MINUTES LONDON FIRE & EMERGENCY PLANNING AUTHORITY

DATE Thursday 30 June 2016 TIME 2.00 pm VENUE The Chamber, City Hall, The Queen's Walk, London, SE1 2AA

Minutes of the proceedings of the meeting of London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority held in The Chamber, City Hall, The Queen's Walk, London, SE1 2AA, on Thursday 30 June 2016

Present:

Dr Fiona Twycross AM (Chair) AM AM Councillor JP, AM Councillor Councillor Oonagh Moulton AM AM Councillor AM Councillor Fiona Colley Councillor Councillor Martin Whelton Councillor Leonie Cooper AM Councillor Sarah Hayward Councillor Emma Dent Coad Councillor Jack Hopkins Councillor Mehboob Khan

1. Statement of Members Appointed

Resolved – That the appointments by the Mayor of London of the Members of the Authority, as listed on the agenda, be noted; and that the appointment of Councillor Amy Whitelock Gibbs, as set out on the updated and tabled agenda front sheet, also for the period 17 June 2016 to 31 March 2017, be additionally noted.

2. Apologies for Absence

An apology for absence was received on behalf of Councillor Amy Whitelock Gibbs.

3. Appointment of Vice-Chair of the Authority

The Authority, pursuant to Schedule 28, paragraph 3 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (as amended), proceeded to the appointment of a Vice-Chairman.

Councillor Martin Whelton was nominated by Councillor Leonie Cooper AM; the nomination was seconded by Councillor Florence Eshalomi AM.

There being no other nominations, Councillor Martin Whelton was duly appointed as Vice- Chair of the Authority for the period up until 31 March 2017.

Resolved – accordingly.

4. Minutes

The motion was made by the Chair – that the minutes of the Authority meeting held on 17 March 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.

5. Minutes of the Appointments and Urgency Committee

The motion was made by the Chair – that the minutes of the Appointments and Urgency Committee meeting held on 9 March 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.

6. Special Announcements by the Chair and reports by the Chair or the Clerk to the Authority of any Communications

The Chair placed on record the Authority’s thanks to those departing Members of the Authority - Councillor Liaquat Ali MBE JP; AM; Councillor David Cartwright QFSM; AM; Councillor Maurice Heaster OBE; Darren Johnson; Councillor Stephen Knight and Councillor Pauline Morrison – and paid tribute to the service of those Members to the Authority. The Chair then presented those departing Members who were present with gifts, as recognition of the Authority’s appreciation.

The Chair referred to the range of honours and awards received by Brigade staff in the past few months. The Chair noted that in Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th Birthday Honours, announced on Saturday, 11 June, Station Manager Sally Harper had been awarded the Queen’s Fire Service Medal. Throughout her career Sally had been at the forefront of changing attitudes and policies which had made the fire and rescue service more inclusive and accepting of women firefighters.

The Chair announced that DAC Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton had been awarded the prestigious ‘Raymond Nickerson Best Paper Award from JEP: Applied for 2015’ in relation to research into the way incident commanders made risk critical decisions.

The London Fire Brigade –Business Support Group and Anchor Trust had won the Partnership Award as part of the Primary Authority Awards 2016 at Westminster Conference in June.

Additionally, Inspecting Officer Ken Davies of the Redbridge, Havering, Barking and Dagenham Team had achieved 51 years service within the London Fire Brigade, participating in both the London Fire Brigade 100th and 150th anniversary celebrations.

The Chair announced that the Communications Department had successfully delivered the Brigade Games on 11 and 12 June, a free staff event to celebrate the London Fire Brigade’s 150 year anniversary held at the Copperbox Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The event, sponsored by Babcock, had included 5-a-side football, netball and volleyball, with an It’s a Knock Out themed afternoon over both days.

The Chair stated that, on 18 May 2016, the Brigade had received the first of 46 calls to a fire in a builders yard and industrial premises in Tower Hamlets. A total of 15 appliances had attended. On arrival, there had been a visible fire in the yard involving an industrial liquid petroleum gas cylinder. The fire had quickly escalated and spread to two adjacent blocks of flats. Twelve people left the flats uninjured, with a further occupant suffering from slight smoke inhalation. Fire Safety officers had since visited the builders yard and as a result were considering enforcement action.

The Chair announced that, on two occasions in June 2016, torrential rain and thunderstorms caused flash floods to parts of London. On 8 June, between 3pm and 6.15pm, Brigade Control received 436 calls which is what would normally be expected in a typical 24 hour period. The majority of these calls had been flood related, including 10 people trapped in their vehicles by rising floodwater. Over 140 of the calls received had been from Staffordshire and the West Midlands as part of mutual fallback arrangements, due to the fact that their control rooms had become overwhelmed with similar flash floods. Additionally, on 23 June, between 1.30am and 6.30am, Brigade Control had received 428 flood related calls including two that involved rescuing people from floodwater.

7. Disclosures of Interests and Dispensations

Resolved – That the updated details of membership of the GLA, other functional bodies and London Boroughs, as tabled at the meeting and also attached at Appendix 1, be noted. No further disclosures were made.

