Apologies for absence were received from the Commissioner.

Minutes of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority meeting held on 5 October 2017.

The motion was made by the Chair – that the minutes of the Authority meeting held on 5 October 2017 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 reported that on 3 October 2017 at 11:08 hours the Brigade received the first of five calls to a fire and explosion and a person alight, from a building under refurbishment at Riding House Street W1. Two appliances and an aerial appliance were initially dispatched from Soho and Lambeth fire stations. Crews were met by a casualty suffering from severe burns and shock laying on the pavement outside, being assisted by two members of the public. Crews administered emergency medical care to stabilise the casualty. A workman had witnessed the incident and confirmed that the man was drilling in the floor to run a new water main and in doing so had ruptured a high voltage electric cable, causing a fire and explosion. Crews entered the ground floor of the building to search for further casualties and possible fire spread. The fire was extinguished using a hose reel jet after UK power network had confirmed the electrical power to the building was shut down. The casualty was removed to hospital suffering severe burns.

·         The Chair reported that Deputy Head of Protective Equipment, Malcolm Stanton, received his MBE from Her Majesty The Queen on the 20 October at Buckingham Palace, for services to the safety of firefighters and the protection of the public. He also received a 50 year service award at City Hall on 30 October. The Authority passed their congratulations to Mr Stanton for his exemplary service.  

·         The Chair reported that on 30 October, the Brigade received a ‘Pride of Britain’ award for “exceptional bravery and courage” during the Grenfell Tower incident. The Commissioner received the award on behalf of the Brigade from the Duke of Cambridge. Around 30 firefighters, officers and control staff accompanied the Commissioner to the event.

·         The Chair reported that on 6 November at 05:59 hours, the Brigade mobilised appliances and officers to a train derailment between Wimbledon Station and Wimbledon Park Station. On arrival, it was clear that an eight carriage commuter train, travelling from Basingstoke to Waterloo, had suffered a partial derailment. The traction current was isolated and all trains stopped from running, in order to facilitate safe access to the site. It was quickly established that the best way to disembark the passengers was with specialist platforms from the Brigade’s Fire Rescue Units. Access was made to allow all the passengers to disembark safely and quickly onto non-railway land. The incident was successfully concluded just before 10:00 hours with Brigade and Railtrack staff assisting approximately 300 passengers from the train. Only four passengers reported minor injuries, with none requiring hospital treatment.

·      The Chair reported that on 7 November at 18:03 hours the Brigade received a call to a person in the River Thames in Thamesmead, SE28. On arrival, a man could be seen approximately ten metres from the embankment and four metres down. The man was waist high in mud and unable to move. He was shaking visibly from the cold and was holding a dog; he had jumped in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

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 – Report FEP 2790 setting out the Authority’s proposed budget submission for 2018/19.

Director of Finance and Contractual Services – Supplementary report FEP2790A responding to a letter received from GMB and UNISON dated 2 November 2017 (attached at Appendix 1 to the report), which sets out their comments on the Budget Update report FEP2790.

Report and supplementary report by the Director of Finance and Contractual Services.

The Director of Finance and Contractual Services introduced the report, and Greg Edwards, Fire Brigades Union, spoke to this item in accordance with Standing Order 15. The Director of Finance and Contractual Services and the Director of Operations then answered questions from Members.

During discussion it was agreed that:

·         Officers would explore in more details the options around lobbying Government for cost recovery at road accidents and report back, in response to the matter raised by Andrew Dismore AM; and

·         The Director of Operations would provide a briefing note on the Emergency Services Network (ESN) project following the expected announcement on the timetable later this year.

The Chair moved the motion:

That the Authority –

Notes the supplementary report (FEP 2790A) containing comments received from the GMB and UNISON, and approves the budget submission to the Mayor that includes:

(1)     Saving proposals of £2.9m in 2018/19 as set out in Appendix 4 of the main report (FEP 2790);

(2)     Growth proposals of £0.9m in 2018/19 as set out in Appendix 5 of the main report; and

(3)     A draft four year capital plan, prudential indicators and borrowing limits for 2018/19 to 2021/22, with a draft capital budget in 2018/19 of £41.7m, as set out in table 11 of the main report.

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

Resolved – accordingly.

Director of Finance and Contractual Services – Submitting a mid-year monitoring report in accordance with Financial Regulation 22.

Report of the Director of Finance and Contractual Services.

The Chair moved the motion:

That the Authority notes the mid-year treasury management position as at 30 September 2017 against the Authority’s 2017/18 Treasury Management Strategy Statement (TMSS), as approved by the Authority on 30 March 2017 (FEP2710).

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 Chair of the Authority or the Commissioner. 

Questions from Members for the meeting on 23 November 2017, published in the order received in accordance with Standing Order 20, are set out below, together with the written answers circulated in advance of the meeting, supplementary questions at the meeting and the replies given:

Any other items the Chair considers urgent.

Report of the Director of Finance and Contractual Services.

The Chair reported that aSupplementary Agenda had been circulated to Members and published, setting out an urgent item of business. This related to a Government consultation on the pensions arrangements for the office of London Fire Commissioner. In accordance with the provisions of Part VA of the Local Government Act 1972, she had agreed to admit this item to the agenda by reason of special circumstances and reasons for urgency, namely that the consultation which the report relates to was received after the agenda for this meeting had been dispatched and a response was requested by 8 December 2017; this meeting of the Authority was the only meeting scheduled prior to that date.

The Chair moved the motion:

That the Authority approves the response to the consultation at paragraphs eight and nine of the report.

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

Resolved – accordingly.