The Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority was scheduled to hold its annual meeting on 11 June 2025. The agenda included the election of a chair and vice-chair, committee appointments, and a review of the Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service's (BFRS) performance. Members were also scheduled to discuss the latest inspection findings from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

HMICFRS Update

The Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority was scheduled to receive an update on the HMICFRS findings for the BFRS from 2023-2025. The HMICFRS report, published on 19 October 2023, identified three causes of concern, accompanied by 10 recommendations, and 26 areas for improvement for the fire and rescue service.

According to the report pack, by April 2025, 20 of the 26 identified areas for improvement were complete, and the remaining six were on track.

The report pack also noted that HMICFRS published a report titled 'Standards of behaviour: The handling of misconduct in fire and rescue services' on 1 August 2024. The report contained 15 recommendations, all of which were owned by the Chief Fire Officer, Louise Harrison, with two also jointly owned by the Fire Authority.

The HMICFRS has published its Fire and Rescue Services Inspection Programme for 2025–2027, and the BFRS is preparing for an anticipated inspection in early 2026.

Performance Management

The Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority was scheduled to discuss the BFRS's performance management for the fourth quarter of 2024/25. The report pack included details of 45 performance measures across four areas: Public Impact, Response, Great Place to Work, and Public Value.

Some of the key performance indicators that were scheduled to be discussed include:

• The number of accidental dwelling fires
• The number of serious accidental dwelling fires
• The number of home fire safety visits
• The average attendance time to all incidents
• The availability of wholetime and on-call appliances
• Staff turnover and absence rates
• The cost of bank shifts¹

The report pack stated that the BFRS achieved a 95% appraisal return rate for the year, meaning that 95% of the workforce had set objectives for 2024/25 and had a discussion on equality, diversity and inclusion.

Committee Appointments and Lead Member Responsibilities

The Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority was scheduled to make appointments to its committees. The membership of the Executive and the Overview and Audit committees is required to be mutually exclusive.

The report pack recommended that the seats on the Executive Committee should be allocated as follows:

• Conservative – 3
• Liberal Democrat – 2
• Labour – 2
• IMPACT Alliance - 1

The report pack recommended that the seats on the Overview and Audit Committee should be allocated as follows:

• Conservative – 4
• Liberal Democrat – 3
• Labour – 1
• IMPACT Alliance -1

The Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority was also scheduled to consider the allocation of Lead Member Responsibilities, and to appoint Members to those roles. The Lead Member roles include:

• Service Delivery, Protection and Collaboration
• People, Equality and Diversity and Assurance
• Finance and Assets, Information Security and IT
• Health and Safety and Corporate Risk