An Audit Commission report says that while fire and rescue authorities are working towards modernisation, the pace of change varies substantially between authorities. In the assessments of the 47 fire and rescue authorities (FRAs), nearly half (47%) are categorised overall as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.
Crucially, the report does not focus on how well the services respond to emergencies or other incidents. Instead, it is concerned with the way they work in communities to prevent fire. It also takes into account areas such as staff training, rates of sickness, team leadership and how well budgets are managed.
Progress towards providing effective, efficient and community focused services, fit for the 21st century, could be more quickly achieved by some FRAs, says the report. It adds that local government could play its part by ensuring that councillors appointed to authorities have the necessary skills to provide strategic leadership.
Steve Bundred, chief executive of the Audit Commission, commented: “Fire authorities can accelerate the pace of change by addressing areas such as leadership, diversity and working conditions and practices.”
Overall, London and the six metropolitan FRAs performed best, with 67% categorised as good or excellent. The 24 combined FRAs also perform well with 50% in the top two categories. The 16 county authorities, which tend to serve smaller communities and have fewer staff and smaller budgets, did less well with only a third of them rated as good or excellent.
The Audit Commission also carried out a survey of chief fire officers and authority chairpersons. Some 90% of chief fire officers said that Comprehensive Performance Assessment was a driver for change, and a majority of them and chairpersons would go through the process again, even if it was not compulsory.
To complement the report, the Commission has a web-based
improvement tool on good practice. See www.audit-commission.gov.uk/cpa/fire/lffirecpa/
– The Audit Commission report has not been welcomed in all quarters. General secretary of the Fire Brigades union, Matt Wrack, said: “Once again the Audit Commission has missed the real point about what the fire service is here to do, and this report could cause unnecessary alarm to the public.” He said the Commission wrongly attributed the success of reducing fire deaths to a 45-year low solely to community fire safety, as rescues were also playing a key role. The Local Government Association said that it was satisfied that seven out of eight fire authorities were rated as ‘fair’ or above.
