fig leaves
The newsletter of the Fire Information Group UK (FIG UK)
No. 43
September 2011
This Newsletter contains:
- News from around the World
- Diary of Events
- Summary of the FIGUK Meeting held on 14 September 2011
- Dates of next meeting
FIGUK website www.figuk.org.uk ... please help to promote FIGUK whenever you can ...
News items from around the world
Guidelines for the Establishment of CIS Health and Safety Information Centres and other Centres
by Sheila Pantry OBE, BA, FCLIP
3rd edition June 2011, 64 pages
The purpose of the Guidelines is to provide basic instructions for the establishment of the International Labour Office CIS Health and Safety Information Centres and to encourage those that have already been established to develop their services, and also to publicise the services available. It is recognised that the procedures will need to be adapted for local conditions. To avoid discouraging the new centres by introducing a multitude of new tasks and sophisticated equipment, the Guidelines encourage the staff at these centres to take on a limited amount of new work as soon as possible and to increase the range of work and service as confidence and ability develop. Chapters cover a range of topics e.g. Information and the rôles Information Centres; What is occupational safety and health (OSH) information; Who needs this information; authoritative and validated information; Services that can be offered by Centres; The first steps; Policy statement and Starting a Centre; Financial management; Training of information staff; Networking and Locating Sources of Occupational Safety and Health; Computer based information; Promotion of a Centre; List of OSH and Fire Host Services and Information Providers.
www.sheilapantry.com/cis/other/guidelines.pdf
BSRIA E-Newsletter September 2011 now published
See: www.anp.se/newsletter.asp?sqid=1341571&sid=464A5E4579474A51467848455943
The EMEC Europa conference, 11 to 13 October 2011
Will be held at the ICM Conference Centre of Munich Trade Fair in conjunction with inter airport Europe 2011 in Munich, Germany
The theme is 'Civil Protection is Emergency Management - a new profession'.
IAEM Europa invites all civil protection and emergency management professionals to take up the opportunity being offered to attend their profession's networking event of 2011. Organised by the International Association of Emergency Managers and experienced event organiser Mack Brooks Exhibitions, EMEC Europa is the new networking event for all involved in civil protection and emergency management.
http://www.emec-europa.com
OSHWORLD - your portal to some of the best OSH and FIRE web sites in the world
Look at the portal OSHWORLD www.oshworld.com and view the latest additions to the Diary of Events where you will see that plans have been made up to late 2011 and into 2012 to have training courses, symposiums, webinars and conferences in many places in the world on a wide range of subjects. Don't forget to budget for these events - make sure that you and your colleagues are up-to-date with the very latest knowledge - remember that all workplaces and those working in them change, so continue to do your risk assessments.
In these days of tighter budgets perhaps training may be put on the "back-burner" - but think again how you can keep up with the latest techniques and training opportunities.
Remember that even if you cannot attend these many events, speakers and organisers are often willing to share their knowledge. Look at the details - where possible, we add in the web sites of these events so you can request further information. And do let me know if you are organising any OSHE and Fire events so that I can add them to the Diary email: sp@sheilapantry.com
It is always good to review health, safety, chemical, fire and environment procedures on a regular basis. It is also important that the practices and systems in the workplace are constantly reviewed and if necessary, improved. This review may also indicate training requirements and updates and re-thinking how systems and services can be improved. This is where the free-of charge OSHWORLD can help you... See www.oshworld.com
CD237 - Proposals on Revised Control of Asbestos Regulations
This consultation sets out the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) proposals to introduce revised Control of Asbestos Regulations to implement the changes required to comply with the European Commission's reasoned opinion on the UK Government's transposition of Directive 83/477/EEC as amended by 2003/18/EC on the protection of workers from the risks of exposure to asbestos at work. The reasoned opinion confirms the European Commission's view that the UK has not fully implemented Article 3(3) of the Directive which provides for the exemption of some types of lower risk work with asbestos from three requirements of the Directive: notification of work; medical examinations; and record keeping.
The required changes mean in future fewer types of lower risk work will be exempt from the three requirements. Views are sought on: the proposals; the guidance to be produced to explain how the changes will work in practice; and the impact on business.
- View the consultative document: http://consultations.hse.gov.uk/gf2.ti/f/15426/400357.1/pdf/-/CD237.pdf
- Respond to the consultation using the online questionnaire or download a Word form to complete.
