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ITEM CA15
CABINET–
19 DECEMBER 2006
South East
Fire and Rescue Service’s Regional Control Centre & Board Member
Report by
Director for Community Safety & Chief Fire Officer
Introduction
- The South East
Regional Management Board (SE RMB), at its meeting held on 18 October
2006, received a report on the implementation of the Government’s Regional
Fire Control Centre governance proposals. The SE RMB is required to
establish regional control centres within the National Framework 2006-8,
and by 1 January 2007, is required to have in place a Local Authority
Controlled Company (LACC) to undertake this work. Legal representatives
have been involved in producing draft documentation through the South
East Fire Lawyers Network. The SE RMB has considered, and recommended
for approval, drafts of the following documents relating to the proposed
company, which would be called the South East Fire and Rescue Control
Centre Ltd:
of
the company (Annex 3). (download
as .doc file)
- These are standard
types of document associated with the formation and running of companies.
In addition, a Service Level Agreement will need to be in place before
the company starts to deliver a service to the FRA.
Memorandum of Association
- The Memorandum
of Association is a document that has been produced nationally and is
intended to be common to all the LACCs running regional control centres.
It sets out the purpose of the company, its legal obligations and actions
such as those on dissolution. We believe this document could now be
approved.
Articles of Association
- The Articles of
Association set out the rules for membership of the Company, how Directors
(and alternate Directors) are appointed, the conduct of meetings, voting
arrangements and conditions applying to Directors. They include the
appointment of a company Secretary and covers indemnity for Members
and Directors. This document enshrines the principle of each FRA being
a corporate member of the company, able to appoint either itself as
Corporate Director or approve one other Director and an alternate Director.
The latter option represents the optimum situation. This document, as
revised, is now in a form which our legal lead regards as acceptable
for adoption.
Members Agreement
- The Members’ Agreement
contains the detail on proportional voting rights for Members and Directors
and the cost apportionment of each Fire Rescue Authority for the running
of the company. Members are asked to note, and may wish to discuss,
the following two particularly important parts of the proposals. These
are also outlined in the draft minutes of the SE RMB and are attached
at Annex 4 - (download as .doc file).
Voting Rights:
- voting rights
in the company, both for members of the company (i.e. the Fire &
Rescue Authorities) and for the directors appointed by each member
would be weighted. Based on current populations, the number of votes
would be: 1 for the Isle of Wight, 2 each for Berkshire, Buckinghamshire,
East Sussex, Oxfordshire and West Sussex, 3 for Surrey and 4 each
for Hampshire and Kent.
Formula:
- at least initially,
the costs of running the company would be re-charged to each Fire
& Rescue Authority on a hybrid formula (detail not yet available)
based on population and call numbers. It is worth noting that the
Cabinet policy decision which instructed the Chief Fire Officer to
initiate a radical revision to the response to unwanted fire signals
(and which significantly reduced the number of such calls) will have
a small positive effect in reducing Oxfordshire’s funding commitment.
- This latter issue
is also dependant upon the Fire Control Full Business Case which will
only become available with complete costing information after the Infrastructure
contract is let (currently expected to be in January 2007). Therefore,
at this stage, only the framework of this document is acceptable to
legal Officers. It would, however, be useful to future negotiations
if Members agreed formally to note the form the final agreement will
take.
Service Level Agreement
- The Service Level
Agreement will set out the detailed service level and relationship between
the FRS and the RCC. This can only be undertaken once the RCC Company
is in place and mature enough to develop such a document. This document
will not be required legally to achieve the registration of the company.
Councillors’ Duties
- The FRA is required
to nominate and approve Elected Members to represent it as Director
and Alternate on the Board of the Company. These representatives will
need to carry out their duties in the best interests of the company,
acting accordingly and taking into account the Code of Conduct and any
conflicts of interest. The purpose of the Alternate Director is not
only to allow for unavailability but also to minimise the potential
outcomes of conflict of interest in that the Cabinet Member responsible
for Community Safety also serves as the OCC representative on the SE
RMB and the RCC Local Authority Company. As such it is not envisaged
that such a conflict is likely; however, this approach should mitigate
against any future as yet unforeseen conflict of interest.
Way Forward
- Only the Memorandum
of Association and Articles of Association are considered fit for Cabinet
approval at this time. Approval of the Memorandum and Articles, by all
9 regional members would be sufficient to allow the Company to be registered.
However, such a company would not have any practical ability to function
until a Members’ Agreement is in place. Such a move would allow the
target in the National Framework (Government’s expectations of Fire
Services modernisation process) to be closely met and allow the Members’
Agreement, a potentially more complex issue, to be developed and given
due consideration outside the immediate requirement to meet a Government
target. The RMB has agreed that the initial company structure would
be supported by West Sussex. Oxfordshire County Council as the fire
Authority is required to nominate Elected Members to act as its representative
Director and an Alternate Director to ensure its presence at Board meetings.
Financial and Staff Implications
- Approval of the
Memorandum and Articles of Association the does not expose the FRA to
any immediate financial or staff implications. However, the longer term
move to RCC provision of Fire Control services has both staff and financial
implications which remain unclear. The Fire Control Full Business Case,
expected in 2007, should clarify these issues. Once the Company is in
a position to deal with substantive issues, such as the Transfer of
Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations, the Authority will
need to determine when to begin formal consultation with representative
bodies and staff. In the meantime the Chief Fire Officer is ensuring
staff are kept up to date with developments.
Risk Management
- The national project
manages risk within the Prince 2 structure. National and
regional FRS Risk Registers are maintained and at the local level, risks
are identified by the project team and their inclusion in Register is
overseen by the Project Manager and Senior User. Management action
is reviewed by the Senior Management Team as the Project Board.
The Risk Register is formally reviewed 6 monthly at a project team workshop
and signed off by the Senior User. Risks are raised to regional
and national level through a monthly Checkpoint report as appropriate.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- The Cabinet
is RECOMMENDED to:
- subject
to (b – f) below, approve the Memorandum of Association and
Articles of Association in the form attached;
- agree
to become a Corporate Member of a Local Authority controlled
company to run the South East Regional Control Centre and participate
in the formation of the company;
- approve
the weighted voting arrangements for members of the Company
and for Directors of the Company;
- note
the framework of the Members’ Agreement;
- nominate
the Cabinet Member responsible for Community Safety as a Director
and authorise that Director, subject to their approval, to nominate
an Alternate Director upon the basis that the Cabinet do not
wish the Council themselves to become a Corporate Director;
- delegate
authority to the Cabinet Member responsible for Community Safety,
as advised by the Chief Fire Officer, to:
- agree
the details, including the formula incorporated in the Members
Agreement document for the recovery of costs; and
- sign
or authorise the signing or sealing of the above documents
on behalf of the Authority and to take any other steps as
necessary in the formation of the Company.
JOHN
PARRY
Director for
Community Safety and Chief Fire Officer
Background
papers: Nil
Contact Officer: Colin Thomas, Community Safety Business Manager, Tel;
01865 815 221
December
2006
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