Agenda item

(a)       That the report be received;      

(b)       That an annual report be submitted to the Committee on the new service and a further information report being made at the point of transition; and

(c)        That feedback following any major incidents be reported to Committee. 

The Chief Executive introduced a report to allow the Committee to comment on the report which had been submitted to Cabinet on 19 February 2013. 

He reminded Members that it was a small service which had a low financial value and risk.  It was reported that in North Wales, the configuration was five separate service units with a shared service in Flintshire and Denbighshire.  He spoke of the recent issues which the Emergency Planning Service had been involved with which included the recent floodings at St. Asaph.  The proposal was to provide a regional service with a sub-regional service structure, a regional manager leading one hub and the other being led by a Deputy regional manager and an Emergency Planning Officer in each local authority.  The Chief Executive felt that the proposal for a regional service would give Flintshire a more resilient service, would lead to improved partnership working and would meet Ministerial expectations.  He suggested that an annual monitoring report could be considered by the Committee and that a report following any major incidents be submitted to Members. 

The Chairman spoke of his experience of emergency planning and explained that local input was still needed in the development of a regional plan.  He concurred with the suggestion for Committee to receive an annual update and a debrief report when necessary.  Councillor A.I. Dunbar raised concern that a regional manager would not be based at both hubs.  The Chief Executive responded that he was confident that this would work well and reiterated the comments about the need for local knowledge when developing the plan.  Councillor A. Woolley referred to one of the recommendations that Flintshire would host the new service and lead the transition to the new service.  He commented on the need to ensure that there were adequate resources in place to carry out the work required.  He raised concern that the reduction of regional costs to £75,000 per annum would be consumed by inflation but welcomed the overall intent.  The Chief Executive confirmed that updates would be provided to a future meeting in the transition and post-implementation stages.   

In response, the Chief Executive said that saving money was not the objective of the plan but said that there would be a minor cost benefit.  He explained that resilience and best use of resources were challenges for the future but commented on examples of cross border working, ‘gold’ incidents which involved many of the emergency services and on occasions mutual aid agreements.       

Councillor M. Bateman sought assurance that the Health Service would be able to cope in an emergency.  In response, the Chief Executive said that testing had shown that all of the emergency services worked well together but that it was likely that non-critical health services would be suspended during an emergency.  The Leader of the Council referred to paragraph 3.06 where it was reported that once the service was established, consideration would be given to the potential of joint services with Police, Fire and Health. 

Councillor R. Lloyd asked if there were any plans for the Emergency Planning Officers to meet with Town and Community Councils.  The Chief Executive suggested that the Emergency Planning Officers could be invited to attend Town and Community Council meetings if it was felt that there was a need. 

In response to a query from Councillor C.S. Carver on savings for Flintshire County Council, the Chief Executive said that the proposals were broadly cost neutral and added that it was not assumed that every collaboration would save money for all parties involved.  He added that Category one responders included ambulances and that Category two responders would include Welfare Services. 

Councillor P. Shotton felt that the Committee should record its admiration to the North Wales Fire & Rescue Service, Police and Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) for their work in the rescue following the recent flooding in St. Asaph. 

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the report be received;      

(b)       That an annual report be submitted to the Committee on the new service and a further information report being made at the point of transition; and

(c)        That feedback following any major incidents be reported to Committee.