Responses should be sent by 04 November 2011 to:
Susan Polak, Health and Safety Executive, Desk 5S.1 Redgrave Court, Merton Road, Bootle, Merseyside L20 7HS | Tel: 0151 951 3202 | Fax: 0151 951 3418 | Email: asbestosconsultation@hse.gsi.gov.uk
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences (RIDDOR)
Incident reporting and information services - New arrangements introduced from Monday 12 September 2011.
For further details see: www.hse.gov.uk/press/2011/hse-incidentreporting.htm
FIREINF and OSH UPDATE will keep you up-to-date - bringing you quality fire, health and safety information easily, quickly and budget friendly
It is always good to keep researching and finding out if there are services and other ways of keeping up-to-date in this fast changing world of ours. Time is precious and many people are really stretched in their jobs and find it difficult to keep ahead in current knowledge that they should have for their jobs. But help is at hand for those working in health, safety and fire and fire related industries.
FIREINF www.fireinf.com is the world's premier collection of validated, authoritative fire and fire related information. It contains 17 databases and currently 539,000 records with links to 37,284 full text documents.
FIREINF Full Text Collection databases containing thousands of pages of full text information and The Bibliographic Collection has databases contain records to journal articles, guidance and advice, circulars, reports, conference proceedings, research reports, statistics and codes of practice from worldwide sources, all of which may be easily accessed. One database from the British Standards Institution BSI - contains references to over 4300 fire and fire related standards and another BSI database contains references to security related standards.
This long established collection started in 1997 as Fire Worldwide and over the years has been rapidly expanding. From 2007 the collection continued to expand with the new software and host platform as FIREINF and aims to help all those seeking information on all aspects of fire, emergency and preparedness management principles, fire risk assessment, good practices and research.
FIREINF is continuously enlarged as new information is published and is used by organisations worldwide.
OSH UPDATE - are you using it? If not, why not?
Work smarter and not harder - try OSH UPDATE
More information on health and safety at work - not only from Europe but from around the World, including advice, guidance, research results and legislation and much more can be found by checking out the OSH UPDATE electronic collection of information sources. Information Seekers will find a wealth of authoritative and validated advice from around the world. Best practices, case studies, journal articles, reports and knowledge of systems are in OSH UPDATE.
OSH UPDATE is CONTINUOUSLY expanding and has 20 databases of full text and bibliographic records. It is a unique collection of quality information from major OSH sources.
A recent addition is the MHAID database containing major hazards accidents and incidents reports which complements the many thousands of similar reports within OSH UPDATE collection.
Why not try OSH UPDATE for yourself? Take a 15 day free trial to a collection of over 820,000 sources of authoritative and validated information.
The electronic services OSH UPDATE www.oshupdate.com and FIREINF www.fireinf.com will help you and your organisation to keep up-to-date. These services continue to bring you the latest information on health, safety, environment, fire and other subjects that you will find useful in your daily work.
OSH UPDATE and FIREINF services contain both full text and bibliographic information are continuously enlarged as new information is published. These services are used by organisations, universities and companies worldwide.
For a 15 DAY FREE NO OBLIGATION TRIAL contact: Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd | email: sp@sheilapantry.com | or fill in the Interest form www.sheilapantry.com/interest.html
Don't re-invent the wheel... learn from others!
EU-OSHA launches landmark project to facilitate risk assessment in Europe's small enterprises
Officially launched at the XIX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in Istanbul on 15 September 2011, the Online interactive Risk Assessment (OiRA) project marks the first initiative at EU level to facilitate workplace risk assessment. Developed by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), the innovative tool will help Europe's 20 million micro and small enterprises to improve safety and health for their workers by assessing risks through an easy-to-use and cost-free web application.
"Experience shows that proper risk assessment is the key to healthy workplaces," explains Dr Jukka Takala, Director of EU-OSHA. "Yet carrying out risk assessments can be quite challenging, particularly for small enterprises as they lack adequate resources or the know-how to do so effectively. The reasons companies give for not carrying out checks are lack of expertise (41%), the belief that risk assessments are too expensive or that they are overly time consuming (38%). In OiRA, EU-OSHA is proud to offer a free online tool to overcome these challenges. OiRA contributes to eliminating or reducing the 168 000 work-related deaths, 7 million accidents and 20 million cases of work-related disease annually in the EU 27", says Dr Takala.
