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Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Authority MEETING OF THE RESOURCES COMMITTEE MONDAY, 1 DECEMBER 2003 BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS, LIME GROVE AVENUE, CARMARTHEN
1 DECLARATION BY MEMBERS OF ANY PERSONAL INTERESTS None were declared 2 TO CONSIDER THE JOINT REPORT OF THE CHIEF FIRE OFFICER AND TREASURER: BUDGET REQUIREMENT FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2004/2005, AND TO RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON THE MEETING HELD WITH CONSTITUENT AUTHORITY DIRECTORS OF FINANCE ON 28TH NOVEMBER 2003 The Chief Fire Officer and Treasurer reminded Members of the rationale underpinning the production of the budget requirement calculation for 2004-2005, resulting in an increased requirement over the current financial year of 10.3% and which had been considered by the Committee at its meeting on the 17th November 2003. At that meeting of Resources Committee, Members had deferred formally considering the budget requirement, and asked that an urgent meeting be held with the constituent Unitary Authorities' Directors of Finance, the outcome of which would be reported back to this special meeting of the Committee. This had taken place the previous Friday, 28th November, when all six constituent authorities had attended a meeting with Fire Authority officers at Service Headquarters. At that meeting, detailed discussions had taken place in relation to the production of the budget requirement, and whilst the very significant pressures facing the Fire Authority was widely acknowledged, the Finance Directors asked that further work be undertaken to explore possibilities for reducing, or re-phasing some of the inescapable expenditure items contained within the calculation. The Treasurer advised Members that he had informed the Directors of Finance at the meeting on the 28 th November that he had received verbal confirmation from Welsh Assembly officials that transitional funds would be payable in Wales to offset some of the costs of meeting the firefighters' pay award. The view of the Assembly was that this would be payable to the individual Unitary Authorities, rather than to the Fire Authorities directly, with the total funding for Wales amounting to approximately £1.6 million. It appeared that this would be distributed on a population basis, and if this proved to be the case, a sum of about £460,800 would be allocated between the six Constituent Authorities in Mid and West Wales in either 2003/04 or 2004/05. The Directors of Finance had accepted that the effect of this transitional funding, together with the capacity within each Authority to contain the funding requirement for both phases of the 2003/04 elements of the firefighters' pay award within the current year's accounts, would effectively contain the actual financial implications of the budget requirement to an increase at council tax level of some 7.8% for 2004/05. They had indicated that this remained too high, and had asked that further work be undertaken on a number of budget heads, to further reduce the impact in 2004/05. This work had been undertaken in readiness for the special meeting of the Resources Committee and the Chief Fire Officer and Treasurer outlined to Members the areas of expenditure that had been the subject of further revisions, with expenditure levels being reduced or re-phased. These included pay award levels for APT & C and Manual staff, vehicle replacement programme, IPDS training and recruitment and capital investment/financing charges. Whilst the reductions in 2004/05 would present significant challenges to the service, particularly in terms of meeting the Service's obligations to fully implement the IPDS (Integrated Personal Development System), upon which implementation of the pay award and the modernisation agenda were predicated, the Chief Fire Officer accepted the position facing the constituent authorities which necessitated them. In presenting the revised budget requirement paper, at Appendix 1 to these minutes, the Treasurer advised Members that whilst the "headline" increase amounted to 9.6%, the financial effect of this within each Constituent Authority, at council tax level, would amount to a resource requirement increase for the Fire Authority of 8.3% over that provided within the current year's accounts. This would be further offset by transitional funding, which would be made available either within the current or next financial year, reducing the effect of the final increase to 7.1% Members considered the proposals outlined by the Chief Fire Officer and Treasurer to reduce the budget requirement to the levels indicated in the preceding paragraph, and felt that this represented an appropriate calculation which would enable the Authority to meet the service delivery needs of the Fire and Rescue Service, as it sought to implement the outcome of the recent firefighters' pay dispute. RESOLUTION It was resolved to recommend to the Fire Authority that the budget requirement paper attached to the minutes at Appendix 1, showing an increased "headline" requirement of 9.6%, be approved as the basis for consultation under the terms of the Combination Scheme Order. Appendix 1
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