2021/22 FRS assessment

This page sets out information specific to the 2021/22 inspection cycle. This is the third assessment of fire and rescue services (FRS). Our 2020/21 inspections focused on the fire and rescue service response to COVID-19.

You can find more general information about our FRS inspections on the How we inspect page.

Judgment criteria

The judgment criteria sit alongside each year’s question set. It sets out the expected behaviours for each of the four grades at the question level.

Read the detailed FRS Judgment Criteria.

Themes for 2021/22 assessments

Effectiveness

For this cycle of inspections, we will provide more clarity on how well fire and rescue services are prepared to respond to major incidents with other fire services and agencies.

Efficiency

For this cycle of inspections, new questions have been added which focus on whether a service can demonstrate what savings it has made, the effect of these on its operational performance, and whether its use of reserves is sustainable.

People

For this cycle of inspections, the question sets have been altered slightly to reflect an additional focus on the behaviours within the workforce, and to also consider individuals’ career pathways.