Agenda item

To put questions, if any, to the designated Members on the discharge of functions of the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and South Yorkshire Pensions Authority, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11(5).

There were 9 questions for the designated spokespersons:

(1)  Councillor Ball noted the data sharing assisted bin collection collaboration between RMBC and SYFR had now started so asked how could this be promoted more as it would ultimately save lives?

Councillor Knight, Designated Spokesperson on South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority, confirmed the Fire Authority very much welcomed the collaboration with the Council around assisted bin collection data, which it hoped would make hundreds of people safer by allowing the service to offer Home Fire Safety Visits to residents who may be at greater risk of fire. The Fire Service had already promoted this initiative in the local press and online and would now use the initiative as a case study to encourage other partners to securely share appropriate levels of data where there was a clear public safety benefit.

In a supplementary question Councillor Ball gave praise to Barry Connolly and his team they had got this well organised. He, therefore, asked if the Spokesperson could provide assurances that this would be effectively monitored and reviewed to ensure it delivered real safety improvements to the residents of Rotherham and how would he let all Members know.

Councillor Knight was sure the communication would be forthcoming when it was available in terms of the data collected. He provided some additional background information in that the service had data from 900 residents of 7,000 and there was an incremental proposal to contact more residents in stages up to October 2025. That would obviously promote a discussion or a response from those residents and that data would then be shared in due course.

(2)  Councillor Ball referred to Labour’s plan to ban zero hours contracts which would directly impact SYFR. He asked what would be the financial cost of replacing this flexible workforce and how did the service plan to fund it without cutting other vital services or increasing taxes?

Councillor Knight, Designated Spokesperson on South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority, advised the service only had a very small number of zero hours contracts in place - almost exclusively relating to its contingency fire crew arrangements. The service would look to put in place alternative contracts of employment should it be required to do so, and this would have limited impact on the service's financial position.

In a supplementary question Councillor Ball expressed his worry about a possible strike happening where there was not cover anymore. He asked the Spokesperson to explore a little further into if there was a house fire in say Maltby, where there was not the contingency crew, who and how were they going to get an adequate response to that house fire when it needed three appliances to get to.

Councillor Knight explained that if this actually was a problem then clearly it was an issue that needed to be raised. He would question this with the Chief Fire Officer so asked Councillor Ball to forward him by email the exact wording and he would raise it with him at the next meeting.

Councillor Knight further reiterated that there were around forty zero hours contracts across the whole of South Yorkshire and as indicated in his previous answer, if it was necessary, further on-call fire officers would be recruited with little impact on the financial position.

(3)  Councillor Ball asked what steps could be taken to strengthen collaboration between SYFR and Councillors to improve community safety and ensure local concerns were addressed effectively?

Councillor Knight, Designated Spokesperson on South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority, explained the service and its managers continued to work closely with all four local authorities in South Yorkshire to improve community safety and address local concerns. This included local managers working with partners and Councillors at both a ward and a district level. Councillors could continue to support the work of the fire service by championing safety campaigns and emergency prevention initiatives in their local areas.

In a supplementary question Councillor Ball asked, given the importance of strong collaboration between ourselves and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in addressing community safety, could the Spokesperson inform the Councillors present today who the area manager was for Rotherham so that they could be contacted.

Councillor Knight was unable to confirm the person by name for Rotherham, but was aware there was a Senior Leadership Team led by the Executive Leadership Team. He was sure the information would be available online, but would respond to Councillor Ball in writing.

(4) Councillor Ball referred to how recently 205 high-rise buildings in South Yorkshire were inspected, with 177 having fire safety issues. He asked how many high-rise buildings in Rotherham were inspected, how many had issues and what actions have been taken to address them?

Councillor Knight, Designated Spokesperson on South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority, confirmed there was only one building in Rotherham that fell in the scope of this audit. The building was Local Authority owned and no issues were identified by inspecting officers.

In a supplementary question Councillor Ball noted Rotherham had one with only two turntable ladders in the whole of South Yorkshire to deal with issues.  He asked if there was a call to that one building in Rotherham where would they go and could the Spokesperson name the building.

Councillor Knight believed Councillor Ball knew the answer to the question.

