Agenda item

The Chief Fire Officer (CFO) presented the report to member to provide an update on Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service’s (LFRS’s) HMICFRS Round 3 inspection report findings, and the national results.

LFRS had been awarded an unprecedented six ‘Outstanding’ and five ‘Good’ ratings across all the 11 inspection areas. This remarkable achievement included being the only service in the country to receive a minimum rating of ‘Good’ across every category. LFRS had received the best ratings of any fire and rescue service in England.

Area Manager Tom Powell and Group Manager Emma Price gave a presentation to members on the HMICFRS inspection and results.

LFRS HMICFRS Round 3 inspection commenced on 20 January 2025, initiated by a request for a collection of documents, a self-assessment and three surveys (staff survey, human resources survey and a trade union survey) to assist with preparation for the fieldwork phase of the inspection. The inspection lasted several weeks and included staff engagement across the organisation, from Firefighter to Chief Fire Officer, inspectors visited a number of fire stations and departments, hosted staff focus groups and analysed numerous data sets and documents. HMICFRS inspectors also engaged with some of the services partner organisations and visited North West Fire Control.

As part of the inspection, a strategic brief was presented by Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Jon Charters, Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO) Steve Healey, and Director of People and Development (DoPD) Liz Sandiford. It was an opportunity for the Service to brief the HMI and Service Liaison Lead, providing a summary of performance, achievements, and work completed on previous areas of improvement. Following the brief, the Chair of the Fire Authority was interviewed.

The feedback from the HMICFRS inspectors acknowledged that every staff member they interacted with was highly engaging, and they felt genuinely welcomed throughout the organisation.

In mid-June the Service received the draft inspection report, which afforded the opportunity to conduct factual accuracy checks. The official report was released publicly on 14 August 2025 along with a HMICFRS press release.

LFRS attained two Outstanding ratings in the People pillar during the inspection, making it the only service in the country to receive Outstanding in this category. LFRS were among only 3 services, out of a total of 44, that attained an Outstanding rating in protection, understanding risk, and making best use of resources. Five areas of promising practice were also recognised in the report.

The Inspectorate praised the Service for its excellent performance and recognised LFRS’s commitment to continuous improvement, the Service’s collaborative approach with partners, and the Service’s ability to adapt to new challenges and legislation. The Service’s commitment to inclusivity, staff wellbeing, and community engagement were also highlighted as sector leading.

One area for improvement was identified which was that the Service should make sure it had robust processes in place to carry out equality impact assessments and review any actions agreed as a result. This was an area that the Service had done a lot of work in, and work was ongoing to track and report progress. Progress against this area for improvement would be reported into Planning Committee.

HMICFRS had published their inspection schedule for 2025-27, the dates for the inspection programme would be released in three phases. The first inspections of the new round had recently commenced. Currently, LFRS were listed as the last service to undergo inspection, which was anticipated to take place around Spring 2027, although this was subject to potential amendments.

The 2025-27 inspection programme would involve a number of changes from the previous round, there would be some focus on the impact of governance on fire and rescue services, impact of leadership at all levels, a review of benefit realisation from projects, and a reduction in inspection areas from 11 to 10. The Service continued to engage with the Service Liaison Lead from HMICFRS.

In response to a question from County Councillor L Parker in relation to learning from other services who had received outstanding in areas Lancashire had not, Area Manager Tom Powell explained that as HMICFRS reports were published, they would be reviewed and benchmarking exercises undertaken to further improve the service.

County Councillor A Riggott congratulated the Chief Fire Officer and wider Authority and suggested that a copy of the HMICFRS report be sent to the former chairs and vice-chairs of the authority, former County Councillors Nikki Hennessy, Sean Serridge, David O’Toole and John Shedwick. County Councillor A Riggott then asked where progress against the area for improvement would be tracked. The CFO confirmed that progress against the area for improvement would be reported into the Planning Committee and the Clerk to the Authority added that the minutes from the Planning Committee would then be reported into the full CFA Meeting, for commentary by the Authority, in due course.

The CFO explained that the focus of the next HMICFRS inspection would include the impact of governance on the effective running of the service, the effectiveness of leadership at all levels and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) benefits. The Service would also focus on the one area of improvement identified in this inspection and would continue lobbying for sustainable funding for all fire and rescue services.

In response to a question from Councillor J Hugo in relation to the impact of equality impact assessments (EIAs), Area Manager Tom Powell explained that examples of when EIAs were used were at the start of a new project or when new equipment was introduced to assess and understand the impact on staff members and the public. He explained that the outcome of an EIA may impact the approach taken. The CFO added that the service was happy with its use of EIAs but the systems and processes needed to be reviewed to ensure EIAs were properly documented.

County Councillor M Ritson left the meeting at 11:56am.

County Councillor M Clifford congratulated the service on its positive HMICFRS result and thanked former County Councillors David O’Toole, John Shedwick, Nikki Hennessy and Sean Serridge.

County Councillor M Ritson rejoined the meeting at 11:58am.

In response to a question from County Councillor J Tetlow in relation to the two outstanding gradings achieved in the people section, Area Manager Tom Powell explained that the feedback received from the HMICFRS inspectors was that they felt very welcomed to the Service by everyone they met. He explained that a lot of work had been done to engage and develop staff whilst being open and honest and to get the right people in the right roles. The CFO added that lots of work had been done through the services EDI Culture Board with the service learning from culture and misconduct reviews and other services and ensuring that leadership and cultural expectations and standards were clear across the Service.

County Councillor E Worthington left the meeting at 12:05pm.

The Chair suggested that the service could look at commercialisation to generate income and sessions could be held for staff and members to discuss opportunities to save money. The CFO confirmed that work was ongoing with a series of workshops being held for leaders to generate efficiency ideas and members could be involved through the Strategy Group Meetings.

County Councillor E Worthington rejoined the meeting at 12:08pm.

Resolved: That the Authority noted the report.