I am delighted with the strong performance and progress that the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (WSFRS) has made.  This was evidenced in the publication last week of the report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), who undertook a ten-week inspection of the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service earlier this year.

The report highlights many improvements and has rated the WSFRS as ‘good’ or ‘adequate’ in all areas, with inspectors removing any previous causes for concern.  This is the first report that our fire service has received with no causes of concern or any grading judgements of ‘requires improvement’ since the inspectorate obtained responsibility for fire and rescue services in 2018.  To put in context, of the 24 fire services that have been inspected so far by HMICFRS in this round of rigorous inspections, only five have all their grading judgements without anything below adequate.

For the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, of the eleven grading judgements given by the Inspectors, five were ‘Good’ and six were ‘Adequate’.  I congratulate everyone who works for the fire service, who can rightly be proud of their contribution to these strong ratings. 

Our fire service is an integral part of West Sussex County Council, where the Conservative Administration has invested significant resources into the fire service in recent years, including £24 million for the new state-of-the-art Fire Training Centre and Fire Station at Horsham.  The number of firefighters and cover in the east of the county has been increased, which is having a positive impact on response times across West Sussex. 

The inspectors found the fire service has improved the way in which operational staff prioritise and undertake prevention activity, leading to increased community engagement and a substantial increase in the amount of Safe and Well Visits delivered to those most vulnerable.  They also highlighted the extensive work carried out by the service to address concerns around fire service culture, an issue which has been well-documented across the sector nationally, reporting that “there is a positive working culture throughout the service”.

Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group

16th October 2024