Source · HMICFRS

Effectiveness, efficiency and people 2023–2025: Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service

11 February 2025 Fire & Rescue Inspection 35 areas for improvement

National — applies to all forces

Areas for improvement

AFI The service should implement clear and effective prevention, protection and response strategies to improve performance.

AFI The service should review its protection activity reporting processes

AFI The service should review the number of protection fire safety audits submitted annually for activities carried out on commercial premises.

AFI The service should improve the availability of its on-call crewed fire engines to respond to incidents in line with its community risk management plan.

AFI The service should make sure it has a robust debriefing process to record and share learning promptly.

AFI The service should assure itself it has procedures to record important operational decisions made at incidents and that staff understand these procedures well.

AFI The service should do more to learn from operational incidents

AFI The service needs to improve how it allocates resources to meet its objectives

AFI The service needs to show a clear rationale for the resources allocated between prevention, protection and response activities.

AFI The service should have effective measures in place to assure itself that its workforce is productive and that their time is used as efficiently and effectively as possible to meet the priorities in its community risk management plan.

AFI The service should review team productivity.

AFI The service should review and update its prevention strategy to take account of risks.

AFI The service needs to make sure that objectives in its community risk management plan offer value for money.

AFI The service should monitor secondary and dual contracts to make sure working hours aren’t exceeded.

AFI The service should review its employee assistance programme.

AFI The service should continue to monitor trends and make sure risk is reduced as much as possible.

AFI The service should do more to protect staff from contaminants on stations

AFI The service should make sure it has an effective workforce plan which takes full account of the skills and capabilities it needs to implement its community risk management plan.

AFI The service needs to recruit to fill its establishment vacancies rather than the reliance on overtime to provide its core service.

AFI The service should assure itself that all staff receive the right training for their role, including those in specialist rescue roles.

AFI The service needs to improve its workforce planning

AFI The service should assure itself that all staff are fully trained in any specialism they are responsible for.

AFI The service should ensure it targets its prevention work at people most at risk.

AFI The service should make sure it has robust processes in place to undertake equality impact assessments and review any actions agreed as a result.

AFI The service should make sure staff have access to inclusive facilities in all workplaces.

AFI The service needs to do more to eradicate bullying, harassment, and discrimination and manage grievances

AFI The service should improve staff understanding of bullying, harassment and discrimination, including their duty to eliminate them.

AFI The service needs to do more to increase staff diversity.

AFI The service needs to continue improving its estates to make the workplace fully inclusive

AFI The service should evaluate its prevention work, so it understands the benefits better.

AFI The service should make sure it has an effective quality assurance and evaluation process to make sure people are receiving, and understanding, appropriate information and therefore feel safer in their homes.

AFI The service should assure itself that its use of enforcement powers prioritises the highest risks and includes proportionate activity to reduce risk.

AFI The service should make sure it has effective arrangements to provide specialist protection advice out of hours.

AFI The service should make sure it provides accurate information relating to fire safety audits.

AFI The service should use this information to adjust planning assumptions and direct activity between its protection, prevention and response functions.