The Fire Standards Board (FSB) has announced the launch of its leadership and people Fire Standards: Leading the Service and Leading and Developing People.  

Both Fire Standards have been developed to support services in strengthening professionalism and leadership at all levels of their organisation, encouraging more positive working environments for the benefit of their people and the community they serve.  

The Leading the Service Fire Standard was developed to clearly articulate the expectations on those who lead within services, particularly their behaviours, ethics and the activities required to lead well in an ever change world.  

The Leading and Developing People Fire Standard is focussed on how services should attract and retain a competent workforce that is diverse, motivated, and engaged. The standard also puts an emphasis on workforce development, health and wellbeing. 

The development of these standards was led by the NFCC Vice-Chair and Chief Fire Office, Justin Johnston, and NFCC Lead for Leadership, Chief Fire Officer, Wayne Bowcock. Many contributions were received from leaders at all levels from within UK fire and rescue services, as well as leadership experts and peers from outside the service. 

Both standards have been benchmarked against recognised leadership standards but, as with all Fire Standards, have been put into a context suitable for fire and rescue services. 

In combination with other Fire Standards such as the Code of Ethics and Safeguarding, the Fire Standards Board is aiming to ensure services are equipped to operate well in often challenging and changing environments. 

As with all Fire Standards, there are corresponding Gap Analysis Tools to support services with implementation. The tools help services in both assessing how well they currently meet the standards as well as considering any additional actions that may be required for them to achieve the standards. 

Chair of the Fire Standards Board, Suzanne McCarthy said: “The two Leadership and People Fire Standards are a significant step forward in helping services deliver the right behaviours and values across fire and rescue services. They build on our increasing suite of standards, which together support and enable services to drive continuous improvement. 

“I want to thank all the individuals and services for their contributions towards the content of these standards. Like the others published, these have been developed by the service for the service, acknowledging and incorporating what good looks like.” 

Chair of the NFCC, Mark Hardingham said: “The NFCC welcomes the publication of the Leadership and People Fire Standards. They will become an important part of how services shape their leadership and workforces in the future, underpinned by much of the existing and future guidance, tools and leadership development programmes developed and led by the NFCC. 

“Thank you to all of those who were involved in the development of these pivotal standards.”