Overall summary

Our judgments

Our inspection assessed how well Humberside Fire and Rescue Service has performed in 11 areas. We have made the following graded judgments:

In the rest of the report, we set out our detailed findings about the areas in which the service has performed well and where it should improve.

Changes to this round of inspection

We last inspected Humberside Fire and Rescue Service in January 2022. And in July 2022, we published our inspection report with our findings on the service’s effectiveness and efficiency and how well it looks after its people.

This inspection contains our third assessment of the service’s effectiveness and efficiency, and how well it looks after its people. We have measured the service against the same 11 areas and given a grade for each.

We haven’t given separate grades for effectiveness, efficiency and people as we did previously. This is to encourage the service to consider our inspection findings as a whole and not focus on just one area.

We now assess services against the characteristics of good performance, and we more clearly link our judgments to causes of concern and areas for improvement. We have also expanded our previous four-tier system of graded judgments to five. As a result, we can state more precisely where we consider improvement is needed and highlight good performance more effectively. However, these changes mean it isn’t possible to make direct comparisons between grades awarded in this round of fire and rescue service inspections with those from previous years.

A reduction in grade, particularly from good to adequate, doesn’t necessarily mean there has been a reduction in performance, unless we say so in the report.

This report sets out our inspection findings for Humberside Fire and Rescue Service.

Read more about how we assess fire and rescue services and our graded judgments.

HMI summary

It was a pleasure to revisit Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, and I am grateful for the positive and constructive way in which the service worked with our inspection staff.

I congratulate Humberside Fire and Rescue Service on its performance in keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks. We were pleased to see that it has made progress since our 2022 inspection. It has enough resources to respond effectively and on time to statutory building consultations. It has also improved its processes for carrying out equality impact assessments (EIAs).

However, it needs to improve in some areas to provide a consistently good service. For example, staff still lack confidence in using the service feedback systems. Also, leaders at middle and senior levels can be more visible.

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

• The service has a service improvement plan, which it uses to record, manage, monitor and assess the actions it takes in relation to continuous improvement.
• The service reports on this plan at strategic performance meetings, and it is subject to scrutiny through internal audit, and by the governance, audit and scrutiny committee.
• These arrangements have contributed to the service moving from good to outstanding for the way it understands the risk of fire and other emergencies, and for the way it prevents fires and other risks.
• The service analyses a range of data to develop its community risk management plan (CRMP), which clearly identifies areas of risk, and it is aware of emerging issues and changes that affect risk.
• The service has a clear prevention plan, which links to the risks it has identified in its CRMP, and prevention services are aligned to the respective level of risk.

I acknowledge the service is undergoing a period of change, which is affecting some areas of work. I will keep in close contact to monitor the effect of these changes.

Overall, I commend the service on the changes it has made and expect it to continue working to resolve the areas for improvement we have identified.

Michelle Skeer

HM Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services

Service in numbers

Percentage of firefighters, workforce and population who identified as a woman as at 31 March 2023

Percentage of firefighters, workforce and population who were from ethnic minority backgrounds as at 31 March 2023

References to ethnic minorities in this report include people from White minority backgrounds but exclude people from Irish minority backgrounds. This is due to current data collection practices for national data. For more information on data and analysis in this report, please view ‘About the data’.

Understanding the risk of fire and other emergencies

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is outstanding at understanding risk.

Each fire and rescue service should identify and assess all foreseeable fire and rescue-related risks that could affect its communities. It should use its protection and response capabilities to prevent or mitigate these risks for the public.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service analyses a range of information to identify current and future risk

The service has assessed a suitable range of risks and threats using a thorough community risk management planning process. In its assessment of risk, it uses information it has collected from a broad range of internal and external sources and datasets.

This information includes data from a variety of sources, and the service determines risk levels after applying a weighted calculation. It puts the highest-risk households into risk bands (high, medium and low). This gives the service a way of profiling vulnerable people and communities.

The service has developed a machine learning model which determines vulnerability scores across the Humberside area. It applies these scores to one-kilometre squares. It uses the scores to test how the service’s resources are aligned. This contributes to work to improve the existing arrangements.

Staff can access data directly from their systems and platforms. This means they don’t have to make information requests to the service data team. The service uses a system called InteliMap, which shows the locations of deliberate fire incidents. The information helps the service better understand risk and can help with targeted prevention activities. The information is also accessible to Humberside Police.

The service uses a range of data to determine the risk-based inspection programme for its protection work. This includes data on fire history (local and national) and from the Food Standards Agency, the Care Quality Commission and the Heritage at Risk Register.

When appropriate, the service consults and holds constructive dialogue with its communities and other relevant parties to understand risk and explain how it intends to mitigate it. The service aligns to the best practice principles for consultations, including the Government’s Consultation Principles 2018, the Consultation Charter, and the Gunning principles of public consultation. It speaks to staff, representatives of the local authority, members of community faith groups, schools, colleges and youth groups, as well as partner organisations such as Humberside Police.

The service told us that in its most recent CRMP consultation, it worked with 43 local groups. It said consultation responses had increased by 79 percent when compared to the previous CRMP consultation.

The CRMP contains clear information about the risk the service has identified and explains the service’s approach to managing that risk

Once it has assessed risks, the service records its findings in an easily understood CRMP. This plan describes how the service intends to use its prevention, protection and response activities to mitigate or reduce the risks and threats the community faces both now and in the future.

The service carries out prevention and protection initiatives on:

• fire safety
• road safety
• water safety
• well-being.

Fire safety includes working with people who may go on to commit arson, and working with the police when necessary to enforce prevention. The CRMP explains how fire investigation outcomes help to inform prevention and protection activity. As part of the service’s well-being provision, emergency response personnel and specialist teams provide home fire safety visits and help educate young people about fire safety.

The service has effective arrangements for gathering information about risk, and it has systems in place for staff to access that information

The service routinely collects and updates the information it has about the highest-risk people, places and threats it has identified. This includes the Humber Community Risk Register, which also reflects the National Risk Register. Emergency response staff visit buildings across the service’s area to gather site-specific risk information. This includes tall buildings that have been built with external cladding.

We sampled a broad range of the risk information the service collects. This included information on:

• tall residential buildings;
• a prison; and
• high-risk industrial premises, including COMAH sites.

This information is readily available to the service’s prevention, protection and response staff. This means the teams can identify, reduce and mitigate risk effectively.

The service uses a ‘significant events portal’ to share information with relevant staff. It has used this to notify staff of temporary changes to the fixed installations that provide fire protection in tall buildings. When appropriate, the service shares risk information with other organisations, such as local authority building inspectors and other emergency responders.

Staff at the locations we visited, including firefighters and fire control staff, showed us they could access, use and share risk information quickly to help them resolve incidents safely.

The service uses information that emerges from operational activity to inform its CRMP

The service records and communicates risk information effectively. It also routinely updates risk assessments and uses feedback from local and national operational activities to inform its planning assumptions.

The service has reviewed its arrangements for responding to marauding terrorist attacks. It has relocated this capability and has tested its emergency response to locations in its area.

At the time of our inspection, the service was also in the process of replacing an aerial ladder platform. The new vehicle has a higher reach, which will improve the service’s capability when responding to fires in tall buildings.

Preventing fires and other risks

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is outstanding at preventing fires and other risks.

Fire and rescue services must promote fire safety, including giving fire safety advice. To identify people at greatest risk from fire, services should work closely with other organisations in the public and voluntary sectors, and with the police and ambulance services. They should share intelligence and risk information with these other organisations when they identify vulnerability or exploitation.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service’s prevention strategy directs its activity to prevent fires and other emergencies

The service’s prevention strategy is clearly linked to the risks it has identified in its CRMP. Emergency response staff and prevention specialists complete a range of prevention activity, including home fire safety visits, and initiatives on arson, safeguarding, and water and road safety. The service has also seconded three members of staff to the Safer Roads Humber partnership group.

