Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Any county councillor may, by giving notice to the Proper Officer by 9 am two working days before the meeting, ask a question on any matter in respect of the Cabinet Member’s delegated powers.

The number of questions which may be asked by any councillor at any one meeting is limited to two (or one question with notice and a supplementary question at the meeting) and the time for questions will be limited to 30 minutes in total. As with questions at Council, any questions which remain unanswered at the end of this item will receive a written response.

Questions submitted prior to the agenda being despatched are shown below and will be the subject of a response from the appropriate Cabinet Member or such other councillor or officer as is determined by the Cabinet Member, and shall not be the subject of further debate at this meeting. Questions received after the despatch of the agenda, but before the deadline, will be shown on the Schedule of Addenda circulated at the meeting, together with any written response which is available at that time.

Forward Plan Ref: 2015/037

Contact: Nathan Travis, Deputy Chief Fire Officer Tel: (01865) 855206

Report by Chief Fire Officer (CMDDL4).

This report seeks Lead Cabinet Member approval for the continued development of collaborative opportunities with other Thames Valley Blue Light Services (Police, Fire & Ambulance), supporting national guidance around inter (FRS-FRS) and intra (Blue Light) operability, whilst at the same time, delivering increased public sector efficiencies.

Specifically, this report highlights two collaborative initiatives for approval: Firstly, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the three Thames Valley Fire & Rescue Services aimed at establishing a clear commitment by the respective fire authority members to consider each other's services as preferred collaborative partners from the outset. Secondly, the development of a separate MoU between the three fire authorities and the Thames Valley Police & Crime Commissioner regarding the sharing, primarily, of property assets.

Both of these initiatives will build upon the knowledge gained and operational / governance frameworks developed by the Thames Valley Fire Control Service programme.

The Cabinet Member is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)      Approve the contents of the proposed MOU’s and the collaborative Blue Light Services approach described in this report.

(b)      Sign the MOU’s on behalf of the Cabinet of OCC and direct the Chief Fire Officer to continue with further collaboration

to:

(a)      Approve the contents of the proposed MOU’s and the collaborative Blue Light Services approach described in this report.

(b)      Sign the MOU’s on behalf of the Cabinet of OCC and direct the Chief Fire Officer to continue with further collaboration