Agenda and minutes

Venue: Town Hall, Moorgate Street, Rotherham. S60 2TH

Contact: Debbie Bacon, Senior Democratic Services Officer, Committee Services 

Items
No. Item

23.

Minutes of the previous meeting held on 13th December, 2011 pdf icon PDF 33 KB

Minutes:

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee – Rotherham and Sheffield held on 13th December, 2011 be agreed as a true record.

24.

Matters Arising

Minutes:

With regards to Minute No. 16 (Success Planning of Emergency Planning Manager) Mr. Anthony McDermott had taken up the position with effect from Monday, 19th March, 2012.

 

Reference was also made to Minute No. 18 (Training) and the training session that took place in Sheffield attended by ten Elected Members in total.

 

It was suggested to encourage attendance at the formal training that an update seminar on Emergency Planning, Business Continuity and the Shared Service be arranged in Rotherham.

25.

Emergency Planning Budget and Service Delivery Implications

Minutes:

Ian Smith, Interim Asset Manager, gave an update on the current budget situation and suggested that a breakdown report be provided to the next meeting of this Joint Committee in June, 2012.

 

Resolved:-  That a report be submitted to the next meeting of the Joint Committee to be held on Thursday, 14th June, 2012.

26.

Elected Member Engagement pdf icon PDF 31 KB

Minutes:

The Joint Committee noted the arrangements for the second event for Members scheduled to take place in June in Rotherham Town Hall. The format and content of the second session was to be same as the first session run in Sheffield and, therefore, those Members that attended in February were not expected to attend in June.

 

At the event in Sheffield on the 14th February, 2012, the new Elected Members Guidance Document was distributed.  .For those Elected Members who did not attend a letter would be distributed informing them of the June date with the accompanying guidance document.

 

Resolved:-  That the information be noted.

27.

Emergency Operations Room - Riverside House

Minutes:

The Joint Committee were informed that Rotherham’s Borough Emergency Operations Room had formally been relocated into Riverside House from Bailey House. The room was fully equipped and with the use of an adjoining room had the capacity for thirty officers. Directorate Control Rooms were also relocating from across the Borough to meeting rooms in Riverside House. The Emergency Planning and Shared Service were going through a series of testing before running a short exercise in June.

 

Resolved:-  That the information be noted.

28.

Business Continuity Management

Minutes:

The Joint Committee were informed that the Business Continuity Management software had continued to evolve since the demonstration in December, 2011 and it was the intention of the service to roll out the pilot sessions even further.  Neighbourhoods and Adult Services (Rotherham) were identified as one of the primary Directorates to roll this out to..

 

It was noted that owing to ICT acceptance issues at Sheffield, the pilots planned have been slightly delayed until security clearance had been granted.

 

The Emergency Planning Shared Service would continue to work with developers to encompass suggestions where practicable into the package to ensure the model delivered to the Councils was fit for purpose. 

 

Resolved:-  That the information be noted.

29.

Training and Exercising

Minutes:

Ian Smith, Interim Asset Manager, reported that a new training calendar had been put in place with plans for the training and exercising primarily taking place in the new Borough Emergency Operations Room in Riverside House.

 

Further training on the new response roles had taken place over the last three months in Sheffield. Following this the team were planning to run a ‘mini-exercise’ (2 hours) in May to fully test the new arrangements. The exercise would involve the setting up of not only the Emergency Operations Room, but also the Portfolio Control Rooms, with a re-run in Rotherham in June.

 

The Shared Service was involved in the planning for a number of multi-agency exercises with colleagues from the Local Resilience Forum and it was suggested that contact be made with the Joint Regional Liaison Officer for the Territorial Army to ascertain how they could be involved at any time in the future.

 

Resolved:-  That the information be noted.

30.

MJ Local Government Achievement Awards 2012 - Submission

Minutes:

Claire Hanson, Senior Business Continuity Officer, confirmed that a submission had been made to the Management Journal (MJ) Award scheme, under the Shared Service category on 17th February, 2012. This reflected a culmination of comments from Senior Managers and Officers across both Rotherham and Sheffield Councils, along with very supportive quotes from both Councillor Russell and Councillor Dore.  The key areas discussed in the submission included:-

 

·              The conception of the Emergency Planning Shared Service.

·              Planning and Developing the Shared Service.

·              Overcoming Obstacles.

·              Communication with Stakeholders.

·              The Shared Service Structure.

·              Delivering Goals and Achieving Targets.

·              Benefits and Outcomes.

·              Key Lessons Learned.

 

If the submission was successful and the Emergency Planning Shared Service was shortlisted as a finalist, notification would be received during April 2012, possibly with the requirement to attend a further interview between April and May, 2012.  If successful the awards will be presented at the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, London on a date to be confirmed.  Attendees at the event would be subject to confirmation.

 

Copies of the submission “Planning to Protect People – Preparing for the worst by sharing the best” had been circulated to the Joint Committee for information.

 

Resolved:-  That the information be noted.

31.

One Year Anniversary

Minutes:

Claire Hanson, Senior Business Continuity Officer, confirmed that the one year anniversary of the shared service was fast approaching.

 

It was possible that after the next meeting the arrangements for the Joint Committee could be handed over to Sheffield for Year 2, with Rotherham picking up the administration again in Year 3. Alternatively the administration responsibilities could remain with Rotherham, as the host authority for the shared service.

 

Discussion ensued on the practicalities of the Committee’s administration and whether or not consideration could be given to the administration remaining in Rotherham.  It was suggested that this be subject to further discussion.

 

Resolved:-  That the administration arrangements be determined and the Joint Committee be informed accordingly.

32.

Any other business

Minutes:

he Joint Committee had no further business to consider other than to express its thanks and appreciation to Alan Matthews, the previous Emergency and Safety Manager, and to ask that he be wished a long and happy retirement. Thanks and appreciation were also offered to Claire Hanson who had been managing the service in the interim prior to the newly-appointed Emergency and Safety Manager coming into post.

33.

Date, time and venue for the next meeting

Minutes:

Resolved:-  That the next meeting of the Emergency Planning Shard Services Joint Committee – Rotherham and Sheffield be held on Thursday, 14th June, 2012 at 12.30 p.m. at Rotherham Town Hall, Moorgate Street, Rotherham to be chaired by Councillor Julie Dore.