Communities and Local Government (CLG): Communities and Local Government sets policy on local government, housing, urban regeneration, planning and fire and rescue.
Office of the Chief Fire and Rescue Advisor (OCFRA): was created by Communities and Local Government to advise Ministers and senior staff on structure, organisation and performance, including equality, of fire and rescue services. Crucially, the Chief Fire Adviser and his unit will also advise Ministers, the Cabinet Office and local government during a major emergency. Sets and reviews operational doctrine.
Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA): CFOA is a professional membership association and a registered charity. The Association provides independent and valuable advice to government on fire prevention, protection and intervention issues as well as on a wide range of community safety and rescue matters.
Regional Government Offices: There are 9 regional government offices that specialise in knowing and understanding their local areas. Each office has a Home Office Regional Deputy Director (HORDD) for safer and stronger communities who are key links for our regional community safety specialists.
Regulators
Improvement agencies
- Improvement and Development Agency for local government (IDeA) - The IDeA works for local government improvement so councils can serve people and places better. It is owned by the Local Government Association and belongs to local government.
- Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships (RIEPs) - Play a key role in supporting councils to deliver priority outcomes for their communities. RIEPs are currently developing Regional Improvement and Efficiency Strategies which will support councils in tackling key challenges across the region and in improving the quality and efficiency of their public services.
- Local Government Association (LGA) - Created in 1997, the Local Government Association is a voluntary lobbying organisation, acting as the voice of the local government sector, and an authoritative and effective advocate on its behalf. The LGA works with and on behalf of its membership to deliver the vision of an independent and confident local government sector, where local priorities drive public service improvement in every city, town and village and every councillor acts as a champion for their ward and for the people they represent
Other bodies
- Health and Safety Executive - Plays an important role in the statutory compliance of Fire and Rescue services with respect to HSE legislation. During 2009 / 2010 they will undertake Management of Health and Safety inspections across the country and will be reporting upon FRS performance in several operationally important areas. Improvement focus and activity creates an important and ongoing liaison forum between the Audit Commission, OCFRA, CLG and the LGA.
- Resilience - The Civil Contingencies Act has heralded a shift in the approach to emergency planning, preparedness, response and recovery being approached in a more holistic fashion and with a range of partners and partnerships depending upon their classification into ‘categories’. Risk analysis and the planning for large scale emergencies is approached at Local, Regional and National levels and focuses upon Community Risk Registers, maintained at the Local Resilience Forum (LRF), a partnership of stakeholders.