Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed Paul Whitaker of Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service (WFRS) to the meeting, who was attending as a Response Support Officer.

Apologies were received from Councillor Pete Gilbert and Sarah Duxbury.

There were none.

There were none.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meetings held on 23 February 2022 and 15 May 2022 be approved as a correct record.

There were no matters arising.

Up to 30 minutes of the meeting is available for members of the public to ask questions on any matters relevant to the business of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Questioners may ask two questions and can speak for up to three minutes each. To be sure of receiving an answer to an appropriate question, please contact Andy Carswell (Democratic Services) at least two working days prior to the meeting.

No public questions were received or presented at the meeting.

Up to 30 minutes of the meeting is available for the Committee to put questions to the Leader and Portfolio Holders on any matters relevant to the remit of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

There were no questions for portfolio holders.

Rob Powell (Strategic Director, Resources) introduced the item and reminded members that levelling up was a key national priority. A lot of work had already begun in Warwickshire; the Council Plan, which had been approved in February, had a strong emphasis on levelling up, as did the Delivery Plan, which had been approved in May. Work with partner agencies was now underway to shape a countywide approach to Levelling Up which would be presented to Cabinet for approval in July.

Rob Powell said the Levelling Up White Paper had four objectives: to boost productivity, pay and living standards by growing the private sector; improve public services and spread opportunities, particularly in places where they were weakest; restore a sense of community and local pride; and to empower local leaders and communities. Additionally there were 12 national missions to help achieve these objectives; one of these was devolution. There would be a national measurement and accountability framework to monitor achievement of the objectives. The notion of levelling up was a long-term aim towards 2030, but Rob Powell said there should be a longer focus beyond then. The emerging countywide approach envisaged a dual focus on specific communities of place and communities of interest (particular cohorts and groups of people where levelling up would be most relevant) for levelling up.

The Levelling Up approach to Warwickshire was due to be discussed at July’s Cabinet. This aimed to make sense of the national Levelling Up missions and policy for Warwickshire; to share the Council’s commitment to Levelling up with its communities; to complement everyone’s organisational plans and strategies; to influence current and future strategies; to recognise and build on the power of Warwickshire’s communities, partnerships, networks, and forums; and to inform the future collective work on devolution. Rob Powell said this was not intended to supersede any existing plans or strategies, but would complement them and help influence future strategies. The approach has been shaped through engagement with key partner organisations, and would identify targeted places, cohorts and priorities for levelling up that affected the whole county or certain places, including those at a hyper-local level.

Of the 12 national missions, four had been identified as being particularly relevant to the scope of the Committee. These were reducing crime; securing a devolution deal through a long-term financial settlement; improving residents’ pride in place and narrowing the gap between the top and bottom performing areas; and increasing investment and stimulating growth in research and development.

Members’ attention was drawn towards the various existing strategies and areas of work and how they would link in the Levelling Up programme, and what funding streams were available. Rob Powell reminded members that £1million had been distributed to address post-Covid inequalities through the Social Impact Fund and up to £140million was available via the Warwickshire Recovery and Investment Fund. Additionally the Warwickshire Property and Development Group had a key role in the regeneration of town centres and provision of housing and commercial premises.

Six principles for levelling up  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Ben Brook (Chief Fire Officer) introduced the item and reminded members of the outcomes of recent inspections carried out by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), which recorded three causes of concern and 41 areas for improvement. The first cause of concern related to Prevention and the lack of a formal Prevention, Protection and Response Strategy. Ben Brook said one had been drafted and gone to Cabinet, and would shortly be going out to consultation. The data sets included in the strategy consisted of seven that looked at historical data and the remaining 10 were future focused. Since the 2021 inspections there had been six significant incidents involving fatalities by fire that had enabled serious fire reviews to take place, which had identified issues that have been worked on with partner agencies. Ben Brook said that HMICFRS had stated in its February 2022 reinspection that once the strategy had been formally adopted and the automated system for Safe and Wells put in place then the cause of concern relating to prevention could be discharged.

