Kent Fire and Rescue Service

Successful strategies have brought substantial improvements in efficiency, performance and prevention in KFRS in recent years. It now has one of the lowest levels of deaths in accidental fires in homes in the country, and is also the only 'excellent' fire & rescue authority to also be rated as improving strongly by the Audit Commission.

UMG built a tailor-made programme designed for senior managers at KFRS. The objective was to increase awareness of the policy development process in the sector, the challenges involved in feeding new policies down through organisations and the importance of internal communication in policy delivery.

While content was based on our Professional Skills for Government courses, all workshops were built around areas relevant to KFRS's work. Specific policy and strategy papers applicable to the organisation were explored and analysed, and case studies modelled on real problems were used to engage delegates effectively, encourage discussions on strategies for issues appropriate to them, and to equip them with tools they can then use in the future.

These courses have now been incorporated into KFRS's regular training programme for managers at Station Manager level and above.

James Finch, Policy Manager (Improvement), Kent Fire & Rescue Service:
"We have been sending our staff to UMG open courses, such as Understanding Sustainability, Understanding Regional Government and Understanding Parliament, to expose them to a wider range of training and development opportunities to complement existing learning and development strategies. By bringing together groups of people from across local and central Government, and drawing on their wide range of high-quality speakers, UMG have offered us a way to effectively meet these requirements.

"We recently used bespoke training package to provide policy development and strategic thinking training to a group of colleagues from across the region. What was particularly useful was the consultation process that took place before the courses, and with some input from us UMG were able to develop realistic training materials to directly support our objectives. Feedback was very positive and delegates reported that these sessions made a real impact, providing practical tools and techniques applicable to their work environments, as well as putting things into a wider perspective".