Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service praised for making improvements by watchdog

Chief fire officer: “We are very clearly moving forward as a service."
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Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service has been praised by inspectors after making improvements to address concerns over fire engine availability and training.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found those worries had been resolved during a visit earlier this month, confirmed in a letter sent yesterday (Wednesday March 25).

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Chief fire officer Darren Dovey said: “This is fantastic news and I hope at this time when people are looking to their emergency services more than ever, our communities in Northamptonshire can feel reassured and confident in our ability and determination to keep them safe.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue ServiceNorthamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service
Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service

“We are very clearly moving forward as a service, with more fire engines available to respond, better response times and carrying out an enormous amount of prevention work with businesses and with the community.

"I am glad that our progress as an efficient and effective fire and rescue service has been clear to our inspectors.”

An inspection in November 2018 raised worries about the availability of fire engines and the way training in critical safety skills was managed.

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An improvement plan was put in place and a re-visit by the fire service watchdog last June showed the Northamptonshire team had made significant improvements.

Between March 2 and 5 this year, the inspectors visited again to check progress against the improvement plan and decided there was no longer any cause for concern about their performance.

Her Majesty’s inspector for police, fire and rescue services in the east, south east and east midlands, Zoe Billingham, said: “Our revisit of Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service revealed many positives.

"The chief fire officer and his senior leadership team have displayed a strong commitment to resolve the issues we were concerned about, and have made the necessary improvement activity a high priority.

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"Better co-ordination of staff has improved fire engine availability, safety critical training is now up to date and performance data is being used more effectively to aid decision making.

“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all firefighters and members of staff working for Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service for the positive progress that has been made so far, and for their clear determination to help drive improvement for their communities.”

In a letter to Mr Dovey, the inspectors said 'the tangible improvements we saw have mitigated the risks to public safety that we identified in our original inspection'.

They identified measures introduced to improve fire engine availability are proving effective, with a minimum number achieved on 95-99 per cent of occasions, described as 'a vast improvement' in the report.

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Northamptonshire police, fire and crime commissioner Stephen Mold said: “At such an uncertain time for the country, this is welcome and reassuring news that I am proud to be able to share with the public of Northamptonshire.

“I took on the governance of Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service as I believed that the chief officer team needed the support and the autonomy to be able to put in place a transformational improvement plan and overcome the challenges that they had faced in the past.

"I am proud to see the progress that has been made so quickly and that these achievements have been recognised by national inspectors.

“This is a great new start now that we have recruited 20 new firefighters, with 12 more to come in the next few months, and invested in new fire engines and other vehicles.

"I thank the chief fire officer and his team again on behalf of everyone in the county.”