Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, County Hall, East Sussex County Council, St Anne's Crescent, Lewes

Contact: Abigail Blanshard  Email: democraticservices@esfrs.org

Items
No. Item

82.

Declarations of Interest

In relation to matters on the agenda, seek declarations of interest from Members, in accordance with the provisions of the Fire Authority’s Code of Conduct for Members.

Minutes:

There were none.

83.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Cllr Marlow-Eastwood.

84.

Notification of items which the Chairman considers urgent and proposes to take at the end of the agenda/Chairman's business items

Any Members wishing to raise urgent items are asked, wherever possible to notify the Chairman before the start of the meeting.  In so doing they must state the special circumstances which they consider justify the matter being considered urgently

Minutes:

There were none.

85.

To consider any public questions

Minutes:

There were none.

86.

To receive any petitions

Minutes:

There were none.

87.

Non-confidential Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 318 KB

To approve the Non-confidential Minutes of the last meeting held on 9 December 2021

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the non-confidential minutes of the meeting on 9 December 2021 be approved.

88.

Callover

The Chairman will call the item numbers of the remaining items on the open agenda.  Each item which is called by any Member shall be reserved for debate.  The Chairman will then ask the Fire Authority to adopt without debate the recommendations and resolutions contained in the relevant reports for these items which have not been called.

Minutes:

Members reserved the following items for debate:

 

152     Fire Authority Service Planning processes for 2022/23 and beyond – Revenue Budget 2022/23 and Capital Asset Strategy 2022/23 to 2026/27

153     Treasury Management Strategy for 2022/23

154     Annual Pay Policy Statement 2022/23

89.

Fire Authority Service Planning processes for 2022/23 and beyond - Revenue Budget 2022/23 and Capital Asset Strategy 2022/23 to 2026/27 pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Report of the Chief Fire Officer and Assistant Director Resources/Treasurer

Minutes:

The Fire Authority considered the report of the Chief Fire Officer (CFO) and Assistant Director Resources/Treasurer (ADR/T) which presented the Fire Authority’s Revenue Budget 2022/23, Capital Strategy 2022/23-2026/27 and Medium Term Finance Plan 2022/23-2026/27 for approval.  The ADR/T explained that the report set out the final budget proposals and although the Business Rates figures were still being analysed and were included here as estimates the final figures would not change either the precept or the proposed budget provision.  Since the report was written, the final Local Government Finance Settlement had been announced and there were no changes to the figures in the report as a result.  Confirmation of specific grants from the Home Office was still awaited but the understanding was that the largest of these, the Pension Grant, would be unchanged from the current year and this was reflected in the budget proposals.  The Council tax referendum threshold remained at 2% for all fire authorities excepting those in the lowest quartile.

 

Whilst the Government had conducted a three year spending review the settlement was only for one year.  The settlement for 2022/23 was better than anticipated primarily due to the receipt of a one off Service Grant of £0.535m. however there remained significant uncertainty for funding beyond that.

 

The ADR/T explained that the Authority’s increase in core spending power for 2022/23 of 4.1% was the second lowest in English Fire Authorities and well below the average of 4.7%.  The proposed budget was a balanced one with a proposed Council Tax increase of 1.99% - equivalent to £1.91 per week for a Band D property.

 

In order to balance the budget in 2022/23 a total of £0.432m of reserves would be used.  Including £0.200m to support investment in protection services beyond the one-off grant funding provided by Government.  Whilst the use of reserves was a legitimate approach it was not financially sustainable and therefore could not form an ongoing part of budget setting.  The general balances were below the agreed policy minimum level and would be for the next couple of years.

 

The ADR/T noted that despite the difficult financial circumstances the Authority planned to continue to invest in its IT, Fleet and Estates.  The Capital Programme over 5 years was set to increase by £4.8m to £28.2m and this included an additional investment of £3.8m in its operational training facilities to maintain firefighter competence and safety.

 

The Authority’s reserves were forecast to reduce from £16.7m to £5.2m over the next 5 years as a result of planned investment and borrowing would increase from £10.3m to £21.8m, with revenue costs of borrowing increasing by £0.9m.

