will have to reduce its annual revenue budget by between £4m and £6m by 2020/2021 to deal with the reduction in funding. As in previous years the majority of the savings will come from reductions in the whole time firefighter establishment and will be delivered through firefighter retirements.

6.2 The proposals included within this report will deliver ongoing revenue savings of £1.8m in a full financial year once they are fully implemented and will be used to bridge the forecast budget deficit.


7.1 Implementation of the proposals would lead to a reduction of 44 whole time posts from the establishment. These changes would take place through the natural reductions aligned to the retirement profile of firefighters, with the objective being to avoid compulsory redundancies.

7.2 The Fire and Rescue Service is delivered to the whole community of West Yorkshire. The challenge is that service provision needs to be proportionate to the risks from fire and related incidents within individual communities. The level of risk is not the same across the county; some communities are safer than others.

7.3 This requires a greater level of prevention, protection and response services being provided where the risk is greatest and where communities are more vulnerable to fire related incidents. Targeted community safety (prevention) activities are undertaken to identify individuals and families who are particularly vulnerable to fire related incidents due to lifestyle factors, irrespective of where they live.

7.4 The objective behind the Public Sector Equality Duty is to ensure that WYFRS considers equality issues as part of its decision making and routine day to day operational service delivery. The way in which WYFRS ensures that equality issues are embedded at a strategic planning level is via the Service Plan and Service Delivery Framework, both of which are supported by the Corporate Driving Diversity Board. This enables strategic decisions to be fully informed by equality analysis.

7.5 At a local level, WYFRS endeavours to deliver its services in a manner which is tailored to the needs of individuals and communities, this is driven by a robust equality analysis process. From this equality analysis WYFRS is confident that no adverse impact has been identified and the service delivered meets the needs of those most at risk in our diverse community.


8.1 The Integrated Risk Management Planning process is vital in maintaining firefighter safety. It is through planned changes that WYFRS is able to ensure that the risk to firefighters is mitigated. The alternative would be that fire engines would become unavailable on an ad hoc basis and the risk to firefighters and the community would be far more difficult to manage.

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9 Service Plan Links 9.1 The integrated Risk Management Plan is critical to the delivery of the Service Plan and the

“Ambition of Making West Yorkshire Safer”. The four strategic priorities are listed below:

• Deliver a proactive community safety programme

• Deliver a professional and resilient emergency response service

• Provide a safe skilled workforce that serves the needs of a diverse community

• Provide effective and ethical governance and achieve value for money

IRMP is integral to delivering these priorities as this ensures that both the community and firefighters are protected from risk whilst maintaining the excellent standards that have been achieved with the optimal distribution of resources

10 Conclusions

10.1 The consultation period has been extremely effective in providing the representative bodies with a platform to air concerns raised by their members. This has allowed representative bodies to work through the proposal in detail and contribute to how and where improvements can be.

10.2 Overall there has been recognition of the difficult financial future faced by the Authority; it has been encouraging to see that a realistic and pragmatic approach has been adopted by all.

10.3 The have been no amendments to the proposal to remove the Fire Response Units.

10.4 The proposal for the Technical Rescue Unit will be improved by the amendments discussed during consultation identified in section 6.

11 Recommendations

11.1 Members are requested to approve the Proposal for the FRUs and approve the reduction in staffing for the TRU subject to the revision in section 5.

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Purpose To update Members on new legislation affecting the function and role of the Fire and Rescue Authority.

Recommendations That Members note the content of the report.

Summary This summary noting report updates Members on the enactment on 31 January 2017 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 and the principal implications for the Fire and Rescue Authority (FRA) relating to new statutory obligations dealing with emergency services collaboration, the possible transfer of FRA functions and the reinstatement of a national Inspectorate.

OFFICIAL

Policing and Crime Act 2017 Full Authority Date: 17 February 2017 Agenda Item: 25 Submitted By: Chief Legal and Governance Officer



Contact Officer: Michael Barnes, Chief Legal and Governance Officer E: [email protected] T: 01274 655710

Background papers open to inspection: None. There have been previous reports on the FRA and Executive Committee agendas. The Act is available online.

Annexes: None

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1 Introduction 1.1 The Authority and the Executive Committee received briefings on the progress of the Policing and

Crime Bill during 2016 as part of reports from officers dealing with the proposed response to Government consultation papers on the subject of the Government agenda for police and fire and rescue service reform ostensibly aimed at enhancing their democratic accountability and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency services through closer collaboration. The Bill received Royal Assent becoming the Policing and Crime Act 2017 on 31 January 2017.

1.2 The majority of the Act (which is over 400 pages long) is concerned with Policing issues. The Part which has most relevant application to Fire and Rescue Services is Part 1.

• Chapter 1 of Part 1 deals with Emergency Services Collaboration.• Chapter 2 and Schedule 1 deal with provisions for the Police and Crime Commissioners to

become Fire and Rescue Authorities• Chapter 3 deals with the abolition of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority

and the transfer of functions to the “London Fire Commissioner”.• Chapter 4 deals with the reintroduction of statutory inspection of Fire and Rescue Services

and the appointment of a new Inspectorate to carry out that role.

