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BAPCO Annual Report 2007
Report of the Executive Committee for the period 1st April 2006 to 31st March 2007
Introduction
BAPCO in representing all three Emergency Services is strongly placed to advise and recommend in the Public Safety Arena. It is totally independent with its only agenda to deliver the best possible service to the public through Communications and information management systems.
The current Trials and Investigations reported in the Media, remind us that complacency is not an option and our Emergency Services need to be properly prepared for any Public Safety Disaster, whether Man Made or Natural.
Our Strategic Mission Statement is ‘To be the centre of excellence in the British Isles for the provision of information, advice and support relating to public safety/civil contingency communications and information management systems for the benefit of the public and the safety of users’
This needs to be driven and understood by all members of BAPCO as we move forward into a dynamic and challenging time ahead. The Government are demanding more value for money with an ever increasing agenda of Change which demands of our Professional Emergency Service Providers a flexible and far reaching approach to achieve desired aims. BAPCO can assist in the processes, especially with our USER led forums and expertise.
The Civil Contingencies Act continues to be a vital piece of legislation within the Public Safety Community, responsible for managing change and enabling proper provision of Emergency Services through all the relevant Agencies. BAPCO continues to look at ways of reaching those Organisations listed as Category One and Two responders as it continues to be the case that these Organisations will always be the backbone of developing and managing the Public Safety response.
Our Road Shows continued this year covering subjects as lessons learnt from the 7/7 bombings and the critical response which would have to made to a Pandemic Outbreak. They also provide opportunities to see and discuss with Suppliers developments in Technology and how these advances can be used effectively in Operational Situations. Users have the opportunity to discuss and express their views which are invaluable in enabling BAPCO to represent at all levels key issues in the Public safety Arena.
Throughout 2006 BAPCO continued to provide a key role in the work of International Standards with Interoperability at the heart of efforts.
We continue to provide a BAPCO presence on the ETSI committee (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) and also Project MESA Committee.
We also signed an International commitment to the ’Global Alliance’ in October 2006 which brings the APCO families of USA, Canada, Australia and BAPCO together in order to push forward an Agenda which will benefit the International Community and enable Best Practice to be shared. The first meeting took place in February 2007 in Australia which started to set an agenda and the second meeting will take place at our Exhibition and Conference in April.
The Conferences and Exhibitions which take place in Canada, USA and Australia continue to be well attended and influential. Government Ministers in those Countries are increasingly becoming more aware of Public Safety and the role of APCO.
During the latter part of 2006 the Executive Committee held conducted a review of the Strategic Development Strategy for the and produced what I believe is an exciting vision for the future. This Development Strategy set high level goals which concentrate on developing member benefits and focuses on ensuring that the principle of a user led organisation is enforced and strengthened by providing greater levels of support and resources to the Regions.
Each year the Strategic Development Strategy will for the basis on which the Executive Committee will produce an Annual Business Plan against which it will be accountable to the Membership. The first of these Business Plans has been implemented and published in the BAPCO Journal and will be explained in detail the Annual General Meeting
Training and Accreditation continues to progress under the BAPCO and ACPO (Ass of Chief Police officers) with every Police Communications Room in England having a Basic Communications manual for their new Operators. This has been well received and working with Centrex (Police Training), Accreditation is currently being developed to complete the opportunities for Operators. The Fire Service and Ambulance Service are currently experiencing Organisational change but we are hopeful they will wish to benefit in the future.
There is much more to discuss but I am conscious that a lot of information will emerge as we go through the Business Plan.
Executive Committee 2006/2007
The Officers of the Association elected at the Annual General Meeting on the 26th April 2006 were:
President - Tim O’Connor (Kent police)
President Elect - Ray Trotter (East of England NHS Ambulance Trust)
Vice President - Ian Readhead (Hampshire Constabulary)
Past President - Andy Norton (Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service)
The Regional Representatives, who were elected locally by their membership, are as follows:
Scotland - Paul Sharp
North West and North Wales - Susan Parke-Hatton
North East - Ian Thompson
West Midlands - Maurice Worsell
East Midlands - David Seelhoff
South West and South Wales - Tracy Quinn
South East and London - Tim Marjason
Other members of the Executive are:
Commercial Advisory Group - Peter Prater
Representing CFOA - Olaf Baars
Ambulance Service Ass - John Burnside
Report on the BAPCO Association 2006/2007 Business Plan
BAPCO is a dynamic organisation identifying, for all public safety/civil protection services, the appropriate technological solutions and benefits that underpin the essential services for the public and for the benefit of members.