 

The Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) had modelled 3 scenarios they were set out in detail within the report and represented the mid, best and worse case scenarios.  These were wide ranging, including some additional measures to manage risk and provide greater financial sustainability, and the advice to the Authority was to plan for the mid case scenario whilst remembering that the forecasts were only  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

90.

Treasury Management Strategy for 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 937 KB

Report of the Assistant Director Resources/Treasurer

Minutes:

The Fire Authority considered the report of the Assistant Director Resources/Treasurer (ADR/T) seeking approval of the Treasury Management strategy, policy statement and the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Statement 2022/23.  The report contained recommendations about borrowing limits, the prudential indicators and limits, the investment strategy and policy as required by Section 3 (1) of the Local Government Act 2003 and the Prudential Code for Capital Finance 2017.

 

The emphasis remained on security and liquidity. As was clear from global events, it was impossible in practical terms to eliminate all credit risk however the Fire Authority sought to be prudent.  The Authority was recommended to approve borrowing limits to give flexibility for any future consideration in undertaking new external long-term / replacement borrowing should the need arise or market conditions prove favourable.

 

The Fire Authority has always adopted a prudent approach on its investment strategy, and, in the last few years, there had been regular changes to the list of the approved organisations used for investment of short term surpluses. No further changes to the Investment Strategy were proposed for 2022/23.

 

Since March 2020 global economic events triggered by the COVID 19 pandemic had caused the Authority to pause consideration of entering longer duration funds.

 

The Fire Authority is exploring Investment options that meet Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) aims.  This parameter will act as a 4th consideration to investment decisions behind Security, Liquidity and Yield. The preservation of capital remained the Authority’s principal overriding priority.  Members were pleased to see the stated support for ESG investment products and for the investment of £1m that had been made in 2021.  It was confirmed that this represented approximately 5% of the Authority’s portfolio. The current availability of ESG products was relatively narrow, but it was encouraging this investment offered a better return than other comparable non-ESG products.  Members welcomed this investment and hoped that there would be increased ESG investments in the future.

 

RESOLVED: The Fire Authority agreed to:

 

(i)             approve the treasury management strategy and policy statement for 2022/23 (and adopt for the remainder of 2021/22);

(ii)            determine that for 2022/23 the Authorised Limit for borrowing shall be £12.767m;

(iii)          adopt the prudential indicators as set out in the attached Appendix 2;

(iv)          approve the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Statement for 2022/23 as set out in the attached Appendix 3; and

(v)           approve the Annual Investment strategy for 2022/23 as set out in Section 5 including the additional consideration of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors.

 

91.

Annual Pay Policy Statement 2022-23 pdf icon PDF 152 KB

Report of the Assistant Director People Services

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Fire Authority received the report of the Assistant Director People Services (ADPS) presenting the Fire Authority’s Pay Policy Statement for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.  The Localism Act 2011 imposes a duty on relevant local authorities to prepare pay policy statements for each financial year and must be approved by the statutory deadline of 31 March 2022.

 

Members raised a query regarding the differential between the highest and lowest paid within the Service.  Officers reminded the Authority that the pay grades for Senior Officers were set by Members on the Principal Officer Appointments Panel.

 

RESOLVED: That the Fire Authority approve the Pay Policy Statement as set out in the Appendix to the report.

 

92.

Exclusion of the Press & Public

To consider whether, in view of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, the press and public should be excluded from the remainder of the meeting on the grounds that, if the public and press were present, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

 

Note: Any item appearing in the confidential part of the Agenda will state the category under which the information disclosed in the report is confidential and therefore not available to the public.

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That agenda item 156 be exempt under paragraphs 2 and 3 of Part 1 Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006 and accordingly are not open for public inspection on the following grounds: that they contain information that may reveal the identity of an individual and information relating to the business affairs of the Fire Authority.

 

93.

Confidential Minutes of the Previous Meeting

To approve the Confidential Minutes of the last meeting held on 9 December 2021

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the confidential minutes of the meeting on 9 December 2021 be approved.