The mother of a 21-year-old woman who died at the start of 2023 has made a heartfelt plea to Londoners to take care with e-bikes and e-scooters, particularly to never block fire escape routes. Maria Frasquilho Macarro’s warning comes following the tragic death of her only daughter, Sofia Duarte, who sadly died on New Year’s… Read more »
Baroness Louise Casey DBE CB has published her independent review into the standards of behaviour and internal culture of the Metropolitan Police Service. The review was commissioned in the aftermath of the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving Met PC Wayne Couzens in March 2021. The review found, ‘Widespread bullying, discrimination, institutional… Read more »
Michael Dickson OBE has been confirmed as the new Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service. He is currently Chief Executive of NHS Shetland and NHS Orkney and will take over from current SAS Chief Executive Pauline Howie OBE, who is retiring. A start date is still to be agreed, but the two will work… Read more »
A new system that will give the Government and emergency services the capability to send an alert directly to mobiles phones when there is a risk to life has been launched. Working with mobile broadcasting technology, the Emergency Alerts system will transform the UK’s warning and informing capability; providing a means to get urgent messages… Read more »
The Government has published a new version of the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy. The 2023 refresh confirms that National Risk Register, based on the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA), will be updated and published later in 2023. Since the early 2000s, the Government has assessed risks to the UK through… Read more »
More than 668,000 text messages have been sent to British Transport Police from members of the public and rail staff in the past ten years using the 61016 service. This has led to the conviction of criminals, the saving of lives and the dismantling of drug lines. A decade after it started, a text is… Read more »
The National Audit Office has published a new report looking at progress with delivering the Emergency Services Network (ESN). It finds that despite the programme to deliver the new emergency services network to replace Airwave costing £2bn so far, the Home Office still does not know when ESN will be ready or what it will… Read more »
London Ambulance Service (LAS) has doubled the number of women who are specially trained to work in the most dangerous environments, after a targeted recruitment campaign. Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) paramedics respond to patients in the most perilous of situations including fires, collapsed buildings, people trapped under trains or vehicles, people in water, or… Read more »
Firefighters and control room staff across the UK have accepted a new pay deal to end their dispute over pay. 96 per cent of Fire Brigades Union members voted to accept the pay offer on an 84 per cent turnout. The pay settlement is for 7 per cent backdated to July 2022, plus an additional… Read more »
The Coal Authority has been given Category 2 responder status, confirming its position as a key organisation in the response to emergencies that happen on the UK’s coalfields. Along with the Met Office, the Coal Authority has been added to the list of Category 2 responders as a result of the 2021 review of the… Read more »