In accordance with Standing Order 47(b), the Chair varied the order of business to take Agenda Item 10 before Agenda Item 8.

8. Inclusion Strategy 2016-26 - FEP 2599 [Item 10]

Report of the Commissioner.

The Head of Strategy and Inclusion introduced the report.

The Chair moved the motion:

That the Authority approves:-

(1) The draft Inclusion Strategy 2016-26 (as set out in Appendix 1 to the report FEP2599); and

(2) The changes to the establishment as detailed in paragraph 25 of the report.

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

Resolved – accordingly.

9. Reconstitution of Committees, Standing Orders, Allowances, Delegations and Related Matters - FEP 2597 {Item 8]

Report by the Clerk to the Authority.

A document that set out the Chair’s motion and appended details of the proposed membership and Chairs and Vice-Chairs of all committees was tabled at the meeting.

The Chair moved the motion:

That the Authority –

(1) Notes the appointment by the Mayor of London of the Chair and Members of the Authority;

(2) Agrees to dis-apply strict proportionality rules in the allocation of seats on committees and allocate seats as set out in the document as tabled (and as attached at Appendix 2 to these minutes);

(3) Agrees that the committee structure as tabled be adopted for the year 2016-17 with the orders of reference for each body as set out in Appendix 1 to the report FEP 2597;

(4) Agrees to appoint Members and alternate Members to seats on committees in accordance with the document as tabled (and as attached at Appendix 2 to these minutes);

(5) Agrees to appoint the chairs and vice-chairs of committees in accordance with the document as tabled (and as attached at Appendix 2 to these minutes);

(6) Re-confirms the establishment of the Joint Council on the basis of the previously- approved constitution, attached at Appendix 2 to the report FEP2597, allocates seats on the Joint Council Employer’s Side and appoints Authority Members to the Joint Council as set out in the tabled document (and as attached at Appendix 2 to these minutes); agrees that Labour/Conservative Group Member can be substituted by any other LFEPA Member from their respective Groups; and agrees that the Chair of the Employer’s Side be chosen from among those Members present when it is the Employer’s Side’s turn to chair Joint Council meetings;

(7) Confirms the establishment of the Local Pension Board on the basis previously approved, as set out at paragraphs 19-24 of the report FEP2597, appoints Authority Members to the Board as set out at Appendix 2 to these minutes, noting that these appointees are unable to be Members of the Resources Committee; and notes that, in the interests of good governance, the Board will, as previously agreed, continue to be treated as a formal body in terms of publication of papers for Board meetings and the inclusion of legal, finance, equalities and sustainable development implications within reports to the Board;

(8) Approves the programme of Authority and committee meeting dates for the 2016-17 year (as set out in Appendix 4 to the report), subject to authority being delegated to the Clerk to the Authority, in consultation with Group Leaders, to agree an alternative date for the 15 July 2016 meeting of the Resources Committee;

(9) Approves the amended Standing Orders for the Authority (as set out at Appendix 5 to the report FEP2597) and approves the updated Scheme of Delegation of Functions to Officers, (as set out in Appendix 6 to the report FEP2597), to take effect at the close of the meeting;

(10) Adopts the Members Allowances Scheme as set out in Appendix 7 of the report FEP2597 for the 2016-17 year;

(11) Approves the updated draft Financial Regulations, as set out in Appendix 8 to the report FEP2597;

(12) Agrees to extend the appointment of Suzanne McCarthy and Anthony Moss as the Authority’s Independent Persons, under section 28(7) of the Localism Act 2011, to 31 March 2017; and

(13) Agrees that the Clerk to the Authority be instructed to implement the decisions on these matters and to discharge the associated statutory requirements as regards publicity and the keeping of records and to be given authority to make any minor, consequential revisions to the Authority’s governance documents referred to in this report as necessary following the decisions taken on this report.

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

Resolved – accordingly.

10. Representation on Outside Bodies - FEP 2598 [Item 9]

Report by the Clerk to the Authority.

A document setting out the Chair’s motion and appending proposed nominations to outside bodies was tabled at the meeting.

The motion was moved by the Chair:

That the Authority –

(1) Appoints representatives to the relevant bodies for the 2016-17 year as set out in the tabled document (and as attached at Appendix 3 to these minutes);

(2) Agrees that, upon ceasing to be a Member of the Authority, a Member's appointment as an LFEPA representative to an outside body automatically ends; and

(3) Agrees that, should there be any change to the Authority’s political balance during the municipal year, a report be submitted to the next meeting of the Authority to ensure that LFEPA’s representation on outside bodies remains consistent with the rules of proportionality.

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

Resolved – accordingly.

11. Sixth London Safety Plan - Timetable - FEP 2600

Report of the Commissioner.

The Head of Strategy and Inclusion introduced the report.

