In July 2017, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary extended its remit to include inspections of England’s fire and rescue service. Now His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) assesses and makes graded judgments against each of the 44 fire and rescue services in England.
The inspection programme has been approved by the Home Secretary; it is designed to promote improvements across FRSs, and will include an assessment of:
- the operational service provided to the public (including prevention, protection and response);
- the efficiency of the Service (how well it provides value for money, allocates resources to match risk, and collaborates with other emergency services); and
- how well the Service looks after its people (how well it promotes its values and culture, trains its staff, and ensures they have the necessary skills, ensures fairness and diversity for the workforce, and develops leadership and service capability).
The Inspectorate will gather information to inform their assessments using a range of methods that include:
- analysis of documents and data;
- reviews of operational incidents;
- surveys of the public, and of FRS staff;
- interviews;
- focus groups; and
- observations of fire and rescue practice.
Inspections currently assess each FRS against the characteristics of good set out in the assessment framework, so a detailed understanding of performance can be built up.
The categories of graded judgment are:
- Outstanding – The FRS has substantially exceeded the characteristics of good performance;
- Good – The FRS has substantially demonstrated all the characteristics of good performance;
- Adequate – The FRS has demonstrated some of the characteristics of good performance, but areas have been identified where the FRS should make improvements;
- Requires improvement – The FRS has demonstrated few, if any, of the characteristics of good performance, and a substantial number of areas have been identified where the FRS needs to make improvements; and
- Inadequate – There are causes for concern and HMICFRS have made recommendations to the FRS to address them.
Good is the ‘expected’ graded judgment and is based on policy, practice or performance that meets pre-defined grading criteria that are informed by any relevant national operational guidance or standards. If the policy, practice or performance exceeds what is expected for good, then consideration will be given to a graded judgment of outstanding.
If there are shortcomings in the policy, practice or performance of the FRS, then consideration will be given to a graded judgment of requires improvement. If there are serious critical failings of policy, practice or performance of the FRS, then consideration will be given to a graded judgment of inadequate