Erosh’s Kent regional network effectively joined forces recently to overturn a new policy proposed by their local fire and rescue authority.
Kent & Medway Fire and Rescue Authority (KMFRA) planned to introduce a new policy which would see fire crews only attend confirmed fires at sheltered housing schemes
In response, erosh members raised concerns that many of their schemes are now managed by peripatetic staff and in some cases staff empowered to ‘confirm’ a fire might be 30 minutes away from a scheme.
A regional networking meeting was called by the erosh Kent network to discuss the new proposal with a KMFRA Officer and how it would work in practice. This provided the opportunity to develop a shared understanding of sheltered housing and the implications of the proposed policy. Erosh also wrote to the Authority to raise members’ concerns and request a copy of its Equality Impact Assessment.
At a further regional meeting a representative from KMFRA confirmed that the Authority would continue to respond to calls 24/7 from sheltered housing schemes and that no charges would be made for false alarms.
A free workshop was also offered by the Authority, specifically aimed at sheltered housing providers, covering automatic fire detection systems, risk assessment, preventative and protective measures. This is a great example of the collective influence erosh members can have through their regional network and nationally. As a collective stakeholder, members’ views were listened to and taken on board. It is a good example of joint working and good practice and we encourage all erosh members who are facing similar issues to contact erosh through their local regional network or through the Director of Policy, Rebecca Mollart.
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