The vision of EU-OSHA's landmark project is to assist small enterprises in putting in place a step-by-step risk assessment process - starting with the identification and evaluation of workplace risks, through to the decision making on preventive action, identification of adequate measures, to continued monitoring and reporting. The aim is to reduce the burden for small enterprises of carrying out and documenting their risk assessments easily and quickly while maintaining accuracy.
"EU-OSHA is working closely with the authorities and social partners at EU and national level to put the OiRA tool generator at their disposal," continues Dr Takala. "In turn, these partners will develop their own sector-specific and fully customisable OiRA tools and offer them for free to small enterprises."
The collaboration with key social partners also encourages widespread take-up and use of the tool at enterprise level and leads to the development of an OiRA community to share knowledge and experience. The final tool is backed by support and full guidance services provided by EU-OSHA to the developers.
OiRA projects have been launched both at EU level and Member State level (Cyprus, Belgium and France), piloting the development and diffusion model and covering sectors such as hairdressing and transport.
Based on the successful Dutch Risk Inventory & Evaluation instrument, the OiRA tool sets out to replicate this success across Europe. Since the creation of the Dutch online tool (www.rie.nl), there have been a total of 1.6 million visits to the website. This is an impressive number given that the Netherlands is a relatively small country with approximately 800 000 companies in total. The tool is downloaded an average of 5 000 times per month.
Links
- OiRA at the World OSH congress: http://osha.europa.eu/en/topics/riskassessment/OiRA-Online-Risk-Assessment
- More information on the OiRA project dedicated website: https://oiraproject.eu/en/what-oira
European Agency's legionella report
The report 'Legionella and legionnaires' disease: a policy overview' presents the regulatory framework related to Legionella and guidelines for practical application, including policies of international organisations. Linked to the Healthy Workplaces Campaign on Safe Maintenance, the factsheet summarises the occupational aspects of exposure to Legionella and offers good practice examples of how to control Legionella risks.
- Read the report (English)
- Factsheet (in 24 languages)
- Search for case studies in Case Studies Database (English)
- Safe Maintenance Campaign
The FPA working in partnership with the University of Derby Corporate is pleased to announce the launch of the new Foundation Degree: Fire Risk Management (FdSc)
What is a Foundation Degree?
Foundation degrees are higher education qualifications that bring together experience and learning in the workplace with academic learning.
Employers and universities work together to design these programmes so that:
- you gain the skills to be competitive in the workplace and increase your career prospects
- employers get more people applying for jobs that have the skills they're looking for
- you also get academic recognition and a qualification which allows you to move on to an honours degree.
A foundation degree is equivalent to the first two years of a bachelors degree. A top-up to achieve a full bachelor of science honours degree in fire risk management will become available at the start of 2012.
The foundation degree in Fire Risk Management includes the highly regarded CFPA Europe Diploma and Advanced Diploma in Fire Prevention within its syllabus, ensuring that the technical content within this qualification is of the highest standard and relevance for those working in the sector.
Who will benefit?
Foundation degrees are well recognised by employers and training providers as a credible indicator of ability to work competently in a specific vocational area, performing at Level 5. This qualification pathway is particularly relevant for those individuals who
- wish to gain a qualification that offers a recognised progression pathway through to formal level 6 and post-graduate study
- wish to develop personal skills in working and learning plus career development planning alongside technical knowledge
- wish to benchmark their level of attainment against the UK Higher Education qualifications framework
What is the programme structure?
Part 1
A five-day residential fire risk assessment and fire safety management course
A work-based report on applied fire risk assessment.
You can elect to exit the programme at this stage and achieve a Certificate of Achievement: Applied Fire Risk Assessment
Part 2
Eight individual study units each requiring approximately 15 hours study covering
- nature and behaviour of fire
- fire detection
- fire extinguishment
- fire and European law
- means of escape
- fire protection of buildings
- fire insurance and security
- management and protection
Two online personal development modules covering:
- professional development planning
- working and learning
A three hour written examination
You can elect to exit the programme at this stage, having completed stages 1 and 2 and achieve the Certificate of Higher Education: Fire Risk Management (CertHE) and the CFPA Europe Diploma in Fire Prevention (CFPA-E Dip)
Part 3
A five-day residential advanced fire safety management course
A reflective report on application of knowledge and learning
You can elect to exit the programme at this stage, having completed stages 1-3 and achieve the Certificate of Achievement: Fire Risk Management
Part 4
Two pieces of directed coursework, each 5,000 words in length covering
- loss risk management
- business continuity management
Preparation and submission of a 10,000 word project on a suitable fire-related topic of your choice
Interview and assessment by a panel of recognised fire safety experts
Upon successful completion of all four stages you will achieve the Foundation Degree: Fire Risk Management (FdSc) and the CFPA Europe Advanced Diploma in Fire Prevention. (CFPA-E Adv Dip)
When can I start?
