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APPOINTMENT OF REGIONAL HR ADVISOR

13 July 2005

To approve the appointment of a dedicated Regional HR Advisor.

This report recommends the appointment of a dedicated Regional HR Advisor for the South East Fire and Rescue Services. It is in response to delivering the requirements of the Fire and Rescue Service National Framework Document and the wider Modernisation Agenda, and making the SE Region a major influencer and contributor to national strategy and improving partner links to HR leads within other Regional Management Boards (RMB’s).

The appointment of a Regional HR Advisor would provide a professional consultancy service to the SE RMB, Lead Members, Principal Advisers and Project Managers of the six RMB workstreams, as well as Chief Fire Officers of the nine SE Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) consistent with the business needs of the Fire and Rescue Services.

Constituent members of the South East Fire and Rescue Services Regional Management Board.

That a Regional HR Advisor be appointed, employed by, and reporting to the Chief Fire Officer of the Lead Authority for Human Resources, with a salary in the region of £65k per annum. The Job Description is included as Appendix A (download as .doc file).

Since the South East Fire and Rescue Services Regional Management Board was established in April 2004 to meet the expectations of the National Framework Document, the structure of the Human Resource and Development Group, made up primarily of senior HR and Training professionals, has become established. This group has set itself an ambitious programme focusing on streamlining activities and expertise to achieve consistent practices and business efficiencies across the region through collaborative working. Significant progress has already been demonstrated through unifying policies and procedures to deliver the Government’s modernisation agenda. These are listed in Appendix B (download as .doc file).

The capacity to undertake the regional direction and co-ordination of the growing HR strategies and initiatives, and to run projects that may result in resource savings, is now stretched and in danger of being overwhelmed by this additional and growing workload. There is potential to build on a central hub of expertise, drawn from all our FRSs now that a sound framework is in place, to provide advice to authorities and senior managers on a more centralised basis. If a dedicated regional HR resource is not appointed, this will add considerable direct and opportunity costs to local Fire and Rescue Services in response to the growing workload brought upon HR functions as a result of the Modernisation Agenda.

Given the financial and population size of the SE Region, we should play a greater role in influencing national policy direction and formulation more effectively. The national modernisation agenda sees a fundamental change in the use and deployment of our people and therefore HR and HR practice is the infrastructure of this change. If we are to continue to reap the benefits we have seen to date of modernisation, the momentum we have already created needs to be capitalised upon.

The scale and complexity of this workload requires a dedicated post of Regional HR Advisor to enable the proper planning and co-ordination of these projects and associated activities regionally. Significantly, this will also support the six key work themes of the SE RMB Business Plan as well as the resourcing demands of our integrated risk management plans (IRMPs) impacting on our FRSs at a local level.

Immediate benefits will include a dedicated point of contact for the planning and co-ordination of regional activities and the provision of regular reports to the RMB identifying the HR strategy for the forthcoming year and quarterly status reports detailing progress to date, including identified costs and savings. This will be achieved by the new postholder becoming a professional and strategic adviser to the Lead Members, Principal Advisers and Project Managers of the six key work themes, as follows:

1. Regional Control Centres
2. Resilience
3. Procurement
4. Training
5. Human Resources
6. Common/Specialist Services

Considerable business benefits can be achieved through the creation of a dedicated senior HR role for the SE RMB in seeking economies of scale in key HR projects such as Equality and Diversity and the provision of Assessment and Development Centres (ADCs) on a regional basis. Moreover the role would be best placed to manage options for outsourcing key HR activities, such as ADC provision and to manage possible future contractor relationships on behalf of the SE RMB.

The South East Fire and Rescue Services Regional Management Board Business Plan 2005/06 identified the cost for the appointment of a dedicated role, and estimated there would ultimately be a cost-saving to the region as a whole. Part or whole funding from other sources, particularly the ODPM, under the umbrella of ‘capacity building’, is being explored by Officers.

The longer term benefits of appointing a senior HR practitioner to this role will include the achievement of business efficiencies and the combination of service provision through the development of one virtual HR function. This function will support the respective HR and business needs and objectives of individual fire and rescue services in the SE region.

LEAD/CONTACT OFFICER: Dave Curry (Deputy Chief Officer) – Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service
TELEPHONE NUMBER: 023 80644000

EMAIL: dave.curry@hantsfire.gov.uk

BACKGROUND PAPERS: Nil

INTRODUCTION

The Modernisation Agenda and the Fire and Rescue Service National Framework Document has increased the significance of human resource strategy for Fire and Rescue Services. Increased collaborative working between Fire and Rescue Services in each region through the creation of Regional Management Boards (RMBs) has created a strategic platform for Fire and Rescue Services to operate and determine regional approaches to future organisational strategy.

