Latest news with #HMICFRS
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue making 'significant progress'
North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (NYFRS) has made "significant progress" in improving since a highly critical report three years ago, a watchdog has said. The service was rated inadequate in 2022 by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) after it had "deteriorated in most areas" and required urgent an inspection in December 2024 and January 2025, the fire service was rated "good" in six areas and "adequate" in five Dyson, chief fire officer, welcomed the findings and said the results were a "testament to the hard work, professionalism and dedication" of staff. The HMICFRS report found NYFRS to be good at understanding fire and other risks, preventing incidents and responding to inspectorate also said the service had regular reviews to consider its expenditure, helping to ensure "value for money". 'Must go further' HMICFRS inspector Michelle Skeer said: "We were pleased to see that the service has made significant progress since our 2022 inspection, with improvements being made in most areas. "I would like to commend the strategic leadership team and all staff across the service for their willingness to change and their continued commitment to improvement."Mr Dyson said recent investment would enable them to build on their achievements and progress with equipment and training. "We're already making headway on improvements in the areas where we have received 'adequate' gradings to further ensure we are a high quality and community-focused service," he Skaith, the county's elected mayor, said: "I am very proud of the progress made in such a short space of time but we must go further. "We will continue to work with NYFRS, and hold them to account, as they continue to make the improvements I and the public expect them to make." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
West Midlands Fire Service needs further improvement
Inspectors have found West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) has not improved enough since its last inspection and "must make greater progress".His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said on Wednesday some areas of the service had got better and recognised it was was facing a turbulent time, but added further improvement was needed to provide a consistently good report follows several changes in leadership at the service since the death of former chief officer Wayne Brown. Current chief officer Simon Tuhill said the findings "provide a valuable opportunity for reflection and continued improvement". "I also recognise the need to improve in areas which have been identified, such as workforce planning, a greater diversity within the service and how we manage our budgets. "We are already working hard to address these through our current plans and will build on this with a new action plan."Inspector Lee Freeman said he was satisfied with some aspects of the service's performance in keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks."However, it hasn't made enough progress since our 2022 inspection, and we have seen some areas deteriorate," he said. 'Unforeseen leadership changes' Former chief Wayne Brown was found dead at his home in January 2024, a day after the fire service announced he was under investigation over claims made about his qualifications for the role. His appointed successor, Ben Brook, then withdrew three days after getting the autumn, the interim chief executive of the fire service and the chairman of the fire authority both resigned following a dispute over fire authority former, Oliver Lee, had publicly alleged West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority's (WMFRA) governance lacked "courage, transparency, care and honesty".The inspector said: "I acknowledge the challenges the service faced at the time of our inspection. It was dealing with unforeseen changes in key leadership positions, and media stories that speculated on both the service and its governance arrangements."Our inspection team was still able to apply the same methodology we use for all our inspections." West Midlands Fire Service was graded across 11 eleven areas: four were found to be good, four were adequate, and three were graded as requiring improvement. The fire service was found to consistently meet its five-minute response standard, providing a fast response to the public, and was also prepared to respond to major and multi-agency incidents, working well with other services during the inspectorate said the service had a supportive culture among staff and good welfare provisions were in inspectors added: "They must make sure staff at all levels are demonstrating the service's values and behaviours."They also said the service did not manage staff performance and development effectively. The report added that the service must make sure it has processes in place to manage and develop staff and increase learning and development to meet their inspectorate also said the service had faced financial challenges and needed to make example, it needed to make sure there was appropriate scrutiny, challenge and forecasting in place, to make sure the public gets value for money and the service is sustainable in the future. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
12-06-2025
- BBC News
South West organised crime unit's performance 'inconsistent'
Five police forces must make improvements to how they work together to tackle serious and organised crime, an inspectorate has South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) works closely with the local police forces to share information and coordinate complex investigations. His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found issues with recruitment meant the unit had hired staff with "little experience".It also cited inconsistences among the performance of regional police, poorly-connected IT across forces, and a failure to conduct formal threat assessments. Created in 2010, the SWROCU covers the five force areas of Avon and Somerset Police, Gloucestershire Constabulary, Devon and Cornwall Police, Dorset Police, and Wiltshire unit was graded as 'adequate' overall, but it was determined four of the individual forces 'require improvement', while Gloucestershire Constabulary was deemed 'inadequate'. Assistant chief constable Rich Ocone said he was "disappointed with the findings", but added Gloucestershire Constabulary had been "working hard over the past year to improve areas the inspectors highlighted". "There is always room for improvement but we are confident we have the necessary leadership in place, and that throughout the organisation there's a solid grasp of the risks associated with serious organised crimes and how to address them," he said. Across the region, inspectors found examples of forces undertaking investigations involving serious organised crime groups, despite them not being formally threat added the unit and its regional forces were "not assessing their serious and organised crime threats consistently" due to a lack of the vacancy rate had reduced in the 12 months prior to the inspection, HMICFRS said that to address resource problems, the unit had recruited staff with little experience of investigating serious and organised crime. 'Troubling to hear' His Majesty's chief inspector of constabulary, Sir Andy Cooke, said: "It was positive to see [the unit] effectively manages support requests from forces and other agencies, and appoints senior officers to lead on regional priorities."But the unit and its regional forces need to improve how they assess threats and how they work together to tackle serious and organised crime. "It was troubling to hear about the recruitment issues faced by forces, meaning personnel are not always as experienced as they should be. "And IT across forces isn't well connected, making it harder for personnel to do their jobs. "We will be working closely with the unit and monitoring its progress against our recommendations."
