scholarly journals Reducing fire risk in buildings: the role of fire safety expertise and governance in building and planning approval

Author(s):  
C. M. Benson ◽  
S. Elsmore

AbstractFollowing the Grenfell tower incident, fire safety is being re-examined around the world. One key area is planning and building approval. It has been suggested that expert fire authority advice is being ignored in building and planning control. In this paper, freedom of information requests were submitted to fifty local government authorities (covering approx. one quarter of the England and Wales population), and three fire authorities, to examine their consultation process. No prior study has examined this relationship in detail. This work attempts to identify who is assessing fire safety, what expertise exists in the system, and what guidance is available from central government. The impact of austerity on the ability to effectively manage fire safety is also discussed. Results show local government authorities have a large degree of discretion with no guidance from central government on fire safety expertise needed to assess non-prescriptive building standards, and only limited guidance on how fire authority advice should be used by local government. The result is a dramatically different level of engagement of fire authorities, and implementation of fire safety advice. There does not appear to be any guarantee that fire expertise is being employed for the purpose of fire safety in building/planning processes. This means the building regulatory regime may be one of the many issues contributing to fire safety issues. Stronger legislation is required to prevent a post-code lottery of fire safety implementation.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2590
Author(s):  
Samson Tan ◽  
Darryl Weinert ◽  
Paul Joseph ◽  
Khalid Moinuddin

Given that existing fire risk models often ignore human and organizational errors (HOEs) ultimately leading to underestimation of risks by as much as 80%, this study employs a technical-human-organizational risk (T-H-O-Risk) methodology to address knowledge gaps in current state-of-the-art probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) for high-rise residential buildings with the following goals: (1) Develop an improved PRA methodology to address concerns that deterministic, fire engineering approaches significantly underestimate safety levels that lead to inaccurate fire safety levels. (2) Enhance existing fire safety verification methods by incorporating probabilistic risk approach and HOEs for (i) a more inclusive view of risk, and (ii) to overcome the deterministic nature of current verification methods. (3) Perform comprehensive sensitivity and uncertainty analyses to address uncertainties in numerical estimates used in fault tree/event trees, Bayesian network and system dynamics and their propagation in a probabilistic model. (4) Quantification of human and organizational risks for high-rise residential buildings which contributes towards a policy agenda in the direction of a sustainable, risk-based regulatory regime. This research contributes to the development of the next-generation building codes and risk assessment methodologies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-42
Author(s):  
Muhadam Labolo ◽  
Etin Indrayani

Bureaucratic reformation is the fundamental structuring efforts are expected to havean impact on changing systems and structures. The system deals with the relationshipbetween the unsure or the element that influence each other and are associated to makea form totally. The change in one element can influence the other elements in the system.The structure relates with the order of who arrayed a regular basis and systematically.Structure changes is also included with the mechanism and procedure, human resources,facilities and infrastructure, organization and organization’s environment in terms of theachievement of the efficiency of government bureaucracy. These changes include allowingall of the aspects of the bureaucracy has sufficient capacity to carry out the duties and thebasic function. Bureaucratic failure in a term for service the public until now representpoor government both at central and local government level. The urgency of bureaucraticreform in Indonesia is driven by a number of important note. First, the increased apparatusexpenditure is caused by increased of apparatus recruitment without unmeasured control.Second, the ballooning cost of democracy (election) affected the floated of local governmentbudget have increased significantly. The magnitude of the election budget and the impact ongovernmental bureaucracy resulted not ready to close the budget deficit. More than thesebureaucracy has loyalty dilemma caused by dispersed of concentration in every election’sactivity. Third, increased of develop the bureaucratic organization without planning andanalysis of the measured trigger financing and recruitment of apparatus that not less. Asa result, the bureaucracy in most areas are overload, or even lack in outside of Java. Inother side, less of local incomes make dependence to central government, while the localgovernment expenditure is to far from efficiency, even tend to be less controlled due to thehigh cost of the organization. Fourth, extensive corrupt behavior in almost all public sectorbureaucracy encourages lose confidence as a public servant.Keywords: Bureaucratic Reformation, bureaucracy design, local government, GoodGovernance


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Trust Madhovi

This paper examines the impact of social accountability mechanisms on the fiscal management challenges facing local government bodies in Zimbabwe. The paper hypothesises that there is a positive relationship between the use of social accountability mechanisms or tools by local authorities and the effectiveness of their fiscal management policies to mobilize more revenue for service delivery. In this study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are adopted in gathering and analysing data from central government officials, Goromonzi Rural District Council employees and members of the public. The results of the study reveal that the local government body faces a number of fiscal management challenges that include a shrinking tax base, non-payment of taxes, resistance to successive budgets; lack of implementation; lack of monitoring and evaluation. Council has implemented participatory budgeting to deal with some of these challenges. While results show a significant improvement in tax collection, some of the challenges have persisted. The paper proposes some recommendations useful to central government, policy makers, civil society organisations, local government officials and the general public. The paper manages to demonstrate that the implementation of social accountability tools can have positive impacts on the fiscal management challenges facing local governments. 


