The service should make sure it understands how to adopt national operational guidance, including joint and national learning, and puts a plan in place to implement this.
Effectiveness, efficiency and people 2025–2027: Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service
Published 30 July 2026Fire & Rescue Inspection0 recommendations5 causes for concern52 areas for improvement
Coverage
The organisations covered are not linked in this record. Check the original report for its scope and addressees.
Causes for concern
The service should review and publish its response standards, including for control, to better inform the public.
The service should make sure it shares operational and organisational learning effectively and as soon as possible, and make sure staff understand it.
The service should improve how it monitors the competence of all operational staff
The service needs to do more to ma e s re staff are fo owing the service’s o ic on well-being and national working time regulations.
Areas for improvement
The service should make sure it understands, records and monitors any risks that prevent it from implementing the priorities outlined in its community risk management plan.
The service should make sure it has effective arrangements to manage and monitor performance against the priorities set out in its community risk management plan at a strategic level.
The service should make sure its community risk management plan is informed by a comprehensive understanding of current and future risk.
The service should do more to make sure the risk information it uses to support its community risk management plan is accurate and up to date
The service should make more progress against the objectives in the CRMP
The service should strengthen its partnerships and co-ordinate risk modelling to make sure home fire safety check targeting focuses on risk.
The service should make sure it consistently carries out effective post-incident activity to support and reassure the community.
The service should improve how it targets risk
The service should improve its risk-based modelling to better direct prevention activity towards the people most at risk from fire and other emergencies.
The service should strengthen partnership referral processes to make sure activity is focused on people most at risk
The service needs to evaluate fire-setting interventions to understand what is effective
The service should make sure its fire control staff are supported to take part in training and exercising
The service needs to make sure its policies align with national operational guidance
The service should make sure it reviews its policies and procedures for mass evacuation and that staff understand them.
The service should make sure all staff understand its marauding terrorist attack procedures and consistently take part in effective multi-agency exercising to improve preparedness and interoperability.
The service needs to improve its co-ordination of exercise programming
The service needs to improve its preparedness to respond to marauding terrorist attacks
The service should make sure it has effective internal governance arrangements in place to hold senior officers to account for the corporate management of the service.
The service should make sure its workforce model supports its operational model to manage risk efficiently and effectively.
The service should make sure all its processes to support performance management are effective.
The service should make sure its fleet and estates management programmes are linked to its community risk management plan, and that it understands the long-term impacts of investment decisions.
The service should have a clear internal structure with appropriate governance arrangements to make sure the selection, design and implementation of projects is well managed, represents value for money and provides the intended outcomes.
The service should improve how it manages performance through an effective governance structure
The service needs to do more to reduce the burden of responding to unwanted fire signals
The service should make sure its fleet and estates management programmes are fully linked to its CRMP.
The service needs to improve how it implements projects to make sure they are well managed and cost effective
The service needs to do more to make sure it effectively implements and integrates the Core Code of thics and that staff nderstand it.
The service should proactively monitor working hours (including overtime) to improve staff well-being and make sure working hours align with working time regulations.
The service should make sure it provides adequate welfare facilities for staff attending long-lasting incidents.
The service needs to do more to make sure all staff feel valued and that their voices are heard.
The service needs to make sure it has an effective people and culture strategy that all staff understand
The service should improve its welfare facilities at operational incidents
The service should make sure welfare facilities are available for staff attending incidents.
The service should do more to eliminate bullying, harassment and discrimination
The service should improve staff understanding of bullying, harassment and discrimination, including their duty to eliminate them.
The service needs to review how it monitors working hours across the service
The service needs to improve its workforce planning
The service should make sure its governance structure includes strategic oversight of decisions that affect succession planning and workforce planning, capacity and capability.
The service should make sure its workforce plan takes full account of the skills and capabilities it needs to implement its community risk management plan.
The service should make sure operational crews have access to risk-critical training
The service needs to improve its co-ordination and provision of training
The service needs to improve the learning and development it offers
The service should make sure firefighters who are in development are assessed in ine with the service’s o ic .
The service should improve the quality and accessibility of EDI training
The service needs to strengthen its equality impact assessment process
The service needs to improve diversity in its recruitment
The service needs to do more to make sure its recruitment policies are fair and accessible to applicants from a range of backgrounds.
The service should improve its collection and use of equality data
The service should make sure its promotion processes are fair and accessible and have independent oversight and scrutiny.
The service needs to do more to develop leaders
The service needs to do more make sure the promotions process is fair and accessible
The service needs to do more to make sure its promotion and progression processes are fair.