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Yahoo
Police force must improve call response times
Warwickshire Police must improve how fast it responds to 999 and 101 calls, the policing watchdog has said. A report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found whilst the force's call handling had improved since its last inspection in 2022, inspectors still had "serious concerns" about how quickly officers responded once the calls had been answered. But inspectors also found the force was good at preventing and deterring crime, and reducing reoffending. Warwickshire Police said it was already taking steps to improve on its response times and now had additional officers and staff in its investigation teams. Inspectors found that the force met its attendance times in only 33 of 68 relevant cases - and informed callers of delays in only 15 of 31 relevant cases. They said that the force had not improved in this area since its last inspection and was still failing to meet its own published targets. But the report also found that the force had improved how it investigates crime, with an increase in the number of cases closed. The force was found to be inadequate at responding to the public, and requiring improvement at protecting vulnerable people, building, supporting and protecting the workforce, and leadership and force management. Inspectors graded Warwickshire Police as being good at recording data about crime and preventing and deterring crime and antisocial behaviour, and reducing vulnerability. His Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary Lee Freeman said while it was positive to see that the force had made progress in some areas - he was concerned about how well it protected vulnerable people. He said: "The force needs to make sure that its governance and performance structures are capable of quickly identifying and addressing any potential harm to vulnerable people. "It is evident that the force is committed to achieving this. However, given the scale of the changes required, this is still work in progress." Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith said: "We were already taking steps to improve and have been working closely with HMICFRS in the months since the inspection. "We have changed how we respond and investigate and now have additional officers and staff in our investigation teams. This has resulted in a better response and outcome rates." Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe said the report highlighted the work to improve the force's service to the public was already taking place. He said: "Since the inspection period, the force has continued to sustain these improvements, despite increases in demand." He said the overall grade of inadequate for public contact was "disappointing", but added: "Nevertheless, the report needs to be seen in its full context, many of the issues it has highlighted come down to an overall lack of people to meet the increased demand or process investigations more quickly and effectively. "Warwickshire Police receives among the lowest amount of central government funding per head of population of any force and similarly ranks among the forces with the lowest numbers of officers compared to the population it serves. "I have been clear for some time that there needs to be a fundamental review of the funding landscape for policing." Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Police force improves its flawed child protection His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services Warwickshire Police
BBC News
10-06-2025
- BBC News
Warwickshire Police must improve call response times, inspectors say
Warwickshire Police must improve how fast it responds to 999 and 101 calls, the policing watchdog has said. A report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found whilst the force's call handling had improved since its last inspection in 2022, inspectors still had "serious concerns" about how quickly officers responded once the calls had been answered. But inspectors also found the force was good at preventing and deterring crime, and reducing Police said it was already taking steps to improve on its response times and now had additional officers and staff in its investigation teams. Inspectors found that the force met its attendance times in only 33 of 68 relevant cases - and informed callers of delays in only 15 of 31 relevant said that the force had not improved in this area since its last inspection and was still failing to meet its own published the report also found that the force had improved how it investigates crime, with an increase in the number of cases force was found to be inadequate at responding to the public, and requiring improvement at protecting vulnerable people, building, supporting and protecting the workforce, and leadership and force graded Warwickshire Police as being good at recording data about crime and preventing and deterring crime and antisocial behaviour, and reducing vulnerability. 'Work in progress' His Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary Lee Freeman said while it was positive to see that the force had made progress in some areas - he was concerned about how well it protected vulnerable people. He said: "The force needs to make sure that its governance and performance structures are capable of quickly identifying and addressing any potential harm to vulnerable people. "It is evident that the force is committed to achieving this. However, given the scale of the changes required, this is still work in progress."Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith said: "We were already taking steps to improve and have been working closely with HMICFRS in the months since the inspection. "We have changed how we respond and investigate and now have additional officers and staff in our investigation teams. This has resulted in a better response and outcome rates." 'Overall lack of people' Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe said the report highlighted the work to improve the force's service to the public was already taking said: "Since the inspection period, the force has continued to sustain these improvements, despite increases in demand."He said the overall grade of inadequate for public contact was "disappointing", but added: "Nevertheless, the report needs to be seen in its full context, many of the issues it has highlighted come down to an overall lack of people to meet the increased demand or process investigations more quickly and effectively. "Warwickshire Police receives among the lowest amount of central government funding per head of population of any force and similarly ranks among the forces with the lowest numbers of officers compared to the population it serves."I have been clear for some time that there needs to be a fundamental review of the funding landscape for policing." Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
