Hertfordshire Liberal Democrat councillors respond to fire service concerns raised by government inspectorate

Following an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), the government inspection body said ‘prevention activity isn’t a sufficiently high priority for the service’, and ‘it must act to implement a robust and consistent method of identifying risk and vulnerability’.

To address this concern, the inspectorate says the service needs to prioritise home fire safety checks to those most at risk in a ‘timely manner’.

It issued an accelerated cause of concern to Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service - when a service’s failures raise concerns about risks to public safety.

But Liberal Democrat councillors say the fire service has been working hard to address previous concerns raised by the body, calling the letter ‘disappointing’.

Councillor John Hale added: “I am pleased that the Chief Fire Officer has recognised that the Fire and Rescue Service can do better and is committed to prioritising that work. I and my colleagues will be checking that appropriate oversight and support from the council is in place.

“HMICFRS considered that prevention work was not a sufficiently high priority for the service. The council now needs to demonstrate that this is not the case and that protecting those most at risk and vulnerable is a priority.”

HMICFRS has made a number of recommendations to the service including prevention strategies prioritising those most at risk, staff training, ensuring it has enough resources and a robust system to define levels of risk.