HMICFRS
All fire and rescue services are subject to inspection from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). The aims of the inspection programme are to encourage improvement in the fire sector and to provide the public with accessible information about how their local service is performing.
We were inspected first inspected in 2018 and in in September 2021 - and most recently April 2024. We will act upon identified areas of learning to deliver further service improvements. We build any recommendations to improve into our business plans.
In both 2021 and 2024’s inspection, HMICFRS rated us as ‘Good’ in all areas, with HMICFRS stating ‘clear improvements’ have been made since the inspection in 2018/19.
In this latest round, HMICFRS said they ‘commend the service on the changes and improvements it has made since our last inspection.’
HMICFRS found we were ‘Good’ in 10 out of 11 subcategories. This means we are ‘Good’ at: ·
- Understanding fires and other risks.
- Preventing fires and other risks.
- Responding to fires and other emergencies.
- Responding to major and multi-agency incidents.
- Making best use of its resources.
- Future affordability.
- Promoting the right values and culture.
- Getting the right people with the right skills.
- Ensuring fairness and promoting diversity.
- Managing performance and developing leaders.
We have recently conducted a 'GAP Analysis' exercise following publication of a HMICFRS Values & Culture report, which looked at all 44 fire and rescue services in England, and was released in March 2023.
As a service, we are fully committed to improving our culture, and have already started work to act on the recommendations in the report - having put our own action plan in place with key deadlines.
View our inspection reports: