Roger Mardon fire service history

www.romar.org.uk

Fire service historian and author

Roger Mardon

www.romar.org.uk

Department for Communities and Local Government

May 2006

On 5 May 2006 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) was succeeded by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). Now within that department, the Fire & Resilience Directorate continues to have responsibility for the fire & rescue services in England and Wales.

New structure and investment for TVAC

March 2006

On 28 March 2006 TVAC - The Vehicle Application Centre - announced that it had secured a strategic investment from Venture Private Equity Ltd, a private investment company specialising in companies experiencing rapid growth.

The company will now divide its operations into three business units, TVAC Blue Light for fire appliances and other emergency vehicles, TVAC Special Passenger Vehicles for bus manufacture and TVAC Special Vehicle Engineering for vehicle conversions.

TVAC, based in Leyland, Lancashire, was formed in 1993 and began designing and building fire engines in 1996. It is the UK agent for Plastisol, a Netherlands-based company that builds fire engine bodies from glass-fibre reinforced polyester. Body layout requirements are settled between TVAC designers and fire brigades and Plastisol builds a body to suit. This is then shipped to TVAC for mounting on the chassis of the brigade’s choice. In January TVAC was awarded an order to build 110 fire appliances for London Fire Brigade.

Fire & Rescue Service Directorate and Civil Resilience Directorate merge

February 2006

In January 2006 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced that the Fire & Rescue Service Directorate (FRSD) and the Civil Resilience Directorate (CRD) had merged, to create the Fire & Resilience Directorate (FRD). The director of the new organisation is Alun Evans.

News 2006