Agenda and minutes

Councillor Brian Grocock – other Council business.

None.

Last meeting held on 10 January 2014 (for confirmation)

The Committee confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 10 January 2014 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

Report of Chief Fire Officer

Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Craig Parkin introduced the Chief Fire Officers’ report providing members with an introduction to a Competency Framework for Business Safety Regulators. The main points drawn to the attention of the members were:

(a)  Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) has an established fire protection department dedicated to the enforcement of fire safety in non-domestic premises which is a statutory requirement under the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order (RRO) 2005;

(b)  fire and rescue services nationally have been criticised  by businesses due to their lack of consistency in providing advice when completing their obligation under the RRO and in their handling of enforcement action;

(c)  in tackling this problem, NFRS has developed a nationally recognised competency framework for members of staff delivering business support and regulation which will ensure a consistent service delivery;

(d)  the primary purpose of the framework is to ensure that Business Fire Safety Regulators have the necessary skills to be competent and protects the regulatory organisation by ensuring that all regulators are delivering the most up to date advice and information;

(e)  although there are three defined levels of competence for regulators, NFRS is currently working towards all of its fire safety officers to be qualified to Fire Safety Inspectors which means they can complete inspections of all regulated premises, including high risk sites or those incorporating fire engineering principles;

(f)  new members of staff will require a full suite of training courses over an 18-24 month period and existing members of staff will have their existing qualifications accredited through an approved body;

(g)  there are 19 existing ‘qualified’ officers that require conversion to the new framework and a trial is taking place at a cost of £360 per person, which if successful will cost a total of £6,840 for all 19 members.

Following questions from the Committee, the following information was provided:

(h)  the onus is on businesses to seek responsible fire safety advisors because under the new regulations, as well taking enforcement action against the business, NFRS can also take action against advisors;

(i)  NFRS would be susceptible to criticism if serious incidents occur on business premises where NFRS has agreed to inspect and fails to do so. NFRS will not inspect every business premises but will look at where there are trends in analysing risk. NFRS is looking at working jointly with other authorities, such as Trading Standards in effectively managing events, which for example include the use of fireworks.

RESOLVED to note the contents of the report and endorse the adoption of the Competency Framework for Business Fire Safety Regulators.