The Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham Fire and Rescue Authority met to discuss eight substantive items. The meeting involved a discussion of the Authority's budget and spending plans for the next three years, a review of its treasury management activities, and the outcomes of a recent inspection of the Service by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

Medium Term Financial Strategy 2025/26 To 2028/29 And Budget Guidelines 2025/26

A report was presented for discussion on the financial plans and budget guidelines of the Authority for the years 2025/26 - 2028/29.

The report noted that the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement is expected in mid December 2024 and will contain more information about the funding that the Authority is likely to receive from central government. It said that the recent Budget had stated that the maximum that fire authorities will be allowed to increase their council tax precept in 2025/26 will be £5 per Band D household.

It included three different budget scenarios to allow for different levels of council tax precept and pay awards, and noted that even in the best-case scenario, which assumed that the council tax is increased by £5 per Band D household, it is likely that the Authority will need to identify £2m in savings in future years.

The report said that a Budget Pressure Support Earmarked Reserve of £1,126,000 is held by the Authority, and that this, alongside ongoing savings through the Authority's Efficiency Strategy, will be used to smooth budget deficits going forward to allow the Authority time to implement activities that will deliver the savings needed.

Treasury Management Mid-Year Review 2024/25

A report was presented for discussion on the Authority's treasury management activities for the first half of 2024/25.

The report explained the Authority's treasury management activities, which it described as:

"The management of the Authority’s borrowing, investments and cash flows, its banking, money market and capital market transactions; the effective control of the risks associated with those activities; and the pursuit of optimum performance consistent with those risks.”

The report said that the Authority's capital financing requirement at the end of the year is likely to be significantly lower than originally forecast due to the unexpected receipt of an £8m grant from central government to cover the cost of implementing the McCloud and Matthews pension remedies, which the report said had resulted in unusually high investment balances.

Local Firefighters Annual Pension Report 2024

A report was presented for discussion that provided an update to Members on the activities of the Local Firefighter Pension Board and the Scheme Manager in the year to 30 November 2024.

The report stated that the key issues facing the Board and Scheme Manager were the implementation of the McCloud and Matthews pension remedies and the preparation for the national Pensions Dashboard Programme, which is expected to go live in October 2025.

It noted that the McCloud judgement required the Authority to remedy age discrimination in the 2015 Firefighter Pension Scheme, and that the Matthews Judgement required the Authority to remedy discrimination against part-time workers, which in this case are retained (on-call) firefighters.

The report stated that the Authority had written to 593 current and former employees who it believed were likely to be affected by the Matthews judgement to allow them to express an interest in purchasing backdated pension entitlement, and that 334 of them had responded to say they would like to receive a quote for this.

Health and Safety Statement - Statement of Intent

The meeting was to note that the Service's Health and Safety Statement of Intent had recently been reviewed, and that no changes were felt to be necessary at this time. The meeting was also to note a proposal to move to a two-yearly review of the statement, rather than annually as is currently the case.

Environmental and Sustainability Statement

The meeting was to note that the Service's Environmental and Sustainability Statement had recently been reviewed, and that no changes were felt to be necessary at this time. The meeting was also to note a proposal to move to a two-yearly review of the statement, rather than annually as is currently the case.

HMICFRS 2024 Inspection Findings

A report was presented for discussion on the outcomes of a recent inspection of the Service by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.

The report said that HMICFRS uses a 5-point grading system:

    Outstanding – the Service has substantially exceeded the characteristics of good performance.
    Good – is the ‘expected’ graded judgment, based on policy, practice or performance that meets pre-defined grading criteria that are informed by any relevant national operational guidance or standards.
    Adequate – the Service has demonstrated some of the characteristics of good performance, but identified areas where the Service should make improvements.
    Requires Improvement – the Service has demonstrated few, if any, of the characteristics of good performance and a substantial number of areas where the Service needs to make improvements have been identified.
    Inadequate – there are causes for concern and recommendations are made to the Service to address these findings.

The report noted that the Service received a 'Good' grading in 10 of the 11 areas that were inspected, with only one area - 'Responding to Major and Multi-Agency Incidents' - receiving an 'Adequate' grading.

Community Risk Management Plan 2025-28

A report was presented for discussion that outlined the Service's draft Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) for the period 2025-28.

The report stated that the draft CRMP includes 6 strategic goals:

     We will help people stay safe from fires and other emergencies;
     We will improve fire safety in the buildings people live and work in;
     We will respond immediately and effectively to emergency incidents;
     We will continue to support and develop our workforce and promote an inclusive Service;
     We will continue our improvement journey to deliver an outstanding Service;
     We will manage and invest in our Service to ensure it is fit for the future.

It noted that a nine-week consultation on the draft plan was scheduled to be held between 30 September and 1 December 2024, with the final plan being presented to Members at the February 2025 meeting of the Authority.

HMICFRS Standards of Behaviour Report

A report was presented for discussion on the findings of a recent report by HMICFRS that looked into the values and culture of Fire and Rescue Services.

The report highlighted some of the key findings of the HMICFRS report, which included:

• There is evidence of improvement in the sector but pockets of unacceptable behaviour remain
• 41% of respondents to a staff survey had witnessed misconduct in the workplace, and 34% had experienced it
• There are issues with negative watch cultures and with staff confidence in the mechanisms for raising concerns
• Training for those conducting misconduct investigations is inadequate
• There is limited evidence of oversight and scrutiny of misconduct cases across most of the Fire and Rescue Services that were inspected.

The report noted that the Service is reviewing the recommendations and will undertake a gap analysis to define the actions that will be needed to meet them.