The service’s teams work well together and with other relevant organisations on prevention, and they share relevant information when needed. The service uses information to adjust its planning assumptions and direct activity between its prevention, protection and response functions.

The service has given training to people employed by the local authority who visit people in their homes. When those people identify hazards and risks, they make a referral to the service for prevention support. This is particularly beneficial in remote or rural locations. In these locations, the local authority partnership improves the service provision.

In carrying out its prevention work, the service prioritises those most at risk from fire

The service uses a risk-based approach to clearly prioritise its prevention activity towards people most at risk from fire and other emergencies. For example, it has developed a fire fatality profile to determine those most at risk from fire and other emergencies. The fire fatality profile considers a range of risk factors, including analysis of ten years of national data, and directs the prevention work carried out by staff at fire stations.

The service sets targets for the number of home fire safety visits it needs to complete each year. It monitors and manages these targets well.

It uses a broad range of information and data to target its prevention activity at vulnerable individuals and groups. This includes Open Exeter data and the index of multiple deprivation. The service understands the ethnic diversity of the community. It also considers the factors that influence risk, including unemployment levels, alcohol dependency and restricted mobility.

The service also uses information from incidents and data analysis to challenge its prevention strategy, lead change and improve its effectiveness. It has written an analytical report that questions whether the condition of a property and/or its tenure contribute to an increased risk of fire. The report maps service areas to profile the respective risk. This intelligence informs the service’s prevention activity, and it helps it find those most at risk sooner.

Staff told us that when they visited homes, they sometimes found that the relevant people no longer lived there. Sensitive circumstances mean it can sometimes be difficult for staff to manage this issue, so this service isn’t always efficient, in terms of the use of resources. There is an opportunity for the service to improve the quality of its data to help this happen less often. This would improve its efficiency and effectiveness.

The service carries out a range of interventions, which it adapts to the level of risk in its communities. Staff at fire stations visit people in their homes to give advice and reduce risk when necessary. This can include installing smoke alarms. When they find a very high risk, they refer the case to specialist colleagues in the service or externally.

Trained staff carry out home fire safety visits

Staff told us they have the right skills and confidence to make home fire safety visits. These visits cover an appropriate range of hazards that can put vulnerable people at greater risk from fire and other emergencies. During the visits, staff obtain information and offer advice. They also give signposting about smoking, electrical hazards and other well-being issues.

Emergency response staff in on-call fire stations also carry out prevention initiatives. These include educating community groups, and carrying out home fire safety visits. On-call fire stations receive information about home fire safety visits through a dedicated prevention tablet device.

Staff know how to respond to safeguarding concerns

Staff we interviewed told us about occasions when they had identified safeguarding problems. They told us they felt confident and trained to act appropriately and promptly.

Staff make safeguarding referrals for adults and children who show signs of being victims of domestic violence. They also make referrals when they note signs of deprivation.

The service works with partners to improve community safety

The service works with a wide range of organisations to prevent fires and other emergencies. Members of the prevention team told us they gave training about fire‑related risks to GPs, care staff, local authority staff and members of other organisations. As part of the training, they explain how to refer vulnerable people, and how those people can use the Safelincs website to make self-referrals.

The service works in partnership with the Hull Safeguarding Adults Partnership Board, which consists of senior members from Hull City Council, Humberside Police and City Health Care Partnership. The board is the strategic lead body in Hull for safeguarding adults with care and support needs who may be suffering from or at risk of abuse or neglect.

The service offers a three-day fire awareness course to groups of ten children from local schools. The course includes activities and information about careers in the fire and rescue service. It also gives information about fire, water and road safety, with a focus on the consequences of arson.

We found good evidence that the service routinely referred people at greatest risk to organisations that might better meet their needs. These organisations include East Riding Safeguarding Adults Board, which is made up of representatives from the local authority, police, health, care and voluntary sectors. In the year ending 31 March 2024, the service carried out 428 prevention visits that led to at least 1 referral.

The service also has arrangements to receive referrals from other organisations, such as adult social care and the police, and members of the public. It acts appropriately on those referrals and in the year ending 31 March 2024, it carried out 1,768 prevention visits as a result. When we inspected records of its completed prevention work, we found consistent evidence of referrals to partner organisations. These showed that staff prioritised prevention activity to meet the needs of the people most at risk.

The service routinely exchanges information with other public sector organisations about people and groups at greatest risk. It uses this information to challenge planning assumptions and target prevention activity. For example, the service works with Humberside Police to target antisocial behaviour and arson.

The service has effective arrangements to tackle fire-setting behaviour

The service has a range of suitable and effective interventions to target and educate people with different needs who show signs of fire-setting behaviour. Staff attend a multi-agency arson intelligence meeting, where they routinely share information with relevant organisations to support the prosecution of arsonists. The meeting group receives reports that show analysis of deliberate incidents affecting North Lincolnshire. These events all have the potential to continue without suitable intervention, and could result in higher levels of arson within the service’s area.

The service evaluates prevention activity to ensure best practice

The service has good evaluation tools in place to measure how effective its activity is and to make sure all sections of its communities get appropriate access to the prevention services that meet their needs.

It uses an objective, scanning, analysis, response and assessment evaluation model to monitor the performance of its fire-setting interventions. This means it can consider the effectiveness and efficiency of its prevention work and objectively assess its outcomes.

Prevention activities take account of feedback from the public, other organisations and other parts of the service. Following a recent serious incident review, the service contacted partner organisations to help find men over the age of 50 who were living alone and had a drug or alcohol dependency. This was to target this specific group of people and carry out prevention initiatives. The service trained people from partner organisations on how to support this high-risk group and make referrals.

Prevention team members also attend police meetings and community safety partnership meetings to develop relationships with other organisations.

The service uses feedback to inform its planning assumptions and change future activity, so it focuses on what the community needs and what works.

Protecting the public through fire regulation

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is good at protecting the public through fire regulation.

All fire and rescue services should assess fire risks in certain buildings and, when necessary, require building owners to comply with fire safety legislation. Each service decides how many assessments it does each year. But it must have a locally determined, risk-based inspection programme for enforcing the legislation.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service’s CRMP informs its enforcement strategy and risk-based inspection programme

The service’s protection strategy is clearly linked to the risks it has identified in its CRMP.

Staff across the service are involved in this activity, effectively exchanging information as needed. Staff at fire stations support specialist protection colleagues to complete fire safety inspections.

Firefighters told us they “hazard spot”, then share information with the protection team to resolve issues. There is an opportunity for station-based staff to manage those improvements directly with the responsible person. This would improve efficiency and effectiveness.

The service uses information to adjust planning assumptions and direct activity between its protection, prevention and response functions. This means resources are properly aligned to risk.

The service prioritises the highest-risk buildings

The service’s risk-based inspection programme is focused on the highest-risk buildings. It has created two risk groups, which are sub-divided into five groups. The highest category includes premises in which people sleep, complex buildings, and buildings with a large footprint. Some premises may have a combination of those criteria.

The service told us that as at 31 March 2024, there were 752 high-risk premises in its area, and that it carried out 1,087 high-risk audits between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.

The audits we reviewed had been completed in the timescales the service had set itself. All inspection activity had been completed within the appropriate time frame, and according to the service’s protection policy and procedure.

The service’s fire safety audits are effective

We reviewed a range of audits that the service had carried out at different buildings across its area. These included audits carried out:

• as part of the service’s risk-based inspection programme;
• after fires at premises where fire safety legislation applies;
• after enforcement action had been taken; or
• at high-rise, high-risk buildings.

The audits we reviewed were completed to an appropriate standard, in a consistent and systematic way, in line with the service’s policies. The service makes relevant information from its audits available to operational teams and fire control operators.

When staff find a risk in a property and take action to stop it being used, they share information with other teams, including firefighters and fire control staff. They do this through their mobile data terminal.

