Fire service chiefs don’t anticipate service to be good at next inspection

Chief Fire Officer Jonathan Dyson.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s (NYFRS) chief fire officer ‘doesn’t anticipate’ all of its inadequate areas to be good by its next inspection.

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire Zoë Metcalfe told her chief fire officer Jonathan Dyson she expects NYFRS to be rated good by its next inspection at a public meeting on June 22.

In January NYFRS was found to require improvement in its effectiveness and to be inadequate in its efficiency and how it looks after its people.

Ms Metcalfe said: “I’ve been really clear that I want NYFRS to be at least good by the next inspection.”

Mr Dyson doesn’t know an exact date for the next inspection but expects it to be in the next two years.

He said: “I don’t anticipate we’ll be good in all of those areas.

“We need to understand that the potential for that is there, but it would require inordinate and significant change.

“We have to understand that no service has gone from where we currently are to good within one inspection.

“We will be able to demonstrate progress and we are aiming to achieve good.”

The January report showed NYFRS needed to improve how it promotes the right values and culture; ensures fairness and promotes diversity; and manages performance and developing leaders.

Its financial situation was also labelled as ‘precarious’.

Upon publishing the report Roy Wilsher, HM Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services, said: “I have concerns about the service’s ability to get the right people with the right skills.

“This is due to a lack of robust workforce planning.

“It should make sure effective processes are in place to support succession and training planning, staff absence and work-time management.

“We would like to see improvements in the next 12 months and will be revisiting the service to monitor its progress.”

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*