Shropshire 2021/22
Read more about ShropshireThis is HMICFRS’s second full assessment of fire and rescue services. This assessment examines the service’s effectiveness, efficiency and how well it looks after its people. It is designed to give the public information about how their local fire and rescue service is performing in several important areas, in a way that is comparable with other services across England.
The extent to which the service is effective at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks is good.
The extent to which the service is efficient at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks is good.
The extent to which the service looks after its people is good.
Wendy Williams, HM Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services
HM Inspector's summary
It was a pleasure to revisit Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, and I am grateful for the positive and constructive way that the service engaged with our inspection.
I am pleased with the performance of Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service in keeping people safe and secure from fires and other risks. For example, the service is effective in preventing fires and is well prepared to respond to major and multi-agency incidents.
It is pleasing to see that the service has made progress since our 2018 inspection. The service has further improved the good levels of performance found last time. It has enhanced its arrangements for protecting the public through fire safety regulation. It has also improved how well it develops leaders and capability within the service.
These are the findings I consider most important from our assessments of the service over the past year.
The service has identified risk effectively through its community risk management plan. It has strategies in place to direct its prevention, protection and response activities to the identified risks.
Encouragingly, the service has a clear set of values and a positive culture throughout the organisation. Inspection teams found that staff enjoyed working for the service and that workplaces were positive, supportive environments.
The service is good at managing its finances and collaborating with other organisations to give the public an efficient and effective service.
But there are still some areas the service needs to improve. It needs to have robust measures in place to communicate effectively lessons learned from operational incidents. Its fire safety inspection programme needs to target risk more effectively. And the service should use the full range of its fire safety enforcement powers.
Overall, Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service provides a good service to the public and is financially sustainable. It continues to respond well to the pandemic and supports other organisations in local testing and vaccination.
The service has identified future challenges, such as sustaining its high levels of fire engine availability by using on-call staff. It has embarked on a project to address these challenges.
I look forward to assessing progress on this and the other areas identified for improvement at our next inspection.