Sir Ken Knight’s review into the fire service is a breath of “fresh air” and a “mirror” held up for the fire service to look at itself.
This was the message from the Fire Minister Brandon Lewis and the President of the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA), Paul Fuller, at the annual Fire Sector Summit yesterday (Thursday), as the FBU calls further strike dates over pensions.
The FBU has announced that firefighters in England and Wales will walk out on Friday, November 1, from 18:30 to 23:00 and on Monday, November 4, the day before Bonfire night, from 06:00 to 08:00.
In September’s strike, around 32,000 firefighters walked out for four hours. The FBU’s Matt Wrack also spoke at the Fire Sector Summit and refused to rule out further strikes He told delegates:
I would hope that people would understand that firstly the fact we called a short strike goes to say we recognise the risk. We’ve produced an evidence-based case, and in three years of discussion trying to avoid strike, nobody anywhere has been able to address the points we’ve made.
Wrack continued to say that the Government “cannot wash their hands” of their responsibility in this dispute, and should get back round the table to continue discussions.
Brandon Lewis was supposed to be at the Summit to address delegates personally and take part in a Q&A alongside Fuller and Wrack, but the minister was unavailable and sent a video message instead. In it he said:
The Knight review as much about opening the window and letting some fresh air in as it is about practical issues we [the fire sector] need to face.
The Knight Review into the future of the fire and rescue authorities of England and Wales was published in May, and revealed that there were 40 per cent fewer incidents than there were just ten years ago and that deaths from fire were at an all-time low. The report, titled Facing the Future, has received a mixed response with the Government, which is still forming its official response almost half a year later.
In a polite but vigorous workshop discussing the review, CFOA’s Fuller said that the industry needs to see Sir Ken Knight’s document as a thinking exercise. The industry and those in the fire service sent mixed messages to Government, so they sent Sir Ken to find out the truth, he said. Almost everything in the report is what someone told him; he then wrote that down and held it up as a mirror.
Director of independent think tank Reform, Andrew Haldenby, was also taking part in the workshop and appeared to back the Knight Review in principle. He said there were three key takeaways from the report that should impact how the fire service looks in the future:
Haldenby explained how the Police Force and Local Government — who have faced some of the more severe cuts in this Government — have shown fast innovation. Crime has been reduced by 20 per cent even while budgets have been cut. Conversely organisations such as the NHS and schools — whose budgets have been protected — have seen much slower innovation.
He suggested therefore that the fire service could be able to adapt to the future while facing cuts.
But this was rejected by Wrack and the FBU, who claimed that the issue is not about how many incidents they currently face, but the fact that a minimum staffing level is required to be able to successfully and safely respond to and deal with an incident.
Further staff reductions would leave the fire service exposed and unable to cope with major incidents. That situation in turn would increase the overall cost of fire to society, wiping out any savings made in the process.
Were you at the Fire Sector Summit? Tell us what you thought of the debates around the Knight Review in the comments below.
Related posts:
Download the Fire Safety in 2023 eBook, keeping you up to date with the biggest news and prosecution stories from around the industry. Chapters include important updates such as the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and an overview of the new British Standard for the digital management of fire safety information.
Plus, we explore the growing risks of lithium-ion battery fires and hear from experts in disability evacuation and social housing.
Lord Knight and the fire minister will not care how many lives are lost due to their desire for political slaps on the back. Blood on their hands can be easily washed off and their actions cannot be chalanged in court.
like everything else thing/technology changes with time…. it take time for a change…
I agree @ bayte, changings do not come overnight, it takes time so let us wait and monitor it
Technology is the most rapidly changing situation in human race as at now
Technology is the most rapidly changing situation in human race as at now