County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service rated “Good” in all areas according to latest inspection. Report confirms CDDFRS as the fastest predominantly rural fire and rescue service in the UK!
County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS) has been rated “Good” according to an independent review by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) which has been published today (Friday, January 20).
HMICFRS looked at how effectively and efficiently the Service prevents and protects the public from, and responds to, fires and other emergencies. It also examined how well the service looks after its people. CDDFRS was rated “good” in all three areas by the inspectorate.
HMICFRS praised the way the service responds to fires and other emergencies, stating that CDDFRS is the fastest predominantly rural fire service in the UK. They also rated the service as “good” at preventing fires and other risks, acknowledging that the service is clear about how they prioritise work, and their staff understand safeguarding practices well.
The inspectors were impressed by the volume of Home Fire Safety Visits carried out, stating it was over three times the national average. The report was complimentary about how the service looks after its most vulnerable residents, highlighting that a revisit was completed within twelve months, ensuring residents feel protected from fire risk.
The report was also complementary about how productive the service is, highlighting the impressive amount of prevention and protection work carried out by firefighters. Acknowledging that the service has effective engagement with schools and businesses, the report also gave a special mention to the service’s Arson Reduction Team efforts to reduce deliberate fire setting, especially with young people.
The report stated the service is good at managing budgets, making savings, as well as exploiting new technologies and investing wisely. Highlighted as “innovative practice” by HMICFRS, the inspectors were particularly impressed with the pioneering decontamination wash facility at the service training centre, ensuring fire equipment is properly cleaned after operational incidents and training.
Highlighting the service’s second piece of “innovative practice”, the inspectors were impressed by CDDFRS’ work to increase diversity through its apprenticeship scheme, stating the values and cultures of the organisation were “good”. They commended the service for embedding and developing values and behaviours which resonate with staff and providing good training and health and wellbeing services, including trauma support to operational staff following particularly harrowing incidents.
The service was held up as being good at developing leaders, offering bespoke in-house training and professional qualifications.
The service is advised to make some improvements in how it carries out enforcement activity that may lead to prosecutions and legal action, ensuring staff feel skilled enough to investigate businesses who may not be following fire legislation.
CDDFRS Chief Fire Officer Steve Helps said: “I am extremely proud of the service, our overall inspection results mean we are one of the highest performing fire and rescue services in the UK, a reflection of the hard work and dedication of all CDDFRS staff.
“The Service has been through a significant amount of change in recent years and continues to evolve and change and it is one of my top priorities to promote a positive culture across the organisation.
“Overall, I am pleased that the inspectorate has recognised how effectively and efficiently we operate as an organisation.”
“CDDFRS is a learning organisation, and we welcome the areas the HMICFRS have identified to help us improve further our service, it is encouraging that we recognise most of the areas of improvement highlighted in the report. Since our inspection, we now take a more proactive approach to monitoring and checking compliance of business premises who we have served enforcement notices against, to ensure the continued safety, from fire, of employees and visitors to these premises.”
“I am confident that the improvements we have already implemented and the plans we have in place for the future will make our Service even better for the communities we serve.”
Durham County Councillor John Shuttleworth, Chairman of the County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Authority said, “I welcome this assessment of County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service by HMICFRS, this is an amazing achievement, grading us as “Good” in 10 out of 11 areas. I am pleased that the inspectorate has highlighted the wide range of excellent work that is carried out by our staff.
“We have work already underway to make changes to some of the areas where the inspectorate has identified improvements could be made. The Authority will continue to monitor progress on these actions, ensuring the best possible service for the communities of County Durham and Darlington.”