The service quality assures its protection activity

The service carries out proportionate quality assurance of its protection activity. Under its inspection framework, managers review a sample of one inspection per quarter. These include station-based inspections. They record the results from the quality assurance on a service dashboard, including areas for development. Staff members receive feedback and a copy of the audit.

The service has good evaluation tools in place to measure how effective its activity is and to make sure all sections of its communities get appropriate access to the protection services that meet their needs. The service completes fire safety audits in accordance with its enforcement plan. Inspection officers understand how the risk‑based inspection programme system helps the service identify high-risk premises. They use the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) guidance for inspections.

The service should improve its enforcement activity

The service doesn’t use its full range of enforcement powers consistently. Although it prioritises the highest risk, we found that it didn’t always take appropriate opportunities to prosecute those who didn’t comply with fire safety regulations.

In 2023/24, the service completed 873 audits with an unsatisfactory outcome, and it carried out 55 enforcement activities. This shows that the service isn’t following through with enforcement when it finds fire safety problems or need for improvement.

In the year ending 31 March 2024, the service issued 6 alteration notices, 7 informal notifications, 31 enforcement notices and 11 prohibition notices. It carried out no prosecutions. Over the last five years to 2023/24, it carried out two prosecutions.

The protection team has adequate resources

The service has enough qualified protection staff to meet the requirements of its risk‑based inspection programme. As at 31 March 2024, the protection team had 17 competent protection staff, and 7 more were in development. Fire station staff help the team carry out the range of audit and enforcement the service needs, both now and in the future.

Staff get the right training, and work to appropriate accreditation.

The service manages requirements from new legislation well

Since our last inspection, the Building Safety Act 2022 and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 have been introduced to bring about better regulation and management of tall buildings.

The service is supporting the introduction of the Building Safety Regulator. The service expects its duty to enforce the related legislation will have a manageable impact on its other protection activity.

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 introduced a range of duties for the managers of tall buildings. These include a requirement to give the fire and rescue service floor plans and inform them of any substantial faults to essential firefighting equipment, such as firefighting lifts.

We found the service has good arrangements in place to receive this information. When it doesn’t receive the right information, it takes action. And it accordingly updates the risk information it gives its operational staff.

The service works well with partner agencies to support its protection activity

The service works closely with other enforcement agencies to regulate fire safety and it routinely exchanges risk information with them.

It carries out joint visits and inspections with partners such as the police and Trading Standards, and shares information with them when needed. For example, protection staff have worked with residential housing groups to inspect houses in multiple occupation. It also works with partner agencies to take appropriate enforcement action.

The service has improved its arrangements for managing building consultations

The service responds to all building consultations on time. This means it consistently meets its statutory responsibility to comment on fire safety arrangements at new and altered buildings.

In 2023/24, it responded to 92.8 percent of building consultations and 94.4 percent of licensing consultations in its required time frame. This is an increase from previous years. In 2022/23, it responded to 61.7 percent of building consultations and 59.9 percent of licensing consultations on time. And in 2021/22, it responded to 61.9 percent of building consultations and 66.3 percent of licensing consultations on time.

The service supports businesses to improve fire safety

The service proactively works with local businesses and other organisations to promote compliance with fire safety legislation. As part of its routine inspection activity, it uses a range of methods to support the business community. These include visits from emergency response staff.

The service’s social media accounts provide information, and the service uses its website to share contact details and explain what inspection visits involve. Prevention staff also share information on behalf of protection colleagues, and the service arranges seminars.

This activity means businesses can access detailed information and guidance, and they have direct communication with staff.

The service is attending fewer unwanted fire signals

An effective risk-based approach is in place to manage the number of unwanted fire signals. The service has reviewed and amended its policy to reduce the number of premises that it will respond to when a fire alarm is activated. It recently revised its policy again to only respond to fire alarm activations in premises where people sleep.

Fire control staff challenge calls about unwanted fire signals. If emergency response crews do attend these calls, they give advice and guidance to prevent these incidents happening again. If necessary, the service can charge the owner of the premises. The service gets fewer calls because of this work.

The call-challenging process has helped the service improve its response to unwanted fire signals. In the year ending 31 March 2024, the service didn’t attend 28 percent of automatic fire alarms (a type of unwanted fire signal). This is an improvement on the previous two years. In the year ending 31 March 2023, it didn’t attend 18 percent of automatic fire alarms. And in the year ending 31 March 2022, the service didn’t attend 15.9 percent of automatic fire alarms.

Fewer unwanted calls mean fire engines are available to respond to a genuine incident rather than responding to a false one. It also reduces the risk to the public if fewer fire engines travel at high speed on the roads.

Responding to fires and other emergencies

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is good at responding to fires and other emergencies.

Fire and rescue services must be able to respond to a range of incidents such as fires, road traffic collisions and other emergencies in their areas.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service’s response meets its community’s needs, and the service is taking steps to improve its availability standards

The service’s response strategy is linked to the risks it has identified in its CRMP. The service knows it can improve the location of its fire engines and response staff, and its working patterns.

At the time of our inspection, the service only had two working patterns:

• a wholetime duty system, with two shift periods (from 8am to 5pm and from 5pm to 8am), which staff work consecutively to form a 24-hour period of duty; and
• on-call.

At the time of our inspection, the service was analysing and evaluating its CRMP, with the aim of better aligning its emergency response to risk and demand. This will help the service make sure the right people and equipment are in the right place at the right time.

The service has clear response standards, and it meets most of them

There are no national response standards of performance for the public. But the service has set out its own response standards, known as intervention standards, in its CRMP. It has used Home Office research to develop these standards. They are intended to provide an effective emergency response to fires that occur in dwellings. The standards set out the maximum time it should take for a fire engine to arrive at a property in which people live or otherwise occupy. They are:

• 8 minutes for high-risk areas;
• 12 minutes for medium-risk areas; and
• 20 minutes for low-risk areas.

The service also has response standards for road traffic collisions. It aims to:

• have a fire engine arrive at the scene within 15 minutes 90 percent of the time;
• remove a person from inside a vehicle within 30 minutes; and
• then take that person to an appropriate trauma centre within a further 15 minutes.

The service meets most if its standards. Home Office data shows that in the year ending 31 March 2024, the service’s response time to primary fires was 9 minutes and 11 seconds. This is faster than the average for rural services, which was 10 minutes and 15 seconds.

The service’s intervention standards contribute to it reducing the severity of fires and the risk to people. The service knows that the number of primary fires in its area is above the rate for England. It recognises the importance of a fast response to this type of incident.

In 2023/24, the service achieved its response standards on 97 percent of occasions. In the year ending 31 March 2024, the service’s call-handling time, crew-turnout time and the time to drive to an emergency incident were all consistently faster than the average for rural services.

The service is improving the availability of its fire engines

To support its response strategy, the service aims to have all of its wholetime fire engines available on 100 percent of occasions.

At on-call fire stations where there is one fire engine, it aims to have them available 95 percent of the time.

At on-call fire stations with two fire engines, it aims to have the second fire engine available 80 percent of the time.

The service mostly meets this standard. In 2023/24, the overall availability of fire engines was 91 percent. Wholetime availability was 100 percent, and on-call availability was 80 percent. In 2022/23, on-call availability was 74 percent.

Incident commanders are effective

The service has trained incident commanders, who are assessed regularly and properly. They must complete their initial training courses before they can respond to emergency incidents.

All incident command courses are with an accredited external provider. These courses are aligned to the respective level of command competence. Staff complete a range of activities to maintain skills, knowledge and understanding. They can access continual professional development through an online platform, and they can participate in local and regional training to support specialist roles.

This helps the service safely, assertively and effectively manage the whole range of incidents it could face, from small and routine ones to complex multi-agency incidents.

As part of our inspection, we interviewed incident commanders from across the service. They were familiar with decision-making, risk-assessing and recording information at incidents in line with national best practice, as well as the Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles (JESIP).

The service is improving the way it includes control staff in its training and exercises

We were pleased to see the service’s fire control staff integrated into its command, training, exercise, debrief and assurance activity.