BAPCO has in place a five year Strategic Development plan set in 2002 which has been revised annually to ensure it meets changing requirements. A new Strategic plan has been set this year and will be presented at the AGM on the 25th April 2007. The annual Business Plan reflects and implements the annual amendments.
All three recognized ‘blue light’ emergency services are experiencing dramatic changes and challenges to their structures and organisations. The Association must play a part in advising Government Ministers, policy makers, user stakeholders and key opinion formers as to the best way forward to meet the requirements and demands of communications and information management systems in the future.
At the heart of the strategic plan is a driving force to shape the Association in a way that enables it to respond to emerging changes and challenges to achieve its Purpose as defined in the Constitution and Bye-laws.
The strategic plan as refined by the Executive Committee along with the Chairs and Secretary’s of each Region has a number of strategic goals and associated objectives which have now been incorporated in the future Business Plans.
The Strategic Plan had a number of Strategic Goals and associated objectives which were incorporated into the Annual Business Plan for 2006/2007.
STRATEGIC GOALS
The Strategic goals of the 2006/2007 Business plan are to:
• Position BAPCO as a major influence in the Public Safety/Civil Protection communications and information management arena.
• Continue to deliver benefits to the Public Safety/Civil protection services and individual members of the association
• Continue to be a major influence internationally.
KEY OBJECTIVES
The key objectives of the 2006/2007 Business Plan are detailed below:
(a) influencing and advising
BAPCO must be positioned in order that it is a key organization that delivers advice and solutions to Government, policy makers, stakeholders and opinion formers. The Executive Committee will actively monitor policy initiatives, produce white papers, etc. and work to ensure the views and concerns of BAPCO are articulated.
Delivered- Your Executive continues to promote the influential positioning of BAPCO. We are being recognized by a number of influential bodies and during the year we were invited to give evidence to a Treasury Review Body examining interoperability and also invited by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to be the technical users in a consortium entitled Team UK being set up to provide advice on public safety and border controls to the Government of Romania.
In addition to the two outlined above the Association currently involved as user representatives in two consortia that were successful in obtaining grants from the European Union.
The first of these two projects, Project NARTUS (PSCE) is to develop a pan European User Forum through which a consensus user requirement can be developed and used to influence governments, policy makers, standard making bodies, regulators and users.
The second project, Project CHORIST, is to develop, in co-operation with a number of consortium partners, including industry and research organizations, a pre-operational version of a system made of the following subsystems:
1. a fully integrated and reliable alert chain delivering alerts to authorities with inputs from diverse sources, disparate agencies and citizens;
2. various communication means (audio, TV, sirens, GSM…) to dispatch messages from authorities to as many citizens as possible within the crisis area and with limited delay;
3. secured, rapidly deployable and interoperable voice and high data-rate telecommunication systems (incl. ad-hoc networks) for crisis response teams.
In both projects BAPCO is taking the lead role in the co-ordination and input of pan European public safety user requirements and to ensure that we comply with all the requirements of both projects, Kevin Robson has been appointed as European Projects Manager.
(b) Governance and Finance
During 2004 the Elected Officers and Chief Executive Officer commenced a review into the long term governance and financial position of the Association. This review is concentrating on the role, purpose, structure and resources required to take the Association forward over the next 5 to 10 year period. During 2006 this Review will be completed and the results will be presented to the Executive Committee for consideration and appropriate action.
