120315 AUTH Minutes
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MINUTES London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority DATE TIME Thursday 15 March 2012 2.00 p.m. VENUE Room G-01, Ground Floor, Union Street Minutes of the proceedings of the meeting of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority held in Room G-01, Ground Floor, 169 Union Street, London SE1 0LL on Thursday, 15 March 2012 PRESENT: Councillor Brian Coleman AM FRSA, Chairman and Leader of the Authority Councillor Colin Aherne Councillor Darren Johnson AM Councillor Liaquat Ali MBE, JP Councillor Crada Onuegbu Councillor Tony Arbour JP, AM Mr Murad Qureshi AM Councillor Gareth Bacon AM Councillor Navin Shah AM Mr David Cartwright QFSM Councillor Terry Stacy MBE, JP Councillor Mike Fisher Mr Richard Tracey JP AM Councillor Susan Hall Councillor Colin Tandy Councillor Heaster OBE Mr Mike Tuffrey AM 1 Chair 2.00 p.m. The chair was taken by the Chairman and Leader of the Authority (Councillor Brian Coleman AM). 2 Minutes (Agenda item 1) The printed minutes of the proceedings of the meeting of the Authority held on Thursday 26 January 2012 had been sent to Members not less than twenty-four hours before the meeting. The motion was made by the Chairman - That the minutes of the meeting of the Authority held on 26 January 2012 be signed as a true record. The motion was seconded by Councillor Heaster, put and agreed. Resolved – accordingly. The minutes were thereupon signed by the Chairman. 1363 15 March 2012 3 Apologies for Absence (Agenda item 2) No apologies for absence were received. 4 Special Announcements by the Chairman and reports by the Chairman or the Clerk to the Authority of any communications (Agenda item 3) (1) The Chairman confirmed that this was the last LFEPA meeting for Mr Mike Tuffrey, who was stepping down from his office as Member of the London Assembly at the elections in May. The Chairman referred to the two periods on this Authority that Mr Tuffrey had served, which had commenced in February 2002 until 2008. He had then returned to the Authority in 2009. The Chairman also referred to Mr Tuffrey’s distinguished local government career both at the London Borough of Lambeth, on the London Assembly and previously on the Greater London Council. The Chairman stated that Mr Tuffrey had provided good service to this Authority and to the London Assembly and confirmed that his work on behalf of Londoners would be missed. The Chairman thanked Mr Tuffrey for his service on behalf of all Members. Councillor Stacy confirmed that Mr Tuffrey had been a great help to him and to former Liberal Democrat Members and that he would be sadly missed by colleagues at this Authority and the London Assembly. Councillor Shah confirmed that he had been pleased to have served on the Authority and the Greater London Authority’s Audit and Planning and Housing committees with Mr Tuffrey and stated that Mr Tuffrey’s skills and contributions to both this Authority and the London Assembly were well recognised and greatly appreciated. Councillor Johnson endorsed all the previous comments in relation to Mr Tuffrey and confirmed that it had been a pleasure working with him over the past decade, both at this Authority and at the London Assembly. [The Chairman presented Mr Tuffrey with a gift on behalf of the Authority.] (2) The Chairman indicated that Councillor Colin Tandy would not be seeking reappointment to this Authority in May 2012. The Chairman stated that Councillor Tandy had been a devoted servant of the Authority and described his service on LFEPA and the London Fire Civil Defence Authority (LFCDA) before it, where he was former leader, as being second to none. The Chairman stated that Councillor Tandy would be greatly missed. (3) The Chairman referred to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, which occurred on 6 February 2012, and noted that Her Majesty’s Government had decided, in conjunction with the Palace, that those uniformed members of the fire service who had 5 years service on that date should be awarded the Diamond Jubilee Medal. The Chairman confirmed that there were no less than 4,776 employees of this Authority who were being awarded the Diamond Jubilee Medal, which could be worn as from 1 March 2012 and that the medals were being distributed across the London boroughs to all eligible members of staff. The Chairman described the Medal as a mark of the respect which Her Majesty the Queen holds the Fire and Rescue Service and confirmed that he intended to present the Commissioner with his Medal as a representative of all the aforementioned members of uniformed staff. [The Chairman presented the Commissioner with his Diamond Jubilee Medal.] 