Agenda item

Report of Corporate Leadership Team, GMFRS. Dawn Docx, Deputy Chief Fire Officer will be in attendance at the meeting.

Kevin Lee, Director of Mayor’s Office, introduced the item, noting that following the close of the consultation and the continuing engagement with Trade Unions, Leaders had met that morning to consider the proposals, and had agreed the points below: 

a)      Retaining current crewing levels and maintaining firefighter numbers at or above May 2017 levels for this financial year (and the Mayor is considering the options to extend this beyond April 2020);

b)      Retaining an additional 11 specialist prevention staff to support complex cases and address safeguarding concerns;

c)      Allowing more time for the transition of prevention activity to ensure firefighters are adequately trained and equipped;

d)      Developing alternative delivery models for volunteering and cadets;

e)      Retaining Princes Trust, reducing the number of teams from seven to five, whilst allowing more time to develop future options;

f)       Developing an improved delivery model for Protection including continued efforts on High Rise, Grenfell implications and improving fire safety within the Private Rented Sector;

g)      Undertaking a limited restructure of administration activity initially, allowing more time for the development of a centrally managed delivery model;

h)      Recommendation that the capital schemes as set out in the OBC are incorporated into the Service’s Capital Programme;

i)        Ongoing investment in stations, including welfare facilities.

It was acknowledged that the revised proposals reflected previous concerns raised by the Committee, and Members were informed that the Mayor was keen to hear their views, before any final decisions were made.

Members were informed that with regards to the Government Spending Review, it was understood that the fire grant would be uplifted to be a flat grant, notwithstanding, confirmation had not yet been received in relation to addressing the pension’s shortfall of £5.7 million. If the Government did not meet this shortfall, it would need to be addressed through the GMFRS budget. It was agreed that further updates would be circulated to the Committee as appropriate.

In relation proposal to reduce the number of non-uniformed staff, which initially would have affected 113 posts, it was highlighted that following consultation, this has reduced to 60 posts. It was reiterated that, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor were still determined to avoid compulsory redundancies for support staff, and work was underway across the GMCA family, to identify alternative opportunities for those staff affected.

Members were informed that the Mayor was proposing to maintain the current crewing levels and firefighter numbers at or above May 2017 levels (1121 firefighters) for this financial year. This commitment, supported by overtime arrangements, and the continued use of reserves, has proposed to maintain current crewing arrangements of 5:4:4 and 50 fire engines in the short term, to allow more time for discussions with the Fire Bridgades Union (FBU) about the number of fire engines available, and the crewing levels that could realistically be achieved. The long-term viability of this arrangement however, was dependent on future funding settlements from government, which at this stage was unclear.

Members raised the following questions and comments:

·         Members from Manchester and Salford Labour groups queried whether their submissions had been considered as they were not represented within the report. It was agreed that this would be checked and Officers would ensure that these submissions were formerly represented within the consultation report.

·         A Member sought clarity in relation to whether there had been any proposed changes to those set out for the Eccles Fire Station following the consultation. This station was important to Eccles as it was a specialist water and rescue station. It was agreed that clarification would be provided. 

·         Members requested further information regarding the financial impact of the proposed changes, and queried whether they were sustainable? It was acknowledged that the financial position was difficult, and it was difficult to know whether the proposals regarding firefighters were sustainable, until the outcome of the Spending Review was known, along with the outcome of the Mayor’s budget discussions. It was noted that the reduction in the number of non-uniform staff at risk, had been largely achieved through effective vacancy management, along with voluntary severance and voluntary early retirements.

·         How were the negotiations with trade unions (TU’s) progressing? Kevin Lee confirmed that negotiations were ongoing, and the TU’s were broadly supportive of the direction of travel.

·         Members queried whether other Blue Light services were in support of the proposals. It was confirmed that Blue Light services were satisfied that the proposals met their requirements.

·         A Member explored whether the Mayor would consider increasing the precept, so that the proposals could be delivered in a more sympathetic way. It was acknowledged that the raising of additional funds through an increase to the Fire and Rescue Service element of the Mayoral General Fund Precept would require further consideration as part of the budget consultation process.

·         It was acknowledged that maintaining crewing levels of 5:4:4 without any additional funding, was not a viable option, as the required efficiencies would leave a crew of only 39 appliances. The sustainability of the proposals were reliant on government, as a flat rate grant would not allow us to continue at this rate, and an increase is needed if they are to make the service sustainable for the future. Members support was requested, to work with the GMCA to constructively make the case to government for an increase. Members welcomed the update and were in full support of the request.

Dawn Docx, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, GMFRS, advised that Members had been provided with the Consultation report, which provided some insight into the analysis process.  Members received a short presentation (Appendix 2) from Smyth Harper, Head of News and Media which provided an overview of the process, key findings and next steps.

Following the presentation Members raised the following questions and comments:

·         A Member stated that previously Members had expressed that they did not feel they had been afforded sufficient time to comprehensively scrutinise the proposals.

·         Members reiterated their concerns regarding the robustness of the plans, given the expediential rate of growth within the city region, in particularly inner city core, and the impact of congestion on response times. 

·         A Member raised concerns regarding the fact that many of the non-uniform staff at risk were likely to be predominantly female and whether this could be seen as discriminative.

·         Further information was requested in relation to the stakeholder mapping, where posters and leaflets made available in key community hubs such as community centres, given that twitter had limited reach in many areas.  Smyth Harper, advised that the focus of the campaign had been primarily on digital promotion, as this was considered the most effective way to reach most people. In addition there had been extensive engagement with key stakeholders (in the thousands), such as the community and voluntary sector groups across Greater Manchester, who were encouraged to share the information with their networks.

·         The Committee considered how best to appropriately share their views with the Mayor, and following discussion, the following statement was proposed: ‘Further to the consultation process, the Committee commends the development of the revised range of options set out in the OBC and acknowledges the progress made by the Mayor in his attempt to deliver transformational change within GMFRS.  The Committee recognises the difficulties posed by the major uncertainties surrounding central government funding for fire and rescue services and reiterated that the various saving proposals around crewing levels and fire engine numbers remained wholly unacceptable.’ 

·         The Chair brought the item to a close, noting that the Committee would need to consider the issues again as part of the budget setting process (Feb/March next year).

RESOLVED:

1.      That the report be noted.

2.      That the Committee be provided with further updates on addressing the pension’s deficit as appropriate.

3.      That Officers ensure that the consultation response submitted by Salford’s Labour Group was formerly represented within the Consultation report.

4.      That Officers ensure that the views of the Manchester Labour Group had been considered within the consultation and that these are formerly represented within the Consultation report.

5.      That the Committee be provided with further information on whether any changes have been made to the proposals regarding Eccles Fire Station.

6.      That Members agreed to support the GMCA in their lobbying to government, in relation to the GMFRS budget.

7.        That the Mayor and Deputy Mayor are recommended to consider the Committee’s views as follows; ‘Further to the consultation process, the Committee commends the development of the revised range of options set out in the OBC and acknowledges the progress made by the Mayor in his attempt to deliver transformational change within GMFRS.  The Committee recognises the difficulties posed by the major uncertainties surrounding central government funding for fire and rescue services and reiterated that the various saving proposals around crewing levels and fire engine numbers remained wholly unacceptable.’