AN inspection of Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) has shown its performance has ‘deteriorated’ and was found to be ‘inadequate’ in its efficiency.

A report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) comes amid uncertainty over the county’s new government structure.

HMICFRS is an independent body that represents the public interest. It assesses and reports on the efficiency and effectiveness of the police forces and fire and rescue services in England and Wales.

In a newly-released review, the group graded the county’s service as ‘requires improvement’ at effectively keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks, ‘inadequate’ in its efficiency in doing this, and ‘requires improvement’ at looking after its people.

HMICFRS describes ‘efficiency’ as keeping costs low and getting the best value for money from its resources.

An example of the service’s lack of ‘efficiency’ was still using paper-based systems, while computer-based systems are creating duplicates at times, with the report saying CFRS isn’t ‘using its workforce in the most productive way’.

The inspector, Matt Parr, said: “There are several areas of CFRS’ performance that have declined since its last inspection.

“The first to note is its inadequate grade for efficiency.

“At the time we visited, the service was facing near-unprecedented uncertainty about its future governance.

“New and untested arrangements, due to a reorganisation of local government, will come into force in April.

“But at the time of inspection, those arrangements were unclear, and we could not guarantee there would be no subsequent risk to the public.

“We will revisit the service in March and review this grade.

“In the meantime, I urge all parties to concentrate their efforts to finalise plans so that the transfer to new arrangements presents no risks to the service Cumbria receives.

“I have other concerns about the service’s efficiency and how it looks after its workforce, particularly its ability to recruit the right people with the right skills, and whether the service will be affordable in the future.

“I do not underestimate how much improvement is needed and we will continue to closely monitor the service’s progress.”

Today, HMICFRS will also publish the State of Fire and Rescue 2022, which sets out His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services’ assessment of the sector nationally.

CFRS has welcomed the inspection process as it said it’s constantly striving to make the service the very best.

While CFRS recognises there are areas they can improve on, they said there are many positive comments within the report.

Chief fire officer at CFRS, John Beard, said he was pleased the inspector commented on uncertainty about future governance, and added: “This is something entirely out of our control and it is unfortunate that the inspectors were not able to reflect on the service’s performance over time rather than at a moment in time.

“However, now that there is a clear future direction for the service, we are better able to focus on providing the best service we can to the people of Cumbria and responding directly to the areas of concern raised by the inspectors.

“Protecting the public and preventing fires and other emergencies is at the heart of everything we do and I’m enormously proud of the service we provide 365 days of the year, and I’m pleased that HMICFRS have positively recognised the good work our staff do to keep our communities safe.

“The inspectorate has identified lots of good practices in our approach to preventing fires and other emergencies.

“When our communities need us, the inspectorate recognised how good our operational response is and the availability of our firefighters.

“Since the time of the inspection, we have already made good progress with the recommendations and will continue to work hard to ensure we improve.”

READ MORE: The Northwest is the worst region for road delays, figures show