Fire service improvements reported to cabinet

An improvement plan to make Norfolk's fire and rescue service fit for the future will be considered by cabinet.

Work is already underway, following a recently published report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate which said the service "requires improvement".

Cabinet member Councillor Margaret Dewsbury, who oversees the fire service, said she was proud of the service, which does an outstanding job of keeping people safe - but she agreed improvements were required.

She said: "While the findings from our latest inspection were disappointing, they were not a complete surprise. We recognise that we, as well as the rest of the sector nationally, have some work to do to ensure that we can provide the efficient and effective services that our communities expect of us.

"Our new Director of Fire and Rescue, Ceri Sumner, will lead our improvement journey to make Norfolk safe, working with me and cabinet colleagues to make long-lasting changes. We look forward to hosting the inspectors again later this year and showing them just how much progress we have already made, as well as our plans to do more."

Improvements already underway include:

• Commitment of an additional £1.7m of annual revenue funding for the service
• Investing more than £20m in equipment and facilities over the next three years
• Putting new training towers in place across the county
• Ordering new fire appliances (fire engines), that will be delivered later this year
• Recruiting more staff, particularly in our Prevention function, and recruited our new cohort of firefighters

Cabinet will consider the report when it meets at 10am on Monday, 5 September. You can watch the meeting online, live or afterwards and read the report.