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Into the future for chief officers’ association |
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New CFOA President CFO Charlie Hendry talks about the organisation’s role so far in the modernisation process and outlines plans for the future
AS THE CFOA PRESIDENCY PASSES from Steve McGuirk to myself I would like to recognise the tremendous positive energy that he has brought to the role which has moved us forward at a great pace. Seeing what he has been doing over the last 12 months was almost enough to give me second thoughts about following him but I remain an optimist! Looking forward, the pace of change is hardly going to slacken and CFOA will be pushing hard for progress in a number of key areas. At the top of our agenda is getting clarity over the overall governance arrangements for the Service. The debate over national versus local functions will continue and we are advocating a better relationship, based on an acknowledgement of government’s role in articulating its aspirations for the Service, and the desire of local fire and rescue authorities to develop flexible local solutions. We will also be pressing for a renewal of the mechanisms for developing and issuing national operational guidance, largely in abeyance for nearly five years. Recent incidents may well highlight the need to ensure continuing operational excellence to complement the tremendous prevention work done across the UK and which has resulted in the lowest fire casualty figures for 50 years. Without a clear and robust system for operational risk management at both strategic and tactical level, can we really be assured that health and safety is being addressed properly?
Impact of Regulation
CFOA will focus too on the impact of regulation in terms of the Fire Safety Order, now well established but perhaps not well enough understood by those it is designed to protect. The challenge of major new building developments across the UK over the next ten years represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to design and build safer communities from the start. It is encouraging to see some services making real headway locally on residential sprinklers but we have a lot further to go if we are to make the sort of long-lasting change we need. The recently issued national strategy for equality and diversity represents both a big challenge and a big opportunity – to change the nature of the debate away from arguing solely over employment statistics and towards the development of the notion of ‘operational diversity’, focusing on the benefits that diversity can bring to doing a better job for the public. Unless and until we can demonstrate real progress in this area we will be forever vulnerable to criticism which in time may drown out our other achievements. Protecting people is what we do – understanding different needs helps us do it better. It is, perhaps, as simple as that.
No Repeat of Mistakes
CFOA will also be focusing on ensuring that the huge amount of work to develop systems of recruitment, assessment, training and development continues to be relevant to the needs of today’s workforce. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past where we effectively ‘froze’ national arrangements for 30 years. Fire and rescue services will continue to innovate and should be encouraged to do so and to share the results with others. The principles are beyond reproach but we do want to see respect for those who actually have to implement solutions on the ground and discover or develop better tools to achieve the same (or even better) outcomes. In many senses, five years on from the conclusion of the national pay dispute, this feels like another crossroads for the Service. The agenda is large and ambitious, but that will not deter us from advocating strong professional arguments for the future of our Service. We are passionate about quality and progress and we value the contributions and commitment of those that came before us in developing the Service. We also accept the leadership role in a professional fire and rescue service and everyone can expect us to be active and challenging in the years ahead. Lastly, I would also like to be able to do more to celebrate the quality and breadth of what fire and rescue services are doing up and down the UK to contribute to broader themes of community and safety. How many other public services have undergone such a rapid process of change while simultaneously improving performance year on year? It is a service to be proud of. |
