Surrey Fire and Rescue improves after concerns

Inspectors said the service had carried out "considerable work" to improve

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service has taken "significant steps" to improve after a watchdog raised concerns.

The service had been told to review its own inspection programme which identifies high-risk premises.

In a letter published on Friday, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said "considerable work" had been carried out to support improvements.

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service said it was "delighted" with the findings.

The service had been told to create an action plan last year to show how it would review the risk-based inspection programme to meet its own targets, and make sure staff were aware of how to manage the scheme.

Inspectors carried out a revisit in February to assess its progress against the plan.

"We found appropriate and robust governance arrangements in place to monitor the progress of your action plan," the watchdog told the service in a letter.

It added that most of the actions set out in the plan had been completed, although a quality assurance review was yet to be completed.

HMICFRS said it found "complete commitment" from the service to address its recommendations.

A "cause of concern", issued after shortcomings were found in last year's inspection, has now been discharged, the inspectorate said.

It will monitor the service's progress as part of its next scheduled inspection.

Surrey's Chief Fire Officer, Dan Quin, said: "While the cause of concern is now closed, we will continue to strive towards the highest standards of our service.

"We have a robust inspection improvement plan in place that is helping us address all the recommendations that were shared with us as part of the inspection report last year.”

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