The Clerk and Monitoring Officer introduced Dr Declan Hall (from INLOGOV, University of Birmingham, and author of the Independent Review of Members’ Allowances), and welcomed him, and the 3 Independent Members of the Standards Committee present, to the meeting.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Mr Albert Gregory as the Independent Member Chairman of the Standards Committee addressed the Fire Authority.  Mr Gregory referred Members to the Standards Committee’s Minutes of its meeting held on  8 June 2009, and, in particular, to the Committee’s considerations at paragraphs 01.04.09 v) (page 125) and d) (page 126).  He suggested that Members might wish to consider donating all or part of their allowance to a charity, and that the Firefighters Charity might be an appropriate charity.

Councillor Alan Ward, in noting that the Independent Report was well written and a well reasoned report, moved that the Recommendations in their entirety be approved, with the adjustments taking effect from 25 June 2009, but that should more that 12 Members become eligible for a Special Responsibility Allowance, the decision on which Special Responsibility Allowance should lie fallow to comply with the 12 maximum Special Responsibility Allowances payable rule should not be reserved to the Standards Committee, but to the Fire Authority.  This was seconded by Councillor Iain McCracken.

Councillor Jeff Brooks moved an amendment to the motion that the recommended increases to Members’ Allowances be implemented over a 3-year period in 331¤3 % tranches between the existing and proposed allowances.  This was seconded by Councillor Mrs Prue Bray.

Councillor Paul Gittings supported the phasing in of any increases to the Members’ Allowances.

Councillor Mrs Prue Bray was concerned regarding the budgetary implications should the recommended increases be implemented, as the £50k previously agreed by the Fire Authority for Members’ Allowances would not be sufficient to cover the proposed increases, and, therefore, additional funding would need to found.  The Authority Treasurer advised that any shortfall in the allocated funding could, in the short term, be taken from the current underspend.

Councillor Jeff Brooks stressed the importance of Members meeting their respective Fire Authority responsibilities, ie attendance at meetings, and felt that sanctions should be imposed by the Unitary Authorities on any Member who failed to fulfil these satisfactorily.

Dr Declan Hall retired from the meeting.  The Chairman conveyed his thanks to Dr Hall for the Independent Review of the Scheme of Allowances, and this was

supported by Members, who asked that a letter of thanks be prepared on behalf of the Fire Authority.

CMO

On being put to the vote, the moved amendment was not carried (7 votes in favour (recorded vote), 10 votes against, 3 abstentions).  

In favour:

Councillor Mrs Prue Bray, Councillor Jeff Brooks, Councillor Paul Gittings, Councillor Chris Harris, Councillor Owen Jeffery, Councillor Mrs Kathy Newbound, Councillor Sean Wright.

The substantive motion was then put to the vote (recorded vote), and carried (10 votes in favour, 7 votes against, 3 abstentions).

In favour:

Councillor Chris Bowring, Councillor Dr Paul Bryant, Councillor Colin Dudley, Councillor Adrian Edwards, Councillor Mrs Pauline Helliar-Symons, Councillor Iain McCracken, Councillor Fred Pugh, Councillor Angus Ross, Councillor Alan Ward, Councillor Miss Emma Webster.

Against:

Councillor Mrs Prue Bray, Councillor Jeff Brooks, Councillor Paul Gittings, Councillor Chris Harris, Councillor Owen Jeffery, Councillor Mrs Kathy Newbound, Councillor Sean Wright.

Abstained:

Councillor Mrs Christine Bateson, Councillor Phillip Bicknell, Councillor John Lenton.

Resolved:

a)

That the remunerated time for Members of the Fire Authority be assessed at a minimum of 12 days per year.

b)

That in relation to the Basic Allowance, Option A be adopted (the 2008 Local Government Association (LGA) Daily Session Rate: 12 days minimum annual expected mean input x £149.34 per day = £1,792.08) rounded up/down to the highest £10; and therefore the Basic Allowance be £1,800.

c)

That the Factor Approach be adopted for calculating the Chairman’s Special Responsibility Allowance and that the Factor be 5 times Basic Allowance - therefore the Special Responsibility Allowance for the Chairman be £9,000.

d)

That the Special Responsibility Allowance for the Vice Chairman be 50% of the Chairman’s Special Responsibility Allowance - £4,500.

e)

That the Special Responsibility Allowance for a Leader of an Opposition Group be 20% of the Chairman’s Special Responsibility Allowance (with 10% being for Group leadership and 10% for sitting on the Management Committee) - £1,800.

f)

