Agenda and minutes

Resolved:- (1) That Councillor Richard Russell from Rotherham Metropolitan Boroug Council be appointed Chairman of the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee (Rotherham and Sheffield) for the 2013/14 Municipal Year.

(Councillor Richard Russell assumed the Chair)

(2) That Councillor Jack Scott of Sheffield City Council be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee (Rotherham and Sheffield) for the 2013/14 Municipal Year.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee (Rotherham and Sheffield), held on 6^th December, 2012, be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

With regards to Minute No. 12(c) (Revision of the Rotherham and Sheffield Major Incident Plans) it was noted that the Sheffield plan required some updating and both plans would be refreshed in due course.

An update was provided in relation to Minute No. 14 (Corporate Planning Exercises) and noted that the report in relation to Exercise Trio was to be recirculated following its delay.  The exercise was considered a success and lessons learnt would be incorporated.

(a)       Budget Outturn 2012/13

(b)       Budget 2013/14

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Colin Earl, Director of Audit and Asset Management, which detailed the 2012/13 financial out-turn for the Emergency Planning Shared Service (Rotherham and Sheffield). The report highlighted the following key issues:-

·                The under-spend achieved during the 2012/13 financial year.

·                Financial savings achieved during the 2012/13 financial year.

·                The cumulative balance of the Shared Service achieved during the past two financial years.

The Joint Committee noted the level of savings which the Shared Service was required to make in the 2013/14 financial year and both local authorities have indicated they supported the carrying forward of the cumulative balance to assist in reducing the impact of these necessary savings.

Members also noted that the Shared Service was completing essential work on reservoir risk assessments and developing temporary mortuary and excess deaths provision for Rotherham and Sheffield, in part using the budget’s cumulative balance and this work could not proceed at its current pace without the carry-forward of the under-spent amounts from the previous year.

The Shared Service had successfully managed its budget since its creation. Subject to the agreement by both authorities, the service expected to bring forward an opening balance of £49,743.

Both authorities have agreed this balance should be retained and used by the service to offset the impact of budgets cuts effective from April, 2013.

Benchmarking completed in 2012 showed the service to be the leanest amongst a benchmark group of most similar authorities/shared services. However, in view of the challenges being faced by both Rotherham and Sheffield, along with many other Councils, the Service had been required to achieve around 15% savings in 2013/14.

The budget adjustments would make the contributions available from Sheffield and Rotherham £236,831 and £112,500 respectively - a total of £349,331. After making budget reductions, the required spend for the year had been identified as £367,135. It was proposed to make up the difference of £17,804 from the balance brought forward from 2012/13.

The report submitted also showed the main variances between 2012/13 and 2013/14 and how the main budget reductions were achieved and which would deliver the budget while minimising the impact on the service.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That the cumulative balance of £49,743, within the budget of the Emergency Planning Shared Service (Rotherham and Sheffield), be carried forward from the 2012/13 financial year to the 2013/14 financial year in order to assist in off-setting the budget reductions taking effect from 1^st April, 2013.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Anthony McDermott, Emergency and Safety Manager, which provided a general update on the following key issues affecting the development of the Emergency Planning Shared Services in 2013/14 and beyond:-

·                Revision of the Borough Emergency Plan (Rotherham Borough Council) and The Major Incident Plan (Sheffield City Council).

·                The Shared Service Concept.

·                Emergency Mortuary Arrangements.

·                Reservoir Grant.

·                The transfer of Public Health functions to Local Government.

·                The role of Rotherham Borough Council’s Health and Safety Team in civil contingencies.

The Joint Committee was informed that, notwithstanding future budgetary restrictions, the Shared Service concept was still providing a good level of service to both local authorities and engaged in a number of areas to support the civil contingencies provision of both authorities.

Resolved:- That the report be received and the contents noted.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Anthony McDermott, Emergency and Safety Manager, which provided an update regarding the latest developments within the Local Resilience Forum.

Further information was provided on the multi-agency arrangements to manage emergency situations and major incidents and the Committee noted that the Local Resilience Forum was better placed to meet the civil contingency challenges facings its members and local communities.

In addition, the Emergency and Safety Manager also gave a short presentation which set out further information on the South Yorkshire Community Risk Register, which had been subject to an extensive review by the new Risk Management and Planning Group.

The presentation covered:-

·                The Multi-Agency Co-operation – L.R.F. duty for Risk Assessment.

·                Risk Assessments Methodology.

·                Individual Risk Assessments.

·                South Yorkshire Risk Profile.

·                South Yorkshire Risk Profile – Red Risks.

·                South Yorkshire Risk Priority Profile.

·                Recommendations for the South Yorkshire Local Resilience Group.

Resolved:-  That the report and presentation be received and the contents noted.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Claire Hanson, Senior Business Continuity Officer, which provided an update regarding the activities within both Rotherham and Sheffield Councils in terms of developing business continuity arrangements, including the on-going development and roll out of BCMShared.

The Committee were informed that the ultimate goal was to develop fit for purpose, robust business continuity arrangements across all departments of both authorities and overarching corporate structures in place to respond to any significant business continuity disruption.

Resolved:-  That the report be received and the contents noted.

Proposals:-

September/October:-

24, 27 or 30 September, 2013 at 2.00 pm – informal briefing for Elected Members (exact date to be confirmed);

2, 4, or 11 October pm – informal briefing for Elected Members (exact date to be confirmed);

December

3, 4, 5, 12, 17 0r 19 December, 2013 at 2.00 pm (with a briefing at 1.30 pm) – full meeting of the Joint Committee (exact date to be confirmed).

Consideration was given to the future dates and times of the next meetings.

Resolved:-  That the Emergency Planning Shared Service Joint Committee take place on the following dates:-

·                Informal Briefing – September, 2013 – date to be confirmed.

·                Tuesday, 10^th December, 2013 at 2.00 p.m. with a briefing at 1.30 p.m.

·                Informal Briefing - Tuesday, 4^th March, 2014 at 2.00 p.m.

·                Tuesday, 10^th June, 2014 at 2.00 p.m. with a briefing at 1.30 p.m.