The service had previously found that its fire control staff weren’t fully integrated into training and exercises. It now has a training manager in fire control, and the service has fully implemented national operational guidance for fire and water survival.

Command training for fire control staff has also started. And some members of staff have completed the national control liaison officer course.

Risk information is up to date, but it isn’t always easily accessible

We sampled a range of risk information the service had gathered about premises in preparation for an emergency response, and risk information that was available to staff when they responded to an emergency incident. This included the information in place for firefighters responding to incidents at high-risk industrial sites, tall buildings where people live, and the information held by fire control.

The information we reviewed was up to date and detailed, but staff couldn’t always easily access and understand it. The service has taken appropriate action to improve the reliability of the mobile data terminals fitted to fire engines, but some staff told us they still experienced equipment failures.

The service has introduced an application called FLASH, which it uses as an extra information source for risk information. The application was developed in the service and was originally designed to share information about national operational guidance. It now also includes operational risk information, event plans and equipment manuals.

We found that some staff couldn’t operate the mobile data terminals to access risk information. We also found that some risk information, such as the evacuation policy, was inconsistent.

The service evaluates its operational performance and aligns it with national operational guidance

As part of the inspection, we reviewed a range of emergency incidents and training events. These incidents included fires in tall buildings and in homes, road traffic collisions, and water-related incidents in which people had been rescued.

We were pleased to see the service routinely follows its policies to make sure that staff command incidents in line with operational guidance. It updates internal risk information with the information it receives.

The service has recently introduced a new assurance management system, which is intended to improve how well it provides organisational learning. It exchanges this information with organisations such as local authorities, as well as other emergency response partners such as neighbouring fire and rescue services. For example, when they respond to emergency incidents, fire control staff email risk information to other fire and rescue control rooms.

We were encouraged to see the service was contributing towards, and acting on, learning from other fire and rescue services and operational learning gathered from emergency service partners. It has nominated a member of staff to be a single point of contact for receiving and sharing learning.

This means it considers outcomes from local, regional and national emergency incidents, and it assesses them to understand how these outcomes contribute to improving the service’s and partner agencies’ operating arrangements.

The service should improve the way it shares with its staff the learning it identifies from incidents. For example, the service responded to a fire in August 2024, during which there was a near miss. The event was reported, and the service took appropriate action to publish information about it to staff, including control measures that should be put in place to prevent a repeat of the event. When we asked staff about the incident and the subsequent control measures, some couldn’t recall the information the service had shared. This means that the risk to firefighter safety from hazards in emergency incidents may not always be eliminated or reduced as a result of learning from previous incidents.

The service communicates effectively with the public

The service has good systems in place to inform the public about ongoing incidents and help keep them safe during and after incidents. It also alerts partner organisations to share information about large or complex incidents.

The local resilience forum includes a communications cell, which can be formed independently, and gives warnings and information to the community. National incident liaison officers have communications guidance, and they give tactical advice to strategic leaders.

The service has nominated media-trained staff to support relevant emergency incidents. And it uses a specific mobile phone in the command and control unit to record messages and publish them on social media. It has also used drones to share live feed information.

The service works in partnership with the local resilience forum to share information through structured communications teams.

Responding to major and multi-agency incidents

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is good at responding to major and multi‑agency incidents.

All fire and rescue services must be able to respond effectively to multi-agency and cross-border incidents. This means working with other fire and rescue services (known as intraoperability) and emergency services (known as interoperability).

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service has effective arrangements for responding to major and multi‑agency incidents

The service has effectively anticipated and considered the reasonably foreseeable risks and threats it may face. These risks are listed in both local and national risk registers as part of its community risk management planning. For example, it has identified risks relating to pandemic influenzas, climate change, flooding and industrial accidents.

Firefighters have access to risk information from neighbouring services. The service uses the Resilience Direct system for sharing and collating risk information, including content that applies to neighbouring services.

It is familiar with some of the significant risks in neighbouring fire and rescue services, which it might reasonably be asked to respond to in an emergency. But it has more to do.

It has prepared to respond to incidents involving terrorism across the region. However, staff who respond from locations that border one or more of the neighbouring fire and rescue services told us they haven’t visited high-risk sites to gather information.

The service has effective arrangements to respond to major and multi-agency incidents

In our last inspection, we focused on how the service had collected risk information and responded to the Government’s building risk review programme for tall buildings.

In this inspection, we have focused on how well prepared the service is to respond to a major incident at a tall building, such as the tragedy at Grenfell Tower.

We found the service has well-developed policies and procedures in place for safely managing this type of incident. But not all staff at all levels properly understand them. We found a good level of understanding among supervisory and middle managers who respond to emergency incidents, but some firefighters, including those who work at fire stations where tall buildings are located, have limited knowledge.

At this type of incident, a fire and rescue service would receive a high volume of simultaneous fire calls. We found that the systems in place in the service are robust enough to receive and manage this volume of calls. Staff in fire control, at the incident and in assisting control rooms can share, view and update the actions that result from the individual fire calls.

The service has effective arrangements to work with other fire and rescue services

The service supports other fire and rescue services responding to emergency incidents. For example, it has formal agreements (under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, sections 13 and 16) with neighbouring services, which means it attends incidents to supplement the emergency response capability. It is intraoperable with these services and can form part of a multi-agency response.

The service has successfully deployed to other services and has used national assets such as high-volume pumps and water rescue equipment.

The service has a cross-border exercise plan, but it could be improved

The service has a cross-border exercise plan with neighbouring fire and rescue services. This helps them work more effectively together to keep the public safe. But there is limited evidence that the plan includes the risks of major events at which the service could foreseeably give support or ask for help from neighbouring services.

It has completed exercises with neighbouring fire and rescue services for wildfire, flooding and COMAH sites. But some firefighters told us they hadn’t participated in these exercises, and others said they hadn’t participated very often. In the year ending 31 March 2024, the service completed seven training exercises with neighbouring fire and rescue services.

Staff understand and apply JESIP

The incident commanders we interviewed had been trained in and were familiar with JESIP.

The service could give us strong evidence that it consistently follows these principles. This includes adopting the M/ETHANE model for routine communication between the scene of operation, fire control and other responders. Emergency responders have a good understanding of this model, which improves communication and effectiveness.

We sampled a range of debriefs the service had carried out after multi-agency incidents and exercises. We were encouraged to find that the service is identifying any problems it has with applying JESIP and taking appropriate, prompt action with other emergency services.

The service has effective plans for working with partner organisations

The service has good arrangements in place to respond to emergencies with partners that make up the Humber Local Resilience Forum (HLRF). These arrangements include preparing for and responding to major and multi-agency incidents, and were recently used during a period of violent disorder, declared to be a major incident by Humberside Police. It affected the service’s area, as well as other parts of the country. The chief fire officer chaired the strategic co-ordination group on behalf of the HLRF throughout the disorder.

The service is also a valued partner in the strategic meeting group, which it sometimes chairs. It provides emergency preparedness experts to help the HLRF achieve its objectives. It also has a middle manager seconded to the HLRF.

It takes part in regular training events with other members of the HLRF and uses learning from those to develop planning assumptions about responding to major and multi-agency incidents.

Training and exercises within the HLRF are the responsibility of the service’s interoperability group. Recent activity has included a community-wide power outage exercise and a wide-area flooding exercise. Both these incident types are identified in the community risk register.

The service is aware of and acts on national learning

The service makes sure it knows about national operational updates from other fire and rescue services and joint organisational learning from other organisations, such as the police service and ambulance trusts. It uses this learning to inform planning assumptions that it makes with partner organisations.

Making best use of resources

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is good at making best use of its resources.

Fire and rescue services should manage their resources properly and appropriately, aligning them with their risks and statutory responsibilities. Services should make best possible use of resources to achieve the best results for the public.

