Agenda item

AM Powell presented the report to Members regarding His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) activity.

Round 3 Overview

LFRS HMICFRS Round 3 inspection concluded in April 2025. 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 LFRS’s partner organisations and visited North West Fire Control.

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.

The official report was released publicly on 14August 2025 along with a HMICFRS press release included on page 93 of the agenda reports pack.

LFRS Round 3 Report

The Service had been awarded an unprecedented six ‘Outstanding’ and five ‘Good’ ratings across all 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.

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, collaborative approach with partners, and 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.

Councillor G Baker left the meeting at 10:45.

HMICFRS Inspection 2025 – 27

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 concluded. 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, leadership, and a reduction in inspection areas from 11 to 10. The Service continued to engage with the Service Liaison Lead from HMICFRS.

HMICFRS Activity

A formal letter was sent to HMI Michelle Skeer, officially closing the six Areas for Improvement (AFIs) identified during the Round 2 inspection. The inspectors for Round 3 expressed their satisfaction with the progress made to address the AFIs that were previously identified.

The service would provide a quarterly report on the progress of its AFI regarding Equality Impact Assessments and work was already underway to progress this area. The Round 3 report had also been scrutinised to gather any further areas identified that may assist the service in elevating any aspects from good to outstanding. Department engagement was taking place to address any findings and actions would be tracked by the Organisational Assurance Team on the Assurance Monitoring System (AMS).

State of Fire and Rescue

The Annual Assessment of Fire and Rescue Services in England 2024–25 was published on 5 November. This was His Majesty’s Chief Inspector’s third annual report to the Secretary of State under section 28B of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004.

It was his first annual report on fire and rescue since the new Government came into power in July 2024. The report contained his assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of fire and rescue services in England, which was based on the inspection reports published between February 2023 and August 2025.

Between March 2023 and August 2025, the HMICFRS carried out their third full round of inspections of all 44 fire and rescue services in England. Several services made improvements in the Round 3 inspections. They closed 416 of 695 outstanding areas for improvement (AFIs) and issued fewer AFIs in this round. They also identified 67 examples of promising and innovative practice across 25 services.

Overall, 73 percent of the graded judgments awarded in Round 3 were ‘adequate’, ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. This meant services were able to show at least some of the characteristics of good performance in most areas and 43 percent of all grades met or exceeded the benchmark for good performance, where they issued good or outstanding grades. Overall, in this round, the HMICFRS gave the following proportion of grades:

• 4 percent outstanding

• 39 percent good

• 30 percent adequate

• 24 percent requires improvement

• 3 percent inadequate.

Councillor G Baker rejoined the meeting at 10:47.

LFRS were identified for positive practice on several occasions within the national report.

The full report could be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-state-of-fire-and-rescue-2024-to-2025.

HMICFRS Chief and Chairs event

The annual Chiefs and Chairs event was held in Nottingham on 4 November 2025. Chief fire officers, authority chairs (and equivalents), sector leaders, and Government representatives were brought together to discuss key issues facing the sector. Chief Fire Officer Jon Charters and County Councillor Usman Arif attended on behalf of LFRS.

The day consisted of several presentations that were delivered by sector leaders, and the new Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Democracy Samantha Dixon MBE MP was also in attendance to deliver the keynote speech. The presentations and discussions focussed on:

• Key findings from the round 3 inspections
• Internal Governance
• Protection and Risk Based Inspection Programme
• Use of technology

HMICFRS Data Collection

The HMICFRS had discontinued the collection of Autumn data returns and transitioned to an annual return, which would next be requested in Spring 2026. The information included in the return was expected to be similar to the information requested in Spring 2025.

The DCFO encouraged members to read the state of fire and rescue report and explained that of seven national recommendations, four remained in progress;

• The Home Office, in consultation with the fire and rescue sector, should review and with precision determine the roles of: (a) fire and rescue services; and (b) those who work in them.
• The Home Office, the Local Government Association, the National Fire Chiefs Council and trade unions should consider whether the current pay negotiation machinery requires fundamental reform. If so, this should include the need for an independent pay review body and the future of the ‘Grey Book’.
• The Home Office should consider the case for legislating to give chief fire officers operational independence. In the meantime, it should issue clear guidance, possibly through an amendment to the Fire and Rescue National Framework for England, on the demarcation between those responsible for governance and operational decision making by the chief fire officer.
• By 1 March 2025, the Home Secretary should introduce amendments to Parliament concerning the inspectors of fire and rescue that:
  • place a requirement on fire and rescue authorities to publish comments, within 56 days, in response to HMICFRS inspection reports on their fire and rescue services; and
  • allow fire and rescue authorities, as well as mayors, county councils and police, fire and crime commissioners, to request that HMICFRS inspects the fire and rescue services in their areas.

Resolved: That the Planning Committee noted the report.