The Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority Executive Committee met on Wednesday 18 March 2026 to discuss the financial performance of the service and its workforce equality metrics. The meeting's agenda included a review of the budget monitoring report, the gender and ethnicity pay gap report, and the prudential code indicators.

Budget Monitoring Report April 2025 - January 2026

The Executive Committee was scheduled to consider the budget monitoring report for the period of April 2025 to January 2026. This report detailed the Authority's revenue and capital spending position, along with the projected outturn for the financial year. The projected underspend for the year was £1.013m, primarily attributed to lower direct employee costs due to vacant positions, a reduction in Airwave costs, and investment returns exceeding expectations. The report also noted a funding shortfall of approximately £0.202m due to changes in central grant allocations, specifically the removal of the Airwave Grant and a significant decrease in the Pension Grant. A recommendation was to be made to transfer £0.257m to the Future Funding Reserve to support the Annual Delivery Plan for 2026-27.

Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap Report 2025

The committee was also set to review the Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap Report for 2025. This report detailed the Authority's gender pay gap as at 31 March 2025, which had increased from 9.6% in 2024 to 11.5% for the mean gap, and from 7.5% to 8.7% for the median gap. The report attributed these increases to organisational changes and outlined actions to address them. The ethnicity pay gap for 2025 showed a mean gap of -1.32% and a median gap of 2.68%, which were noted as encouraging results. The report also introduced an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Quarterly Dashboard for enhanced transparency and monitoring of workforce equality metrics.

The Prudential Code, Prudential Indicators and Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP)

The meeting agenda also included a technical paper on the Prudential Code, Prudential Indicators, and Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP). This report, presented annually, aimed to ensure that capital investment plans were affordable, prudent, and sustainable, and that treasury management decisions adhered to good professional practice. The Prudential Indicators were presented to demonstrate that current capital investment plans met these criteria and presented an acceptable level of risk. The Minimum Revenue Provision ensures the Authority has sufficient cash balances to repay borrowing upon maturity. The report supported the Medium-Term Financial Plan, which indicated no plans for additional borrowing. The committee was to recommend the approval of the Prudential Indicators for 2026/27 and the Minimum Revenue Provision policy statement to the Fire Authority.

Response to the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-27: Consultation

The committee was also scheduled to consider the Service's response to the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026-27. The impact of this settlement, particularly the notional council tax adjustment, had been discussed in relation to the Medium-Term Financial Plan. The Authority's response highlighted disagreements with the allocation methodology and council tax referendum principles. The response submitted to the government was detailed in the report.

Performance Management – Q3 2025/26

A review of performance management for the third quarter of 2025/26 was also on the agenda. This included details on Home Fire Safety Visits, Fire Safety Audits, and a more in-depth analysis of response times and over-border mobilisations. The report provided analysis on attendance times, including an example of a 51-minute response time due to a standby instruction. The report also addressed Fire Safety Audits, the setting of rag thresholds, and workforce availability challenges, particularly the recruitment of Fire Safety Inspecting Officers. The availability of wholetime appliances and the use of bank shifts were discussed, with bank costs projected to be around £800,000 by the end of the year. On-call availability was reported at 18.1% in January 2026. The report also touched upon staff absence patterns, energy usage, and the potential for implementing battery storage at fire stations.

Members' Scheme of Allowances 2026/27

The committee was to consider the Members' Scheme of Allowances for 2026/27. The recommendation was to propose an uplift of 3.2% to the scheme, aligning with the preceding year's annual pay award for employees on NJC grey book terms and conditions. The draft Scheme of Allowances for 2026/27 was attached for illustration.

Date of Next Meeting

Finally, the date of the next Executive Committee meeting was to be noted as Wednesday 18 March 2026 at 10 am.