Agenda and minutes

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.

13.1     No declarations were made.

The Committee is asked to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 17 June 2024 (cream paper).

14.1     Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 June 2024 are approved as a correct record and are signed by the Chairman.

15.1     No urgent matters were raised.

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

16.1     Resolved – That the Committee notes the responses.

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.

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

17.2     Members of the Committee asked questions and a summary of responses to Members’ questions and comments follows.

17.3     The Committee congratulated the service on the high level of performance in quarter 1 and acknowledged the huge effort it took to achieve this and hoped that could be maintained, but acknowledged it would be a challenge.

17.4     The Chairman highlighted that during the quarter there had been no deaths or serious injuries and that this should be recognised in the document.  Action: Officers to include some wording under the Performance Summary in future reports.

17.5     The Committee were pleased to see the increase in the number of Safe and Well visits conducted (CM6, 7, 8 and 9).  They questioned how quickly referrals from the visits were picked up by other services.  Officers reported that responses did vary, depending on the frameworks that the service worked under, and this would most likely be monitored by a different scrutiny committee.

17.6     CM12: Prosecution Successful – The Committee heard that the service operates on an education approach for business but occasionally this was not successful and enforcement action was required.  Officers were able to reassure members that the numbers of cases going to court was not increasing.

17.7     CM22: Immediate Response Availability – This measure is rated amber, but members were reassured there was no impact on public safety.  Wholetime appliances have a 100% response rate target with appliances being immediately available.  There can be a problem with recording crews as not being available on the Firewatch system but there is a process in place to assess if this is a genuine situation.  The Retained availability in CM23 does not have an impact on wholetime crewed stations.

17.8     Maintaining good staffing levels in retained and wholetime firefighters is important to give the service resilience.  Officers reported that the “Have-a-go” days run across the county and were one of many ways to encourage people into the retained and wholetime fire service.  They highlighted that recruitment of retained firefighters is a problem nationally and officers are involved in both national and local projects to look at, and find, solutions, including an evidence-based approach to improve on-call duty systems.   Action: Officers to provide data on the success/outcomes of the various recruitment events.

17.9     Support offered to staff through CM26: Fitness and CM27: staffing qualification was welcomed by the Committee as well as the focus on the wellbeing of firefighters and staff.

17.10  The HM Inspection of the Fire and Rescue Services had taken place and the Committee looked forward to being briefed on those findings when they are available.

17.11  Resolved – That the Committee:

1.   Thanks and congratulates the Cabinet Member for Community Support, Fire and Rescue and the whole Fire and Rescue Service, for the strong performance during quarter 1.

2.   Requests that greater recognition is given in the report to the fact that there have been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

A report by the Director of Finance and Support Services setting out the corporate performance, finance, workforce, risk and capital programme positions as at the end of June 2024.

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.

18.1     The Committee considered a report by the Director of Finance and Support Services (copy appended to the signed minutes).

18.2     Members of the Committee asked questions and a summary of responses to Members’ questions and comments follows.

18.3     The Committee was also made aware of the highlights in the Productivity and Efficiency Plan (PEP) 2024-25 mentioned in Appendix D of the agenda papers.  The PEP is essential as significant resources for the Fire and Rescue Service comes directly from the County Council rather than through Government funding.  The FRS are careful to target investment where it will deliver optimal performance and efficiencies in the service.  Increased productivity through the Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) had led to reductions in unwanted fire signals and allowed more time for activities such as safer home visits.  In comparison with the national average of county council led fire services where the expense per head was £42.79, and nationally of £46.66, in West Sussex it was £40.60.  This was due to carefully targeted spending on the activities that make the most difference.

18.4     Members noted the concern on the continued increasing costs associated with Fleet Maintenance and welcomed the service actively reviewing commitments to ensure costs do not exceed the set budget and that other savings were being delivered along with capital projects.

18.5     Resolved – That the Committee:

1.     Thanks the Cabinet Member and officers for the report and notes that it will be agreed by Cabinet in October.

2.     Recognises the service’s ability to identify risks and take mitigating action.

3.     Welcomes the extra information provided in the Productivity and Efficiency Plan.

The Committee is asked to agree its draft work programme (Appendix A) in accordance with the scrutiny checklist attached (Appendix B) and highlight any further possible items for future scrutiny.

The Committee is also asked to review the Forward Plan entries relevant to its remit (Appendix C) and consider whether it wishes to enquire about any of the forthcoming decisions within its portfolio.

19.1     Resolved – That the Committee:

1.     Notes the work programme.

2.     Asks that item on CM16 is removed from the work programme as performance is now considered to be stable.

3.     Asks that the following items are added to the work programme:

·       HM Inspection report outcomes for the December meeting.

·       Implications for West Sussex and lessons learnt from the Grenfell review – timing to be determined.

·       A future report is provided to the committee to include information regarding the recent industrial estate fire, including the strategic challenges.

20.1     There have been no requests for call-in to the Scrutiny Committee within its constitutional remit since the date of the last meeting.

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on 2 December 2024 at 10.30 am 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 15 November 2024.

21.1     The next meeting of the Committee will take place on 2 December 2024 at 10.30 am.