Latest news with #GavinEllis
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Fire service criticised after person dies in blaze
A fire service has been criticised after a resident died in a house blaze while waiting for a safety visit, a watchdog has said. Poor prevention work was one of "many issues" uncovered during a recent inspection of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS), which was also told to improve its culture and how it promotes diversity. But, his Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) praised the service for how it dealt with emergencies, including major incidents. Gavin Ellis, chief fire officer in Devon and Somerset, said preventing emergencies is a "huge focus" for the service, which had "already acted" on recommendations. Inspectors highlighted particular concerns about fire prevention and a backlog of 7,000 home safety visits - up from 1,400 in 2021. The HMICFRS report said the fire service told its inspectors it had "mostly cleared" the backlog but not before there were "tragic consequences". "A fatal fire review revealed that despite historic engagement, the service hadn't made a home safety visit to an individual who was on the backlog list. Months later, before a visit was made, the occupant died in a fire," it added. A spokesperson for the fire service told the BBC it visited the property involved in 2017 and 2018 and worked to make it safer while providing advice. They added: "We received a further referral and made attempts to contact the individual, which were unsuccessful. We were due to try again when, sadly, the fatal fire happened. We review all fatal fires to learn about what we can do differently in the future." During its inspection, the HMICFRS found the service was good at responding to fires, emergencies and major incidents and at understanding fire and risk. It was deemed adequate at ensuring public safety through fire regulation and at managing resources and future affordability. However, it required improvement in fire prevention, as well as how it promotes values and culture and matching the right people to the right skills. While the service was praised for doing "considerable work" to improve its culture, some staff told inspectors they did not feel confident challenging inappropriate behaviour. The service had also not made enough progress in its approach to equality, diversity and inclusion, the report added. It said inspectors were "disappointed" to find the diversity and inclusion team was "understaffed" and had an "excessive" workload. His Majesty's Inspector Roy Wilsher said: "We were disappointed to find that the service hasn't made the progress we expected. For example, five areas for improvement that we highlighted during our previous inspections of the service still haven't been addressed. "Overall, there is a clear commitment from staff and senior leaders to improve. The service is aware of the many issues we found and had plans in place to make improvements." Mr Ellis said the authority "welcomed the inspectorate's report, which is an important check-in against our improvement plans". "It's great to see our emergency response praised. It's important for us that when people call 999, they get a good service. "Operational colleagues across the service work hard every day to maintain cover and competency so that they're ready should anyone in our communities need them." He said work to improve culture "has been recognised". On the prevention of fires, Mr Ellis said the recommendations made were "process issues" and the service has "already acted" to better target its prevention work. "Preventing emergencies is a huge focus for the organisation and our people are dedicated to keeping people safe," he said. "Overall, we have a great foundation to keep on improving." Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Plan to change how fire service responds to alarms Students taking 'lifesaving' firefighter training Students taking 'lifesaving' firefighter training Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services
BBC News
23-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Devon and Somerset fire service criticised after person dies in blaze
A fire service has been criticised after a resident died in a house blaze while waiting for a safety visit, a watchdog has prevention work was one of "many issues" uncovered during a recent inspection of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS), which was also told to improve its culture and how it promotes his Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) praised the service for how it dealt with emergencies, including major Ellis, chief fire officer in Devon and Somerset, said preventing emergencies is a "huge focus" for the service, which had "already acted" on recommendations. 