Agenda and minutes

Venue: Conference Rooms, Service Headquarters, Exeter

Contact: Steve Yates 01392 872329  Email: syates@dsfire.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

DSFRA/30

Minutes pdf icon PDF 88 KB

of the previous meeting held on 31 October 2018 attached.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 31 October 2018 be signed as a correct record.

DSFRA/31

Minutes of Committees

DSFRA/31a

Chief Fire Officer's Appraisals Panel pdf icon PDF 57 KB

The Chair of the Panel, Councillor Randall Johnson, to MOVE the Minutes of the meeting held on 24 October 2018, attached.

RECOMMENDATION that the Minutes be adopted in accordance with Standing Orders.

Minutes:

The Chair of the Committee, Councillor Randall Johnson, MOVED the Minutes of the Panel meeting held on 24 October 2018 which had considered an appraisal for Chief Fire Officer Lee Howell.

RESOLVED that the Minutes be adopted in accordance with Standing Orders.

DSFRA/31b

Standards Committee pdf icon PDF 105 KB

The Chair of the Committee, Councillor Thomas, to MOVE the Minutes of the meetings held on 26 October and 3 December 2018 attached.

RECOMMENDATION that the Minutes be adopted in accordance with Standing Orders.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair of the Committee, Councillor Thomas, MOVED the Minutes of the Committee meetings held on 26 October and 3 December 2018 which had considered hearings into alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct by Councillor Mark Healey MBE.

RESOLVED that the Minutes be adopted in accordance with Standing Orders.

DSFRA/31c

Audit & Performance Review Committee pdf icon PDF 90 KB

The Vice-Chair of the Committee, Councillor Napper, to MOVE the Minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2018, attached.

RECOMMENDATION that the Minutes be adopted in accordance with Standing Orders.

 

Minutes:

The Vice-Chair of the Committee, Councillor Napper, MOVED the Minutes of the Committee meeting held on 9 November 2018 which had considered, amongst other things:

·         an external audit update from Grant Thornton;

·         the Authority’s Annual Audit Letter for the year ended 31 March 2018 as submitted by the Authority’s external auditor, Grant Thornton;

·         a report on progress during Quarter 2 on work against the approved 2018-19 internal audit plan;

·         a report on the Corporate Risk Register; and

·         a report on performance by the Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service during the period April to September 2018.

RESOLVED that the Minutes be adopted in accordance with Standing Orders.

DSFRA/31d

Resources Committee pdf icon PDF 77 KB

The Chair of the Committee, Councillor Coles, to MOVE the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2018, attached.

RECOMMENDATION that the Minutes be adopted in accordance with Standing Orders.

(SEE ALSO ITEM 10 BELOW).

Minutes:

The Chair of the Committee, Councillor Coles, MOVED the Minutes of the Committee meeting held on 15 November 2018 which had considered, amongst other things:

·        a report on Treasury management for the second quarter of the current (2018-19) financial year;

·        a report on financial performance of the Service during the second quarter of the current financial year;

·        a report on Reserves benchmarking; and

·        a report on the financial performance of Red One Ltd. during the second quarter of the current financial year.

RESOLVED that the Minutes be adopted in accordance with Standing Orders.

(SEE ALSO MINUTE DSFRA/34 BELOW).

DSFRA/31e

Community Safety & Corporate Planning Committee pdf icon PDF 71 KB

The Chair of the Committee, Councillor Redman, to MOVE the Minutes of the meeting held on 3 December 2018, attached.

RECOMMENDATION that the Minutes be adopted in accordance with Standing Orders.

 

Minutes:

The Chair of the Committee, Councillor Redman, MOVED the Minutes of the meeting held on 3 December 2018 which had considered a proposal relating to Phase 1 of the Service Delivery Operating Model (Duty Systems and Contracts for Operational Staff) work being undertaken under the Service Change & Improvement Programme.

RESOLVED that the Minutes be adopted in accordance with Standing Orders.

DSFRA/32

Confirmation of Members' Allowances Scheme 2019-20 pdf icon PDF 104 KB

Report of the Director of Corporate Services (DSFRA/18/23) attached.

Minutes:

The Authority considered a report of the Director of Corporate Services (DSFRA/18/23) on the Authority’s Scheme of Members Allowances to apply for the forthcoming (2019-20) financial year.  The report detailed proposed Basic and Special Responsibility Allowances together with rates for the reimbursement of travel and subsistence expenditure.  The report also confirmed that, while the Authority was not required to have its own Independent Remuneration Panel to advise of appropriate rates of allowances, the relevant Regulations required that any automatic uprating mechanism should only apply for a maximum of four years.  The last major review of the Authority’s Scheme had been undertaken to inform the 2016-17 allowance rates and consequently a further review was proposed to inform rates to apply for 2020 onwards.

RESOLVED that the Scheme of Allowances to operate for the forthcoming (2019-20) financial year, as detailed in Section 2 of report DSFRA/18/23, be approved and the Director of Corporate Services authorised:

(a).       in accordance with the relevant Regulations, to publicise details of the Scheme so confirmed in one or more local newspapers circulating in the area served by the Authority; and

(b).       to arrange for an independent review of the Authority’s allowances scheme, the review to report in sufficient time to inform the 2020-21 budget setting process.

DSFRA/33

Exclusion of the Press and Public pdf icon PDF 36 KB

RECOMMENDATION that, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of  Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) to the Act, namely information relating to the financial and business affairs of any particular person – including the authority holding that information.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) to the Local Government Act 1972, namely information relating to the financial and business affairs of any particular person – including the authority holding that information.

DSFRA/34

Resources Committee - Restricted Minutes

The Chair of the Committee, Councillor Coles, to MOVE the restricted Minutes of the meeting of the Resources Committee held on 15 November 2018.

RECOMMENDATION that the restricted Minutes be adopted in accordance with Standing Orders.

Minutes:

(An item taken in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 during which the press and public were excluded from the meeting).

(Councillors Saywell and Thomas each declared a personal interest in this matter by virtue of being appointed by the Authority as non-executive directors on the Board of Red One Ltd.  Councillor Thomas spoke to this item in accordance with the dispensation granted by the Authority at its annual meeting on 8 June 2018 (Minute DSFRA/5(a) refers).  Both Councillors Saywell and Thomas left the room during the relevant vote to adopt the Minutes).

The Chair of the Committee, Councillor Coles, MOVED the restricted Minutes of the Committee meeting held on 15 November 2018 which had considered a report on the financial performance of Red One Ltd. for Quarter 2 of the current (2018-19) financial year. 

RESOLVED that the Minutes be adopted in accordance with Standing Orders.

(SEE ALSO MINUTE DSFRA/31(d) ABOVE).