Delivered - As stated in the 2005/2006 report, Past President David Hilling submitted his report and following consultation, it was again discussed by the Executive in June 2007. This resulted in agreeing a new Strategic Plan (to be presented to the 2007 AGM). As Finance continues to be extremely important to the future of BAPCO, a further working group was set up to continue investigations as to how further funds could be achieved to enable BAPCO to achieve greater support in administration and move forward on key agenda issues.
(c) Marketing and Recruitment
In the changed environment that BAPCO is now operating it is important that a position and credibility is created that clearly demonstrates that the Association is able to meet and be in front of new challenges facing public safety/civil protection service delivery.
The Marketing and Recruitment Working Group, which is a permanent advisory group within the Association, will continue to pro-actively monitor developments and issues in public safety to ensure that the following areas are enhanced or developed:
• Positioning of the Association to reflect ongoing change
• The ability to ‘influence’ within the public safety environment
• Recruitment, retention of members and members benefits
• Maximising the Associations impact through the Journal, joint events and other media.
Delivered- The Executive have set up a new working group to deliver this aspect of our business recognizing that it has largely been inactive.
This is one of a number of working groups with its terms of reference as follows:
“To provide a source of expertise, advice and guidance to the BAPCO Executive Committee on all matters relating to the promotion and marketing of the Association, recruitment of members and benefits, either corporate or individual, attaching to membership of the Association.”
NB: This is a Standing Committee of the Association the membership of which will be reviewed by the President by 31st January each year
NB: As the Journal and the web site are seen as primary marketing tools, it is proposed that the Marketing and Recruitment Advisory Committee per se be responsible for a continual review of the Journal and web site without the necessity to establish another Work Group.
(d) BAPCO Bursary
In line with decisions taken in 2005, the Bursary remains suspended and will be re-introduced in 2008.
(e) Communications
The strength of BAPCO is that it is a ‘user led’ organisation.
It is, therefore, important that the two way lines of communication are clear and efficient and that there is a structure and processes in place through which a regular exchange of information and ideas is facilitated encouraged.
The Executive Committee will look to establish a more interactive dialogue with members building on the success of special interest groups, regional road shows and workshops.
In addition the Executive Committee will continue to explore ways in which the Journal and Web Site can be improved and extended to further engage the Associations membership.
(f) Regional Events
Over the past year all regions have planned and held events for their members. Whilst it should be noted that the events have at times been attended by a low number of members and, indeed on occasions have had to be cancelled, the view of the Executive Committee is that regional members meetings are an important member benefit and an important interactive part of the process of consultation with the membership, and as such, central support to help organise, market and run the events will continue to be made available. The Regions have been pro-active in achieving more activity within their respective areas.
(g) BAPCO Journal
During the year publication of the BAPCO Journal was transferred from Datateam Publishing to Hemming Group Ltd.
As Brintex Ltd, who organize the Association’s Annual Conference and Exhibition, are a wholly owned subsidiary of Hemming Group, this in effect means that the major marketing tools of the Association are now under one roof which is a huge benefit as they can be better co-ordinated in the future.
Dawn Read continues to be the editor and the production team has been increased.
The change of publishers enabled a review of the Journal to be undertaken and several changes on format and lay out have been implemented.
(h) Web Site
Because of the fragmentation of our marketing tools, there were in fact three web sites that served the Association:
• BAPCOJournal.com for the Journal
• BAPCO.co.uk for the Annual Conference and Exhibition
• BAPCO.org.uk for Association matters
It has been recognized that this is not a situation that should be allowed to continue and work is in progress to update the Association site and create one home page that will serve all three of the requirements.
(i) Training and Accreditation
Through the Training and Accreditation project currently being undertaken, the Association will establish itself as the pre-eminent body for Public Safety/Civil Protection Communications Centre Operators accreditation and training in the UK.
During 2005/2006 the project will deliver a development and accreditation pathway suitable for all Public Safety/Civil Protection Services Communications Centre Operators.
The Training and Accreditation has delivered significant results over the past year. A full time project manager, Brian Hills, having been appointed, brought with him a wealth of experience and expertise from the Police Call Handling project. He delivered the Basic Training Manual for Police Call Takers and this currently in use in all 43 Police forces in England. It has been well received by the user community and all believe that it professionalises the role of Call taker.