The service’s revenue budget for 2024/25 is £58.1 million. This is a 10.3 percent increase from the previous financial year.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service’s plans help it achieve its strategic objectives

The service’s financial and workforce plans, including allocating resources to prevention, protection and response, are consistent with the risks and priorities it has identified in its CRMP.

The CRMP informs and contributes to the service’s strategies, policies and procedures. These documents explain the service’s direction and intent. It has a clear plan for each of its functions. These plans detail the service’s aims and objectives. The plans also help managers and leaders align resources with the service’s priorities. As a result, the service has the right number of staff and range of skills it needs to achieve the objectives in the CRMP.

Since our last inspection, the service has introduced a strategic transformation fund reserve. This gives it greater flexibility in the way it manages changes to its staffing structure. When there is a vacancy, it reviews the position to consider if keeping the post is efficient and effective. In this review, it also considers whether the role is at the appropriate level or grade, or if there is an opportunity to improve the way it provides its service by changing or removing the post. The transformation fund also allows leaders to bid for and access extra funding to support initiatives and projects.

The service has started to evaluate its crewing and duty systems. It is analysing its response cover and understands how it deploys its fire engines and response staff to manage risk. It knows its duty systems are limited. It also knows that by changing or adapting the existing arrangements, it could improve how efficiently it manages risk.

It has acted to better manage overtime at fire stations. For example, it aligns staff leave to defined periods of time. And the service moves firefighters around the service to maintain crewing levels, rather than making overtime payments.

The service builds its plans on sound scenarios. These scenarios help make sure the service is sustainable, and are underpinned by financial controls that reduce the risk of misusing public money.

There is a clear and defined internal governance structure for monitoring and reporting on the service’s budget performance, and for making sure it uses public money appropriately. Humberside Fire Authority oversees and scrutinises this structure. At fire authority meetings, officers present information to inform and assure the members about the service’s plans. This includes regular financial updates to explain the service’s budget.

It also has a service improvement plan, which it uses to record, manage, monitor and assess the actions it takes in relation to continuous improvement. It reports on the plan and related actions at strategic performance meetings. The plan is scrutinised through internal audit and by the governance, audit and scrutiny committee.

The service is improving its productivity through new ways of working

We were pleased to see that the service’s arrangements for managing performance clearly link resource use to its CRMP and its strategic priorities. It has used the resources and skills in its digital team to develop a range of performance reports, which the team produces using data.

The service reviews and quality assures the data. This improves accuracy throughout the organisation, including the service’s tactical and strategic plans, and the work of the fire authority. This approach means that there is strategic oversight of all aspects of the organisation’s work. Senior leaders receive assurance that the service manages its functions effectively.

Reports are shared throughout the service using Microsoft Power BI. This platform gives information that helps the service meet its key performance indicators, which it uses to track its progress. Managers told us they used the information to plan activity and prioritise work. Staff understand how their work contributes to the service’s plans, strategic objectives and CRMP.

The service is improving its understanding of the way it uses its wholetime firefighters. It has recently started trialling an application that collects data on how they spend their time during day and night shifts.

The service clearly intends to make the most of staff capacity and improve value for money for the community. For example, it has targets for prevention and protection activity. The application also helps the service record work that hasn’t previously been recorded. Staff told us they welcomed the opportunity to better show productivity.

The service is taking steps to make sure the workforce is as productive as possible. This includes putting in place new ways of working. For example, it has changed the start time for the wholetime duty period from 9am to 7.30am. This was to reduce the impact of the shift changeover, which included routine activity such as equipment checks. Staff now complete these checks in the evening, without compromising health and safety.

The service has a defined period, between 8am and 8pm, for community engagement activity. It doesn’t limit contact with the community to this period, but this means other work – such as standard tests, physical training and theoretical learning – takes place after 8pm.

Senior leaders recognise that the changes will have an impact on staff. However, they are determined to lead organisational change to provide the best service to the public and to achieve value for money.

The service collaborates with partner organisations

We were encouraged to see the improvements the service has made since our last inspection, and that the service meets its statutory duty to collaborate. It routinely considers opportunities to collaborate with other emergency responders.

The service collaborates with Humberside Police, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, healthcare partnerships, and other fire and rescue services. For example, the service collaborates with:

• Humberside Police to support Emergency Services Fleet Management (Humberside), which services and maintains the vehicles used by both organisations;
• Humberside Police to provide a joint health and safety function;
• North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service – for example, in a joint procurement process for new breathing apparatus, which improved efficiency because the unit cost was reduced when the number of items purchased increased; and
• Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Services, in providing resilience and contributing to business continuity by continuing with a control room partnership.

Collaborative work is aligned to the priorities in the service’s CRMP. The service’s fleet and equipment strategy states that the service aims to have the right vehicles and equipment readily available, at the right place, when needed, in the most cost‑efficient way. As part of its fleet collaboration with Humberside Police, staff in both organisations carry out tasks according to demand. They work on fire and rescue and police vehicles, which means the workforce is flexible and adaptable. The collaboration also helps to make sure emergency response vehicles are always available.

The service comprehensively monitors, reviews and evaluates the benefits and results of its collaborations. It told us that the Emergency Services Fleet Management (Humberside) partnership, for example, saves the service £300,000 each year. The fleet workshop is in Melton, and it has replaced seven previously used sites. Five of those sites have been repurposed, and two are leased by Humberside Police. The service told us that this resulted in a one-off income for the service of £117,000.

Continuity arrangements are in place across the service

The service has good continuity arrangements in place for areas in which it considers threats and risks to be high. It regularly reviews and tests these threats and risks so that staff know the arrangements and their associated responsibilities.

A member of staff has been seconded into a dedicated business continuity role. This means that this area of the service’s work has the right resources for it to achieve its goals.

The service also has effective continuity plans in place for industrial action. It can confidently show it has enough resources available for periods of industrial action. The service has employed a group of contingency firefighters. They develop their skills through initial training courses, then maintain them with the support of a dedicated supervisor. We also found evidence of continuity testing across the service.

The service has sound financial management

There are regular reviews to consider all the service’s expenditure, including its non‑pay costs. And this scrutiny makes sure the service gets value for money. As well as having internal governance arrangements to make sure of efficient financial management, the service has an independent governance, audit and scrutiny committee. This committee is made up of co-opted members, who are appointed by the fire authority.

The committee gives independent advice and recommendations to the fire authority on governance and risk management frameworks, as well as on internal controls and financial reporting.

The service has made savings and efficiencies, which haven’t affected its operational performance and the service it gives the public. The service reports that in 2023/24, it achieved non-pay efficiency savings of 3.2 percent. This is more than its target of 2.4 percent. The savings included the following:

• Revenue funding of capital items and a revised capital programme reduced the need to borrow from the Public Works Loans Board, resulting in a £23,000 reduction in borrowing costs.
• A property portfolio review resulted in a £58,000 reduction in business rates.
• The service has improved the way it reports and investigates incidents, and it has put in place security measures to lower premiums and reduce the number of claims, together resulting in a £45,000 reduction in insurance premiums.

As well as these efficiency savings, the service also made procurement savings of £109,000. It calculated these savings using the Government’s commercial savings methodology.

The service is taking steps to make sure it achieves efficiency gains through sound financial management and best working practices. It is doing this in important areas such as estates, fleet and procurement. In 2023/24, the service made the following savings:

• £75,000 through using less fuel and managing its contract to bulk-purchase fuel;
• £21,000 through better using information and communications technology (ICT) to reduce travel, postage, printing and stationery costs; and
• £105,000 through reviewing how it uses technology and associated contracts.

Making the FRS affordable now and in the future

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is good at making the service affordable now and in the future.

Fire and rescue services should continuously look for ways to improve their effectiveness and efficiency. This includes transforming how they work and improving their value for money. Services should have robust spending plans that reflect future financial challenges and efficiency opportunities, and they should invest in better services for the public.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service understands its future financial challenges

The service has a sound understanding of future financial challenges. It plans to mitigate its significant financial risks. For example, it has a pay and prices reserve to cover unforeseen increases in these areas.

