Agenda item

The Cabinet resolved to permit officers to form a final response to the above consultation based on the draft response prepared on behalf of the Council to the Consultation on the reform of governance and funding arrangements for the Fire and Rescue Authorities in Wales submitted in Appendix A to be adjusted to change the reference to "North Wales" to refer to "the North" and to note that if the funding arrangements did not change to a precept arrangement following the consultation, further consideration would be needed to the membership of the Fire and Rescue Authority in order to ensure that the Councils have a direct voice in the funding decisions.

The report was submitted by Cllr. Dyfrig Siencyn

DECISION

The Cabinet resolved to permit officers to form a final response to the above consultation based on the draft response prepared on behalf of the Council to the Consultation on the reform of governance and funding arrangements for the Fire and Rescue Authorities in Wales submitted in Appendix A to be adjusted to change the reference to "North Wales" to refer to "the North" and to note that if the funding arrangements did not change to a precept arrangement following the consultation, further consideration would be needed to the membership of the Fire and Rescue Authority in order to ensure that the Councils have a direct voice in the funding decisions.

DISCUSSION

The report was submitted noting that it outlined Gwynedd Council's response to the consultation on the reform of the Fire and Rescue Authorities in Wales' governance and funding arrangements. The current procedure was outlined and it was noted that five elected members were members of the Fire Authority. It was noted that the Council's response supported continuing to keep the individual Authorities as they were and not create one all-Wales Authority. It was added that and Authority which was familiar with and operated locally in the North was needed.

It was noted that there was a suggestion for the Fire and Rescue Authority to be placed under the Police Commissioner. It was explained that the response did not agree with this suggestion and that the Council's membership of the Authority needed to be secured in order to make sure that Gwynedd Council had a strong voice. It was added that it would be possible to have a further discussion on possibly reducing the numbers of elected members.

It was noted that the most important element in the consultation was the financial element as it was a discussion which raised its head annually. It was noted that the public contribution to the Fire and Rescue Authority was outlined under the Gwynedd Council contribution on the Council Tax bill. It was explained that it would be an idea to charge a precept as the Police did, which ensured the Council's accountability as well. It was added that if a precept would be charged, there would be a need for clarity and agreement across Wales.

Observations arising from the discussion

-        Attention was drawn to linguistic changes, noting that the reference to "North Wales" should be changed to "the North".

-        A question was asked regarding if money for the Fire and Rescue Authority came through the councils why was there not a Joint-Committee as happened with other fields such as Education. It was explained that the Fire and Rescue Authority was a Public Authority in its own right, and was currently funded via money from the Council and as a result elected members were a part of the Authority. It was noted that if the current financial procedure continued following the consultation, further consideration would need to be given to the membership of the Fire and Rescue Authority in order to ensure Gwynedd Council had a voice when discussing financial elements.

-        The importance of the Council selecting the members to be a part of the Authority was stressed