Accreditation of the training is currently being undertaken by Centrex (The Police Training college) thus ensuring BAPCO are able to point to a training course that is formally recognised.
In addition contact has been made with the professional bodies representing the Ambulance and Fire Services to understand how the product could be used within their respective control centres. The Fire Service are now in a position where they can view our Training Manual with a view to using the product in their Control Rooms.
(j) Meetings and Seminars
The provision of regional meetings and nationally organised seminars along with the annual conference and exhibition are a major component of the member benefit strategy.
During 2006/2007 the Executive Committee will continue, and reinforce, the proven planning process for the annual conference and exhibition to ensure its growth and the unique position that it enjoys in Europe is maintained whilst balancing the requirement to change to reflect the environment within which the Association functions.
The Executive Committee will also ensure that, as part of a structured programme of events, a series of high quality, timely and relevant “one day seminars” are provided in the north, central and south of the country.
Delivered - The provision of regional meetings and nationally organised seminars along with the annual conference and exhibition are a major component of the member benefit strategy.
During 2005/2006 the Executive Committee will continue, and reinforce, the proven planning process for the annual conference and exhibition to ensure its growth and the unique position that it enjoys in Europe is maintained whilst balancing the requirement to change to reflect the environment within which the Association functions.
The Executive Committee will also ensure that, as part of a structured programme of events, a series of high quality, timely and relevant “one day seminars” are provided in the north, central and south of the country.
Delivered - Annual Conference and Exhibition
In April 2006 the Annual Conference and Exhibition was held at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London. The event was judged a success by the Organising Committee, a view endorsed by the Executive Committee following analysis of the feedback provided through the post event analysis of delegate and exhibitor questionnaires.
As is customary at the Gala Dinner a collection was made for two charities namely a Children’s charity and the East Kent Hospice.
With a combination of pledges made prior to the Dinner from our commercial colleagues and donations made on the night by individuals a total of just over £4,000 was raised. Both Charities have asked that a note of thanks be placed on record.
In respect of the facts and figures, the conference and exhibition 2004, 2005 and comparator 2006 figures are provided below:
2006 2005 2004
Conference Delegates 205 190 230
Exhibition Visitors 895 1086 883
Floor Space Sold Sold Out Sold Out Sold Out
Profit to BAPCO £130,496 £135,694 £116,810
Regional Road Shows
During the period under review three road shows were staged. The events took place at the following locations:
• Bampton Race Course, Huntingdon
• Emergency Planning College, Easingwold
• Police College, Bramshill, Basingstoke
The events attracted some 205 registered delegates although at each event there were a number of ‘no shows’. From all three events a total of 43 new members were gained. Importantly many of these new members are Local Authority and Health service professionals and as such form important target areas for BAPCO growth.
A significant amount of information was collected via the feedback forms which indicated solid support for events and provided valuable ideas for future road shows.
Commercial Advisory Group
The Commercial Advisory Group (CAG) has continued to meet regularly throughout 2006/07 in order to maintain and foster the close links that exist between BAPCO’s users and commercial members, links that are fundamentally important to the success of the Association.
The membership, which is drawn from a number of companies represented within the Commercial membership, support BAPCO’s activities in a number of ways and have been involved in the BAPCO 2007 Steering Group, the annual Chair and Secretaries Strategy Day and the working groups established to implement the 2006 Autumn Road shows.
Our members will also sit on Regional Committees to facilitate vital communication links between the Regions and the Group while we also contribute regularly to the BAPCO Journal through the CAG Column. Commercial membership, participation and sponsorship of BAPCO is an important factor in the success of the Association
In the coming months CAG looks forward to providing continued support to the Association and will continually seek further outlets through which to participate.
