The Conservative Group of County Councillors at West Sussex County Council have warmly welcomed the publication today, of the report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), who undertook a ten week inspection of the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (WSFRS) in the spring of this year.
The report highlights many improvements and has rated the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service as ‘good’ or ‘adequate’ in all areas, with inspectors removing any previous causes for concern. We are delighted that this is the first report that WSFRS has received with no causes of concern or any grading judgements of ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’ since the inspectorate obtained responsibility for fire and rescue services in 2018. Of the eleven grading judgements given by the Inspectors, five are ‘Good’ and six are ‘Adequate’.
The inspectors have highlighted the extensive work carried out by the service to address concerns around fire service culture, an issue which has been well-documented across the sector nationally, reporting that “there is a positive working culture throughout the service”.
The report highlights:
- The service has improved the way in which operational staff prioritise and undertake prevention activity leading to increased community engagement and a substantial increase in the amount of Safe and Well Visits delivered to those most vulnerable.
- The service has implemented an effective risk-based approach to effectively reduce unwanted fire signals. They have achieved this through call challenge and a targeted non-attendance policy.
- The service has a positive working culture and have improved staff’s understanding of their values and how they are displayed. The development of team charters has supported this, and staff now feel empowered and willing to challenge poor behaviours.
- The service’s financial and workforce plans, including allocating resources to prevention, protection, and response, continue to be consistent with the risks and priorities it has identified in its Community Risk Management Plan.
- The service has continued to improve its approach to equality, diversity and inclusion.
Our fire and rescue service are an integral part of West Sussex County Council and our Conservative Administration has invested significant resources into our fire service in recent years, including £24 million for our new state of the art Fire Training Centre and Fire Station at Horsham. We’ve also increased the number of firefighters and cover in the east of the county, that is having a positive impact on response times across West Sussex. We also welcome that the number of Safe and Well Visits that the service delivers in people’s homes over the last year has almost doubled.
Reflecting on the fact that WSFRS is now one of the few fire and rescue services in the whole country with no ratings of ‘requires improvement’, Councillor Duncan Crow, Cabinet Member for Community Support, Fire and Rescue, said: “This report gives clear and tangible evidence of the steady improvements that West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service has made, not only for everyone working in the service whose contribution we value greatly, but also for the communities we are proud to serve.”
“Providing a good public service is something that the people of West Sussex should expect of their local fire and rescue service, and I am pleased to say that West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service does just that. This transformation has been years in the making, and while there is still more to do to be rated as ‘Good’ in all areas, my fellow Conservative County Councillors and I welcome the impressive achievements to date, and we are determined that progress will continue on this upward trajectory for our fantastic fire and rescue service.”
You can read the full inspection report here: https://hmicfrs.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/frs-assessments/west-sussex-2023-2025/