HMICFRS

Effectiveness, efficiency and people 2025–2027: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Published 12 June 2026 Fire & Rescue Inspection 28 areas for improvement

The organisations covered are not linked in this record. Check the original report for its scope and addressees.

Areas for improvement 28

Area for improvement A1

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should make sure that it has robust strategic oversight arrangements, and an effective quality assurance process, so that staff consistently carry out home fire safety visits to the required standard.

Area for improvement A2

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should make sure its strategic oversight arrangements in place are robust to make sure that its HFSV records are accurate

Area for improvement A3

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should make sure it gathers and records relevant and up-to-date risk information to help protect firefighters, the public and property during an emergency.

Area for improvement A4

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should assure itself it has procedures in place to record important operational decisions made at incidents, and that staff understand these procedures well.

Area for improvement A5

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should make sure it has an effective system to learn from operational incidents.

Area for improvement A6

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should make sure it understands how to adopt national operational guidance, including joint and national learning, and put in place a plan to implement this.

Area for improvement A7

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should improve the way it identifies, gathers and maintains risk information

Area for improvement A8

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service needs to do better at making sure its risk information about people, places and threats is accurate and up to date.

Area for improvement A9

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service needs to improve its procedures to record important operational decisions made at incidents

Area for improvement A10

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should make sure it is well prepared to form part of a multi-agency response to a terrorist incident, and that all staff understand its procedures for responding.

Area for improvement A11

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service needs to do more to help operational staff understand their roles in a marauding terrorist attack

Area for improvement A12

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should assure itself that its IT applications are resilient, reliable, accurate and accessible.

Area for improvement A13

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should have a sustainable plan in place to resource its protection function if protection grant funding is reduced or withdrawn.

Area for improvement A14

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should do more to maintain availability of its on-call crews.

Area for improvement A15

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service needs to make sure its IT applications are resilient, reliable, accurate and accessible

Area for improvement A16

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should proactively monitor working hours to make sure staff (including those on dual and secondary contracts) don’t work excessive hours.

Area for improvement A17

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should make sure that it has appropriate strategic oversight arrangements in place for fitness tests and medicals and that operational staff complete them in line with policy.

Area for improvement A18

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should make sure it has a workforce plan that takes full account of the necessary skills and capabilities to carry out the community risk management plan.

Area for improvement A19

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should make sure it addresses barriers to recruiting people with protected characteristics or from under-represented groups, to better reflect the communities it serves.

Area for improvement A20

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should put in place effective systems, with the aim of diversifying the pool of future and current leaders.

Area for improvement A21

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should make sure it has robust processes in place to carry out equality impact assessments and review any actions agreed as a result.

Area for improvement A22

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service needs to do more to make sure its recruitment policies are fair and accessible to applicants from a range of backgrounds.

Area for improvement A23

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should make sure there are appropriate strategic oversight arrangements in place for all senior leaders to manage and scrutinise all functions across the service to make sure they are effective.

Area for improvement A24

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should assure itself that all leaders at all levels are acting as role models to promote a positive culture.

Area for improvement A25

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should do more to make sure staff see promotion processes as transparent and fair.

Area for improvement A26

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service should improve the way staff and leaders at all levels understand and follow the performance development review process.

Area for improvement A27

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service needs to do more to make sure the promotions process is fair and transparent

Area for improvement A28

Status: Open

Addressed to: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Area for improvement (HMICFRS's words)
The service needs to develop its performance management systems so that leaders can effectively assess and develop the individual performance of all staff members.