North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority
Executive Panel

Minutes of the Executive Panel meeting of North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority held on Monday 15 February 2021 via Zoom. Meeting commenced at 10.00am.

Present

Councillors:
P Lewis (Chair) Conwy County Borough Council
D Rees (Deputy Chair) Anglesey County Council
M Bateman Flintshire County Council
A Davies Denbighshire County Council
M Ll Davies Denbighshire County Council
M Dixon Wrexham County Borough Council
J B Hughes Gwynedd Council
R Parry Conwy County Borough Council
R Roberts Wrexham County Borough Council

Also Present

S A Smith (Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive); G Owens (Deputy Clerk); K Finch (Treasurer); R Fairhead, H MacArthur and S Millington (Assistant Chief Fire Officers); S Morris (Assistant Chief Officer); T Williams (Corporate Communications Manager); P Hardwick (Corporate Planning Manager); A Davies (Members’ Liaison Officer).

1 APOLOGIES

Councillors:
V Gay Flintshire County Council
R Griffiths Anglesey County Council

2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

2.1 There were no declarations of interest.

3 NOTICE OF URGENT MATTERS

3.1 The Chair notified Members that the recruitment process for the role of Chief Fire Officer would be discussed under part II of the agenda.

4 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 10 FEBRUARY 2020

4.1 The minutes of the Executive Panel meeting held on 10 February 2020 were submitted for approval.

4.2 RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the meeting as a true and correct record.

5 MATTERS ARISING

5.1 There were no matters arising.

6 COVID-19 UPDATE

6.1 The Chief Fire Officer provided an update on the impact of COVID-19 on the Service in terms of employees’ absence and having to make adjustments in some areas including delivery of Safe and Well Checks (SAWCs).

6.2 It was noted that the Service has been able to assist partnership organisations during the pandemic; some employees are assisting WAST with driving ambulances and were included in the vaccination programme of the WAST cohort. Other employees have now been seconded to assist with the administration of the vaccination programme. These collaborations have been beneficial for all partners concerned and have been examples of how the Service can respond quickly and has a range of abilities which it can offer as part of partnership working.

6.3 RESOLVED to note the update provided.

7 PERFORMANCE MONITORING APRIL 2020 TO DECEMBER 2020

7.1 The report was presented to inform Members in relation to North Wales Fire and Rescue activity, and performance against improvement objectives.

7.2 ACO Morris led Members through the report in detail. It was noted that the Service had attended 3,600 emergency incidents during the first three quarters of 2020/21. This was slightly fewer than in the same three quarters of 2019/20, reflecting reductions in road traffic collisions (RTCs) and deliberate fires, but also an increase in small outdoor fires.

7.3 Although there had been a reduction in deliberate primary fires compared to the previous year, calls to small fires in gardens and loose rubbish during lockdowns contributed to a 39% increase in accidental secondary fires.

7.4 In summary, it could be considered that the pandemic had contributed towards a reduction in most categories of incidents. However, there had been an increase in secondary fires and false alarms with good intent. Overall, the long term downward trend had continued with the number of accidental fires in dwellings now being 20% lower compared to ten years ago.

7.5 At this juncture, Cllr Bateman asked to place on record the appreciation of the Mold town councillors in relation to the Service’s rapid response to the flooding in Mold recently.

7.6 The Chair thanked ACO Morris for the detailed report and commented that it was pleasing to note that the majority of accidental fires in dwellings had been confined to the room of origin which showed the efficiency of the Service in attending incidents. A discussion ensued about the response time for attending incidents; Members acknowledged that there is no response time target, but it was queried if there was any information available about the length of response time to an incident and whether it impacted on the severity of injury as a result of accidental dwelling fires. ACO Morris confirmed that having previously undertaken research on this matter, no correlation had been identified between the degree of injury and the time taken to arrive at an incident.

7.7 In response to a Member’s question about raising awareness of incidence of secondary fires, it was confirmed that Corporate Communications staff are continually sharing fire safety messages on all social media sites including messages to discourage people from having garden and small rubbish fires. There is also an all-Wales campaign called ‘Dawns Glaw’ which raises awareness of the dangers of secondary fires.

7.8 RESOLVED to note the contents of the performance monitoring report.

8 FIREFIGHTER ‘FUTURE LEADER’ APPRENTICES

8.1 The report was presented to describe the measures taken to develop the Service’s existing employees and inform Members of the new ‘Future Leaders’ apprenticeship programme.

8.2 ACFO Millington explained that the Service requires an operational workforce to be supervised and managed by people who possess the necessary technical and operational knowledge, and also have the potential for onward progression into more senior positions. In recent years fewer people have engaged with promotional processes and as a result the number of employees who possess the requisite skills to be considered for promotion, has been far lower than in previous years.

