Apologies for absence were received from Andrew Dismore AM, Councillor Susan Hall, Councillor Sarah Hayward, Councillor Jack Hopkins, Councillor Mehboob Khan, Caroline Russell AM and Councillor Amy Whitelock Gibbs.

Minutes of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority meeting held on 24 November 2016

The motion was made by the Chair – that the minutes of the Authority meeting held on 24 November 2016 be signed as a correct record.

The motion was seconded by the Vice Chair, put and agreed.

Resolved – accordingly.

The minutes were thereupon signed by the Chair.

The Chair announced that on 2 December 2016 at the Excellence in Fire Service Awards, AC Peter Cowup was awarded the International Fire Professional of the year for being the Project Sponsor for Exercise Unified Response.  Innovation of the Year went to the Brigade’s Information Management Department for the Electronic Premises Information Plates, and Project of the Year went to the London Fire Brigade, also for Exercise Unified Response.

The Chair announced that on Christmas Day the Brigade joined forces with local Co-op food stores and the Healthy London Partnership to cook a Christmas dinner for the most vulnerable members of their community and their carers.  This was part of the festive celebrations at the five fire stations which took part, with the oldest guest at Dagenham being 99 years old.

The Chair reported that the 24 hour period over New Years Eve was particularly busy for the Brigade, with Brigade Control taking 640 calls and crews attending 365, which included two six pump fires, one eight pump fire and two ten pump fires.  One of these ten pump fires in Acton involved the road outside being completely blocked by 348 people that had been evacuated. Upon arrival crews witnessed people climbing out of a first floor window onto a flat roof. A ladder was pitched and eight people were assisted away from the scene. In total 10 appliances attended this incident.

The Chair reported that on 23 January 2017, the Brigade attended a fire in a block of industrial units in Wembley.  On arrival, crews gained access by forcing open a roller shutter door which revealed heavy smoke logging and once a sufficient water supply was established the initial fire in the original ground floor unit was extinguished.  However the fire had also spread to the roof void and crews experienced difficult conditions as the fire established itself.  Nevertheless, crews were ultimately successful in extinguishing the fire by using jets, ground monitors and aerial appliances.  In total 20 pumping appliances, 4 aerials and 2 hose layers attended the incident. The Chair added that she visited the fire ground the following day, and saw first-hand the truly impressive work from the Brigade’s firefighters on what was a busy night.

The Chair was pleased to announce that Peter Clarke and Simon Jakeman had been recognised in the New Year Honours list by being awarded the British Empire Medal. Peter’s award recognises his work creating “Crossfire”, a multi-agency community engagement project designed to reduce hoax calling, deliberate fires and anti-social behaviour. Simon’s award recognises his work on sustainability and energy-saving as the Brigade’s ‘Super Green’ champion over the past year.  Simon has been encouraging all staff to embrace environmentally friendly policies in the workplace. 

The Chair congratulated Councillor Amy Whitelock Gibbs, on the birth of her son, Felix, who was born on 7 December 2016.

Clerk to the Authority – known details of membership of the GLA, other functional bodies and London Boroughs are attached as an Appendix to this Agenda.  The Appendix does not remove the need for a Member to declare at the meeting an interest (whether or not listed in the Appendix) in any relevant item on the agenda paper and to state also the nature of that interest 

Resolved – That the details of membership of the GLA, other functional bodies and London Boroughs, as attached as an appendix to the agenda, be noted.  No further disclosures were made.

Director of Finance and Contractual Services  – presenting the latest medium term financial position.

Report by Director of Finance and Contractual Services.

The Director of Finance and Contractual Services introduced the report.

Gareth Beeton (London Regional Chair, FBU) addressed the meeting and made reference to flooding requirements set out in paragraphs 32 – 36 of the report.  He sought the Authority’s support in lobbying the Government for flood response to be made a statutory duty for all Fire and Rescue services in the country with sufficient and appropriate additional funding.  The Chair thanked him for his contribution.

Gareth Bacon AM referred to the question he had asked under item 9 on the agenda (FEP 2697) and asked related questions arising from paragraph 72 of the report concerning the implementation cost of the Ultra Low Emission Zone.  In doing so, he clarified that the Vehicle Replacement report (FEP 2687) referred to in paragraph 72 had been submitted to the Resources Committee on 13 June and was not before the Authority.

After discussion, the Chair moved the motion – That the Authority:

(a)          Notes the report,

(b)                          Approves additional funding of £1.2m for the Community Safety Investment Fund in 2016/17, to be funded from the forecast underspend; and

(c)          Noting the likely level of savings over the alternative option, approves opting in to the Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd arrangement for appointing the Authority’s auditor from 2018/19.

The motion was seconded by the Vice Chair, put and agreed.

Resolved – accordingly.

Commissioner – Setting out the key findings of the Thomas Review, and providing an update on actions underway or to be taken in response to those findings.

Report by the Commissioner.

The Commissioner introduced the report.

The Chair moved the motion – That the Authority:

Notes the actions set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

The motion was seconded by the Vice Chair, put and agreed.

Resolved – accordingly.

Commissioner – Seeking approval for the action plan to deal with the implications for the London Fire Brigade of the two reviews.

Report by the Commissioner.

The Commissioner introduced the report.

The Chair moved the motion – That the Authority:

Agrees the Action Plan at Appendix C to the report.

The motion was seconded by the Vice Chair, put and agreed.

Resolved – accordingly.

Clerk to the  Authority –  setting out actions arising from a previous meeting of the Authority.

Report by the Clerk to the Authority.

The Chair moved that the report be noted.

The motion was seconded by the Vice Chair, put and agreed.

Resolved – accordingly.

Clerk to the Authority – presenting questions received from Members to be answered by the Chairman of the Authority and/or the Commissioner. 

Questions from Members for the meeting on 26 January 2017, published in the order received in accordance with Standing Order 20, are set out below with supplementary questions and the Chair and Commissioner’s replies:

Questions received:

Any other items the Chair considers urgent.

There was no urgent business.