2 Collaboration

2.1 The Act imposes a new duty on relevant emergency services (Police/Fire Rescue/Ambulance) to keep under consideration whether entering into a collaboration agreement with one or more other relevant emergency services in England could be in the interests of the efficiency or the effectiveness of that service and those other services and, if it is, to enter into a collaboration agreement unless the service is of the view that to do so would have an adverse effect on public safety or an adverse effect on its efficiency or effectiveness. Such agreements may make provision about the use of a power to make arrangements for the exercise of the party’s functions by another person or exercising functions jointly with another person. Agreements may make provision for payments to be made to facilitate the agreement. Any agreement must make provision for a party to withdraw from the agreement if it reaches the view that it is no longer in the interests of its efficiency or effectiveness. Otherwise it may be varied with the consent of all parties or be replaced with a subsequent agreement.

2.2 The Authority has already approved formal collaborative working with the Police and Ambulance Services in anticipation of this new statutory duty and a number of facilitation meetings have taken place to discuss and identify the scope for collaboration where this will enhance joint efficiency or effectiveness such as joint use of buildings, joint service delivery etc. and specific proposals will be the subject of detailed reports from officers as any proposals develop into possible initiatives.

2.3 Specifically the legal officers of the three emergency services in West Yorkshire are currently deliberating over the content of a draft core collaboration agreement aimed at providing a written overarching legal agreement. It is envisaged that there will also be a need for project specific agreements dealing with detailed financial contribution costs and other matters such as joint property use.

3 Potential role of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) as the Fire and Rescue Authority

3.1 The Act makes provision for the Secretary of State to make an Order for the abolition of the Authority and its replacement with a new Fire and Rescue Authority with the legal status of a “corporation sole” and for the PCC to be appointed by the Secretary of State to that role. This can only be done if the PCC makes a request to be appointed to that role and, if he does, the Act imposes a statutory approval process requiring the PCC to carry out consultation with the 5 District

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Councils, the general public and Trade Unions representing FRA employees but not the FRA itself. There are requirements to publicise any response by the PCC to any consultation. The Secretary of State may only make such an Order if it appears to her that it is in the interests of economy efficiency and effectiveness and is in the interests of public safety. The FRA is subject to a statutory duty to provide the PCC with relevant information about FRA matters if requested.

3.2 The Act also makes provision for the PCC to request involvement in committees of the FRA which would invest him with voting rights. If such a request is made the FRA must consider the request and may agree or refuse the request but must give and publish reasons for any decision.

3.3 The FRA has previously determined that it does not support its abolition and it does not support the grant to the PCC of voting rights on FRA committees. If a future request is made for such rights by the PCC the new statutory decision procedures will need to be complied with.

4 Inspection

4.1 The Act reintroduces a national Inspectorate with the appointment of a Chief Inspector and Inspectors whose role, pursuant to a new inspection framework and programme, will be to inspect and report on the efficiency and effectiveness of Fire and Rescue Authorities in England. There are a number of FRA functions excluded from inspection such as the preparation of a fire and rescue plan and statement and precepting decisions.

5 Miscellaneous

5.1 The Act also contains a range of new powers enabling the Secretary of State in the alternative to transfer of FRA functions to PCCs to instead transfer FRA functions to Combined Authorities with elected Mayors in which case the office of PCC would also likely be abolished similar to the Manchester model. In either case, if the FRA in its current form is abolished, the Act empowers the delegation of FRA functions to the Chief Officer of Police and facilitates sub-delegation by her to a range of other officers including the Deputy Chief Constable and police staff. Whilst the current statutory bar on regular police officers carrying out firefighter roles remains, it will not apply to the discharge of statutory powers under the Act vested in the Chief or Deputy Chief Constable. The Act further empowers the Secretary of State to increase or decrease the number of FRAs in England.


6.1 The Authority will continue to work closely with the police identifying where efficiencies can be generated by closer working and collaboration.


7.1 There are no direct Diversity or Human Resources implications from this report. However, if some of the described changes under the PCC as an FRA take place further exploration of possible impacts should be made.



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9 Service Plan Links 9.1 To provide effective and ethical governance and achieve value for money.

10 Conclusions 10.1 The Policing and Crime Act 2017 makes statutory provision for the potentially radical

transformation of governance arrangements for the English Fire and Rescue Service. However this is dependent upon the PCC seeking to exercise such powers or major local government changes in relation to the creation of an elected mayor with new powers to take over direct responsibility for the administration and governance of Fire and Rescue Services. There is no immediate indication that either possibility is likely in the very immediate future in West Yorkshire but the situation could change. If it does officers will report accordingly. In the meantime Members are invited to note this report.

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programme of meetings 2017 - 2018 · 1.1 it is necessary to give consideration to the programme of...

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