In relation to Protection, Ben Brook said a new digital ICT system was required. WFRS was following due diligence through the procurement process to enable this to take place. Ben Brook said although good progress was made with this, it was likely the new system would not be in place until September or October 2023. Since the initial inspection it had been established there were 33,000 regulated commercial premises in Warwickshire that are now on the Risk Based Inspection Programme. Ben Brook told the Committee a recruitment and training process was taking place, but reminded members that it took two years to fully train a new fire protection officer.

In relation to equality, diversity and inclusion, Ben Brook said the staff engagement network had been relaunched to understand from staff how engagement could be improved. Regular appraisals were taking place which include a focus on equality, diversity and inclusion. Ben Brook said he was now chair of the newly-established EDI group to ensure quick decision making. Consideration was being given to how to address breaches of WFRS’s values. The Committee was told some breaches had resulted in disciplinary action being taken, with the results of some of these being appealed.

It had been proposed in the Fire Reform White Paper to have a firefighters’ oath and as a result of this consideration was being given to how WFRS’s behaviours, values and ethics could be incorporated into employees’ contracts. A dignity at work review was taking place as part of the Warwickshire County Council property strategy to ensure all WFRS-owned properties had the correct facilities, and to ensure work was taken to address any issues. Ben Brook said a reinspection relating to Protection was due to take place in the autumn and a full reinspection was planned for spring 2023.

Members said the update was positive, and reiterated that WFRS had the continued support of the Committee.

Ben Brook introduced the item and explained the Fire Reform White Paper had been published on 18 May, having been anticipated for several months. There was now a consultation period leading up to 26 July, and it was possible the outcomes of the White Paper and consultation would lead to changes in legislation. There had been no White Papers relating to reform of the Fire Service since 2003, which had led to the implementation of the Fire and Rescue Act 2004.

The White Paper focused on the three topics of People, Professionalism and Governance. The section on People included guidance on how pay for Fire and Rescue Services personnel was set, which was likely to impact on budgets. There had also been proposals to introduce direct entry to certain positions above that of a firefighter, such as station or area manager.

Under Professionalism it had been proposed to establish a firefighters’ college, in a similar manner to the College of Policing, and also a firefighters’ oath. Regarding Governance, three proposals had been put forward relating to the future governance of fire and rescue services with a view to potentially scrapping the existing executive committee system. These were: the creation of the post of Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner; the service being governed by an elected Mayor; or being governed by a Council Leader. The Governance section of the White Paper also referred to a greater requirement for transparency regarding budgets. Ben Brook said responses to the consultation were through a series of questions and there was little room to add individual comments. He said he was drafting a response on behalf of the wider Fire Authority and it was not intended for WFRS to submit their own response.

The Chair asked if members wanted to make any comments to go towards the consultation on behalf of the Committee. Councillor Caroline Phillips said the proposed direct entries could work, but it was important that equal opportunities to apply should exist. For example there could be people interesting in applying who had the required skillset but not the experience of working within the fire service. Members agreed there should be multiple pathways available to give job opportunities to people from outside the fire service, as it gave people more career change opportunities. Councillor Andy Crump said it was important to be flexible around recruitment and retention of staff, noting that WFRS was losing staff to other employers.

Councillor Andy Crump (Portfolio Holder, Fire & Rescue and Community Safety) said he and Ben Brook had recently attended a meeting where the relevant Minister had stated their belief there were too many fire authorities. Councillor Crump stated his belief it was necessary for Warwickshire to have its own fire and rescue service due to the unique nature of the county, and stated other emergency services in the area were not reaching call-outs as promptly as might be required due to it being a more centralised service. He also stated his belief the inspection process was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Members agreed they would like an update on the Levelling Up programme to be brought to the December meeting. The contents of the work programme was noted.

At the discretion of the Chair, items may be raised which are considered urgent (please notify Democratic Services in advance of the meeting).

There were no other urgent matters for discussion.