Sir Kenneth John Knight, (born 3 January 1947) is a retired British

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

and public servant. From 2003 to 2007, he was the

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

of the

London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992staff, in ...

and Commissioner for the

London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) was a functional body of the Greater London Authority (GLA), established under the Greater London Authority Act 1999. Its principal purpose was to run the London Fire Brigade. The 17 members ...

. From 2007 to 2013, he was the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser for England.'KNIGHT, Sir Kenneth John, (Sir Ken)', ''

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 3 Aug 2017
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Biography

Fire service career

Knight started work at

Westminster Bank Westminster Bank was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1834 until its merger into the National Westminster Bank in 1970; it continued to exist as a dormant registered non-trading company until 4 July 2017 when it ...

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...

(1964-1966). He commenced his fire service career as a firefighter in 1966 and subsequently served in a number of UK fire brigades. He was appointed as Chief Fire Officer of

Dorset Fire and Rescue Service Dorset Fire and Rescue Service is the former statutory Fire and Rescue Service for the area of Dorset, South West England. The Service Headquarters were located in Colliton Park, Dorchester, but as of October 2008 moved to a new purpose built l ...

(1994-1998) and

West Midlands Fire Service West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) is the fire and rescue service for the metropolitan county of West Midlands, England. The service is the second largest in England, after London Fire Brigade. The service has 38 fire stations, with a blended f ...

(1998-2003), before becoming London’s Fire Commissioner in 2003. In 2007 he was appointed as the Government's Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser for England based at the

Department for Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local government ...

. As the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser for England (2007-2013), Knight was responsible for advising ministers and senior officials on fire policy matters and for providing advice during major and catastrophic emergencies together with operational advice on preparedness and response during the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. He was also responsible for the enforcement of fire safety regulations in Crown Premises in England. He produced an independent report for the UK Government on fire and rescue services response to the widespread flooding in 2007 entitled ''Facing the Challenge''. He was also tasked by the Secretary of State to undertake a review in the immediate aftermath of the fire in high rise flats at Lakanal House, London, 2009 in which six people died however, when further cladding risks were reported to the Department for Communities and Local Government in 2009 Sir Ken Knight, replied to say there was "insufficient information to warrant alerting housing authorities", the Grenfell inquiry was told. In May 2013 Knight published an efficiencies review of the 46 Fire and Rescue Authorities, ''Facing the Future'', which had been commissioned by the UK Government.

Independent consultancy

Since leaving his position as the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser to the UK Government in 2013, Knight has provided independent consultancy advice to public and private sector organisations. From 2014 to 2017 Knight served as the Lead Commissioner for the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...

under the Local Government Act 1999. From 2016-17, the

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills , type = Department , logo = Department for Business, Innovation and Skills logo.svg , logo_width = 200px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Лондан. 2014. Жнівень 26.JPG , seal = , se ...

commissioned Knight to make recommendations regarding the introduction of electronic balloting for industrial action. Since June 2017, Knight has been chair of the Independent Expert Advisory Panel at the

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of Government of the United King ...

in the immediate aftermath of London's

Grenfell Tower fire On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. 72 people died, two later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 escapin ...

, in which 71 people lost their lives. His role was to provide advice to officials and Ministers on action to be taken in high rise buildings following the fire. Knight has also completed reviews of the fire and rescue services in Southern Ireland, Bermuda and Gibraltar, and undertook a review of the national fire safety and civil defence arrangements in the

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region ( ku, هەرێمی کوردستان, translit=Herêmî Kurdistan; ar, إقليم كردستان), abbr. KRI, is an autonomous region in Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, ...

of Iraq at the request of the Kurdish government.

Honours

Her Majesty the Queen awarded Knight the

Queen's Fire Service Medal __NOTOC__ The King's Fire Service Medal, introduced in 1954, is awarded to members of the fire services in the United Kingdom for distinguished service or gallantry. It was also formerly awarded by Commonwealth countries, most of which now have th ...

in 1991 and a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

2001 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2001 was announced on 16 June 2001 for the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland), New Zealand (4 June), Australia (11 June), Barbados, Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sai ...

. He was appointed as Her Majesty’s Representative Deputy Lieutenant for

Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

(2017-2017), and has been a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater London since 2007. Knight was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the

2006 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2006 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 17 June 2006, to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2006.Antigua & Barbuda list: The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and ...

in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the fire and rescue service. Knight is a Companion of the

Chartered Management Institute The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is a professional institution for management based in the United Kingdom. The major membership classes are ''Member'', ''Fellow'' - for those with significant expertise - and ''Companion'' - the most sen ...

and a Fellow of the

Institution of Fire Engineers Institutions are humanly devised structures of rules and norms that shape and constrain individual behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions a ...

. He was a founder Trustee of the UK Firefighters Memorial Trust and is a past Master of the

Worshipful Company of Firefighters The Worshipful Company of Firefighters is one of the 110 livery companies of the City of London. The Company's aim is to promote the development and advancement of the science, art and the practice of firefighting, fire prevention and life safe ...

(1998).

References

External links