Start dates run throughout the year. Dates for Stage 1.
How is learning assessed?
Learning is assessed through a mix of examinations, directed study and interview. The online module on Working and Learning included in Stage 2 is designed to assist learners with the study skills needed to successfully complete the qualification.
Is it possible to get exemptions from certain stages?
Exemptions from parts of the course can be offered and are considered on individual merit. Contact the Training Department for further information.
How much does it cost?
Part 1. Certificate of Achievement in Applied Fire Risk Assessment M £ 1500 NM £1650
Part 2. Certificate of Higher Education: Fire Risk Management (CertHE) M £2400 NM £2800
Special launch offer inclusive of both courses above: M £3650 NM £4250
Part 3. Certificate of Achievement: Fire Risk Management M £1850 NM £2200
Part 4. Foundation Degree: Fire Risk Management (FdSc) M £1150 NM £1250
One-off payment - Foundation Degree: Fire Risk Management (FdSc) M £6500 NM £7500
Special launch offer inclusive of all courses above: M £6000 NM £7000
How do I find out more or enrol?
Contact the Training Department in the first instance on training@thefpa.co.uk or 01608 812 534
http://www.derby.ac.uk/corporate
Diary of Events
5-6 October 2011 - International High Rise Symposium
Fire Service College, Moreton in Marsh, UK
Contact: Rachel Jone, Fire Service College | Tel: +44 (0)1608 812166 | email rjones@fireservicecollege.ac.uk | www.fireservicecollege.ac.uk
18-21 October 2011 - A+A 2011
Düsseldorf, Germany
Contact: i. A. Martin-Ulf Koch, G2-PR/ Presseabteilung - Press Department | Tel: +49 (0) 211 4560 444 | Fax: +49 (0) 211 4560 8548 | Email: KochM@messe-duesseldorf.de | www.aplusa.de
19-20 October 2011 - Naidex South
ExCeL, London
Contact: Emily Fordham, Emap Connect, Greater London House, Hampstead Road, London NW1 7EJ, UK | Tel: +44 (0)20 7728 4623 | Email: Emily.fordham@emap.com | www.naidexsouth.com
17 November 2011 - Annual Conference on Fire-Related Research and Developments 2011 (RE11)
Fire Service College, UK
Contact: www.fireservicecollege.ac.uk
21-27 November 2011 - UK Road Safety Week
Road Safety Week is an annual campaign run by Brake, the road safety charity. This year's
theme is "Too Young to Die". The message behind the theme is that road deaths are sudden,
violent events that rip apart families by taking lives too soon. The Week calls on
everyone, but drivers in particular, to recognise how road deaths snatch lives too early
and devastate families; and to remember this and put safety first behind the wheel at all times.
For more information and ideas for how you can get involved in Road Safety Week go to www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk
Abbreviated Minutes of the FIGUK Meeting held on Wednesday, 14 September 2011 held at the LFEPA, London
Sheila Pantry OBE |
Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd |
Michele McHugh |
London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) |
Penny Morgan |
International Fire Consultants (IFC) |
Claire Sinclair |
BSRIA |
Sally Walsh |
Dr Burgoyne & Partners LLP |
Jack Sullivan |
Valiant Fire Protection |
Paula McCrudden |
Hawkins and Associates |
Owain Thompson |
Kent FRS |
Julia Farrugia |
West Midlands FRS |
Nigel Herring |
Bureau Veritas Solutions |
Roger Berrett |
Dr Roger Berrett Associates |
Julia Mason |
Fire Service College (FSC) |
Ian Jerome |
London Metropolitan University |
Dave Wales |
Kent FRS |
Jane Thurgood |
Fire Protection Association |
Alyson Warner |
DCLG |
Anna Canning |
DCLG |
1. Welcome
Sheila welcomed everyone and thanked Michele for hosting the meeting.