1364 15 March 2012 (4) The Chairman thanked all Members who had supported the opening of the Authority’s new Control Centre in Merton and described the occasion as being very successful, where the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State – Mr Bob Neill, accompanied by the Mayor of London, had opened the facility. The Chairman also thanked Councillor Liaquat Ali, who had opened Walthamstow Fire Station, also supported by many Members of this Authority and described the event as another successful occasion. The Chairman confirmed that the opening of both buildings marked the progress the Authority had made in updating facilities and its services to the people of London. 5 Disclosures of interests and dispensations (Agenda item 4) No disclosures were made. 6 Questions from Members of the Public – FEP 1903 (Agenda item 5) (i) Question No. 3 – by Mr Sabby Sagall The Chairman will be aware of recent demonstrations by democracy and human rights groups in the Gulf state of Bahrain. These peaceful demonstrations have been met with brutal repression by the dictatorship government of Bahrain, leaving thousands dead or injured. In their crushing of the protests, the Bahraini dictatorship has been assisted by the military forces of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Last year, AssetCo – a close business partner of the London Fire Brigade and the company which owns and maintains London’s fleet of fire appliances and thousands of items of equipment – signed a multi-million pounds contract to provide technical assistance to the UAE military. How does the Chairman consider it reflects on a proud humanitarian and life-preserving organisation like the London Fire Brigade to be so closely associated with a company that is making huge profit by providing assistance to a military regime which is responsible for maiming and killing peaceful pro- democracy and human rights demonstrators? The Chairman of the Authority ruled this Question out of order. In response to a point of order on this matter, the Chairman stated that he did not consider the question to relate to the functions of the Authority. 7 Finance and Personnel Committee – summary report of issues considered on 12 March 2012 (Agenda item 6) Report (14.03.12) by the Clerk to the Authority – FEP 1904 The Commissioner for Fire and Emergency Planning answered questions from Members on points of detail. The motion was made by Councillor Heaster – That the report (FEP 1904) be noted. The motion was seconded by the Chairman and, after debate, was put and agreed. Resolved – accordingly. 1365 15 March 2012 8 Budget 2012/13 (Agenda item 7) Report (02.03.12) by the Director of Finance and Contractual Services – FEP 1891 The Chairman introduced the report. After debate and in accordance with Standing Order 38(a) the motion was made by the Chairman – That the meeting be suspended for a period of five minutes. The motion was seconded by Councillor Heaster. Resolved – accordingly. 9 Suspension of Meeting The meeting was suspended at 2.36 p.m. 10 Reconvened Meeting The meeting reconvened at 2.41 p.m. 11 Budget 2012/13 (continued) (Agenda item 7) Following discussion, during which, following an intervention by Councillor Stacy, it was confirmed that Appendix 5 to the report had been withdrawn from consideration, the motion was made by the Chairman – That, subject to Appendix 5 to the report (FEP 1891) being withdrawn:- (1) a 2012/13 revenue budget of £379,800k be approved being made up of net expenditure of £409,800k with £30,000k funding from reserves; (2) the revenue estimates as set out in Appendices 1 to 3 to the report (FEP 1891) showing proposed savings and budget movements be approved, subject to reference number SAV070 in Appendix 3 to the report (FEP 1891) being suspended pending a further report on the subject being submitted to the Authority in June; (3) the establishment changes associated with the revenue budget as set out in Appendix 3 to the report (FEP 1891) are agreed; (4) the capital programme with gross expenditure in 2012/13 of £12,519k as set out in Appendix 4 to the report (FEP 1891) be agreed; and (5) that the Authority give notice to the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) that it wishes to withdraw its membership, avoiding costs of £9k in 2012/13. The motion was seconded by Councillor Heaster. After debate, in accordance with Standing Order 13(a) and noting a request from Councillor Aherne that the vote be taken in two parts, the Chairman called for a roll call vote on parts (1) to (4) of the motion, at which there were – 1366 15 March 2012 For the motion (11) Councillor Tony Arbour AM Councillor Gareth Bacon AM Mr David Cartwright Councillor Brian Coleman AM Councillor Susan Hall Councillor Maurice Heaster OBE Mr Richard Tracey JP, AM Councillor Colin Tandy Councillor Mike Fisher Councillor Terry Stacy MBE, JP Mr Mike Tuffrey AM Against the motion (6) Councillor Colin Aherne Councillor Liaquat Ali MBE, JP Councillor Darren Johnson AM Councillor Crada Onuegbu Councillor Navin Shah AM Mr Murad Qureshi AM Parts (1) – (4) of the motion was declared to be carried.