Issue - meetings

Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the Health & Safety and Fire Safety Board scheduled to take place in July was postponed and instead, an interim report was provided to the Director's Strategy Group on 23rd June 2020, to ensure governance of Health & Safety and Fire Safety was reported and discussed. During this meeting, it was agreed that the next Health & Safety and Fire Safety Board would take place on 28th September 2020 and remain quarterly moving forward.

This report details progress made on the delivery of Health & Safety and Fire Safety governance arrangements for BCP Council and highlights;

·      The steps taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing subsequent recovery,

·      implementation of Governance framework

·      Reporting of Health and Safety and fire safety to the board

·      Covid 19 response

An overview of service delivery

The Health and Safety Manager and the Fire Safety Manager presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'C' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The report detailed progress made on the delivery of Health & Safety and Fire Safety governance arrangements for BCP Council highlighting particularly the steps taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing subsequent progress towards recovery. The report also explained the framework of governance arrangements in place and the process for reporting of health and safety and fire safety issues to the Health & Safety and Fire Safety Board. Progress on development of essential corporate procedures within the new BCP Council context was explained and an appraisal of the human resources available within the team was also presented.

It was reported that, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the Health & Safety and Fire Safety Board scheduled for July had been postponed and instead, an interim report provided to the Director's Strategy Group to ensure governance of Health & Safety and Fire Safety was reported and discussed. During that meeting, it was agreed that the next Health & Safety and Fire Safety Board would take place on 28th September 2020 and remain quarterly moving forward.

The current development schedule and progress against each objective was reported. It was clear that significant progress on delivery of safety arrangements had been made notwithstanding the pandemic and the Committee recorded their appreciation of the work being undertaken behind the scenes to ensure that these essential arrangements were fit for purpose.

A note about the Fire Safety Bill, introduced into the House of Commons in March 2020, had been circulated and the intention of new legislation was to bring into effect regulations recommended through the Grenfell Tower inquiry relating to buildings in multiple occupation.

RESOLVED that

a)    Health & Safety and Fire Safety on-going governance arrangements are reported annually to the Audit and Governance Committee.

b)    Audit and Governance Committee note the continued progress in implementing the Health and Safety and Fire Safety governance arrangements, along with the significant contributions made towards managing the risks from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Voting: Unanimous