Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service has announced the results of a recent inspection, which reported mostly good service.
It follows an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, which has released its report on Wednesday, April 23.
Overall, the inspection showed that RBFRS provided ‘good’ service in eight of the 11 areas of evaluation, and an ‘adequate’ service in the remaining three.
The report explains that its principal findings were that RBFRS continues to provide an effective prevention, protection, and response for the public by working well with other fire and rescue services and organisations such as the police, local authorities and health providers.
It also showed that service is working hard to transform its estate, technology and ensure staff are being productive at work. This is supporting the service to improve its ways of working and provide a more efficient service to the public.
The report also explains that Staff are proud to work for the service and the culture is positive as concerns can be raised and will be dealt with appropriately.
It explained that the Service has addressed many of its areas for improvement from the last inspection in 2022.
This includes efforts to reduce the burden of unwanted fire signals following a public consultation and ensuring that it is monitoring the collection of risk information, making it quickly available to staff responding to incidents.
Responding to the report, Councillor Jeff Brooks, Chair of Royal Berkshire Fire Authority, said: “This assessment provided by HMICFRS is clear. RBFRS is a fantastic Service, made up of dedicated staff offering exceptional services to our residents.
“As a Fire Authority, we have challenged ourselves to have plans which not only maintain the positive levels of service offered, but crucially invest in equipment, fire stations and training to equip RBFRS for the years ahead.
Wayne Bowcock, Chief Fire Officer, said: “Our staff should be proud of the assessment delivered by this report.
“RBFRS has consistently been rated as a ‘Good’ service by HMICFRS and this does not happen by coincidence.
“I am privileged to witness the professionalism and commitment from staff across the Service, working as one team, every day, to make this possible.
“We will now reflect on this positive assessment and recommendations, before we challenge ourselves to raise the bar even higher, for the benefit of our staff and communities.”
A full copy of the report is available to view via: hmicfrs.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk
