South Yorkshire 2021/22
Read more about South YorkshireThis is HMICFRS’s third assessment of fire and rescue services. This assessment examines the service’s effectiveness, efficiency and how well it looks after its people. It is designed to give the public information about how their local fire and rescue service is performing in several important areas, in a way that is comparable with other services across England.
The extent to which the service is effective at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks requires improvement.
The extent to which the service is efficient at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks requires improvement.
The extent to which the service looks after its people is good.
Roy Wilsher, HM Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services
HM Inspector's summary
It was a pleasure to revisit South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, and I am grateful for the positive and constructive way that the service engaged with our inspection.
I am satisfied with some aspects of the performance of South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in keeping people safe and secure from fires and other risks, but the service needs to improve performance in some areas as these have deteriorated since our 2019 inspection.
My principal findings from our assessments of the service over the past year are as follows.
The service is good at identifying risks in its communities and puts appropriate measures in place to mitigate those risks. It is good at identifying those people in its communities who are most at risk from fire and working with its partner organisations to good effect to reduce this risk.
The service displays some sound financial management. And its medium-term financial plan takes a prudent approach to government funding. But the service still needs to improve its use of resources. It is financially secure but could do more to plan for future financial challenges.
The service has introduced new response standards for attending emergencies. But we were disappointed to see that it hasn’t made the progress we expected in addressing the other areas for improvement concerning response in our 2019 inspection. And the service’s risk-based audit programme (RBAP) is not effectively prioritising high-risk premises.
Values are well established in the service, and it is good at promoting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). But improvements are required to make sure staff have access to services to support both their mental and physical health.
Overall, while there are some good aspects to the performance of South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, there are several areas where performance has declined since the 2019 inspection, and I expect to see progress made against these. We will continue to monitor progress through our usual monitoring arrangements.