The underpinning assumptions are robust, realistic and prudent. They take account of the wider external environment and some scenario planning for future spending reductions.

The service uses zero-based budgeting for setting pay budgets. At the time of our inspection, it was also in the process of introducing that system for setting non‑pay budgets. It has completed a detailed analysis of the implications of different levels of funding and spending pressures on its financial forecast.

The service has put in place a new fire control system, which has resulted in a short‑term spending pressure on its revenue budget. It is using an earmarked reserve to manage this.

The service also plans to manage an anticipated deficit of £600,000 in 2025/26, £1 million in 2026/27 and £200,000 in 2027/28 before returning to a balanced position from 2028/29 onwards.

At the time of our inspection, the service had also planned the following:

• work to identify savings through zero-based budgeting;
• a thorough review of discretionary expenditure; and
• reviews of department expenditure.

The service has a clear plan for using its reserves

The service has a sensible and sustainable plan for using its reserves. It carries out an annual risk assessment to determine the level of general reserves it needs to meet assessed financial risks. It has set this level at £6 million.

It has total reserves of £15.1 million in 2024/25 and projected reserves of £11.7 million in 2028/29.

The service has used £900,000 from its reserves to improve its cybersecurity arrangements. It also holds earmarked reserves to support its transformation plans.

The service’s approach to fleet and estates is improving its efficiency

The service’s estate and fleet strategies have clear links to its CRMP. It manages its fleet flexibly to align with the CRMP. For example, it has paused the procurement of fire engines while it considers whether to start using vehicles that can transport up to eight firefighters, instead of six. This change would allow the service to continue to have an effective emergency response by getting the right number of firefighters to the scene of an emergency in the most efficient way.

The service tracks vehicles using telemetry. This helps it gather data so it can evaluate the way it uses its vehicles, and it helps it make decisions about future fleet options.

At the time of our inspection, the service was evaluating its estate to help it develop its objectives for 2040. These objectives include changing the service’s buildings to reflect its workforce’s needs, with 40 percent of its operational staff identifying as a woman. The evaluation includes making sure fire station facilities provide dignity for all, and effectively managing contaminants to improve health and safety arrangements.

The service regularly reviews these strategies so it can properly assess the effect any current or future changes to its estate and fleet may have on risk.

The service is transforming the way it works

The service actively considers how changes in technology and future innovation may affect risk. In May 2022, the service was the subject of a cyberattack. It reported the incident to the appropriate authorities and initiated continuity arrangements to manage the incident’s impact. It was able to maintain emergency response arrangements and its other statutory duties.

Following the cyberattack, the service has reviewed its operating arrangements and systems, and it has modernised its ICT. For example, it has brought forward its move to the cloud for storing data, and it has improved security for its systems.

It also seeks to exploit opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness presented by changes in technology. It has bought more electronic tablets, and it is using Power Apps to improve access to information. But some staff told us they lacked confidence in using the tablets the service gave them for carrying out activities such as prevention visits.

The service has reviewed the systems and platforms it uses to manage information. For example, it has moved to an updated version of its risk information software. This has allowed the service to cleanse its data, meaning the information it uses to inform its prevention and protection work is more accurate. This helps staff target risk more effectively.

The service has also introduced an assurance management system. It uses this system to allocate work, track progress, and report on the outcomes of its plans and projects. This gives the service a clear process of responsibility and accountability, and it helps bring about a more efficient way of working.

The service has put in place the capacity and capability it needs to achieve sustainable transformation, and it routinely seeks opportunities to work with others to improve efficiency and provide better services in the future. It knows that recruiting skilled ICT staff is challenging. It is introducing several employee benefits to promote the service as an attractive employer.

The service’s income generation is limited

The service considers options for generating extra income, but opportunities are limited. The opportunities that exist include income from situating mobile phone masts at service locations, and from work carried out by the falls response team.

Promoting the right values and culture

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is adequate at promoting the right values and culture.

Fire and rescue services should have positive and inclusive cultures, modelled by the behaviours of their senior leaders. Services should promote health and safety effectively, and staff should have access to a range of well‑being support that can be tailored to their individual needs.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service and most staff are committed to improving culture, behaviours and values in the workplace

The service has well-defined values, which staff understand. We found staff at all levels of the service showing behaviours that reflect service values. It has implemented the Core Code of Ethics well through a range of initiatives, including training and workshops. These help staff understand the code.

There is a positive working culture throughout the service. Staff are empowered and willing to challenge poor behaviours when they come across them.

Managers told us they used the code to help them lead staff. For example, they structure prevention activities to make sure the work aligns to “putting our communities first”. They also encourage staff to reflect on their performance to “understand and evaluate” the impact they have on the public’s safety and well-being.

They also explained that when new members of staff joined the team, they talked through the importance of equality and inclusion, using the code as a guide to underpin the conversation. This helps staff know what they can expect, and what is expected of them, in a respectful and inclusive workplace.

The service should improve the visibility of its leaders and their availability for contact with staff

Some staff feel that senior leaders don’t always act as positive role models. They told us that during the consultation about the recent changes to the wholetime duty period start time, some staff felt senior leaders had been dismissive of the impact the changes would have on staff. They said that in its approach to the change, the service didn’t treat people with respect or provide an environment in which everyone had an equal voice.

Staff explained that they are open to change and understand the need for the service to maximise productivity. But some managers told us they thought the service didn’t have enough trust in their leadership or in their ability to manage teams. They told us they felt senior leaders had removed their flexibility to manage their teams’ tasks and workload in a way that allowed them to achieve objectives.

The service has a programme in which senior leaders visit fire stations, but many staff members told us that senior leaders weren’t visible enough. Some firefighters said they also didn’t have enough contact with middle managers.

Some on-call staff said that their station manager provided good support. But many staff, including wholetime firefighters, told us they didn’t see their local managers enough, even when they worked in the same location.

The opportunity to meet with managers and leaders helps staff better understand the service’s aims and objectives. It also helps them access support, give and receive feedback, raise concerns, and contribute fully to helping the service develop and improve.

The service has made limited progress in addressing the area for improvement identified in 2022. Therefore, the area for improvement remains.

The service has a proactive approach to staff well-being

The service continues to have well-understood and effective well-being policies in place, which are available to staff.

There are good provisions in place to promote staff well-being, including access to internal and externally provided services. Staff receive support from the occupational health team, fitness advisors and district-based fitness trainers.

A good range of well-being support is available to support physical and mental health. This includes:

• nutritional advice;
• mental health support;
• suicide prevention;
• physiotherapy; and
• menopause support.

The service has recently held a health and well-being conference at an external venue, and 150 members of its staff attended. The event had guest speakers, including from the Fire Fighters Charity.

Most staff reported they understood and had confidence in the well-being support processes that were available. Some 89 percent of respondents to our survey (210 out of 237) agreed that they felt able to access services to support their mental well-being.

The service has effective health and safety arrangements

The service continues to have effective and well-understood health and safety policies and procedures in place. The health and safety function is a collaborative initiative between Humberside Fire and Rescue Service and Humberside Police.

The function is reviewed and evaluated, and it makes changes when necessary to effectively and efficiently meet the needs of both the fire and rescue service and the police. The staff in the health and safety team, and across the wider organisation, are qualified to the right levels for their respective roles.

The service’s health and safety policies and procedures are readily available, and it promotes them well to all staff. All staff can access information through the service’s intranet.

Staff can report problems and make suggestions to help improve work arrangements. Members of representative bodies, such as trade unions and staff associations, attend regular meetings with managers and senior leaders to help effectively manage health and safety.

Both staff and representative bodies have confidence in the service’s approach to health and safety. Of the staff who responded to our survey, 97 percent (229 out of 237) stated that the service had clear procedures to report health and safety issues. And 93 percent (221 out of 237) said that they were encouraged to report all accidents, near misses and dangerous occurrences.

