Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service has come out with the joint best scores from 14 other fire and rescue services in the first round of new Government commissioned inspections.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has spent the last nine months analyzing data and documents and visiting the Service to assess it in three core areas - effectiveness, efficiency, and how well it looks after its people.
Best possible service
The Inspectorate found that Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service was 'good' across all three core areas as well as all eleven sub-sections - one of only two fire and rescue services to achieve this in the first tranche of inspections and one of only three to get ‘good’ overall for how it looks after its people.
I am delighted with our assessment outcome and feel very proud of our Service"
Chief Fire Officer Chris Strickland said: “I am delighted with our assessment outcome and feel very proud of our Service. To be one of only two fire services to be judged as 'good' across every part of the inspection is a fantastic achievement and a testament to the commitment to public service of our staff across the organization, from our firefighters, both full-time and on-call, to our control operators managing 999 calls and our professional support services. Their collective hard work and passion to drive improvement and ensure we deliver the best possible service is clearly reflected throughout the assessment report.”
Great value for money
He continued: “The inspectorate team also highlighted a number of areas where we can get better. We welcomed and agreed with this feedback from an independent and helpful source and will use it to drive future improvement.”
Chairman of the Fire Authority, Councillor Kevin Reynolds added: “Today’s announcement is great news for the people of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. This report provides reassurance to them that their local fire and rescue service is up there with the best, that it is effective in what it does and provides great value for money.”
People focused service
We continue to demonstrate we have an effective and efficient, people-focused service"
“We are committed to protecting the community and it was particularly pleasing that the inspectorate recognized our understanding of the risks in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and how we manage these. They noted some of the positive work the Service has done to reduce that risk, working with partners to ensure that those in our communities most vulnerable from a fire are protected as much as they can be.”
He added: “The outcome of this inspection only adds weight to the fire authority’s view that disbanding the fire authority to enable the Police and Crime Commissioner to take over governance in Cambridgeshire is an unnecessary exercise. We continue to demonstrate we have an effective and efficient, people-focused service, so why change what is working successfully?”
Government commissioned inspection
The Inspectorate expects all fire and rescue services to be graded as ‘good’ against the three core areas. Any area that doesn't meet this standard is classified as ‘requiring improvement’ or ‘inadequate’. Any area that exceeds the expected standard is classified as ‘outstanding’. The three core areas are divided into 11 sub-sections, which are similarly graded and combine to form the overall judgements. To achieve 'good' in any area, a fire service needs to be graded as 'good' in the majority of sub-sections and have no areas of inadequacy.
Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service was one of 14 fire services in the first tranche of the new government-commissioned inspection process. By December 2019, all 45 fire and rescue services in England will have undergone the same inspection.
