Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service says it has made a 'remarkable advance' after a six-week long inspection of the organisation.

In May and June last year, His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary's and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) carried out the inspection as part of a programme, which looks into all fire and rescue services in England.

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service was assessed in three areas – efficiency, effectiveness and people.

As part of the assessment they looked into all areas of fire and rescue service work carried out by firefighters and staff at all levels.

Today (Friday), HMICFRS published the report with their findings.

The report has graded Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in the three areas as;

• Effectiveness – 'Good'
• Efficiency – 'Requires improvement'
• People – 'Good'

These areas are broken down into 11 separate parts for which, the Service achieved 'Good' in nine of these.

The county fire service says this is a 'remarkable advance from the 2018 inspection', which showed it to be requiring improvement in most areas.

The HMICFRS categories of graded judgment are: outstanding; good; requires improvement; and inadequate.

Good is the HMICFRS expected graded judgment for all fire and rescue services.

The inspection report stated: "Overall, this is a good performance by Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, for both the communities it serves and its staff.

"I am pleased to see that the Service has made progress since our 2018 inspection.

"The Service took our recommendations seriously and produced a comprehensive improvement plan to monitor progress.

"It has made improvements in all the areas we identified, with 20 out of 24 areas for improvement from the first round being resolved.

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"This is a good example of what improvements can be made when a service focuses on the main findings of our inspection.

"Areas we have seen the greatest improvement in are protection and how the Service looks after its people."

Callum Faint, Chief Fire and Rescue Officer, at Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "I would like to acknowledge the continued hard work of all of our staff and firefighters who have worked tirelessly since the last inspection to improve our Service.

"We have made massive steps forward in many areas and the positive nature of the inspection report reflects this.

"Of course, there are further improvements to be made and we look forward to continuing our work to achieve these.

"I am proud of our Service and believe that the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland really benefit from all that our staff have achieved."

The report mentions in particular how the Service has:

• introduced new values and behaviours, with improved culture
• increased provision for staff wellbeing
• improved focus on equality, diversity, inclusion, and fairness
• made improvements in protection and operational response
• improved work with the community and partners to drive efficiencies.

The Service is now in the process of reviewing the report and looking at how it can address areas of improvement that have been identified, in order to continue to provide the best possible fire service.