That the Special Responsibility Allowance for the Member on the South East Fire and Rescue Control Centre Ltd (SEFRCCL) be 25% of the Chairman’s Special Responsibility Allowance - £2,250, save for any year when the appointed Member is Chair of SERFCCL, in which case in that year, the recommended Special Responsibility Allowance be 30% of the Chairman’s Special Responsibility Allowance - £2,700.

g)

That the Special Responsibility Allowance for the Chairmen of the ‘Audit and Performance Review’ and ‘Strategic Asset Management’ Committees, be 25% of the Chairman’s Special Responsibility Allowance - £2,250.

h)

That the Special Responsibility Allowance for the Chairman of the Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) Working Party be 10% of the Chairman’s Special Responsibility Allowance - £900.

i)

That the Special Responsibility Allowance for the five Member Champions be 10% of the Chairman’s Special Responsibility Allowance - £900.

j)

That the Special Responsibility Allowance for Members of the Management Committee who are not already in receipt of a Special Responsibility Allowance be 10% of the Chairman’s Special Responsibility Allowance - £900.

k)

That there be no change to the current policy so that a Member who holds more than one remunerated post is only eligible to receive one Special Responsibility Allowance, normally the higher Special Responsibility Allowance.

l)

That, should more than 12 Members become eligible for a Special Responsibility Allowance, the decision on which Special Responsibility Allowance should lie fallow, to comply with the 12 maximum Special Responsibility Allowances payable rule, should be reserved to the Fire  Authority.

m)

That the Co-optees’ Allowance for the statutory Independent Members on the Standards Committee is £360, being 20% of the Basic Allowance.

n)

That the Co-optees’ Allowance for the statutory Independent Chairman of the Standards Committee is £450, being 25% of the Basic Allowance.

o)

That, in the future, all Members should claim travel and subsistence allowances directly from the Fire Authority on the following rates and terms and conditions (all vehicle sizes of private motor vehicle - up to 10,000

miles - 40p per mile; over 10,000 miles - 25p per mile; private motor cycles - 24p per mile; pedal cycles - 20p per mile; passenger supplement - 5p per passenger per mile), and that Members should claim mileage allowances for undertaking approved duties on behalf of the Authority at HM Revenue and Customs’ rates.

p)

That where a Member undertakes an approved duty on behalf of the Authority, subsistence and overnight accommodation costs should be reimbursed on the same terms and conditions that apply to Officers of the Authority, up to the maximum rates permissible, subject to exemption by the Management Committee if it deems necessary, unless booked through Members’ Services, which can apply its own judgement on what represents best value.

q)

That the following indices be applied to the specified allowances:

-

Basic Allowance, Special Responsibility Allowances, Co-optees’ Allowances - indexed to the annual Local Government percentage salary increase (known as the ‘spinal column point 49 of the National Joint Councils agreement) to be implemented from the date of the Authority’s Annual Meetings (commencing from 25 June 2009).

-

Travel and subsistence - mileage allowances indexed to the relevant HM Revenue and Customs’ rates; public transport - maximum rates payable indexed to the same rates that apply to Officers, unless booked through Members’ Services, which can apply its own judgement on what represents best value; subsistence - maximum rates payable indexed to

the same rates that apply to Officers, unless booked through Members’ Services, which can apply its own judgement on what represents best value.

r)

That in accordance with the Regulations, the indices recommended above be utilised for 4 years from 25 June 2009, or until the Fire Authority requires a further review, whichever is the earlier.

s)

That the above Recommendations be implemented from 25 June 2009.

t)

That appropriate representations to the Government for consideration of a national scheme for Fire Authority and Local Authority Member Allowances be made, and that this should be addressed at the earliest opportunity.

The Chairman reminded Members that, under MA8 (Members’ Handbook), a Member may, by notice in writing to the Clerk and Monitoring Officer, elect to forego any part of his/her entitlement to an allowance under this Scheme.

The Chairman, Councillor Mrs Prue Bray and Councillor Chris Harris briefly retired from the meeting at the commencement of the next item, returning prior to a decision being taken.  (Councillor Colin Dudley in the Chair during the absence of the Chairman).

19.

Statement of Accounts 2008/9

The Fire Authority’s approval was sought for the Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2009.

Councillor Mrs Pauline Helliar-Symons conveyed her congratulations to Members and Officers for the good management and processes in place which had realised an underspend.

In response to a question from Councillor Mrs Pauline Helliar-Symons, the Director of Human Resources agreed to consider conducting a cost analysis of private healthcare insurance against use of the NHS for staff in circumstances where an earlier return to work from a period of sickness absence from the workplace might be realised.  He confirmed that the Fire Authority had, in the past, provided funding to enable access to private healthcare for Service personnel.

