The Fire Industry Association said it will be upping its game on issues such as unwanted fire alarms and charging and trading by fire and rescue services, in order to protect the interests of its members and of the public.
Speaking at the association’s AGM lunch last week, chief executive Graham Ellicott outlined some of the FIA’s activities over the past 12 months, including its involvement in the Fire Futures process, and lobbying the government on the Localism Bill and charging and trading by fire and rescue services.
“Over the next 12 months we expect to be equally busy; we have already seen a dramatic change in both the economy, and as a result, the cuts to the fire and rescue services. These cuts have already produced wild changes, almost knee jerk reactions in some places, whilst ‘control’ moves from the centre to local government.”
Envisaging even tougher battles ahead, Mr Ellicott continued:
“This year we have started to be more aggressive in our stance, to make our views heard. We believe we may have to be even tougher to protect our members’ interests and the general public. We will of course continue to work as closely as we can with our industry stakeholders, but when they are unable to meet our expectations we will seek to up the game and push harder.”
Looking back at the last 12 months, Mr Elicott also highlighted:
- the growth in the FIA’s membership to just under 500 with smaller companies now comprising 73% of the membership
- training nearly 6,000 people over the last 12 months, up almost 1,000 on the previous year and a record
- involvement in more than 100 technical committees and political liaison with more than 100 different bodies
- staging 19 events including new CPD Days and the experimental New Technology Day
Mr Ellicott also announced the award of honorary membership – for valuable service to the trade association – which went to Bob Whiteley, member and former chairman of the FIA Extinguishing Council, who continues to play a key role in the development of European and international standards for fixed fire suppression systems.
