Report - Fire Brigades Union

SECTION G — INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION
Minutes secretary
IRMP committee
Motions
Region 1
Discipline and grievances
Equality and diversity agenda
Region 5
B&EMM ADAE investigators
Equality law
Region 7
EIAs
Sectional consultation
Dalton Powell
Colin Jarrett
The CSNC kept up its political pressure and campaigning
throughout the first quarter of the year and met with CLG
advisers, civil servants and MPs in order to press home our
message that the project should be scrapped.
By June there was a new government, yet another new fire
minister and still more confusion, delay and overspend on the
project. At the Fire and Rescue 2010 conference in Harrogate
Bob Neill, the fire minister, promised a review of the project
and a quick decision regarding its future. It was to be a further
six months before a ministerial statement on 20 December
finally put the last nail in the coffin of what was FiReControl.
However, before the year was out and even before the final
announcement, there were FRAs nervously making knee-jerk
reactions to the economic climate, political agenda and lack of
any clear direction for fire controls. This has resulted in proposals
for mergers, outsourcing and all manner of other options.
B&EMM executive
Reorganisation
FBU conference 2011 motions and delegates
Motion 1:
Sectional consultation (Region 7) and
Reorganisation (B&EMM executive) composited
Motion 2: Equality and diversity agenda (Region 1)
Motion 3: EIA (Region 7) and Equality law (Region 5)
composited as an education resolution
Proposed delegates: Andre Fernandes, Colin Jarrett, Dalton
Powell, Mark Brown, and (reserve) Carole Brown
TUC black workers’ conference 2011 (Congress House)
8-10 April 2011 in London
Proposed delegates: Andre Fernandes, Dalton Powell, Dean
Nelson, Brian Amos, Carl Petch, Colin Jarrett, Dave Pazir, Lee
Brown, Michael Nicholas (chairing the TUC BW conference
2011). Depending on EC decision on TUC delegations, this
may be reduced to four people.
The FBU will continue to defend emergency fire controls and
its members together with the vital role they play and the
service we deliver. We also look forward to contributing fully in
the government’s three month consultation on the future
provision of fire controls in England, together with the
consultation in Scotland into the future of its fire services and
controls. If the last seven years have shown us anything at all,
it is about the importance of good communication, stakeholder
involvement and staff buy-in.
Other work in 2010 involved:
● local issues over promotion and development;
● Local Government Pension Scheme Joint Trade Union
Group involvement;
● exploring equal pay;
● control seminar; and
● education of officials.
Throughout 2010 the control staff national committee has
continued to provide valuable guidance and information on
matters relating to control members’ terms and conditions and
ensuring that control issues remain top of the FBU’s agenda.
Proposed FBU motions:
Ending international slavery;
Equality recruitment targets.
Ending international slavery was selected to go to TUC black
workers’ conference 2011.
We have had a significant victory in the longest ever running
FBU campaign but now urge a note of caution as we must be
prepared to defend our jobs at a local level in order to ensure
resilience and the continued delivery of a first-class emergency
control service.
G7 CSNC report 2010
In February 2010 the government’s select committee once
again reviewed the FiReControl Project. The FBU’s submission
was consistent with our past submission and opposition but,
disappointingly, despite having serious doubts over the
project’s ability to deliver the committee felt it was best to
press ahead, since CLG had said that to pull out would cost
£8m more than to go ahead.
G8 CSNC AGM report 2010
The AGM of control staff members’ representatives met on
12-13 October 2010 at Wortley Hall.
Present:
Sharon Riley Executive council member
Kath Smith
CSNC national chair
Stephen Reid Region 1
Lynda Rowan-O’Neill Region 2
FBU Annual Report 2011 111