Agenda and minutes

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

Contact: Martin Elliott 

Items
No. Item

1.

To appoint a Chair for 2021/22

Minutes:

It was noted that in accordance with the Terms of Reference for the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee that the Chair of the meeting should alternate between a Rotherham MBC member and a Sheffield CC member on an annual basis. During 2020/21 the Joint Committee had been chaired by Councillor Alam of Rotherham MBC.

 

Councillor McDonald advised that due to other commitments that she would be unable to chair all of the meetings during 2021/22. Members and officers discussed alternative solutions for the chairing of the meeting during 2021/22

 

Agreed: -

 

1)    That Councillor Alam of Rotherham MBC continue to chair meetings of the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee for the immediate future.

 

2)    That officers look at possible options to the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee Terms of Reference to allow the Chair to be alternated or shared between Sheffield and Rotherham.

2.

To determine any item which the Chairman is of the opinion should be considered later in the agenda as a matter of urgency.

Minutes:

There were no urgent items.

3.

Minutes of the previous meeting held on 30 March 2021 pdf icon PDF 141 KB

Minutes:

Agreed: - 

 

That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee (Rotherham and Sheffield), held on 30 March 2021 be approved as a correct record.

 

4.

Matters arising from the previous minutes (not covered by the agenda items).

Minutes:

Officers noted that since the last meeting that some training had been offered and that a broader training programme was being developed as part of the service plan.

 

Officers advised that the benchmarking activity had been completed and that options for the Shared Service were had been identfied and were being developed. It was noted that a further update would be brought to a future meeting of the Joint Committee.

 

5.

Revised Joint Committee Terms of Reference pdf icon PDF 124 KB

To approve a revised Terms of Reference for the Joint Committee

Minutes:

In accordance with the Terms of Reference for the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee that stated that the Terms of Reference should be reviewed biennially, a revised Terms of Reference was submitted for consideration. It was noted that there was only one proposed amendment in the Budget and Accounts section that was:

 

“To review and make recommendations of the annual revenue budget for the service for submission to the executives of the Councils.”

 

Members and officers noted their support for the proposed amendment.

 

Agreed: -

 

That the revised Terms of Reference for the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee be approved.

6.

Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 227 KB

To approve a Forward Plan of business for the Joint Committee.

Minutes:

In accordance with the request from members made at the March 2021 meeting of the Joint Committee officers presented a Forward Plan of business for the Joint Committee for the municipal year 2021/22. The Plan had been based on the committee’s Terms of Reference and the priorities for Shared Service.

 

Agreed: -

 

1)    That the Forward Plan be approved.

 

2)    That am item on lessons learned from the response by the Shared Service to the pandemic be added to the Forward Plan.

 

3)    That an item on national issues and national strategies with regard to Emergency Planning be added to the Forward Plan.

 

4)    That an item detailing issues related to and impacting on Emergency Planning across the wider South Yorkshire area be added to the Forward Plan.

7.

2020/21 Budget outturn position

Report to follow.

Minutes:

Members considered a report that had been submitted that detailed the 2020/21 Budget Outturn for the Emergency Planning Shared Service.

 

It was noted that the £85,000 underspend detailed in the report, and that had been reported at previous meetings of the Joint Committee related to 2019/20 and 2020/21. It was noted that it was proposed that the underspend would be rolled over to 2021/22. The Chair noted the unprecedented challenges that the pandemic had presented for the service and the related change of focus of activity that had resulted in the underspend occurring, and that as such he was supportive of the proposed rolling over of the underspend to the 2021/22 budget.

 

Members agreed that an ongoing surplus over a number of years was not a desirable situation but noted that a large proportion of previous underspends had be largely due to vacant posts that that had now been filled. Officers agreed that this was an area of concern and advised that proposals were being developed in order to address the underspend and to ensure a balanced budget in future years.

 

Agreed: -

 

1)    That the report be noted.

 

2)    That the proposal to roll the budget underspend from 2019/20 and 2020/21 into the 2021/22 budget be supported.

8.

2021/22 in year budget position pdf icon PDF 278 KB

Minutes:

In accordance with the Joint Committee’s Terms of Reference, a report was submitted to provide members with an in-year budget position for the Emergency Planning Shared Service. A summary breakdown of the in-year budget position was attached as an appendix to the officer’s report.

 

It was noted that:

 

·       All posts within establishment had now filled.

 

·       A team training needs analysis would be undertaken in line with revisions to service plan – therefore showing a balanced budget to this nominal until the outcome of this is known.

 

·       Security clearance and vetting costs for all strategic commander (Borough Emergency Coordinator and Duty Chief Officer) had been previously agreed to be funded via the underspends. This was currently being absorbed within the revenue budget.

 

Agreed: - That the report be noted.

 

 

9.

Service Update

Verbal Report.

Minutes:

Officers provided a verbal update on the Emergency Planning Shared Service on issues including:

 

·       The work of Local Resilience Forum (LRF) partners regarding the Covid response and recovery.

 

·        Activity surrounding the review of the multi-agency flood plan.

 

·       LRF activity surrounding cyber-awareness and the planned exercise in October that would aid planning and preparedness for a potential cyber incident.

 

·       Training activity across the LRF and partners

 

Members asked for further information on activity regarding risk management planning surrounding multiple and concurrent major incidents.

 

Agreed: -  

 

1)    That the update be noted.

 

2)    That an item on activity regarding risk management planning surrounding multiple and concurrent major incidents be added to the Forward Plan of the Joint Committee.

 

10.

Community Engagement - Update

Verbal Report.

Minutes:

Officers provided a verbal update on Community Engagement activity with regard to the Emergency Planning Shared Service.

 

In introducing the update officers noted the importance of community resilience as the impact of incidents on communities could be significant. It was noted that the lack of resources for activity in developing and maintaining community resilience was a continuing challenge but was an area that had been highlighted for future activity and development.

 

With regard to community engagement regarding flooding, officers advised that more activity was needed across both Sheffield and Rotherham in order to maximise community resilience. Officers advised that work was being carried out in partnership with the Environment Agency and a training provider to deliver training in communities that would develop resilience in communities regarding major flooding incidents. Officers detailed the work that was being carried out regarding this activity.

 

Members welcomed the planned activity in communities and noted the importance that communications in the community on the issue were varied and not solely digitally based. Members requested that an update be brought to a future meeting of the Joint Committee regarding the roll-out and implementation of this activity.

 

Officers advised that that many of the principles of the flood action plan and other related plans regarding flooding were transferable and could be used to in the response to other types of major incidents.

 

The Chair welcomed the proposals and requested that equalities considerations were taken into account when planning the training activity in order to prevent digital exclusion in communities.

 

Agreed: -

 

1)    That the update be noted.

 

2)    That an item be added to the Forward Plan for alternate meetings to provide members with an update on community engagement activity.

 

 

 

 

 

11.

Date, time and venue for the next meeting:-

That the next meeting of the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee take place on Thursday 9 September 2021 at 1:30pm as a Microsoft Teams meeting.

Minutes:

Agreed: - That the next meeting of the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee take place on Thursday 9 September 2021 at 1:30pm as Microsoft Teams meeting.