Agenda item

The Chair introduced Zoë Billingham, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC), who had been invited to the Committee to update Members on HMIC’s work on scoping options on how fire inspection could be delivered. It was explained that the Home Office was currently working up proposals and costings for what the inspectorate would look like. HMIC had submitted proposals to the Home Office, and another bidder was also believed to be preparing proposals.

As part of her presentation, the Inspector of Constabulary raised the following points:

·         Should HMIC be successful in taking forward the inspection of the fire service they would work with the service to develop an approach which was complimentary with what was already in place. It was not the intention to add burdens to the service, but to increase transparency and help people to understand the organisation.

·         For fire inspections HMIC would significantly adapt the inspection process already in place for the police. They had consulted on their proposals with a wide range of organisations including the LGA, the Home Office, CFOA, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, the RBU, and the Chief Inspector of the Fire Service in Scotland. It was anticipated that the inspection methodology would be simple, with clear guiding principles. Inspections would not be unannounced, and would be undertaken in a low impact way.

·         The inspection model would be piloted extensively prior to full implementation to ensure it was working well. A programme of inspections for all fire authorities would then be set. It was envisaged that there would still be a role for the peer challenge process, which focussed on promoting improvement in the service.

·         A number of headline questions for the inspection, along with diagnostic sub-questions, would be developed, alongside criteria for judgement. In some areas there were no written standards, so the Inspectorate would work with the service to set criteria and benchmarks. The geography of the various locations would be taken into account, and the expertise of particular FRAs would be taken into account as part of the inspection.

·         Particular areas which would be considered as part of inspections would be efficiency and effectiveness of the service. Inspectors would consider the FRA’s effectiveness of protection, prevention, emergency response, and ability to respond to national risks and emergencies. They would also look at ability to meet future demands, resource management, and operational leadership. The leadership of the service would be inspected on values and culture, capability, training, fairness and diversity, and development of leadership for the future.

In the discussion which followed Members raised the following points:

·         Members generally welcomed the Inspector’s comments and agreed that the sector would benefit from an independent inspectorate. They also welcomed comments that the inspections would be undertaken in as low impact a manner as possible, with FRAs having prior knowledge of when an inspection would take place. However they questioned whether the inspections would in fact be as low-impact as suggested.

·         It was suggested that a week inspection of a FRA not be undertaken in 5 consecutive days, as this could present issues for service delivery.

·         In response to a question the Inspector explained that HMIC planned to undertake 15 inspections every 6 months. Timetables were still being considered, but it was anticipated that baseline inspections would be undertaken twice over a four year period, and following that inspections would be risk-based and proportionate. An annual report, or various thematic reports, would be written following the first 15 inspections.

·         It was confirmed that the Home Office would be funding the inspectorate, and had commissioned HMIC to provide costed options. A decision on the chosen inspectorate would be made early in the new year, and they would then be asked to engage with the sector and pilot models.

·         In response to a question the Inspector conformed that HMIC were proposing some thematic inspections to run in parallel with the programme of individual service inspections.

·         The make-up of the inspection teams had not been decided, but it was hoped that they would draw heavily on experience from the sector, and potentially police inspection officers could be used for fire inspections.

·         It was suggested that diversity was an issue in the service, and inspections should have particular focus on that issue.

Decision

The Committee:

1.    Noted the LGA’s ongoing engagement with the Home Office around the design and creation of the fire inspectorate; and

2.    Noted the work within the LGA led by the Fire Per Challenge Working Group to consider the future role and shape of Operational Assessment and Fire Peer Challenge.

Action

Officers to notify Members when a decision on the delivery of the fire inspectorate had been made by the Home Office.