Agenda and minutes

The Committee is asked to elect a Chairman for 2023-24 from the committee members listed below.

Cllr Bence, Cllr Boram, Cllr Chowdhury, Cllr Duncton, Cllr Joy, Cllr Patel and Cllr Pendleton.

If the election is contested, a secret ballot will be held in accordance with Standing Order 2.17.

1.1    Cllr Boram was proposed as Chairman by Cllr Duncton and seconded by Cllr Chowdhury. There were no other nominations.

1.2    Resolved – that Cllr Boram is elected Chairman of the Committee for the year.

The Committee is asked to elect a Vice Chairman for 2023-24 from the committee members listed below.

Cllr Bence, Cllr Boram, Cllr Chowdhury, Cllr Duncton, Cllr Joy, Cllr Patel and Cllr Pendleton.

If the election is contested, a secret ballot will be held in accordance with Standing Order 2.17.

2.1     Cllr Pendleton was proposed as Vice Chairman by Cllr Boram and seconded by Cllr Bence. There were no other nominations.

2.2     Resolved – that Cllr Pendleton is elected Vice Chairman of the Committee for the year.

Committee members and officers must declare any pecuniary or personalinterest in any business on the agenda. They should also make declarations at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting. Consideration should be given to leaving the meeting if the nature of the interest warrants it.  If in doubt please contact Democratic Services before the meeting.

3.1        No declarations were made.

The Committee is asked to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 9 March 2023 (cream paper).

4.1    Resolved – that the minutes of the meeting held on 9 March 2023 are approved as a correct record and are signed by the Chairman.

The Committee is asked to note the responses to recommendations made at previous meetings of the Committee.

5.1       Resolved – that the Committee notes the responses to recommendations.

Report by the Chief Fire Officer.

The report provides a context to the Performance and Assurance Framework for the purpose of future scrutiny of the Executive’s approach to performance.

6.1     The Committee considered a report by the Chief Fire Officer (copy appended to the signed minutes).

6.2     Summary of responses to Members’ questions and comments: -

·         The hotel fire in Midhurst is classified as a primary fire, not a dwelling fire and is reported separately to the Home Office – the cause of the fire is not yet known but is not thought to be deliberate or suspicious

·         The Service is achieving 2.9 audits per 100 premises which is higher than the national average and performing well compared to its neighbours. It also carries out other checks that are not included in these figures and prioritises quality over quantity and is confident that the target is correct

·         It is unrealistic that all fire safety inspections could be satisfactory and in fact unsatisfactory inspections show that the Service is targeting premises where it can be most effective to make vulnerable people and premises safer

·         The Service has circulated a guidance report for refurbished buildings to district and borough council housing departments concerning fire safety which was well received

·         The Service uses a risk-based inspection programme following national guidance - feedback from inspected businesses is taken on board

·         The Service has 35,000 buildings on its risk-based inspection database which are sampled for audits and will respond to referrals for inspections - businesses usually cooperate with inspections

·         If significant fire safety defects are identified in premises, enforcement powers can be used – low level/low risk defects receive advice but are not monitored

·         Where people work from home, this is still classed as a domestic environment

·         All but one of 715 customers assessed as having a high level of fire risk were contacted within 7 days and offered a visit – the other person was contacted after eight days and the visit has now been completed

·         Reasons for the target for the time between the Joint Fire Control Room receiving an emergency call and a fire station being alerted (CM17) not being met include a high turnover of staff (19 out of 50 are currently in development) and the time taken to get information from callers who initially contact other emergency services and the call has to be transferred to fire

·         Average mobilisation times are not shown (these can be very quick) neither are the types of incidents

·         An action plan is in place to recruit and retain more control centre staff, this work also includes a cultural element, but some staff may be drawn to similar jobs in London Fire Brigade, other blue light services or other roles within West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service

·         The Service could use a GPS system to locate calls, but this would take too long so other ways are used such as What 3 Words

·         All control centre staff, regardless of where they live, are skilled at locating incidents

·         There has been a 6% increase in the availability of retained staff

·         The Committee congratulated the Service on its protection work

6.3        Resolved – that the CM17 measure  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

A report by the Chief Executive and Director of Finance and Support Services setting out the corporate performance, finance, workforce, risk and capital programme positions as at the end of March 2023.

The Committee is asked to examine the data and supporting commentary for the Performance and Resources report and make any recommendations for action to the Cabinet Member for Community Support, Fire and Rescue.

7.1      The Committee considered a report by the Chief Fire Officer (copy appended to the signed minutes).

7.2      Summary of responses to Members’ questions and comments: -

·         The staff vacancies underspend is part of the overall budget

·         The pay award will be part of next year’s budget

·         Human Resources risk is looked at for the Council as a whole by the Performance & Finance Scrutiny Committee

7.3      Resolved – that Committee notes the report.

Report by the Chief Fire Officer.

The report outlines the way in which West Sussex County Council and its Fire and Rescue Service delivered the requirements contained in the National Fire and Rescue Framework and the authority’s Community Risk Management Plan during 2022/2023.

8.1      The Committee considered a report by the Chief Fire Officer (copy appended to the signed minutes).

8.2      Summary of responses to Members’ questions and comments: -

·         The National Fire Chiefs’ Council has introduced six new Fire Standards that apply to all fire services – the West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service has aligned its core measures with these standards that will also be used as criteria for the independent inspection

8.3      Resolved – that the Committee: -

             i.        Endorses the draft Statement of Assurance and congratulates the Cabinet Member and Chief Fire Officer on the excellent work of the previous year

            ii.        Wishes to see which key performance indicators are measured nationally at the next meeting as part of the Performance and Assurance Framework

Extract from the Forward Plan dated 4 May 2023 – attached.

An extract from any Forward Plan relevant to the Committee’s portfolio published between the date of despatch of the agenda and the date of the meeting will be tabled at the meeting.

The Committee is asked to consider whether it wishes to enquire into any of the forthcoming decisions within its portfolio.

9.1      Resolved – that the Committee notes the Forward Plan of Key Decisions.

The Committee to review its draft work programme taking into consideration the checklist at Appendix A.

10.1      Resolved – that the Committee notes its draft work programme.

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on 14 September at 2.15pm at County Hall, Chichester.  Probable agenda items include:

·         Fire and Rescue Service Strategic Performance Report

·         Quarterly Performance and Resources Report

Any member wishing to place an item on the agenda for the meeting must notify the Director of Law and Assurance by 30 August 2023.

11.1      The next meeting of the Committee will take place on 14 September 2023 at 2.15pm.