(5)  Councillor Ball asked what mechanisms did the Police and Crime Panel use to ensure that the Police and Crime Commission's policies on performance-related pay for police officers were transparent and aligned with the force's strategic objectives?

Councillor Harper, Designated Spokesperson on the Police and Crime Panel, confirmed that South Yorkshire Police did not have a performance related pay arrangement in place for Police staff. Police officers' pay was subject to national agreements and Police regulations and was, therefore, outside the Mayor's control.

(6)  Councillor Ball asked how did the Police and Crime Panel ensure that the Police and Crime Commission had robust systems in place to prevent and address police misconduct, particularly in sensitive areas such as child protection?

Councillor Harper, Designated Spokesperson on the Police and Crime Panel, explained the role of the Police and Crime Panel was to scrutinise all decisions or actions in connection with the discharge of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s functions. The Police and Crime Commissioner was only responsible for conduct matters relating to the Chief Constable.

The Police and Crime Panel were assured that the Mayor, in his wider responsibility for ensuring an efficient and effective police force, facilitated regular conversations between SYMCA (the Policing and Reform Directorate) and both the Force leadership (Chief Constable and Deputy Chief Constable) as well as the Head of the Professional Standards Department to gain oversight and assurance over work in this area.

In addition, the Mayor supported the discipline process by providing (and paying for) legally qualified chairs (old regulations), legally qualified advisors (new regulations), independent panel members and Police appeals tribunal (PAT) chairs.

(7)   Councillor A. Carter asked what impact would the Pensions Authority Investment Measures being behind target over recent time periods have on the pensions of those in the scheme?

Councillor Sutton, Designated Spokesperson on the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority, confirmed investment performance which could vary significantly from quarter to quarter did not impact the benefits payable to members of the scheme which were set out in statute. Investment risk within the scheme was borne by employers.

In a supplementary question Councillor A. Carter pointed out that given the fact that the Pensions Authority have targets on when they needed to specifically hit certain fund levels at certain time points, was the Spokesperson assured that being behind on the investments at that point, in recent times, would mean that that this would be met and what were the risks to the Pensions Authority and, therefore, the Council as one of the participants.

Councillor Sutton confirmed that this question would be responded to in writing.

(8)  Councillor A. Carter asked with regards to the Authority's ambition to achieve net zero, currently being at risk of not being delivered in time, what actions have you as the representative taken to make sure this aim was delivered on time?

Councillor Sutton, Designated Spokesperson on the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority, confirmed the Pensions Authority regularly discussed progress to achieve its net zero goal which was agreed by Councilors in the knowledge that it was likely to be very difficult to achieve. A review of the investment strategy was being undertaken this year which would consider what changes to the strategic asset allocation could be undertaken which might accelerate progress to net zero while at the same time delivering the returns required to ensure that funds were available to pay pensions and maintain stable employer contributions. 

In a supplementary question Councillor A. Carter asked had the Pensions Authority, therefore, as part of its ambition to achieve net zero given the targets being reached, looked at other measures they could take now such as investing elsewhere into making sure this was as timely as possible achieving this.

Councillor Sutton agreed to respond to this supplementary question in writing.

(9)  Councillor A. Carter asked what calculations had the Authority undertaken to understand the impact on the climate of its investment strategy?

Councillor Sutton, Designated Spokesperson on the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority, confirmed the Pensions Authority undertook analysis when reviewing its investment strategy and as part of the actuarial valuation to understand the impact on its assets and liabilities of a number of different climate scenarios. This analysis would be updated over the course of 2025/26 and the current version was summarised in the Authority’s Annual Climate report available on its website.

In a supplementary question Councillor A. Carter assumed that you as our representative agreed achieving net zero and having climate ethical investments for our pensions fund was important.  He asked would the Spokesperson undertake or have you undertaken in your time there, undertake challenge to the Pensions Authorities to make sure that it divests from fossil fuel industries to make sure the pension fund was ethically, environmentally ethically achieving its goals while making sure that those involved in the pension scheme were able to get their  pensions safely.

Councillor Sutton assured Councillor Carter that there were challenges raised over everything at the Pension Authority, and should this remain the case going forward challenges would continue.