Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold welcomed the helpful ‘State of the Nation’ report into the fire service nationally that has been published by HMICFRS today (January 15).

The report acknowledges the challenges that have faced Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue over the past few years, when the service was part of the county council and badly affected by that organisation’s financial problems. However, changes put in place by Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) since he took on the governance of Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) in January 2019 have already resulted in real improvements to the service received by the public.

Stephen Mold said: “This national report is very useful and contains some interesting recommendations about the ways that the fire service nationally could develop in the future.  We’ve already begun to make some of those changes in Northamptonshire.

“NFRS has made real strides over the past year, with significant improvements in appliance availability and response times, the growth in establishment of 12 new firefighter posts and the purchase of seven new vehicles. The Service is on a stable footing thanks to the efforts of the firefighters and staff and we are now able to begin to make transformational changes such as sharing support with Northamptonshire Police to give greater capability in the future.”

Darren Dovey, Chief Fire Officer of Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, said:  “This report is positive and provides a helpful direction that would create the conditions in which the sector could significantly reform, so it is fit to meet the challenges of the next decade.  It is a national report but its recommendations would put us on a path to delivering an even better service in Northamptonshire.

“The recommendations made would support Chief Officers across the country by providing a clear direction for the sector at a national level and then giving them the operational independence so that they can make that happen.  I will be working with the Commissioner on pushing ahead with the pace of positive change in Northamptonshire to provide the best service that we can for local people.”

You can read the Inspector’s report on the HMICFRS website below:

Chief Inspector calls for ‘significant reforms’ across fire and rescue services in England