HMICFRS

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) is an independent body that represents the public interest.  It assesses and reports on the efficiency and effectiveness of the police forces in England and Wales and, from 2017, the 44 fire and rescue services (FRSs) in England. 

In assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of each FRS, HMICFRS answers three main questions: 

• How effective is the FRS at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks?
• How efficient is the FRS at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks?
• How well does the FRS look after its people? 

Following a thematic inspection to assess our response to the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic undertaken in 2020, HMICFRS undertook its second ‘all Service’ inspection of Avon Fire & Rescue Service in 2021 and published its findings on 15 December 2021.   

The latest findings show encouraging progress has been made since Avon Fire & Rescue’s last full inspection with the previous causes for concern and ‘inadequate’ ratings being resolved thanks to the hard work, determination and commitment of the whole workforce.  In citing numerous areas of improvement, HMI Wendy Williams said she was “very pleased with the progress Avon Fire & Rescue Service has made” and specifically highlighted increased staffing in the Business Fire Safety department, better targeting of its fire prevention work on those most at risk, its continuing support to the ambulance service and NHS mass vaccination programme, and sound financial planning processes. 

Following Avon Fire Authority’s declaration of climate and ecological emergencies towards the start of the year, Avon Fire & Rescue Service’s successful grant application totalling nearly £1 million from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme was highlighted for particular praise and noted as a coveted example of ‘innovative practice’.  A dramatic reduction in the number of automatic fire alarms attended by the Service also drew positive acknowledgement from the inspectors, with firefighters now able to better use that time for uninterrupted risk critical training and community safety activities. 

The report also included several areas for improvement which are already being addressed. The Service’s upgrade of its IT infrastructure is already well underway thanks to a £1.5 million investment agreed by the Fire Authority in October 2020, and its plan to improve the way in which risk information is gathered, stored and made available to firefighters was approved in September and is now being implemented. 

Following receipt of our report we’re now developing an action plan to address the areas for improvement identified by the Inspectorate. 

Links to the key documents associated with our latest inspection are provided below – simply click on each line to access the relevant document: 

• Avon Fire & Rescue Service’s HMICFRS inspection report (2021/22)
• Avon Fire & Rescue Service’s response to the 2021/22 HMICFRS inspection report 
• Avon Fire & Rescue Service’s Round 1 HMICFRS inspection action plan
• Avon Fire & Rescue Service’s Round 2 HMICFRS inspection action plan
• Avon Fire & Rescue Service’s COVID-19 inspection results 

A summary of HMICFRS’ 2021 assessment of Avon’s performance against the three key areas and their associated sections is shown below, together with a comparison against our 2018 graded judgments: