National Update
FRSA National Update
White Paper Response
The government published its draft proposals on reforming the fire and rescue service in England back in May.
As a member-led organisation and to ensure we listened to the views of our members, we put together an online survey which contained all of the information in the Home Office document plus the opportunity for members to provide comment on each of the 48 questions posed. The responses were used by the Executive Board when it formulated its response on behalf of the FRSA.
Our response has now been formally submitted to the Home Office and is available to read via our website.
HMICFRS Reports
On Wednesday this week HMICFRS published their latest inspection reports into the following FRSs:
- Devon & Somerset
- Essex County
- Gloucestershire
- Humberside
- Lancashire
- London
- Norfolk
- Northamptonshire
- Nottinghamshire
- Oxfordshire
- Shropshire
- Staffordshire
- Tyne & Wear
- West Sussex
- West Yorkshire
The reports can be found on the HMICFRS website and while some FRSs can be congratulated for their successes, there are still services which are failing to make the necessary improvements.
There remains a great deal of concern that so many FRSs are performing poorly when asked the question, ‘How well does the fire and rescue service look after its people?
Issues of poor culture and behaviour have been a consistent thread throughout most of the reports since HMICFRS commenced their inspections back in 2018 and demonstrates an inability of some leaders and managers being able to eradicate a culture that has a detrimental impact on what is overall, a dedicated, hardworking, and talented workforce.
Failure should not be an option and we believe that those who are in a position of responsibility and ability to greatly influence change, that fail to do so, should be managed out of the service to make way for people who can and will deliver improvement.
We will continue to work with HMICFRS and local FRSs to find ways of creating a service culture that is inclusive, diverse, welcoming, supportive, and open to new ideas and ways of working.
Tristan Ashby
Chief Executive Officer
We are now on WhatsApp!
In an ongoing effort to make it as easy as possible to contact FRSA HQ we now have our own WhatsApp account. You can contact us via the QR code, just scan the code to add us to your contacts.
Our offer to you
A new information leaflet is available encapsulating the key benefits of being a member of the FRSA. The document is available via our website and we would recommend that this is shared with your colleagues on station.
