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CONGRATULATIONS to the Institution’s South Western Branch in the UK for their excellent one-day conference on 15 May, which attracted a well-informed and influential list of speakers and delegates.
The topic, Fire Safety Order – suitable and sufficient?, aimed to ‘take the temperature’ of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, which came into force in England and Wales in October 2006. The conference gave a wide range of interested parties the opportunity to share their thoughts on the first 18 months of the new law.
This well-organised and timely seminar has resulted in the Institution being requested to participate in an initial review of the legislation by the Government. Speaking at the event, the chief fire and rescue adviser, Sir Ken Knight, noted that the review will focus on the impact of the changes on those involved and will see if the Order is meeting its objectives.
If you have a view and would like to influence the Institution’s input to the review, please send your observations and comments to e-mail: helen.ross@ife.org.uk
UK Centre of Excellence
Following a wide consultation, the much debated Centre of Excellence that was proposed to be created at the Fire Service College in Moreton in Marsh, UK – where the Institution has its headquarters – is not to go ahead at this time.
The consultation paper had made it clear that a Centre of Excellence would only be established if it had the support, including financial support, of fire and rescue authorities and other key stakeholders.
Given the responses to the consultation, ministers concluded that the creation of the Centre could not be justified at this time, but that it is not ruling out the possibility of establishing a new body for the fire and rescue service in the future.
The full responses can be viewed at: www.communities.gov.uk/fire/publications/consultations
Communities and Local Government (CLG) will continue to build on the work undertaken on developing proposals for a Centre of Excellence and explore how best to take forward issues identified in the consultation responses. In particular, CLG will be looking at how, in the short term, to improve arrangements for securing the engagement and influence of stakeholders, and doing further work on developing options for the delivery of national functions in the longer-term, including those which will be required for operational doctrine and those for Firelink and FireControl, once they become operational.
The Institution is committed to the original concept of a Centre of Excellence for fire, and will continue to support any developments that take forward that concept.
Rasbash Lecture
The Institution presented the annual Rasbash Lecture on 5 June. This event is organised in the memory of David Rasbash, who was a pioneer in the field of fire engineering. He had a very broad vision and a wide-ranging interest in many subjects, and recognised no barriers between the many sciences involved in fire engineering.
The guest speaker at this year’s lecture was Professor J G Quintiere of the University of Maryland, who spoke on Aspects of Compartment Fires: Correlations, Flashover, and Fire Point.
Congratulations to the Engineering Council Division and the Defence Fire Services for arranging this excellent event.
Examinations – developments
On 19 June, a meeting will be held to brief the UK fire and rescue service on the work carried out by the Institution with partner fire and rescue services, to use the Institution’s examinations as part of the integrated personal development system.
The Institution will be setting out its approach to supporting the fire and rescue service in assessing underpinning knowledge and understanding of fire and rescue service staff. There has been an overwhelming response, following a targeted e-mail to every UK fire and rescue service.
The Institution looks forward to exploring how to take forward the initial projects for the benefit of fire and rescue service professionals and their employers.
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