Suffolk 2021/22

It was a pleasure to revisit Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service, and I am grateful for the positive and constructive way that the service engaged with our inspection.

I am pleased with the performance of Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service in keeping people safe and secure from fires and other risks, although it needs to improve in some areas to provide a consistently good service. For example, it needs to do more to improve how it identifies and supports high potential staff and aspiring leaders, and to make sure its selection, development and promotion of staff is open, transparent and fair.

There have been improvements since our last inspection. These are most notable in how the service protects the public through the regulation of fire safety, and how it gathers risk information and makes this available.

My principal findings from our assessments of the service over the past year are as follows:

• The service has improved its culture, values and behaviours, with staff now feeling more empowered and willing to challenge poor behaviours when they encounter them.
• A range of well-being support is now available to support staff physical and mental health, including following a traumatic incident.
• The service now has enough staff in its protection department and has revised its risk-based inspection programme (RBIP) to target the highest-risk buildings. This has led to an increase in its protection activities.
• The service needs to improve how it carries out equality impact assessments (EIAs), which aren’t always completed to an adequate standard. And it needs to do more to improve staff understanding of the benefits of positive action.

Overall, I commend the service on the changes it has made and expect it to continue working to resolve the further areas for improvement we have identified. We will continue to assess progress through our usual monitoring arrangements.