'Tragic consequences' Inspectors highlighted particular concerns about fire prevention and a backlog of 7,000 home safety visits - up from 1,400 in HMICFRS report said the fire service told its inspectors it had "mostly cleared" the backlog but not before there were "tragic consequences"."A fatal fire review revealed that despite historic engagement, the service hadn't made a home safety visit to an individual who was on the backlog list. Months later, before a visit was made, the occupant died in a fire," it added.A spokesperson for the fire service told the BBC it visited the property involved in 2017 and 2018 and worked to make it safer while providing added: "We received a further referral and made attempts to contact the individual, which were unsuccessful. We were due to try again when, sadly, the fatal fire happened. We review all fatal fires to learn about what we can do differently in the future." During its inspection, the HMICFRS found the service was good at responding to fires, emergencies and major incidents and at understanding fire and was deemed adequate at ensuring public safety through fire regulation and at managing resources and future it required improvement in fire prevention, as well as how it promotes values and culture and matching the right people to the right skills. Understaffed While the service was praised for doing "considerable work" to improve its culture, some staff told inspectors they did not feel confident challenging inappropriate service had also not made enough progress in its approach to equality, diversity and inclusion, the report added. It said inspectors were "disappointed" to find the diversity and inclusion team was "understaffed" and had an "excessive" workload. His Majesty's Inspector Roy Wilsher said: "We were disappointed to find that the service hasn't made the progress we expected. For example, five areas for improvement that we highlighted during our previous inspections of the service still haven't been addressed."Overall, there is a clear commitment from staff and senior leaders to improve. The service is aware of the many issues we found and had plans in place to make improvements." Mr Ellis said the authority "welcomed the inspectorate's report, which is an important check-in against our improvement plans". "It's great to see our emergency response praised. It's important for us that when people call 999, they get a good service."Operational colleagues across the service work hard every day to maintain cover and competency so that they're ready should anyone in our communities need them."He said work to improve culture "has been recognised".On the prevention of fires, Mr Ellis said the recommendations made were "process issues" and the service has "already acted" to better target its prevention work."Preventing emergencies is a huge focus for the organisation and our people are dedicated to keeping people safe," he said."Overall, we have a great foundation to keep on improving."
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK's first multi-brand returnable cup scheme launched in Glasgow
The UK's first multi-brand returnable drinking cup scheme has been launched in Scotland in an effort to reduce waste from single-use products. Borrow Cup launched in Glasgow on Monday with more than 40 participating outlets. They involved include major retailers such as Costa Coffee, Burger King, Caffe Nero and Tinderbox. Many smaller organisations such as Kelvingrove Museum, Sprigg and Glasgow City Chambers are also participating. The scheme, launched by charity Hubbub and reuse start-up Reposit, aims to expand across Scotland and the UK if the project is successful in its initial three-month period. Customers purchasing a drink at any participating store will be asked if they would like to use a Borrow Cup for a £1 deposit and will receive a discount or loyalty rewards at most stores. Available in three sizes, customers can return a cup after use for a clean one for their next drink or a £1 voucher. Hubbub says around three-quarters of people in the UK own a reusable cup, but only a third use them at least once a month. According to Zero Waste Scotland, 388 million disposable cups are used in Scotland each year. Gavin Ellis, co-founder of Hubbub, said: 'We know disposable cup waste is an issue Scotland is keen to tackle so we are delighted to launch the UK's first cross-brand returnable cup initiative here in Glasgow. 'By making it easy and convenient for people to choose reusable cups, we hope Borrow Cup will shift habits and help to make reusable cups the norm. 'The success of the project hinges on how many people use it, and crucially how many cups are returned to be used over and over. 'For it to be a success, we need the people of Glasgow to get behind Borrow Cup so we can show the rest of the UK what is possible.' Stuart Chidley, co-founder of Reposit, said: 'As a local business we are delighted to be enabling local people, local and national businesses to make a simple switch from single-use to returnable cups. 'The world is watching how Glasgow is leading the way so that they can follow.' Nicola Pierce, director of commercial planning, environment, social and governance at Burger King UK, said: 'Burger King UK is excited to partner with Hubbub to bring Borrow Cup to Glasgow. 'This industry collaboration allows us to explore innovative ways to offer our customers a convenient and sustainable alternative and we look forward to seeing the results.' Gareth Hopley, head of communications at Caffe Nero, said: 'We have long been supporters of recycling schemes for disposable cups, such as the Valpak Scheme, and we're delighted to be partnering on Borrow Cup. 'We already offer additional loyalty stamps to any customer who uses a reusable cup in any of our stores, and Borrow Cup will sit perfectly alongside it. I'm sure it will be hugely successful.'
