The service needs to continue improving its estate
Effectiveness, efficiency and people 2025–2027: Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service
Published 17 June 2026Fire & Rescue Inspection0 recommendations45 areas for improvement
Coverage
The organisations covered are not linked in this record. Check the original report for its scope and addressees.
Areas for improvement
The service should continue improving how it protects the public
The service should assure itself that it has suitable arrangements to manage the performance of the priorities in its community risk management plan and that there is effective monitoring to achieve effective performance.
The service needs to improve how it implements CRMP priorities and monitors performance
The service should make sure resource is effectively aligned and co-ordinated to meet its prevention strategy.
The service should make sure there is effective performance management with clear direction to implement its prevention strategy.
The service should evaluate its prevention activity, so it understands what works.
The service should make sure it quality assures its prevention activity, so staff carry out home fire safety checks to an appropriate standard.
The service needs to improve its training and quality assurance of prevention work
The service should assure itself its risk-based inspection programme prioritises the highest risks and includes proportionate activity to reduce risk and staff understand what should be prioritised.
The service must make sure its risk-based inspection programme focuses on the highest risk
The service should make sure its debriefs are prompt
The service should continue this work to ensure compliance with national operational guidance.
The service should make sure it is well prepared to form part of a multi-agency response to major incidents.
The service should make sure it is well prepared to form part of a multi-agency response to a terrorist incident and its procedures for responding are understood by all staff and are well tested.
The service needs to do more to prepare staff for responding to a major or multi-agency incident
The service needs to do more to prepare staff for responding to a terrorist incident
The service should make sure it has effective internal governance arrangements to hold senior officers to account for the corporate management of the service.
The service should assure itself all processes to support performance management are effective.
The service should have effective measures in place to assure itself that its workforce is productive and that its time is used as efficiently and effectively as possible to meet the priorities in its community risk information plan.
The service should improve internal governance
The service should assure itself it has access to enough capacity and capability to meet its reasonably foreseeable needs for managing service development and change alongside business as usual.
The service should make sure it effectively monitors, reviews and evaluates the benefits and outcomes of any collaboration activity.
The service should do more to improve performance and productivity
The service should do more to review the benefits of contracts, collaborations and improvement projects
The service needs to do more to monitor and review the benefits and results of its contract arrangements, collaborations and improvement projects.
The service should focus on improving its benefits realisation processes, including those for its improvement projects.
The service needs to improve how it implements change
The service should assure itself that leaders at all levels are visible and open to alternative views.
The service should improve communication between staff and senior managers, so questions and feedback receive prompt and appropriate responses.
The service should proactively monitor working hours of dual-contract staff to improve well-being.
The service should assure itself that staff workloads are monitored to improve well-being.
The service should do more to monitor working hours and workloads to improve staff welfare
The service should make sure its workforce plan takes full account of the necessary skills and capabilities to carry out the community risk management plan.
The service should make sure managers maintain their competence and professional skills and this is clearly recorded.
The service needs to do more to improve the way it considers its future needs and succession planning, which is largely reactive.
The service should assure itself it has the capacity and capability it needs to improve equality, diversity and inclusion throughout the organisation.
The service should make sure its facilities are gender appropriate.
The service should introduce a recruitment strategy that clearly shows how it plans to increase the diversity of its workforce.
The service should make sure it has robust processes in place to undertake equality impact assessments and review any actions agreed as a result.
The service needs to do more to increase staff diversity.
The service should consult and work more effectively with internal and external networks to gain improved support and insight into equality, diversity and inclusion matters.
The service needs to make sure EDI is a strategic priority
The service needs to improve its approach to EDI.
The service should have effective assurance to make sure managers are held accountable for managing staff performance and addressing underperformance promptly.