The service should do more to manage staff working hours

As at 31 March 2023, 27.9 percent of firefighters had dual contracts within the service.

The service has a policy for secondary employment and outside commitments, stating that staff must declare interests annually and quarterly. But the service doesn’t monitor staff who have secondary employment or dual contracts to make sure they comply with the policy and that they don’t work excessive hours.

Managers and staff told us there were no systems or methods for recording and tracking the number of hours an individual worked in a secondary employment role. Instead, the service leaves it to personal discretion.

The service has made limited progress in addressing the area for improvement identified in 2022. Therefore, the area for improvement remains.

The service takes a proactive approach to managing absence

We found there are clear processes in place to manage absences for all staff. There is clear guidance for managers, who are confident in using the process. The service manages absences well and in accordance with policy.

Managers told us that the service applied its return-to-work policy, and it helped and supported staff when necessary. For example, it may refer staff to the occupational health team.

In 2022/23, the average number of days not worked per firefighter due to long-term sickness increased by 8.6 percent compared to 2021/22. In 2022/23, the average number of days not worked per firefighter due to short-term sickness increased by 94.8 percent compared to 2021/22.

The service actively monitors absence as a part of its wider performance management. It is aware of the large increase in short-term sickness and understands it has come alongside recent changes to the wholetime duty system start time. As a result, the service has reviewed the process it uses for introducing change. Its new organisational learning function considers how the service can improve, and has reported on the increase in short-term sickness.

Getting the right people with the right skills

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is good at getting the right people with the right skills.

Fire and rescue services should have a workforce plan in place that is linked to their CRMPs. It should set out their current and future skills requirements and address capability gaps. This should be supplemented by a culture of continuous improvement, including appropriate learning and development throughout the service.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

There are good plans in place to maintain an effective workforce

The service has good workforce planning in place. This makes sure skills and capabilities align with what it needs to effectively carry out its CRMP. The service has published its workforce plan for 2022–25 on its website. This plan includes detailed information and data about the service and its people. It helps identify potential skills gaps, and it supports managers and leaders to plan and maintain capacity across the service.

Workforce and succession planning are subject to consistent scrutiny in the form of regular meetings to discuss requirements. The senior leadership team approves the workforce plan, and directors and heads of function are responsible for carrying out the plan in their respective areas. They told us that they had enough resources to achieve their respective aims, the service’s objectives and the CRMP.

The service has introduced an advanced notice of retirement payment, which encourages staff to tell the service their retirement intentions. This contributes to succession planning and helps avoid disruption from a reduction in or loss of skills and knowledge.

Staff maintain and assure their skills and capabilities

Most staff told us that they could access the training they need to be effective in their role. This wasn’t just focused on operational skills; it included management, health and safety, equality, diversity and inclusion, safeguarding, and active bystander training.

The service’s training plans make sure staff can maintain competence and capability effectively. Supervisory managers told us they actively monitor the completion of training that staff need to maintain their skills, knowledge and understanding. Managers plan training and learning sessions to meet the needs of the team and individuals, and they make sure staff achieve competency. These sessions include:

• practical training to maintain skills;
• specific activities to support firefighters in development; and
• courses, such as in using breathing apparatus, that are given by service instructors.

Managers told us the service required them to manage their work time so they can take part in continual professional development. They access internal and external development and learning resources, which are aligned to their specific skill sets. The service has also given managers training on carrying out disciplinary procedures, grievance investigations and EIAs, and participating in interview panels.

The service’s core skills framework is underpinned by the NFCC leadership framework. It includes leadership, management, equality and inclusion, safeguarding, welfare and well-being, health and safety, and communication.

The service monitors staff competence through a learning platform, which provides reports about completed training and identifies when staff haven’t completed training. The service can view the reports at the level of individual staff members.

The service regularly updates its understanding of staff skills and risk-critical safety capabilities through performance management meetings at tactical and strategic level. This approach means it can identify gaps in workforce capabilities and resilience. It also means it can make sound and financially sustainable decisions about current and future needs.

The service promotes a positive approach to learning and improvement

The service promotes a culture of continuous improvement throughout the organisation, and it encourages staff to learn and develop. Staff have access to learning through external providers, including the opportunity to work towards further and higher education qualifications. Staff can learn and take examinations through the Institution of Fire Engineers, develop skills through the NFCC executive leadership programme, or complete qualifications up to level 7.

Most staff told us they can access a range of learning and development resources. The service frequently uses e-learning for training and learning. Staff told us the volume and method of e-learning meant they didn’t always use it. This can mean staff don’t always have the level of knowledge and understanding they need. It can also mean they forget the skills or knowledge faster than when they have used a range of learning methods.

Ensuring fairness and promoting diversity

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is good at ensuring fairness and promoting diversity.

Creating a more representative workforce gives fire and rescue services huge benefits. These include greater access to talent and different ways of thinking. It also helps them better understand and engage with local communities. Each service should make sure staff throughout the organisation firmly understand and show a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. This includes successfully taking steps to remove inequality and making progress to improve fairness, diversity and inclusion at all levels of the service. It should proactively seek and respond to feedback from staff and make sure any action it takes is meaningful.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service has made progress in the way it listens to its staff, but some staff lack confidence in the feedback process and in their ability to challenge

The service has developed several ways to work with staff on issues and decisions that affect them. These include methods to build all-staff awareness of fairness and diversity, as well as targeted initiatives to identify matters that affect different staff groups.

The service asks staff members for their views through a staff survey. To help promote trust and confidence in the survey process, it is carried out by an external provider.

Staff networks are in place, and an online meeting group called Let’s Talk allows direct communication between staff and senior leaders.

The service has processes for staff to report when they have been treated unfairly, and it makes sure staff are aware of them. It encourages staff to speak to line managers in the first instance.

Other options for reporting problems include the employee assistance programme, the Fire Fighters Charity, and the service’s Freedom to Speak Up Guardian. This is a nominated person who liaises if staff aren’t confident raising concerns independently.

However, many staff members told us they had limited confidence in the service’s feedback systems, and that they didn’t think they were effective. The service has recently made changes to the work arrangements for wholetime staff and some middle managers. It knows this is an emotive subject for staff, and that it influences their perspective on giving feedback. At the time of our inspection, the service had recently advertised a project manager role. This role will include having responsibility for managing change. The service hopes this will help improve the consultation process.

Some staff told us they weren’t confident to challenge the service because of the potential for repercussions. For example, they said that the recent consultation process for the changes to the duty period start time didn’t encourage a two-way conversation. Many didn’t take part in the consultation and felt that the service didn’t value their views or feedback.

We also heard that some staff referred to the Let’s Talk briefings as “Let’s Listen” as they felt they didn’t get a chance to talk and give feedback at these events.

In our staff survey, members of representative bodies and staff associations who responded said they tended to agree that “as staff representatives, our opinions and views are listened to and valued by Humberside Fire and Rescue leaders”.

The service has made limited progress in addressing the area for improvement identified in 2022. Therefore, the area for improvement remains.

The service is taking action to prevent bullying, harassment and discrimination

Staff have a good understanding of what bullying, harassment and discrimination are, and their negative effects on colleagues and the organisation.

Of the staff who responded to our survey, 19 percent (45 out of 237) told us they had been subject to bullying or harassment and 18 percent (43 out of 237) to discrimination over the past 12 months.

Most staff are confident in the service’s approach to tackling bullying, harassment and discrimination, grievances, and disciplinary matters. The service has a range of options to make sure staff and members of the public can raise concerns and access confidential support. These include:

• professional standards policies;
• information published on the service’s website;
• a safeguarding policy and website signposting;
• an employee assistance programme;
• an internal bullying hotline telephone number; and
• a national free telephone number for any member of any fire and rescue service to report problems.

The service is improving the way its workforce reflects the community it serves

There is an open, fair and honest recruitment process for staff or those wishing to work for the fire and rescue service. The service has an effective system to understand and remove the risk of disproportionality in recruitment processes.

