Communities and Local Government

• Fire and resilience
• Resilience and response to emergencies
• New Dimension
• Introduction to the New Dimension project

Fire and resilience

Introduction to the New Dimension project

The New Dimension project supplies equipment and procedures to enhance the capability of the fire and rescue service to respond to a range of incidents and is one of three projects under Communities and Local Government's Fire and Resilience Programme.

The New Dimension project was established following the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre. It provides the fire and rescue service with equipment, procedures and training to respond to a range of threats including:

• Terrorist CBRN threats
• Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear incidents
• Industrial and domestic accidents
• Chemical spills and collapsed buildings
• Natural disasters
• Floods and earthquakes

Government investing in the fire and rescue service

The government has invested considerable resources to deliver new equipment, training and procedures to the fire and rescue service (FRS) to enhance national capabilities. To date we have invested over £200m along with additional on-going revenue costs.

On 28 July 2008 the Department announced future funding amounting to £80m over the next three years to enable the FRS to continue to deliver New Dimension capability, along with confirmation of a 16 year maintenance contract worth £100m, for the New Dimension equipment.

Working with partners

New Dimension capability is operated at a national, regional and local level. The project works closely with other parts of Communities and Local Government to ensure consistency with the Fire and Resilience Programme overall and in delivery of the National Framework to ensure that the new fire and rescue service is modern, joined-up and effective.

New Dimension also works with other government partners and blue light services including:

• Fire and rescue service
• Police
• Ambulance
• Local Authorities
• Emergency planning agencies
• Government agencies
• Other central government departments

Developing comprehensive training programmes and facilities

There is a substantial programme of training that underpins the New Dimension project. The project team works with manufacturers, learning from the experience of other countries and consults with the fire and rescue service and health and safety experts to develop programmes which ensure efficient delivery and a safe system of work.

A programme of training is carried out at the Fire Service College at Moreton-in-Marsh, where Communities and Local Government has also funded the build of special training rigs. In addition, training takes place locally through the use of specially designed interactive training materials, and via locally based project team members.

Multi-agency response

A response to a major incident would involve the fire and rescue service as well as police and ambulance. The New Dimension team works closely with the other blue light services on a range of issues such as equipment development and incident command, to ensure a co-ordinated approach.

High-profile incidents

New Dimension equipment has been deployed at several high-profile incidents over recent years including the Buncefield oil depot fire December 2005, the summer 2007 flooding and the Warwickshire warehouse fire in November 2007.

Risk-based planning

The equipment and procedures for the fire and rescue service are all developed on the basis of risk. Risk assessments are conducted in conjunction a number of stakeholders including the emergency services to ensure a thorough approach.

All New Dimension equipment is deployed on the basis of risk. For example, areas with a high risk of flooding have will received high volume pumping equipment.

London and major city resilience

Equipment and plans have been developed to address the special requirements of London and other major cities to ensure they are prepared to deal with any incident.