State of Fire and Rescue 2024–25: What the HMICFRS report reveals about England’s fire services

What is the focus of the State of Fire and Rescue 2024–25 assessment?

The 2024–25 State of Fire and Rescue report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) sets out a detailed assessment of how England’s 44 fire and rescue services are performing.

Covering inspection results published between February 2023 and August 2025, it examines operational effectiveness, leadership, workforce culture, governance, and progress towards national reform.

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Andy Cooke QPM DL, commends the professionalism and public service ethos of the sector but warns that improvement remains uneven.

The report concludes that while services have made clear progress in certain areas, long-standing cultural and structural issues continue to hinder consistency and reform.

How have fire and rescue services performed overall?

HMICFRS completed its third full cycle of inspections between March 2023 and April 2025. This “Round 3” programme used an updated five-tier grading system, which introduced the category of adequate to better distinguish between acceptable and good performance.

Across England, inspectors closed 416 of 695 outstanding areas for improvement (AFIs), amounting to around 60 percent. T

hey also identified 67 examples of promising or innovative practice, shared through the National Fire Chiefs Council’s Positive Practice Portal.

Overall, 73 percent of all graded judgments were rated adequate, good or outstanding. Forty-three percent reached or exceeded the benchmark for good performance, the level HMICFRS says the public should expect.

Grades were distributed as follows:

• 4 percent Outstanding
• 39 percent Good
• 30 percent Adequate
• 24 percent Requires Improvement
• 3 percent Inadequate

The strongest performance areas were financial sustainability and understanding risk. The weakest were leadership, equality and inclusion, and workforce planning.

While many services made progress, nearly half of the AFIs identified in earlier inspections remain unresolved, demonstrating that improvement has not been consistent or sustained across the country.

What does the report show about operational performance?

The Inspectorate found clear improvement in prevention, protection, and emergency response. Some services enhanced their community risk management planning and adopted data-led methods to target resources where they are most needed.

Protection teams, responsible for enforcing fire safety legislation and auditing high-risk premises, recorded the most progress.

The number of services achieving their audit targets rose from 21.6 percent in 2021–22 to 36.6 percent in 2024–25. Enforcement actions also increased by 24 percent over the same period.

Implementation of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations remains a key measure of progress. HMICFRS reported that most services have improved control room communication, information sharing, and fire survival guidance procedures for high-rise incidents.

However, 16 services still lacked an electronic system for sharing rescue information between control and the incident ground, relying on radios and paper logs.

These methods, the report warns, are vulnerable to delays and miscommunication.

London Fire Brigade was highlighted for developing a fire survival guidance app that allows control room and incident commanders to update evacuation and rescue data in real time.

The report supports the Phase 2 Inquiry recommendations and notes that moving fire policy to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in 2025 has created an opportunity for better alignment between building safety, housing, and planning policy.

How are services managing prevention and protection demands?

Fire and rescue services continue to experience growing demand in their protection departments, driven by new building safety legislation, Grenfell-related remediation, and the establishment of the Building Safety Regulator.

While services have made progress, the Inspectorate warns that protection staff are under pressure from competing priorities, limited resources, and challenges recruiting qualified officers.

The number of specialist fire engineers remains low across both public and private sectors, and HMICFRS encourages government to expand education routes and professional training opportunities in this field.

Some services have adopted innovative solutions to manage workloads. County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service has introduced artificial intelligence tools to analyse risk data and prioritise inspection work, while other services have strengthened partnerships with local authorities to manage building safety responsibilities.

Despite improvements, protection teams in several areas continue to struggle with staffing and training gaps, and HMICFRS warns that without sustained investment, enforcement activity could become inconsistent.

What progress has been made on Grenfell Tower Inquiry implementation?

The report confirms that services have made measurable progress in implementing the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations. Most have improved preparedness for high-rise fires, control room procedures, and information flow between responders.

HMICFRS found that London, Greater Manchester, and West Midlands fire and rescue services have embedded new command structures and digital tools to record and share fire survival guidance.

In February 2025, the Chief Inspector wrote to the Government and the sector with an interim update on progress, reiterating the importance of sustained, co-ordinated action. The report reinforces this message, noting that while progress is visible, full integration of new systems and procedures remains inconsistent.

The Inquiry’s Phase 2 report also called for a single government department to oversee both fire and building safety, a recommendation now reflected in the transfer of fire policy to MHCLG. The Inspectorate considers this an opportunity to ensure more coherent reform and accountability.

How well are services managing people, leadership, and culture?

Cultural and leadership concerns remain among the most significant findings.

The Inspectorate reports that, in too many services, senior leaders are not modelling expected values and behaviours. Poor workplace culture, discrimination, and lack of trust continue to appear in staff surveys and interviews.

Only a small number of services have fully embedded the Core Code of Ethics or established independent reporting mechanisms for misconduct. HMICFRS notes that failure to uphold standards undermines morale and hinders improvement.

Some services, such as Greater Manchester, London, and Humberside, have taken proactive steps by commissioning external culture reviews or establishing professional standards units. These actions, the report says, demonstrate that improvement is possible when leadership is consistent and transparent.