Membership
At 31st March 2006 membership of the Association stood at 1211. On 31st March 2007 this figure had risen to 1231, a net gain of 30 members (2.5% which compares with 2.1% the previous year)
The number of members in each Region was as follows:
Scotland 53
North West/North Wales 164
North East 124
West Midlands 76
East Midlands and Anglia 126
South West/South Wales 249
South East and London 392
International 47
Membership was broken down into the following categories:
Active 768
Associate 18
Commercial 390
International 47
Life Members 8
The ‘User’ membership came from the following public safety service providers:
Ambulance 60
Fire 220
Police 358
Emergency Planning 35
Government 86
Utilities 2
Other 21
During the period under review a total of 194 new members were registered whilst 175 resigned because of retirement or changes of duties – an annual wastage of 14.4%% (in 2005 -2006 the wastage figure was 13.7%, in 2004 – 2005 it was 8.3 % and in 2003 – 2004 it was 14.7%)
Conclusions
The past 12 months have proven to be busy and productive for the Association.
We have concentrated our efforts in a number of key areas with very positive results.
BAPCO recognizes the need to respond to a changing and challenging environment and has put in place a Strategic Development Strategy including a number of working groups that will support our membership.
These Working groups are:
Work Group One - Marketing and Recruitment Advisory Committee
“To provide a source of expertise, advice and guidance to the BAPCO Executive Committee on all matters relating to the promotion and marketing of the Association, recruitment of members and benefits, either corporate or individual, attaching to membership of the Association.”
NB: This is a Standing Committee of the Association the membership of which will be reviewed by the President by 31st January each year
NB: As the Journal and the web site are seen as primary marketing tools, it is proposed that the Marketing and Recruitment Advisory Committee per se be responsible for a continual review of the Journal and web site without the necessity to establish another Work Group.
Work Group Two – Annual Conference ‘In House’ Risk Assessment Working Group
“To conduct a risk assessment of the proposal for the Association to bring the organisation and running of the Annual Conference and Exhibition ‘in house’ and report to the Executive Committee by 31st August 2007”
NB: This is a Work Group formed to address a specific issue that requires a clear delivery date.
Work Group Three – Annual Conference and Exhibition Advisory Committee
“To provide support and public safety/civil contingency user and industry expertise to Brintex Ltd to ensure that the Annual Conference and Exhibition addresses the current and emerging issues facing public safety/civil contingency professionals, technological developments and continues to grow and be the primary conference and exhibition for such professionals in the British Isles, Isle of Man, the Channel Isles and Europe”
NB: This is a Standing Committee of the Association, the membership of which will be reviewed by the President by 31st January each year.
Working Group Four – Annual Road Show Programme Working Group
“To organise, market and run a programme of three road shows each year that are inter-active and address current and emerging public safety/civil contingency issues and publish a White Paper detailing the outcomes from the meetings by 31st December each year.”
NB: Although this will be a sub-group of the Annual Conference and Exhibition Advisory Committee, the regions will be responsible for nominating a representative from their region to be a member of the Working Group and these nominations must be submitted to the Executive Committee by 31st January each year. A representative of this Group will also be a member of the Annual Conference and Exhibition Advisory Group to ensure that the programme is part of a structured approach to the capture of user requirements, current and emerging issues and technological developments.
Working Group Five – Financial Resources Advisory Committee
“To conduct research to identify additional and/or alternative sources of revenue and make initial recommendations to the Executive Committee by 31st August 2007 and thereafter monitor the market place to ensure that any opportunities for additional and or alternative sources of finances are identified and pursued.”
NB: This is a Standing Committee of the Association, the membership of which will be reviewed annually by the President by 31st January each year.
To conclude, BAPCO has taken significant steps to progress the image and role of our organisation. The Journal, in its new format, should provide a refreshing style and hopefully encourage more debate.
Our commercial members have invested their time, energy and funds into the Association, a clear signal that they believe BAPCO to be an important route into public safety users.
The professional standing of the Association has been strengthened through the appointment of a patron in the House of Lords and on the international scene we have taken an active role in the development of the ‘Global Alliance’, together with the development of standards and participation in the European projects which the EEC have invested heavily.
Finally, the Executive Committee and you, the members, deserve mention for your support and work during the year. Best wishes to our incoming President Ray Trotter who will be relishing the challenge of implementing the many initiatives planned for the Association.
