His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) carried out a routine inspection of the Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service between March and May 2022. The inspection report is now available on the HMICFRS website.
Our service has received overall grades of ‘Good’ for ‘Effectiveness’, ‘Requires Improvement’ for ‘Efficiency’ and ‘Good’ for ‘People.’
Grades are given on a scale of Outstanding > Good > Requires improvement > Inadequate. A breakdown of all the grades can be seen in the table below. For the full methodology and commentary, please visit the link provided above.
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Overall Grade |
Questions |
Individual Grades |
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Effectiveness: how effective is the fire and rescue service at keeping people safe and secure? Overall grade: GOOD |
How effective is the FRS at understanding the risk of fire and other emergencies? |
Good |
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How effective is the FRS at preventing fires and other risks? |
Good |
|
|
How effective is the FRS at protecting the public through fire regulation? |
Good |
|
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How effective is the FRS at responding to fires and other emergencies? |
Good |
|
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How effective is the FRS at responding to major and multi-agency incidents? |
Not inspected |
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Efficiency: how efficient is the fire and rescue service at keeping people safe and secure? Overall grade: REQUIRES IMPROVEMENT |
How well is the FRS making best use of its resources? |
Requires improvement |
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How well does the FRS make the fire and rescue service affordable now and in the future? |
Good |
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People: how well does the fire and rescue service look after its people? Overall grade: GOOD |
How well does the FRS promote its values and culture? |
Good |
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How well does the FRS get the right people with the right skills? |
Good |
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How well does the FRS ensure fairness and promote diversity? |
Requires improvement |
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How well does the FRS manage performance and develop leaders? |
Requires improvement |
The Inspectorate reports more serious, critical or systemic shortcomings in a force or service’s practice, policy or performance, as a ‘Cause for Concern.’ There were no Causes for Concern raised by the Inspectorate.
HMICFRS carries out inspections of all 44 fire and rescue services in England and an overview of the grades given to all services in England for the 2021/22 inspection period can be viewed on the HMICFRS website.
Wendy Williams, HM Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services said: "I am pleased with the performance of Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service in keeping people safe and secure from fires and other risks […] I am pleased to see the progress the service has made since our last inspection. This progress is particularly noteworthy given the size and isolated island location of the service. While it still has work to do to improve the service it provides, it should also recognise the overall progress it has made."
Councillor Robert Francis, Chairman of the Fire and Rescue Authority said: "We welcome this report and the findings reflect our own assessment of the service. Our recent appointment of Mark Hewitt as Chief Fire Officer will help us continue to address some of the areas of improvement that we've been working on since we saw them in draft stage. We are also about to consult the community and stakeholders on the development of a new risk management plan that will explicitly link resource to risk.
The inspection report gives reassurance that we are good at keeping people safe and secure. I would like to thank the outgoing Chief Executive of the Isles of Scilly Fire & Rescue Service, Aisling Khan, for the progress made since the previous inspection. I would also like to send my thanks to Station Manager, Kevin James, and everyone working as part of our Fire and Rescue team for their commitment to the exacting demands of the service. It is always a challenge to ensure that a largely retained workforce is supported and there is always room to improve, but we have laid very strong foundations."