Agenda and minutes

Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee (Rotherham and Sheffield) - Wednesday 18 July 2012 2.00 p.m.

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

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

Items
No.	Item
1.	Confirmation of the Chair of the Emergency Planning, Shared Services Joint Committee (Rotherham and Sheffield) for the 2012/13 Municipal Year. Minutes: Resolved: - That Councillor Jack Scott, Cabinet Member for Environment, Recycling and Streetscene, Sheffield City Council, be confirmed as the Chair of the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee (Rotherham and Sheffield) for the 2012/13 Municipal Year.
2.	Minutes of the previous meeting held on 23rd March, 2012. PDF 35 KB Minutes: Resolved: - That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee (Rotherham and Sheffield) be agreed as an accurate record for signature by the Chairman.
3.	Matters arising from the previous minutes. Minutes: Under item 26 (Elected Member Engagement) of the previous minutes, it was noted that training for Elected Members had been cancelled. This would be re-scheduled for a future date subject to a request for this. Under item 30 (MJ Local Government Achievement Awards 2012 – Submission) of the previous minutes, it was noted that the submission made in relation to the Shared Service had not been successful. Feedback would be sought to determine why this was the case.
4.	Reservoir Grant. Minutes: The Emergency Safety Manager informed the meeting of recent DEFRA criteria in relation to Reservoir Plans and grant monies to undertake the planning process. Under these criteria, one hundred reservoirs across the country were to have their own, site-specific Emergency Plan. This would detail actions to be put in place following a reservoir being compromised or breaking. Sheffield City Council received significant funds from DEFRA for the site specific planning and other measures necessary to cater for its nine reservoirs that fell within the criteria. On-site plans are required to be implemented by 2014 after being signed-off by the Local Resilience Forum. A generic, off-site plan would continue to be required for the reservoirs that were not in the top one hundred of DEFRA’s criteria. Other ongoing works with grant funding included: - Public awareness raising; Training programmes for local authority and partner organisations; Live exercises. Discussion ensued and the following issues were raised: - Need to inform members of the public and local stakeholders on all areas of the work to ensure that undue alarm was not caused by any emergency planning activities that were taking place in the vicinity of the reservoir; Emphasis that the role of the plan was a proactive one and related to a worst case scenario. Resolved: - (1) That the information be noted. (2) That an update on the Reservoir Planning process be reported to the next meeting.
5.	Emergency Planning Exercise. Minutes: The meeting heard how an exercise had taken place in Sheffield in relation to the testing of an emergency control room. The exercise was successful and a small number of issues had been highlighted for future development. These included: - Staffing structures within the incident room; Provision of personal assistant type support to managers. On 29th and 30th November, 2012, a major two day exercise would take place in Sheffield. Day one would encompass the response element, and day two would encompass recovery issues. A further exercise would be conducted in Rotherham in February 2013. It was reported that the emergency control room in Rotherham’s Riverside House had been deployed following potential flooding on 6th July, 2012. A small number of snagging issues had been experienced, as this was the first time the room had been used to respond to an emergency. These issues were being addressed. A joint Council exercise/s would take place in the future. Resolved: - That the information shared be noted.
6.	Budget Monitoring. Minutes: Information in relation the 2011/12 actual outturn budget and 2012/13 budget for the Emergency Planning Shared Service was noted. It was noted that the 2012/13 budget had made a 10% saving on the previous year. Resolved: - (1) That the actual outturn for the Emergency Planning Shared Service’s budget for 2011/12 be noted. (2) That the budget for the Emergency Planning Shared Service for 2012/13 be noted.
7.	Business Continuity Software Update. Minutes: The Senior Business Continuity Officer reported on the ongoing efforts in relation to the design and roll-out of new business continuity software. The new software was compatible with the Shared Service and included: - A needs assessment of each directorate’s/portfolio’s emergency planning requirements; Accommodation issues in relation to emergency/contingency planning; Corporate priorities were taken account of; Recovery issues were included; Greater ability to manipulate and drill down on data than previous software. Pilot sessions had been held in Rotherham and Sheffield and feedback had been incorporated into the software. Director/Assistant Director level Strategic Groups had been initiated in both Councils that focused on increasing corporate buy-in. from across the organisations. Following full roll-out of the software, feedback would be sought from all users. Resolved: - (1) That the information shared be noted. (2) That a further update on the new Business Continuity Software be presented to the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee at a future meeting.
8.	Shared Service Update. Minutes: The Emergency Safety Manager reported to the meeting that an internal review of the Emergency Planning Service had been concluded and that an action plan would be completed. The action plan would include: - Future service developments; Priorities. Resolved: - (1) That a report be presented to a future meeting of the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee outlining options for the future.
9.	Any other business. Minutes: Training for Elected Members: - It was reported that training on emergency planning and business continuity had been included in the induction package for Sheffield’s new Elected Members. This was provided through seminars and training sessions. Further training opportunities were being explored to include an Elected Member’s role in an incident situation. Resolved: - That the information shared be noted.
10.	Dates, time and venue for future meetings:- Proposals:- October, 2012 Tuesday, 9^th October, 2012 at 2.00 p.m. Friday, 12^th October, 2012 at 2.00 p.m. Tuesday, 23^rd October, 2012 at 1.30 p.m. December, 2012 Thursday, 6^th December, 2012 at 2.00 p.m. Wednesday, 19^th December, 2012 at 2.00 p.m. March, 2013 Monday, 11^th March, 2013 at 2.30 p.m. Tuesday, 19^th March, 2013 at 2.30 p.m. Friday, 22^nd March, 2013 at 2.30 p.m. June, 2013 Thursday, 6^th June, 2013 at 2.30 p.m. Tuesday, 11^th June, 2013 at 2.00 p.m. Minutes: Resolved: - That the future meetings of the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee (Rotherham and Sheffield) take place on: - o Tuesday 9th October, 2012, to start at 2.00 pm; o Thursday 6th December, 2012, to start at 2.00 pm; o Tuesday 19th March, 2013, to start at 2.30 pm; o Tuesday 11th June, 2013, to start at 2.00 pm. All meetings would take place in the Rotherham Town Hall.