DHR

Resolved:

a)

That the Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2009, as submitted in Appendix A of the report, be Approved.

b)

That the Annual Governance Statement included within the Accounts be Approved.

c)

That the corporate underspend of £1,111,000 be used to add £500,000 to the protective equipment reserve and £250,000 to the Retained pension reserve.

d)

That the remaining balance of £361,000 be added to general reserves.

e)

That a Budget Working Party should examine the level and use of reserves as part of the budget setting process for 2010/11.

20.

Annual Treasury Report 2008/9

The Annual Treasury Report, which sets out the actual Treasury operations for the last financial year, and the 2008/09 actual prudential indicators were presented.

Resolved:

a)

That the Annual Treasury Report be Noted.

b)

That the 2008/09 actual prudential indicators be Approved.

21.

2009/10 Budget Monitoring

The revenue and capital expenditure against budgets, up to the end of May 2009, was presented.

Resolved:

a)

That the revenue and capital expenditure against budgets, up to the end of May 2009 be Noted.

22.

Annual Reports from Committee Chairmen, Champions and Representatives

The following Annual and Update Reports for 2008/09 were received and Noted:

a)

Councillor Dr Paul Bryant - Local Government Association (Fire Forum).

b)

Councillor Dr Paul Bryant - Regional Management Board.

c)

Councillor Iain McCracken - Audit Committee.

d)

Councillor Alan Ward - Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

e)

Mr Albert Gregory (Independent Chairman, Standards Committee - Standards Committee.

f)

Councillor Mrs Prue Bray - Equality and Diversity Champion / Chairman, Community, Engagement and Equality Group.

g)

Councillor Angus Ross - South East Fire and Rescue Control Centre Ltd.

h)

Association of Councils for the Thames Valley Region (written report not received from Councillor Andrew Bradley).

23.

Minutes of the Standing Committees Working Parties and other Groups

The Fire Authority received the Minutes of the following meetings of the Fire Authority’s Committees:

a)

Executive Committee - 11 February 2009.

b)

Property and Property Resources Committee - 5 March 2009.

c)

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - 17 March 2009 (not yet approved).

d)

Community Safety Forum - 19 March 2009 (not yet approved).

e)

Executive Committee - 23 March 2009.

f)

Audit Committee - 26 March 2009 (not yet approved).

g)

Integrated Risk Management Plan Working Party - 5 May 2009 (not yet approved).

h)

Property and Property Resources Committee - 12 May 2009 (not yet approved).

i)

Executive Committee - 18 May 2009 (not yet approved).

j)

Standards Committee - 8 June 2009 (not yet approved).

The Chairman requested that any outstanding actions from those Committees

now dissolved be followed up.  He conveyed his thanks to Councillor Mrs Prue Bray as retiring Chairman of the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Community, Engagement and Equality Group during 2008/9.

24.

Calendar of meetings 2009/10

Resolved:

a)

That the Programme of meetings of the Fire Authority and Committees for 2009/10 be Approved, and that the Programme of meetings replace all previously publicised meetings of the Fire Authority and its Committees from the Annual Meeting until 31 December 2009.

Appendix 1

Response to question received from Mr Richard Coates (Horton Parish resident) from the Chief Fire Officer, Iain Cox, Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service

I accept that this is based on a paraphrasing of my radio interview.  The key element of my comment however is that it would only be appropriate to undertake a review should fresh information warrant such an action.

I am not aware of any change in circumstances or additional information that would change the advice that I would give to the Authority.

In the past year (to April 2009) operational incidents (not including Automatic Fire Alarms (AFAs)) attended by the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) have dropped from 5,172 to 4,754.  This represents a continuing downward trend, as demonstrated in the table and graphs below.

This trend can also be seen in the reduction of primary fires (fires in buildings and cars that are not abandoned).  For RBFRS such fires dropped from 1620 in 2007/8 to 1451 in 2008/9.  Over the same period Windsor Fire Station’s calls dropped from 71 to 56.  [Fifty six calls per year equates to 4.66 per month or fractionally over one call per week].  Information - data - does change over time, however it is important to distinguish between statistical “noise” and genuine changes of direction.  The trend shown by this data gives me no reason to recommend that RBFA reconsider its previous decisions regarding fire and emergency cover from Windsor Fire Station.

So in answer to your question: I cannot agree that the time is now right to reconsider the proposal to close Windsor at night.