2. Apologies
See above.
3. Minutes of the last meeting held on 9 March 2011 at Burgoynes
These were accepted. It was noted that Elizabeth Delaney has now left BSRIA and has moved to Wales.
4. Accounts have been prepared for auditing to end of year dated 12 August
Six members have failed to renew; John Roy, Barbour, IHS, Cheshire FRS, Royal Berkshire FRS and West Yorkshire FRS. Sally proposed that they were written off and removed from the Directory but would still be included in emails.
ACTION Decided to make one last contact with these Members re subscription. Results will be in the update of the Members' Directory on the website. Since the meeting John Roy has now decided not to renew his membership, IHS is renewing. Others are being contacted.
Sally noted that the £20 annual subscription covers both an individual and an organisation as usually only one attendee at meetings.
5. Membership
Several members made suggestions re recruitment:
- Ian Jerome hopes to recruit new members from his Universities Safety and Health Association (USHA) Fire Group colleagues using leaflets downloaded from the FIGUK website.
- Jack Sullivan is talking to LFB inspectors to suggest that they join FIGUK and will invite one of them to address a future meeting about what they do.
- Michele McHugh has some contacts to follow up.
6. Effects of the recession on information exchange
- DCLG is continuing its complete restructure and all staff have applied for a post in the new Department. 600 to 700 posts will be shed.
- Sheila Pantry reminded Members that the loss of FRS Inspectorate some years ago meant the loss of the Inspectorate Enquiry Desk and the large amount of information collected to support it. (Note - Some information is held at British Library) and that
- The National Archive Service uses a "snapshot" approach on Government Departments and Agencies websites see https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/webarchive. Also see https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help/a-to-z/
- Jack Sullivan concerned that fire loading is being oversimplified e.g. retail equivalent to office; expects impact on risk assessments.
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Incident Contact Centre from September 2011 only accepts telephone calls for reporting of fatal and major injuries only - call the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 99 23 (opening hours Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 5 pm). Details of accidents and near misses must now be reported via the HSE website only www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/report.htm
- HSE Infoline currently handling 250,000 enquiries per year ceases operation on 30 September 2011 and those seeking information are being directed to the HSE website www.hse.gov.uk see also Q&A www.hse.gov.uk/press/2011/hse-iccqa.htm
- General concern re ignorance of information providers as their storage capacities are reduced. Sheila Pantry cited RoSPA National Occupational Safety and Health Committee (NOHSC) new initiative that is looking at preserving occupational health and safety information on a website. It has started to define the scope of the collection and note all major milestones since the 1833 Factories Act. Progress will be reported back to FIGUK.
- Penny Morgan concerned how FRS National Framework 2008-2011 para 1.18 on effective response will be affected in context of firefighting during riots when police unable to assist with access. 'Having in place effective arrangements for gathering risk information and making it readily available to operational crews.'
- Michele McHugh queried the roles of British Library, Fire Service College and National Archive.
- Owain Thompson noted that the Press provides even less coverage of major fires e.g. the recent Chatham fatality when other competing news e.g. slavery of workers rapidly superseded that event.
- Sheila Pantry reminded the meeting of the legal requirements to lodge both printed and e-format copies of material with British Library, London and Boston Spa sites.
- Paula McCrudden will forward user site information to Sheila re her organisation's catalogues.
Round Table discussion (includes emailed comments)
Nigel Herring reported that the Fire Section of Bureau Veritas Solutions has moved premises and had a major sort out reports etc.
Roger Berrett noted that the Forensic Science Service (FSS) will finish in March 2012. He considered the impact on the DNA database owned by ACPO. Roger reported that he is involved in a training course initiative at University of Huddersfield in conjunction with West Yorkshire FRS that is training Libyans scientists to be forensic experts.
Sheila Pantry reported that Fire and Rescue Statistics Users Group (FRSUG) will be meeting in October 2011 to discuss a range of topics e.g. wildland fires and the new system for gathering fire statistics from Fire and Rescue Services. See www.frsug.org
David Lane offered to be the FIGUK representative on Fire Futures - Fire Sector Partnership - Fire Research and Data Forum.
Michele McHugh reported that the LFB photographic collection will in future be marketed through a well known, commercial image library. Brigade Control will be moving to a new purpose-built control centre in Merton by the end of 2011.
