Fire service told it has to make improvements

NORTHUMBERLAND Fire and Rescue Service must do better, fire station inspectors have said.

Although the service has improved since it was last examined in 2019, there’s more to do to effectively prevent and respond to fires, according to the inspection, which placed it in the ‘requires improvement’ category – a step above the lowest grade, ‘inadequate’.

Inspectors gave the Northumberland service (NFRS) a ‘good’ rating for protecting the public through fire regulation and responding to major and multi-agency incidents.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services said that while “significant improvements” had been made, there were still problems with informing the public when fires are happening, and with NFRS’s culture and management of working hours. Inspector Andy Cook said: “[NFRS] has made progress against most of the areas for improvement we found two years ago, especially in protecting the public through fire regulation. In this category, I was pleased to see the service has moved from requiring improvement to good.

“But it has made poor progress in improving its prevention work through quality assurance and evaluation.

“The service has got better at protecting the public. But it still needs to improve several areas of its effectiveness. For example, by doing more to engage with its communities to understand risks, and to broaden its approach to risk. It needs to better inform the public about ongoing incidents and improve its debriefing system.”

NFRS Chief Fire Officer Paul Hedley said: “If you take the time to read the report it clearly tells the story of a service which is improving. [It] continues to be safe, resilient and effective and the judgements and feedback in the report have been considered by the service leadership team, and in many cases have already been addressed.”