The service’s most recent staff survey included several questions to help it understand the diversity of its staff. These related to:

• gender
• ethnicity
• sexual orientation
• religion or belief
• disability
• age.

The service’s recruitment policies are comprehensive and cover opportunities in all roles. The service advertises vacancies internally and externally – for example, on its Microsoft SharePoint system, and through the Asian Fire Services Association, Women in the Fire Service UK and the NFCC jobs page.

The service actively encourages applicants from diverse backgrounds at firefighter level, but there is limited evidence of this at middle and senior management roles.

The service reports that across its strategic leadership team, corporate leadership team (heads of function) and tactical leadership group (station manager and grade 10 and above), 65 percent of people identified as a man, and 31 percent identified as a woman. In the same groups, 95 percent identified as White British.

The service has made some improvements to increasing staff diversity in the organisation. It advertises roles in media outlets with diverse audiences and through organisations that represent people with protected characteristics. The adverts are accessible and inclusive, and they explain how the service makes reasonable adjustments.

It also gives unconscious bias training to staff who are part of interview panels.

In 2022/23, 7 percent (92 people) of new joiners identified as being from an ethnic minority background. The proportion of wholetime firefighters who identified as being from an ethnic minority background increased from 2.6 percent (11 people) in 2021/22 to 3.2 percent (14 people) in 2022/23.

In 2022/23, the proportion of on-call firefighters who identified as being from an ethnic minority background remained at 5 percent (17 people).

The proportion of firefighters who identified as a woman increased from 7.6 percent in 2021/22 to 7.8 percent in 2022/23. In 2021/22, there were 58 firefighters who identified as a woman. In 2022/23, there were 60.

For the whole workforce, in 2022/23, 4 percent identified as being from an ethnic minority background compared to 9.6 percent in their local population and 8.4 percent throughout all fire and rescue services. In Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, 22 percent identified as a woman, compared to an average of 19.4 percent throughout all fire and rescue services.

The service has taken steps to improve diversity. For example, it carries out targeted awareness activities, including the Rookie Reds programme for firefighter recruitment, where it also promotes other roles in the service. Positive action is an integral part of its recruitment campaigns.

The service has reviewed and amended the tests candidates need to carry out successfully to achieve the required entry standard for becoming a firefighter. This includes removing a swimming test and changing the dexterity test. This is because evaluation showed these tests had a disproportionately negative impact on under-represented groups.

The changes help the service improve its staff diversity without compromising the effectiveness of its emergency response. The workforce supports this approach, and staff told us they actively participated in local recruitment activity.

The service recently appointed a community interview panel, which has also contributed to its equality, diversity and inclusion objectives.

The service is improving its arrangements to promote equality, diversity and inclusion

The service has improved its approach to equality, diversity and inclusion. It makes sure it can offer the right services to its communities and can support staff with protected characteristics.

It has an effective process for carrying out EIAs, which help the service identify ways in which people may be disadvantaged and then put in place measures to eliminate or reduce the impact. At the time of our inspection, most of the service’s policies, procedures and projects had had an EIA. The service has started to train middle managers in completing EIAs. It has also used an external provider to quality assure the EIA process and findings.

The EIA process is improving the way the service works. For example, it now avoids recruitment dates around recognised religious events. This makes sure people from all parts of the community have equal access to employment opportunities.

The service reports all EIAs and associated action plans to the equality, diversity and inclusion steering group, which meets every two months.

The service also has a public sector equality duty action plan, which it updates quarterly. And it has recently introduced an organisational learning function, which will also record learning from EIA outcomes.

The service has improved the support it gives neurodivergent people. Staff can request an assessment, after which they may receive a neurodiversity passport. The passport contains information explaining the arrangements to support the person. They can move roles or functions, and the passport moves with them. This means they don’t have to explain their needs repeatedly, and the transition between workplaces is more supportive.

In our 2022 inspection report, we issued the following area for improvement in relation to ensuring fairness and promoting diversity:

The service should make sure it has robust processes in place to undertake equality impact assessments and review any actions agreed as a result.

We found evidence that the service had made progress in addressing this area for improvement. As such, it has now been closed.

Managing performance and developing leaders

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is good at managing performance and developing leaders.

Fire and rescue services should have robust and meaningful performance management arrangements in place for their staff. All staff should be supported to meet their potential and there should be a focus on developing staff and improving diversity into leadership roles.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service has good arrangements for managing staff members’ performance

There is a performance management system in place, which allows the service to effectively develop and assess the individual performance of all staff.

The appraisal process for staff should be completed at least once a year. In our survey, 97 percent of respondents (229 out of 237) told us they had had a formal personal development review or appraisal in the past 12 months. Most staff told us they felt the appraisal process was meaningful and contributed to their development and performance.

Each staff member has individual goals and objectives, and regular performance assessments. Staff feel confident in the performance and development arrangements in place.

In our staff survey, most staff reported that they had regular discussions with their manager and that these were meaningful. In the same survey, 24 percent of respondents (57 out of 237) told us they discussed how well they were performing at work with their managers weekly, while 32 percent (77 out of 237) discussed it monthly, 12 percent (28 out of 237) quarterly, and 24 percent (57 out of 237) annually. The remaining 8 percent of respondents (18 out of 237) told us they had never discussed with their managers how well they are performing at work.

The service has improved its promotion and progression processes

The service has put considerable effort into developing its promotion and progression processes so that they are fair, and all staff can understand them. The service’s governance, audit and scrutiny committee has reported that promotion processes were the main reason that staff submitted grievances. The committee also reported that for the promotion processes completed in 2024, no grievances were raised.

All candidates receive information and guidance about the process that they are involved in. This helps them understand what the process consists of, how candidates can prepare, and the questions that will be asked. This helps interviewees structure their answers.

To improve the consistency of selection processes, the service now appoints a single point of contact manager for each promotion process. The manager is supported by a nominated human resources partner.

The service has effective succession-planning processes in place, which allow it to effectively manage its staff members’ career pathways, including for roles needing specialist skills.

The service uses temporary promotions appropriately to fill short-term resourcing gaps. As at 31 March 2024, there were 56 staff on a temporary promotion. The average length of time for temporary promotion was 214 days. This is a reduction on the service’s 2022/23 figure of 255 days, and is lower than the average of 328 days across all fire and rescue services in England.

The recruitment and selection policy includes information to explain temporary promotions. It details the circumstances that determine a temporary vacancy and applies to all staff. This helps staff understand the arrangements and how they are applied.

The service should do more to encourage diversity in leadership roles

The service needs to encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds into middle and senior-level positions. It tends to advertise and fill these positions internally, so it isn’t making the most of opportunities to make its workforce more representative.

The service should do more to develop leaders and high-potential staff

The service has succession-planning processes in place, which contribute to the way it manages high-potential staff into leadership roles.

The service can improve the way it actively manages the career pathways of staff, including those with specialist skills and those with potential for leadership roles.

We found some evidence of a talent management scheme to develop leaders and high-potential staff. The service uses a leadership framework, which links to an annual personal development review process and a maximising potential conversation.

The review includes an evaluation of the job description for the next role and of the extent to which the person meets it. That person needs to be able to show they can meet the requirements of the next role in order to take part in a 12 to 18-month development pathway. This process isn’t open to all members of staff. For example, those who work in corporate roles can’t take part.

The service should consider putting in place arrangements to identify and support members of staff to become senior leaders. It should make sure any processes to identify, develop and support high-potential staff and aspiring leaders are fair and open to all.

The service has made limited progress in addressing the area for improvement identified in 2022. Therefore, the area for improvement remains.

Further information

Download the PDF report

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service 2023-2025

More about Humberside Fire and Rescue Service

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Humberside Fire and Rescue Service commended for good performance

Our work

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Other services

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Inspection programme and framework

Detailed information about the inspection methodology.

Useful links

Fire and rescue national framework for England 
National Operational Guidance website
National Fire Chiefs Council website