8.3 It was acknowledged that this was a difficult issue to resolve. In addition to engaging with current employees to identify any barriers in participating in the career progression scheme and to provide support to those who want to seek promotion, the Service has now established the ‘Future Leaders’ apprenticeship programme. This programme had been designed to recruit people with an increased potential to progress beyond the firefighter role and into supervisory, middle and senior manager positions. The recruitment of these apprentices had been undertaken in line with the Fire and Rescue Authority’s objective to maintain a suitably diverse, resilient, skilled, professional and flexible workforce.

8.4 In response to a Member’s concern about the sentence in the report stating ‘a number of staff members currently occupying temporary positions’ and whether those employees were being supported to progress to a permanent position, the CFO explained that following any interview process, all candidates are given the opportunity to have individual feedback with a member of the interviewing panel and where required will be given a development plan to assist them in preparing for future interviews.

8.5 The Chair welcomed the programme and commented that a twin track approach, encouraging current employees to participate in the career progression programme as well as introducing new apprenticeship schemes, bode well for the future of the Service.

8.6 RESOLVED to note the information provided in the report.

9 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ELECTIONS (WALES) ACT 2021

9.1 ACO Morris presented the report which outlined some of the possible implications for the Fire and Rescue Authority following the introduction of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021.

9.2 The report summarised certain provisions of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 including:

• the repeal of the Local Government Measure 2009 and the introduction of new performance and governance arrangements for fire and rescue authorities in Wales;
• the removal of the requirement for Welsh Ministers to hold an inquiry if they vary a fire and rescue authority’s combination order, except in certain limited circumstances.
• new rules about electronic broadcasting, remote attendance and documentation of fire and rescue authority meetings;
• the complexity of some aspects of the Act, and the need for additional regulations to be introduced to bring some sections into effect.

9.3 The Chair thanked ACO Morris for summarising the Act in a concise manner and it was RESOLVED to note the contents of the report.

10 SAFE AND WELL CHECKS

10.1 The report was presented to advise Members of the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the number of Safe and Well Checks (SAWCs) undertaken by the Service this year, and the possible effect on the Authority’s annual target for delivering SAWCs.

10.2 ACFO Fairhead informed Members that due to COVID-19 restrictions, which were first introduced in March 2020, the Service had to amend its delivery model for SAWCs by undertaking the majority via telephone. Any visits ‘in person’ by a member of staff since then have been limited to the homes of people at particularly high risk from fire and subject to stringent risk assessments in order to safeguard both the householder(s) and the Service’s staff. Consequently, the end of year projection for the number of SAWCs delivered during this financial year indicates a potential 40% shortfall against the Authority’s annual target of 20,000 checks.

10.3 In addition, Members were asked to note that while COVID-19 restrictions remain in place and even when restrictions are lifted it is likely that the Service will need to review and potentially find alternatives to its normal delivery model for SAWCs. The Authority may therefore need to consider amending its annual target for delivering these checks in future years.

10.4 The Chair commented that the Service should be commended for achieving nearly 50% of the target despite the COVID-19 restrictions. It was also encouraging that referrals continue to be made from partner agencies which are generally for the most vulnerable members of the community.

10.5 RESOLVED to

(i) note the possible shortfall in the number of SAWCs delivered in this financial year against the target of 20,000 that was set before the COVID-19 pandemic; and
(ii) note that there is potential, dependent on COVID-19, for the Service to be unable to achieve its annual target of 20,000 SAWCs in 2021/22.

11 BREXIT UPDATE

11.1 ACFO Fairhead gave an update on the effect of the UK leaving the European Union on 31 January 2021 on the Service.

11.2 Due to preparatory work undertaken within the Service and as part of the Strategic Co-ordination Group, consisting of partners across North Wales, the Service had been able to continue to deliver all its services post 31 January 2021. Although there had been no disruption in the supply chain involving vehicles and equipment supplies delivered from European Union countries, the Service has business continuity management plans ready to put into action if required.

11.3 The Strategic Co-ordination Group had been stood down but the monitoring aspect continues and should any issues arise the Group can be re-established at short notice if necessary.

11.4 RESOLVED to note the update.

It was thereafter resolved to move into part II of the meeting and all officers were asked to leave except the Chief Fire Officer, Treasurer, Deputy Clerk, Translator and Member Liaison Officer.

PART II

12 CHIEF FIRE OFFICER RECRUITMENT PROCESS

12.1 Members were given an update about the recruitment process for the role of Chief Fire Officer.

12.2 RESOLVED to note the update.