CFOA appoints Chief Officer of Hants Fire & Rescue 
The CFOA has appointed John Bonney as its new President
The Chief Fire Officers' Association (CFOA) is delighted to announce that John Bonney has been appointed as CFOA President at the Association's annual general meeting on Saturday, 20 June 2009.
John, Chief Officer of Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, becomes President after serving two years on the presidential team as Vice President Elect then as Vice President. He will serve as CFOA President for the term 2009 - 2010.
Upon accepting the appointment CO Bonney said: "Firstly I must pay tribute to the work of the outgoing President, Charlie Hendry. CFOA is in good shape, its influence has grown, its work has become more ordered and better managed and it is providing ever greater opportunities for its members to tap into a growing library of guidance, knowledge, good practice and support. I am honoured to be taking over as CFOA President at this stimulating and increasingly challenging time and I look forward to building upon the achievements of the Association over previous years.
During his speech John highlighted four key themes that would be the focus of his presidential year:
- The sharing of good work between services to ensure that fire and rescue services are supporting each other
- A commitment to diversity as the economic climate gets tougher
- Ensuring that CFOA operates efficiently
- Persuading the government and Fire and Rescue Authorities that the industry needs a world class training institution and research academy to ensure a safe, progressive and professional service in the future
Born in Manchester, John joined London Fire Brigade in 1981 having obtained an Honours degree in Politics from York University. Rising through the ranks he was heavily involved in officer training and the development of competence based standards for incident commanders. John's interest in incident management research continues to date and has led to the publication of a number of articles and collaborative work with other public and private sector companies.
John holds a Master in Business Administration and is a fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. He has also completed the Cabinet Office's Top Management Programme.
As President of the Chief Fire Officers' Association (CFOA), John plays a national role in policy formulation on behalf of the UK Fire and Rescue Service and works with senior officials and politicians to influence government thinking on fire and rescue matters. As President he becomes Chair of the Practitioners' Forum, a body comprised of stakeholders within the fire industry whose role it is to provide advice to government and Ministers on policy development. As part of the Presidential Team, John has been instrumental in the formulation and development of the CFOA business planning process and has chaired the CFOA Members' Sounding Board, a forum charged with providing advice and advocacy to the CFOA Board.
John joined Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service in 2001 as Deputy Chief Officer and took on the role of Chief Officer in July 2004, managing an organisation of 1,800 staff and protecting a population of 1.6 million people.