2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 602-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Michael Greenhalgh ◽  
Kevin Muldoon-Smith ◽  
Sophie Angus

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the introduction of the business rates retention scheme (BRRS) in England which transferred financial liability for backdated appeals to LAs. Under the original scheme, business rates revenue, mandatory relief and liability for successful appeals is spilt 50/50 between central government and local government which both share the rewards of growth and bear the risk of losses. Design/methodology/approach The research adopts a microanalysis approach into researching local government finance, conducting a case study of Leeds, to investigate the impact of appeals liability and reveal disparities in impact, through detailed examination of multiple perspectives in one of the largest cities in the UK. Findings The case study reveals that Leeds, despite having a buoyant commercial economy driven by retail and service sector growth, has been detrimentally impacted by BRRS as backdated appeals have outweighed uplift in business rates income. Fundamentally BRRS is not a “one size fits all” model – it results in winners and losers – which will be exacerbated if local authorities get to keep 100 per cent of their business rates from 2020. Research limitations/implications LAs’ income is more volatile as a consequence of both the rates retention and appeals liability aspects of BRRS and will become more so with the move to 100 per cent retention and liability. Practical implications Such volatility impairs the ability of local authorities to invest in growth at the same time as providing front line services over the medium term – precisely the opposite of what BRRS was intended to do. It also incentivises the construction of new floorspace, which generates risks overbuilding and exacerbating over-supply. Originality/value The research reveals the significant impact of appeals liability on LAs’ business rates revenues which will be compounded with the move to a fiscally neutral business rates system and 100 per cent business rates retention by 2020.


1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 387-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre-Henri Derycke ◽  
Guy Gilbert

ABSTRACTAfter a sharp increase, the public debt of French local communities has been stabilized in real terms: its amount reached 54 per cent of total public debt in 1980. In the French institutional framework, local government borrowing policy is under the tight control of central agencies. An econometric model of the borrowing behaviour of local governments since 1965 is presented; it emphasizes the role of internal determinants of local debt (needs for investment, self-financing ability of governments), external constraints (e.g. interest rates and the financial resources of lenders, such as households savings), and finally the impact of macroeconomic policy measures from the central government.


10.1068/c9865 ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eran Razin

Results of the comparative study presented in this paper suggests that local government organization influences land-use planning, and local development strategies and disparities. Local government reforms can, therefore, serve to modify spatial patterns of development and disparities. Based on a review of studies made in the developed and the developing world, the author provides a comparative perspective on these influences. Five major dimensions of local government organization—territorial, functional, political autonomy, fiscal, and electoral—are used to define four extreme models of local government. The American self-government model leads to substantial inequalities and to considerable sprawl. The Western welfare-state model alleviates these problems somewhat, but at a cost to central government. Its positive impact is also dependent on norms of administration at the central level, whereas reduced competition over economic development has its negative sides. Developing-world-type centralism has no real advantages in terms of development or disparities. The developing-world decentralized model can be regarded as a transitional phase towards either the self-government or the welfare-state models. Its implementation has been partial; hence its impact has, so far, been rather small.


2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Considine ◽  
Theresa Reidy

Abstract There are two essential elements to this paper. In the first instance, we explore the specific details of revenue and expenditure trends for local authorities over the last decade. The analysis is framed against a longer-term political context of forty years which focuses especially on the weakness of local government in Ireland. Despite an official narrative of financial overdependence on central government, the comparative examination of budgetary records of local authorities reveals considerable diversity in both the revenue and expenditure patterns of authorities across the state. While some authorities are heavily reliant on central government funding, others have a much stronger base of local funding, and indeed the financial crisis since 2008 may have increased these differences. The second dimension to the research is an exploration of the impact of the great recession from 2008 on local government finance in Ireland. Using a framework of new institutionalism, we identify the crisis as another critical moment for local government. We consider the political, economic and administrative variables which have brought local government to a financial crossroads, and we explore the potential for long-lasting financial change in local government, as well as speculating on the nature and outcome of that change.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dian Wardiana Sjuchro

Democratization of broadcasting that is characterized by the diversity of ownership and diversity of content is the aspiration that stated in Law 32/2002 on Broadcasting. However, the enormous of political and business battles that follow the enactment of the broadcasting regulations have hampered its implementation in Indonesia. Now, after nearly 15 years of implementation of the Broadcasting Law in Indonesia, the time to evaluating the implementation of regulation of legislative products in the regions have arrived. Evaluations are directed more to an objective opportunities of local people to access the ownership of local television, and the impact on the content of television local to the communities. The research applied qualitative method and the data is collected by utilizing a survey to the broadcasting stakeholders in 10 areas that is determined purposively. The object of the research is local government, regional broadcasting commissions, community leaders, journalists, lecturers, and the owners of local television licensed. The results show that broadcasting regulations are relatively unworkable in the regions due to various central government policies that do not widely open the opportunities for regional people to access broadcasting licenses. This limitation also led to complaints from the region regarding the content of national television broadcasts that many harm local communities and cultures. Research respondents suggested to have more pro-regional broadcasting regulation and involving local people in the making of policies and regulations of regional broadcasting.


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