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

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

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 incl ...

of the

London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the Fire department, fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 90), under the leadership of superintendent ...

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) from 2000 to 2018. It was established with the Greater London Authority by the Greater London Authority Act 1999. It replaced the ...

. 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 has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'', 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. It was created in 1834 as the London and Westminster Bank. It merged with the London and County Bank in 1909, after which it renamed itself the London County and W ...

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 of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...

(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 Service in the UK, Fire and Rescue Service for the area of Dorset, South West England. The Service Headquarters were located in Colliton Park, Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, but as of ...

(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 has 38 fire stations, with a blended fleet of vehicles and specialist resources. The service is led by a Chie ...

(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 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 200 ...

. 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, were 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, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

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

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was created by the Gordon Brown premiership on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Uni ...

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 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 ...

in the immediate aftermath of London's

Grenfell Tower fire On 14 June 2017, a List of fires in high-rise buildings, high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of Public housing in the United Kingdom, flats in North Kensington, West London, England, at 00:54 British Summer Time, BST ...

, 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 (KRI) is a semi-autonomous Federal regions of Iraq, federal region of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurds, Kurdish-majority governorates of Arabs, Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate ...

of Iraq at the request of the Kurdish government.

Honours

Knight was awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal in 1991 and a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the 2001 Birthday Honours. He was appointed as Her Majesty’s Representative Deputy Lieutenant for

Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in south-west Greater London, London, England, forms part of Outer London and is the only London boroughs, London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller ...

(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 a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a 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.Saint Lucia list: Antigua & Barbuda list: The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before t ...

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. It was founded as the British Institute of Management (BIM) in 1947 or 1948, merged with the Institution of Industrial Managers (I ...

and a Fellow of the

Institution of Fire Engineers The Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) is a global professional membership body for those in the fire sector that seek to increase their knowledge, professional recognition and understanding of fire through a global discourse. Membership ...

. He was a founder Trustee of the UK Firefighters Memorial Trust and is a past Master of the Worshipful Company of Firefighters (1998).

References

External links