BACKGROUND

Fire and Rescue Service National Framework

The key requirements in terms of human resource management are detailed in Chapter 5 (Fire and Rescue Staff) of the Fire and Rescue Service National Framework. The regional requirements are outlined in paragraphs 5.12, 5.17 and 5.21. These are outlined below:

5.12 Fire and Rescue Authorities, through Regional Management Boards, should:

• draw up a regional HR strategy, encompassing recruitment, training and development (see Chapter 6), occupational health, health and safety, medical advice services, sickness / ill health management, discipline, mobility and a regional equalities strategy; and
• identify and implement the most efficient and effective means for the region to deliver these services, including through lead authorities or outsourcing where appropriate.

Locally and, to a growing extent regionally, HR functions are addressing the significant changes arising from the National Agreement with the revisions to the terms and conditions for Grey Book employees; revisions to medical conditions, the recent application of the Disability Discrimination Act to our operational employees; changes to discipline, grievance and complaint handling through revised terms and conditions as well as employment legislation; information and consultation processes.

A framework for HR strategy is currently being developed at a national level by the HR Practitioners Forum. A number of regions have already issued their regional HR strategy to support their local IRMPs and workforce plans. The South East has deliberately attempted to make as much progress using current HR practitioners as possible, but we have now reached a limit to that capacity.

Paragraph 5.17 specifies further requirements:

We have recently introduced a new project to HRDG – Equality and Diversity, within the current Employee Relations work-stream. This ensures that national initiatives are translated into regional and local policies and practices and enables our region to contribute to, and influence, national strategy.

Paragraph 5.21 states that:

Fire and Rescue Authorities, through Regional Management Boards where appropriate:

• Must comply with existing equality legislation on race and gender; the newly introduced regulations on sexual orientation, religion or belief; the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (1995); and, in due course, with regulations on equal treatment and age;
• Should apply identified good practice; and
• Should, from Spring 2005, roll out and operate recruitment on a regional basis using the national firefighter selection tests.

We have a statutory duty to regularly revise our race equality schemes and a regional approach has already demonstrated that efficiencies are to be gained, together with providing for external validation of practices. The introduction of new national firefighter selection tests and assessment and development centre ‘toolboxes’, together with the explicit requirement to undertake recruitment on a regional basis further demonstrates a need for a co-ordinated and managed approach.

In addition to Section 5, further sections of the Framework will add to the regional HR agenda. These include:

Chapter 1: Fire Prevention and Risk Management

• Resource planning
• Conditions of service
• Duty systems
• Job descriptions- skills sets
• Communication

Chapter 2: Working Together – The Regional Approach

• Regional control centres
• Transition of new staff
• Redeployment
• Redundancy
• Communication

Chapter 3: Effective Response

• Assessment and development centres and associated role selection processes
• Resource planning and sharing
• Communication

Chapter 6: Workforce Development

• Regional ADCs
• Recognition and reward
• Communication

ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

An increasing workload for the HR functions of the SE Fire and Rescue Services, the result of the National Framework and Modernisation Agenda, has had the effect of stretching the HR functions to full capacity in an attempt to plan and coordinate regional collaborative working whilst maintaining an effective HR service to their respective Fire and Rescue Services.

OPTIONS

The options therefore are as follows:

1. To continue with the collaborative approach to regional working in its present form
2. To appoint a dedicated HR Advisor to plan and lead on regional HR strategy for SE Fire and Rescue Services

IMPLICATIONS

The implications for continuing with the status quo are as follows:

• Increasing cost base for SE Fire and Rescue Services due to repetition and lack of financial synergies on key regional HR projects, for example, Assessment and Development Centre and Firefighter selection processes.
• A lack of leadership to HR planning in an era when HR strategy is required to underpin organisational change
• A lack of strategic focus for HR for the region
• Increased pressure on existing resources to cope with a growing workload which cannot be sustainable
• Danger of local interpretation of national framework due to work allocation to brigades with lack of overall co-ordination
• Lack of ability to influence and contribute to future strategy on a national level
• Lack of partner links with HR leads in other regions

The implications for appointing a Regional HR Advisor are:

• The growing workload means that strategy on a more centralised basis will lead to increased direction and focus
• Dedicated point of contact for planning and co-ordinating HR activities
• Ability to influence and persuade at national level and a greater capability to contribute to the formulation of national strategy and policy
• Ensuring existing brigade HR resources have the ability to cope with supporting their respective operations
• Longer term benefits include the creation of a virtual HR function

CONCLUSION

This report concludes by recommending the appointment of a dedicated Regional HR Advisor for the SE Region ensuring the creation of a coordinated and consistent approach to HR strategy contributing to organisational improvements and business efficiencies for the SE Fire and Rescue Services.

Appendix A (download as .doc file)

Job Description and Person Specification

Appendix B (download as .doc file)

Summary of projects currently being undertaken by HRDG:

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