Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrates after inspection rates it 'good' across all areas

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) visited the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) between September and November last year to assess how efficient and effective it is, and how it looks after its people.

NFRS has been found to be ‘good’ in all areas, with HMICFRS stating ‘clear improvements’ have been made since the last inspection in 2018-19, in which NFRS was said to ‘require improvement’ in the same categories.

As well as finding NFRS to be ‘good’ in the three core areas, HMICFRS also found the service to be ‘good’ in each of 11 subcategories.

This means the service is also ‘good’ at: Responding to fires and other emergencies; Preventing fires and other risks; Understanding fires and other risks; Protecting the public through fire regulation; Responding to major and multi-agency incidents; Promoting the right values and culture; Ensuring fairness and promoting diversity; Making best use of its resources; Being financially fit for the future; Having the right people with the right skills; Managing performance and developing leaders.

Nottinghamshire was one of 15 fire and rescue services to be inspected in in the latest round of HMICFRS inspections.

It is just one of four services from the 30 inspections so far in round two to receive a rating of ‘good’ in all 11 inspection areas.

By December 2022, HMICFRS will have inspected all 45 fire and rescue services in England.

Craig Parkin, NFRS chief officer, said: “I am delighted that HMICFRS have found us to be a ‘good’ fire and rescue service.

"This is fantastic news for everyone at our service, and for the communities we protect and serve.

“The last inspection helped us to identify where we needed to improve, and through the dedication, tenacity, and passion of my staff we’ve become a better service.

“Our long-term ambition is to become an outstanding fire service, and we are now working towards that.”

Coun Michael Payne (Con), chairman of the Nottingham Fire Authority, added: “This is a remarkable but incredibly well-deserved outcome for the service.

“I’m so proud that we have a fire and rescue service which is effective, efficient, and has amazing people working for it to make our communities safer.

“The service learnt a lot about its strength, resilience, and ability to transform from the pandemic.

"The support its staff gave to communities was quite simply sensational and rightly highlighted nationally.

“Helping to administer over 75,000 vaccinations, to set up more than 20 vaccination centres, and providing nearly 500 urgent care shifts for East Midlands Ambulance Service shows the type of people the service has.

“During this time and since, the service also worked tirelessly to improve in the areas that it needed to, while also achieving incredible results in its day-to-day operations.

“When you think that our fire service still attended 28,000 emergencies since the last inspection, this really is an extraordinary achievement.”

The HMICFRS report is available to read online here.