The Chair moved the motion:

That the Authority –

(1) Notes the timetable outlined in the report; and

(2) Agrees to establish a Members’ LSP6 Working Group, in accordance with paragraphs 14 and 15 of the report, and allocates seats and appoints Members to that Working Group, as follows:

Group MEMBER Labour Dr Fiona Twycross AM Labour Cllr Jack Hopkins Labour Cllr Sarah Hayward Labour Andrew Dismore AM Labour Cllr Mehboob Khan Labour Cllr Fiona Colley Conservative Cllr Gareth Bacon AM Conservative Cllr Susan Hall

Ungrouped Cllr Caroline Member Russell AM (Green) Ungrouped David Kurten Member AM (UKIP)

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

Resolved – accordingly.

12. Blue Light Collaboration - FEP 2601

Report of the Commissioner.

The Commissioner introduced the report and answered questions from Members.

The Chair moved the motion - That the Authority notes the report.

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

Resolved – accordingly.

13. Commissioner Recruitment - FEP 2602

Report of the Director of Finance and Contractual Services.

The Director of Finance and Contractual Services introduced the report.

The Chair moved the motion -

That a meeting of the Appointments and Urgency Committee be convened in July 2016 to consider interim and medium-term arrangements and options for recruitment to the post of Commissioner.

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

Resolved – accordingly.

14. Change in Sentencing Guidelines for Health and Safety Offences - FEP 2603

Report of the Director of Safety and Assurance.

The Director of Safety and Assurance introduced the report.

The Chair moved the motion – That the Authority notes the report and the proposal that Members be offered a training/awareness session on health and safety management, risk and liability.

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

Resolved – accordingly.

15. Policy on Declaration of Interests by Employees - FEP 2604

Report of the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services introduced the report.

The Chair moved the motion:

That the Authority:-

(1) Approves a new Policy on Declaration of Interests by Employees as set out in Appendix 1 to the report FEP2604;

(2) Authorises the removal from Policy Number 551 of the specified elements as set out in paragraph 3 to the introduction/background to the report FEP2604;

(3) Agrees the use of the proposed Guidance Note on Policy on Declaration of Interests by Employees (Appendix 2 to the report) and the proposed Declaration of Interests by Employees Flowchart (Appendix 3 to the report) to provide information and assistance to both employees and heads of service; and

(4) Instructs officers to implement the new policy and publicise it to employees.

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

Resolved – accordingly.

16. Update on London Resilience Arrangements - FEP 2605

Report of the Assistant Commissioner, Operational Resilience.

The Assistant Commissioner, Operational Resilience introduced the report.

The Chair moved the motion:

That the Authority notes the content of the report and approves:-

(1) The new structural arrangements, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report; and

(2) The financial arrangements with the GLA and Local Authorities, as set out in paragraph 16 of the report.

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

Resolved – accordingly.

17. Authority - Summary List of Actions - FEP 2606

Report of 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.

18. Questions from Members (in accordance with Standing Order 20) – 30 June 2016 – FEP 2607

Questions from Members for the meeting on 30 June 2016, 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:

Question 463 From David Kurten AM

What is the last line of defence to supply water to Londoners in the case of a severe drought?

Commissioner’s written response

The statutory responsibility for the water supply in London rests with the water companies. However, response arrangements to drought are described in the London Resilience Partnership Drought Response Framework. In summary the Environment Agency and water companies will work with national and local government agencies to identify risks and mitigation measures. This includes actions to reduce the use of water through, for example, awareness and hosepipe bans. Furthermore the Environment Agency and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are empowered through legislation such as the Water Resources Act to issue orders restricting the use of water.

London Fire Brigade has a duty under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 to ensure that it can secure water supplies for firefighting purposes. In addition under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 LFB must make arrangements to maintain business continuity during foreseeable circumstances, such as drought. Should a period of drought result in such restricted water supplies that could impair our operational response, the LFB would invoke its business continuity arrangements to ensure that the brigades statutory duties are maintained. Within LFB our Water Office team maintains relationships with the various water supply companies serving London and, should water supplies be restricted in time of drought to such an extent that they might impact on operational firefighting capability, arrangements are in place to request that supplies be supplemented. During periods of drought LFB of course also contributes to emergency water saving actions by restricting use for operational training and other purposes.

Question 464 Andrew Dismore AM

What discussions have you had with the Mayor about LSP6 and the funding of the Brigade?

Chair’s written response:

At my regular meeting with the Mayor, we discussed both the budget and the development of LSP6. The Mayor will be commissioning a Review of Resourcing of the London Fire Brigade to ensure that the service is fully equipped for the challenges ahead.

Andrew Dismore AM: Can you give us a timetable for the review?

Chair: The review of resourcing will be announced imminently. It is anticipated that it will completed in the early autumn, in time to be fed into the draft London Safety Plan.

19. Urgent Business

There was no urgent business.

20. Urgent Exempt Business

There was no exempt urgent business.

The meeting ended at 2.41pm.

Signed By: Chair

Ed Williams, round Floor, 169 Union Street, London, SE1 OLL; telephone: 020 8555 1200 ext 30084; e-mail:[email protected] Clerk to LONDON FIRE & EMERGENCY PLANNING AUTHORITY