Independent Review of Training

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, London Fire Brigade should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear London Fire Commissioner (London Fire Brigade),

In 2019, your response to a FOI regarding Consultancy to London Fire Brigade, to which a response was given that London Fire Brigade paid Ribband Star Consultancy Ltd, the sum of £86,118.68 for the cost of the Independent Review of Training.

In light of the latest HMICFRS letter to Andy Roe, London Fire Commissioner dated 12th February 2021, please can you advise under this FOI the following:-

- Did London Fire Brigade, carry out any of the recommendations made from the final report from the Independent Review of Training carried out by Robert Scott of Ribband Star Consultancy?

- If so which elements were carried out?

- If not, why not?

- Please provide any communication internally and externally which relate to the Independent Review of Training .

- Was there a follow up meeting from when the Final report was delivered and if so, please provide a copy of the minutes for this meeting and any subsequent meetings?

- Please provide a copy of any correspondence relating to the contract given to Ribband Star Consultancy either prior, during or at the end of the contract.

- Please provide a copy of the Restrictive, Competitive, Procurement process that London Fire Brigade used to appoint Ribband Star Consultancy?

- Please provide a copy of the contract to Ribband Star Consultancy together with the brief given to Ribband Star for this contract.

- Please provide the information or minute notes from London Fire Brigade where the decision was made to appoint an Independent review of Training?

Thank you for your assistance.

Yours faithfully,

G Henley-Blake

London Fire Brigade

Dear G Henley-Blake

Thank you for your request.

 

This will be considered under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and we
will respond as soon as we are able.  Please note, given the current
situation with the Coronavirus, this may be outside of the normal,
expected timeframe for a FOI response (20 working days).

 

Thank you for your patience,

 

with kind regards

Michelle Essiet

Information Access

London Fire Brigade

169 Union Street  London  SE1 0LL

T 0208555 1200

 

 

 

 

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LFB Information Access, London Fire Brigade

10 Attachments

Mr Henley Blake

 

I refer to your request under the Freedom of Information Act as set out in
your email dated 18 February 2021.

 

I apologise for the delay in providing the information you were seeking.
The Brigade is currently dealing with a large volume of complex
information requests and we are struggling to deal with all requests as
quickly as we would like, particularly as staff are still working from
home. We have a recovery plan in place, including additional staff, to
ensure we can get back to dealing with request on time.

 

In your request you asked various information related to a consultancy
project of work on an independent review of training. I will deal with
each of your questions in turn::

 

1 - Did London Fire Brigade, carry out any of the recommendations made
from the final report from the Independent Review of Training carried out
by Robert Scott of Ribband Star Consultancy?

Yes.

 

2 - If so which elements were carried out?

Twenty-seven out of the twenty-eight recommendations contained within the
final report have either been fully implemented or are being implemented.
One recommendation, 16 (career/development pathways for FRS staff) has
been replaced with an organisational Behavioural Framework for all
staff. The Behavioural Framework underpins leadership development
programmes and performance management processes.

 

3 - If not, why not?

Recommendation 19 (creation of an LFB training design team) is not being
implemented at this time.  After further consideration, it was felt that
the LFB's training provider should continue to fulfil the training design
role as provided for within the extant training contract. This decision is
being kept under review. The potential efficiencies highlighted in the
report are being delivered through a programme of continuous improvement.

 

4 - Please provide any communication internally and externally which
relate to the Independent Review of Training .

4a. Internal communication

We have been able to identify two occasions when the outcome of the review
of training was communicated internally (aside from the submission of
papers to internal meetings). There was an email from the Assistant
Director, Training and Professional Development to all heads of service
(i.e. department heads) on 12 September 2019 "Independent Review of
Training" [FOIA5651 Doc1], and a wider communication message to all staff
on 19 July 2020 "DaMOP Phase Two goes live" when the review was mentioned
in passing (see third paragraph) [FOIA5651 Doc2]. 

 

4b. External communication

The independent review of training was an item for discussion at the
London Assembly’s Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning Committee in
January 2020 and paper are available on the GLA website ([1]agenda and
minutes here, [2]transcript here); this is a public meeting.  

 

5 - Was there a follow up meeting from when the Final report was delivered
and if so, please provide a copy of the minutes for this meeting and any
subsequent meetings?

The Commissioner's Board, in considering the outcome report from the
consultants, agreed to create a project board to oversee the development
of an implementation plan for the recommendations. [FOIA5651 Doc3]

 

6 - Please provide a copy of any correspondence relating to the contract
given to Ribband Star Consultancy either prior, during or at the end of
the contract.

Please see attached a copy of the Invitation to tender and
letter.[FOIA5651 Doc5 and FOIA5651 Doc4]

 

7 - Please provide a copy of the Restrictive, Competitive, Procurement
process that London Fire Brigade used to appoint Ribband Star
Consultancy? 

As the contract exceeded £10k a competitively tendered process was
followed. Up to three contractors were invited to submit a tender and
following an evaluation exercise which considered quality and cost, a
supplier was appointed to undertake the review. Please see the copy of the
Invitation to Tender [FOIA5651 Doc5]; this outlines the procurement
process used. 

 

8 - Please provide a copy of the contract to Ribband Star Consultancy
together with the brief given to Ribband Star for this contract.

Please see attached a copy of the draft contract used during the tender
process. The scope of the work is included within the Invitation to Tender
document. [FOIA5651 Doc6]

 

9 - Please provide the information or minute notes from London Fire
Brigade where the decision was made to appoint an independent review of
Training?

Please see the relevant extracts from the minutes from the Commissioner’s
Board 19 December 2018 on the report about the Independent Review of
Training. [FOIA5651 Doc7]

 

I hope you find the information we have been able to provide of use. 
Should you have any further questions please do let me know.

 

We have dealt with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
For more information about this please see the information published by
the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in their guide on “[3]How to
access information from a public body”.

 

Zoe

 

Zoe Hughes

Information Access

London Fire Brigade 

169 Union Street  London  SE1 0LL 

T 020 8555 1200

M 0738 538 2594 

E [4][email address

 

[5]london-fire.gov.uk

 

 

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