Meeting Details

Apologies for absence have been received from Councillor Box.

Members are reminded that they should declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests at this point and that they should leave the meeting before any item, in which they have a prejudicial interest, is discussed.

To agree the minutes of the Fire Authority meeting, held on 19 December 2007, and that they be signed by the Chair as a correct record.

To receive any questions, statements or petitions, of which notice has been received, from members of the public.

To receive the minutes of the Strategy and Resources Committee meeting, held on 24 January 2008 and agree the recommendations at 9c. Reports 6, 7 and 8 from that meeting are attached (on green paper) as an appendix to report 9 later on this agenda.

The Department for Communities and Local Government is currently consulting in respect of the new regulations and orders, which will flow from the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. Many of the regulations and orders relate to new provisions, which will be dealt with by Standards Committee. This report seeks the Fire Authority's agreement to the proposed consultation response attached as an appendix.

Attached, marked 7, for agreement by the Fire Authority, is a schedule, giving proposed dates for Lead Members to present their annual reports to the Authority.

This report is part of the regular monitoring process undertaken throughout the year. It details the latest position on the revenue budget, recommending action where necessary, and also monitors the Fire Authority's Prudential Indicators.

This report seeks Fire Authority approval to: a budget for 2008/09; Council Tax levels for 2008/09; and precepts on billing authorities and related matters.

This report advises Members of the achievements of Shropshire and Wrekin Fire Authority in the most recent Performance Assessment conducted by the Audit Commission during 2007.

This report seeks Member approval of the proposed Fire Authority Corporate Plan 2008/09, which, on 1 April 2008, will replace the existing Best Value Performance Plan 2007/08. The Corporate Plan will be supplemented by an Annual Report 2007/08, which will be brought before Members in June 2008 for consideration and approval.

This report informs Members about the recently received Cultural Audit national benchmarking report from Opinion Research Services.

This report informs Members about the Health and Safety Executive Improvement Notice served on Warwickshire County Council, acting as Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Authority, following the tragic incident at Atherston-on-Stour. An Incident Command Unit and appliance will be brought to the Conference Centre's car park at the end of the meeting to demonstrate to Members the information available (via mobile data terminals) to firefighters when attending an incident.

The Service's website has undergone a 'refresh' and has recently been relaunched. The new website, accessible at: http://www.shropshirefire.gov.uk is interactive and offers many additional features over the existing website. It has the further benefit of a secure log-in area, where staff may access incident-related information. The website will be available for demonstration to Members prior to the Fire Authority meeting. For information