| REPORT TO THE POLICY AND PERFORMANCE REVIEW
COMMITTEE |
DATE: 05th September 2005 |
Publication of 2005/06 Performance Plan
Summary
Members will be aware that the responsibility for Fire Policy in Wales was transferred to the Welsh Assembly Government in November 2004. This has resulted in substantial changes in the way in which the Service's Performance Planning and Reporting is managed both at a National and at a local level.
One of the changes is with the audit review process that the Authority has been subject to over recent years, namely Best Value legislation. This legislation emanated from the Local Government Act 1999. One of the requirements of Best Value legislation was for the Authority to publish an Annual Best Value Performance & Business Plan, by the 30 th June each year. Following the devolvement of Fire Policy, the requirement for the Authority to comply with Best Value Legislation and consequently, the requirement to publish a Performance & Business Plan for 2005/06 was removed.
To ensure that transparency is maintained with audit, until the new formal Wales Programme for Improvement audit process is introduced, in line with best practice, the Service considers it prudent to publish Performance Plan for 2005/06 despite their being no legal requirement to do so.
Implications
| OPERATIONAL
RISK |
None |
| COMMUNITY
RISK |
None |
| TRAINING |
None |
| H.R |
None |
| FINANCE |
Low |
| I.T/COMMS |
High |
| WELSH LANGUAGE |
High - Translation required |
| LEGAL |
None - Voluntary only |
Recommendation
This paper is a briefing paper to keep Members updated on the Performance Plan for 2005/06
Background Papers Used in Preparation of this Report
- Minutes of the WPI Steering Group Meeting 28th July 2005.
- Annexe 1 - Fire & Rescue Service Wales WPI Steering Group - Interim Arrangements for Performance Planning and the Audit Office Inspection Process - 2005/06.
- Fire & Rescue National Framework for Wales
Report Author and Designation |
Assistant Divisional Officer R.Webborn
Strategic Planning & Performance |
Telephone number/Extension |
05511 443074
|
BACKGROUND
Following publication by Central Government of the White Paper "Our Fire & Rescue Service" in June 2003, Central Government announced that Fire Policy for Wales would be devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG), which was carried out in November 2004.
Until devolvement of Fire Policy, like all other Fire & Rescue Services (F&RS), M&WWF&RS was also subject to ensuring compliance with Best Value legislation. This legislation emanated from the Local Government Act 1999. One of the requirements of this Best Value legislation was for the Authority to publish an Annual Best Value Performance & Business Plan, by the 30 th June each year. However, following the devolvement of Fire Policy, the requirement for the Authority to comply with Best Value legislation and publish a Best Value Performance & Business Plan for 2005/06 has been removed.
The Welsh Assembly Government has said in the Fire & Rescue National Framework for Wales that Fire & Rescue Service's in Wales will come under the umbrella of the Wales Programme for Improvement. However this is not anticipated to happen until April 2006.
In the interim period there is potentially a moral obligation on behalf of the Authority to be able to demonstrate that the Authority is still working towards continuos improvement with the provision of its services. Therefore it would seem prudent to publish the following documents on the Service Web Site.
- Performance of the 2004/05 Best Value Performance Indicators, along with the Targets set for the 2005/06 Best Value Performance Indicators.
- County Command & Functional Department Business Plans.
- Details of the Reviews that were scheduled to be carried out during 2004/05.
- The 2005/06 IRMP.
Recent changes with this position
To ensure as smooth a transition as possible over to the WPI audit process, the Chief Fire Officers of the 3 Welsh F&RSs, in conjunction with the other main WPI stakeholders, including the Audit Commission in Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Welsh Local Government Association, have set up a WPI Steering Group. This forum discusses related matters including the interim arrangements for audit review until the WPI process has been established and fully implemented. This is to ensure that all 3 F&RS in Wales take a consistent approach across the board, not only with the introduction of WPI, but also up until this junction is reached, which is not expected to occur until April 2006.
In this interim period (April 05 - March 06), the WPI Steering group have agreed that In line with Best Value principles, Fire and Rescue Authorities in Wales should produce a Performance Plan for 2005-06 that includes the following:
- A summary of the Authority's strategic objectives and priorities for improvement.
- Arrangements for addressing the Authority's improvement priorities in 2005 - 2006.
- Details of performance:
- Outturn performance over the past year (2004/05) on all Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs);
- Targets for the current year (2005 - 2006).
It is felt that this approach is consistent with the available best practice and similar in many respects to the most recent guidance issued by ODPM to English BV Authorities pre-devolution (Issued in February 2004).
Furthermore it would be beneficial to publish the 2005/06 Performance Plan by the 30th September 2005. This will allow inspection (audit) of the plan by the ACiW, leading to the audit report being completed by the end of December 2005.
M&WWF&RS 2005/06 Performance Plan
The 2005/06 Performance Plan that will be published by the Service will incorporate the information as indicated above. This will, where appropriate, also include links to other strategic documents such as the 2005/06 IRMP. This plan will be a strategic plan, which although published on the Service Web Site, will not generally be available in hard copy for public consumption.
Due to the tight time scales involved with the preparation and approval of this plan by the required date of publication, it is envisioned that version 1 of the plan will go to the Policy & Performance Board for challenge and scrutiny on the 7th September. Following any requested amendments, the final version of the 2005/06 Performance Plan will go before the Fire Authority for approval on the 17th September. This is prior to final publication of the plan by the 30 th September on the M&WWF&RS Web Site.
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