Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service commended on progress made, but further changes are needed
23 May 2025 12:49 PM
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service has made progress since its previous inspection, but further changes are needed to provide a consistently good service, the fire inspectorate has said.
Get the report : Effectiveness, efficiency and people 2023–2025: Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has graded Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service’s performance across 11 areas. It found the service was ‘good’ in nine areas, ‘adequate’ in one area and ‘requires improvement’ in one area.
HMICFRS said that the service is well-prepared for responding to major and multi-agency incidents. It has effectively anticipated the reasonably foreseeable risks and threats it may face, and its risk planning considers flooding, pandemics, and marauding terrorist incidents. Inspectors said that the service’s response is linked to risk and maximises availability. Its fire engines and response staff, as well as its working patterns, are designed and located to help the service respond flexibly to fires and other emergencies with the appropriate resources.
Inspectors also said that the service has effectively addressed two areas for improvement identified in the last inspection, having made progress in identifying and overcoming barriers to equal opportunity, and making sure that all staff are trained in equality, diversity and inclusion. It has also made changes to its disciplinary process to improve the well-being support being offered and to improve its effectiveness in managing and dealing with cases.
However, the service needs to improve the way it actively manages the career pathways of staff, including those with specialist skills and those with potential for leadership roles. Inspectors said that the service has no talent management schemes in place to develop leaders and high-potential staff. The service also needs to do more to make sure its promotion and progression processes are fair, and to increase workforce diversity, especially in middle and senior management roles.
His Majesty’s Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services Lee Freeman said:
“I am pleased with the performance of Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service in keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks, but it needs to improve in some areas to provide a consistently good service.
“It has made progress since our 2022 inspection. The service is good at responding to emergencies and we were pleased with the efforts to maintain operational availability.
“It has also improved its workforce plan and brought in new measures to promote equality, diversity and inclusion. It has also recognised and addressed concerns we had heard about its disciplinary and grievance processes.
“But it should make sure its selection and promotion processes are fair, and do more to identify, support and develop future leaders.
“Overall, I commend the service on the changes it has already made, and I look forward to monitoring how it responds to address the areas for improvement we have identified.”
Get the report : Effectiveness, efficiency and people 2023–2025: Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service
Notes
- For further information, please contact the HMICFRS Press Office on 0300 071 6781 or HMICPressOffice@hmicfrs.gov.uk.
- This inspection contains our third assessment of the service’s effectiveness and efficiency, and how well it looks after its people. We have measured the service against 11 areas and given a grade for each.
- We haven’t given separate grades for effectiveness, efficiency and people as we did previously. This is to encourage the service to consider our inspection findings as a whole and not focus on just one area.
- We have expanded our previous four-tier system of judgements to five. These changes mean that it isn’t possible to make direct comparisons between grades awarded in this round of inspections with those from previous years.
- A reduction in grade, particularly from good to adequate, doesn’t necessarily mean that there has been a reduction in performance unless we say so in the report.
- Read more information about the 2023-25 assessment framework for fire and rescue service inspections.