Consultation on a centre
of excellence for the Fire and Rescue Service in England
COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (197) issued by The Government News Network
on 26 October 2007
Communities and
Local Government have today published a consultation document
which puts forward options for the establishment of a Centre of
Excellence for the Fire and Rescue Service in England.
In welcoming the publication, Parmjit Dhanda, Minister for the
Fire & Rescue Service, said: "The establishment of a
Centre of Excellence provides an opportunity for the Fire &
Rescue Service to take much greater responsibility and ownership
for managing the service and to take a central role in influencing
the future direction of the service as a whole.
We have been working in partnership with the Local Government
Association and the Chief Fire Officers Association in developing
these proposals and hope that, through this consultation, the
Service itself will show its support for the establishment of a
Centre of Excellence."
The consultation document seeks views on:
* The need to establish a Centre of Excellence
* The functions which a Centre of Excellence has the potential to
support both in the short term and long term including training
delivery and resilience
* The governance arrangements which should underpin a Centre of Excellence
* The funding arrangements for a Centre of Excellence including
the potential financial contributions from Fire and Rescue
Authorities (FRAs) to fund the functions which FRAs require the
Centre of Excellence to carry out on their behalf
* The name of a Centre of Excellence
The closing date for the consultation is 31 January 2008.
Notes for Editors
The consultation work has been overseen by a Steering Group and a
Project Board comprising Local Government Association (LGA), Chief
Fire Officers Association (CFOA), Communities and Local Government
and Fire Service College (FSC) representatives.
Whilst the paper indicates support in principle for a Centre of
Excellence it does not recommend any preferred course of action. A
CoE will only be established if the consensus of the FRS is that a
CoE is required and FRAs are willing to commit their ongoing
support, including financial support, to the establishment and
running of a CoE. The outcome of the consultation will help to
determine whether there is such support and how these proposals
are taken forward.
The consultation offers consultees a range of options to consider
for the role, functions, status and governance of a CoE and
associated costs and possible funding arrangements - there are no
preferred options being put forward by Communities and Local
Government. It will be for FRAs to decide whether they are willing
to fund those functions which they wish a CoE to undertake
Communities and Local Government has pledged to transfer some
functions it currently delivers to a CoE together with appropriate funding.
The earliest date on which it would be practicable to establish a
CoE is April 2009
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