An Incident Mapping Site has been created to show what fire related incidents LFB attended in neighbourhoods across the capital. Boroughs and ward boundaries shown on a map have been shaded to indicate the total amount of different incidents that have happened in any given area over the past year. This will help the public gain a clearer understanding of where the incidents the LFB attend occur across London. The site has been created in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Service. To access the site go to https://lfbincidentmapping.london-fire.gov.uk/
Owain Thompson reported on his pilot research project on human behaviour on accidental domestic fires in Kent. He will be reporting on the 6 month data collection using a time-line approach at the FSC Research Conference in November 2011. Has been following up possible use of parents' voices in fire alarms to wake up children.
Paula McCrudden is working through Hawkins historic documents with a view to box file related topics for investigators to take on site as background information.
Jane Thurgood by email reports that:
FPA Health and Safety DVD just published: 11 modules (nearly 1 hr long!). Risk Management; Accident reporting; Working at height; Slips, trips and falls; Working with asbestos; Lone working; COSHH; Display screen equipment; PPE; Fire safety; Safe lifting and manual handling. £149 + vat to members
Copies of Passive Fire Protection Handbook are available, price £15 each for FPA members and £20 for non-members, from the FPA on email: sales@thefpa.co.uk, online: www.thefpa.co.uk/shop or by tel: 01608 812 500.
FPA have just started production of the 'Guide to Assisted Evacuation' DVD - to be published in November 2011.
Fire-stream will host video material - will be launched in October 2011 - testing beta version this/next week!
FPA is organizing the 'Future of Fire Summit' in November 2011 - Should be quite a significant event re future framework for the sector.
FRM will be launching an online 'page-turning' version in October 2011 - accessible to members only from the website.FRM is also now on Twitter - @FRMJournal
FPA will have new testing facilities on the site very soon.
Julia Ferrugia reported that in the West Midlands FRS her main work is on Freedom of Information matters. Their CFO, Vij Randeniya, will be President of CFOA in September 2012.
Alyson Warner reported by email that Members may have seen the consultation on the DCLG web site regarding the future of the Fire Service College - perhaps FIGUK Members can send a comment https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bob-neill-wants-views-on-the-future-of-the-fire-service-college
Sally Walsh reported that she and two colleagues are in the Burgoynes Management Ltd London Information Centre and Margaret Brain is still in the Northern in Ilkley, Yorkshire.
Sally reminded Members of the European Commission's RAPEX database - RAPEX is the EU rapid alert system for all dangerous consumer products, with the exception of food, pharmaceutical and medical devices. It allows for the rapid exchange of information between Member States via central contact points and the Commission of measures taken to prevent or restrict the marketing or use of products posing a serious risk to the health and safety of consumers. Both measures ordered by national authorities and measures taken voluntarily by producers and distributors are covered by RAPEX. Every Friday, the Commission publishes a weekly overview of the dangerous products reported by the national authorities (the RAPEX notifications). This weekly overview gives all information on the product, the possible danger and the measures that were taken by the reporting country.
Julia Mason by email reported that: The main development regarding the FSRTT & The Fire Service College (FSC), is that I secured funding for the feasibility study that we looked at as a group. Ceris Bergen is currently working on the project and we hope to have a report ready by mid October 2011. Future information will be dependent on the outcome of the study and what the college decides to do. I am sure I will have much more to say for the next meeting.
Regarding the college itself, On Monday 5 September 2011, the UK Government announced the commencement of a project which will explore options for a new ownership, operational and governance model for the Fire Service College which, through greater involvement from other sectors (whether private, public or voluntary), secures its future, supports national resilience and provides best value for the public purse.
The Government sees strong value in a national College for the Fire and Rescue Service to deliver common, consistent standards of safety critical training and improved intra-operability across the Fire and Rescue Service in support of resilience and to enable it to meet public expectations.
However, it is recognized that the current Fire Service College ownership and governance arrangements do not provide the flexibility necessary for the College to operate with sufficient commercial success and to achieve its full potential. Whilst business will continue as usual, this announcement is extremely positive for future of the Fire Service College.
AOB
Date for Christmas lunch, 12.30 pm, 7 December 2011 at Denise's French Restaurant.
Date for next meeting is Thursday, 8 March 2012 starting at 12.45 pm - venue TBA.
Meeting closed at 4.20 pm.