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North Wales fire chief sanctions a review into service’s promotion processes A fire chief has sanctioned a review into his service’s promotion processes after a controversial report said there weren’t enough people of sufficient “quality” to permanently appoint. The announcement was made after operational staff told a union they felt “insulted” by the study into firefighter “Future Leader” apprentices, which was shared with executive panel members last week. The report said the three-year scheme would give apprentices “an increased potential to progress beyond the firefighter role and into supervisory, middle and senior manager positions”. It also said “a reduction in the quality of candidates applying for promotion has led to an inability to permanently appoint” from within the ranks, in sufficient numbers. ....
“We found a lot of worked flint from the Mesolithic period,” Richard Cooke explained. “There were three post holes, material from which was carbon dated at between 9220 and 9280 years old.” In total, the archaeologists recovered 314 stone objects buried at the site. In addition to flints they also found many chipped pieces of chert, a hard sedimentary rock made from quartz crystals that is suitable for making tools. A few intact, rudimentary stone tools made from these materials were found at the new site, including scrapers that were likely hand-manufactured to cut meat and/or scrape hides, and small sharp blades called microliths that could function as versatile knives. They also discovered a tool they referred to as a “ notch,” which they believe was used to shape pieces of wood into useful objects. ....
Health board seeking “clarification” on covid vaccination after foster carers left off current priority list A health board is seeking “clarification” on Covid vaccination rules after it emerged foster carers have been left out of the current priority list. The request emerged after the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) was contacted anonymously and told foster carers were not eligible for the vaccine, although they have always been able to request an immunisation against Hepatitis B. While many foster carers may look after children for an extended time, they can also take on youngsters for short-term and respite placements, potentially leaving them at risk of exposure to Covid-19. ....
Fire chief addresses whistleblower complaints: “We haven’t got everything right” This article is old - Published: Monday, Jan 25th, 2021 A North Wales Fire Service boss admitted “we haven’t got everything right” as he addressed whistleblower complaints from firefighters. Assistant chief fire officer (ACFO) Richard Fairhead made the admission in a frank interview over issues raised by anonymous firefighters to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). Speaking via Zoom he accepted there were legitimate questions over recruitment of retained firefighters, coverage of North Wales’ largely rural geographical area and concerns over temporary promotions. Firefighters raised a raft of complaints with the LDRS, including how some firefighters were sleeping in vehicles outside stations between shifts because they were not assigned permanent locations. ....