Streamlined Authority's first meeting

The meeting on 6 June was the first with a reduction in membership from 30 members to 18, a decision which was taken in February. This has streamlined the Authority’s governance arrangements and means there is now a more effective approach to decision-making and accountability.

The Authority membership is now as follows:
    •    Bournemouth Borough Council (two places) – Cllr Beverley Dunlop, Cllr Malcolm Davies
    •    Dorset County Council (five places) – Cllr Richard Biggs, Cllr Kevin Brookes, Cllr Spencer Flower, Cllr Rebecca Knox, Cllr Byron Quayle
    •    Borough of Poole (two places) – Cllr Ann Stribley, Cllr Vikki Slade
    •    Swindon Borough Council (three places) – Cllr Abdul Amin, Cllr Nick Martin, Cllr Garry Perkins
    •    Wiltshire Council (six places) – Cllr Ernie Clark, Cllr Peter Hutton, Cllr Bob Jones, Cllr Christopher Newbury, Cllr Paul Oatway, Cllr Pip Ridout

Cllr Spencer Flower was re-elected as chair of the Authority, Cllr Garry Perkins was re-elected as vice-chair, and Cllr Bob Jones was re-elected as Chair of the Finance & Governance Committee.

Cllr Flower said: “I am extremely honoured to have been re-elected as chair of Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Authority. We have responsibility for a truly excellent organisation, and I know I speak for my fellow elected Members when I say how proud we are of our workforce. I am sure that we will continue to deliver great results across our prevention, protection and emergency response activities over the coming year.”

Members considered and approved this year’s Community Safety Plan. This is the corporate plan for the Authority and it also fulfils its requirement to set out an Integrated Risk Management Plan under the newly revised Fire and Rescue National Framework for England. The plan for 2018-22 follows the previous format – it’s written with members of the public in mind, it’s non-technical, whilst at the same time provides a strategic overview of the broad range of services provided, based on the organisation’s five priorities:
    •    Help you to make safer and healthier choices
    •    Protect you and the environment from harm
    •    Be there when you need us
    •    Make every penny count
    •    Supporting and developing our people

Chief fire officer Ben Ansell said: “Everything that the Fire and Rescue Service does is determined by our Community Safety Plan. We are focused on delivering first class prevention, protection and emergency response to our communities. We need to make sure this is done in the most efficient and effective way, achieving the best value for money in all areas. We cannot do this without a dedicated, professional and motivated workforce, of whom I am extremely proud.”