However, 17 services were rated requires improvement for managing performance and developing leaders. Succession planning remains a weak point, with limited pathways for staff to gain leadership experience or qualifications before promotion.

The Inspectorate renews its call for the creation of a College of Fire and Rescue to professionalise leadership development and ensure consistent training standards. The Government has accepted the concept in principle but has not announced a timetable for delivery.

What challenges exist in recruitment and workforce planning?

Workforce planning varies widely across services. Some have established strong data-driven models to track skills, training, and future needs, while others still lack a basic overview of workforce capability.

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service was recognised for maintaining a rolling 24-month workforce plan linked to its community risk management plan. This approach considers new and emerging risks, succession needs, and staff retention across all departments.

However, HMICFRS found that most services focus primarily on operational staffing, giving less attention to non-operational functions such as prevention, protection, or technical support. This leads to gaps in specialist skills and puts extra pressure on existing staff.

Recruiting and retaining on-call firefighters remains one of the sector’s most persistent difficulties. Although a revised pay structure was introduced in 2025 to make the role more flexible, many services still depend on fixed-hour contracts that restrict availability.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service’s hybrid model, which allows retained staff to support community safety and inspection work between callouts, was cited as an effective approach to improving coverage.

How are services addressing efficiency and productivity?

Most services now operate within balanced budgets and demonstrate a clearer understanding of financial risk. Inflation, pension liabilities, and rising energy costs continue to pose challenges, but the majority of services have adapted through medium-term financial planning.

Of 44 authorities consulted by HMICFRS, 41 identified financial pressure as their main challenge. The Inspectorate urges all services to participate in NFCC financial benchmarking to compare expenditure and identify areas for savings.

Examples of innovation include County Durham and Darlington’s digital productivity tool, developed in-house using Microsoft Power BI, which records how staff time is spent and analyses efficiency across departments. London Fire Brigade’s online station performance dashboard provides similar insight, tracking prevention activity, training time, and response performance.

The report emphasises that productivity improvements should align with each service’s community risk management plan. HMICFRS also calls for government to reconsider the absence of dedicated capital funding for the sector, arguing that long-term infrastructure investment is essential to support technological upgrades and safe working environments.

What progress has been made on governance and reform?

The 2024–25 assessment describes the transfer of fire policy to MHCLG as a “critical opportunity” for long-awaited reform.

HMICFRS reiterates seven national recommendations first set out in previous reports:

1. Clarify the role of fire and rescue services and staff.
2. Modernise pay and conditions frameworks.
3. Strengthen operational independence for chief fire officers.
4. Improve national accountability and oversight mechanisms.
5. Establish a College of Fire and Rescue.
6. Build a comprehensive data and evidence base for performance.
7. Grant HMICFRS enforcement powers to compel action.

Three of these recommendations remain unaddressed. The Inspectorate argues that reform has been slowed by unclear responsibility, inconsistent leadership structures, and insufficient legislative support.

Sir Andy Cooke calls for ministers to give HMICFRS powers equivalent to those held in policing, enabling the Inspectorate to require compliance with its recommendations rather than rely on voluntary cooperation.

What does the Inspectorate say about learning and improvement?

HMICFRS stresses that lasting progress depends on openness and collaboration. Services that align closely with national guidance and participate actively in sector-wide learning generally perform better.

The report highlights the benefits of cross-service collaboration and warns against attempts to manage or filter information provided during inspection. Future assessments will place greater emphasis on how openly services engage with the process and how effectively they implement recommendations.

National learning events, including leadership workshops and culture forums, are recognised as effective mechanisms for sharing knowledge. HMICFRS encourages every service to publish clear improvement plans and track outcomes transparently.

How well are services supporting staff well-being and inclusion?

Most services have systems in place to monitor staff welfare, though consistency remains limited. Good practice examples include Humberside’s well-being support initiatives and Greater Manchester’s structured peer-support programme.

While some progress has been made in workforce diversity, representation remains low at senior levels. The Inspectorate calls for coordinated national campaigns to attract underrepresented groups, alongside better mentoring and progression frameworks.

HMICFRS notes that equality, diversity, and inclusion initiatives are more effective when supported by visible leadership commitment and clear accountability.

What are the key findings from the 2024–25 report?

The Inspectorate concludes that the fire and rescue sector has improved its operational capability, protection work, and financial management, but continues to face significant challenges in leadership, culture, and workforce reform.

Key findings include:

• Persistent inconsistency between services remains the main barrier to progress.
• Leadership development and professionalisation are essential to sustainable improvement.
• A values-driven culture and ethical leadership are necessary to rebuild trust.
• Preparedness for complex incidents has improved but digital capability gaps remain.
• Financial pressures are the sector’s most widespread and enduring risk.
• Continuous learning and open collaboration are the strongest drivers of progress.

HMICFRS emphasises that reform must focus on leadership accountability, clear national standards, and the professionalisation of fire and rescue roles.

What is the overall outlook for the sector?

Sir Andy Cooke concludes that England’s fire and rescue services are safer, more accountable, and more capable than when inspections began in 2018. However, improvement remains inconsistent and slow.

He attributes this to cultural issues, fragmented governance, and the absence of structural reform. The Chief Inspector states that decisive leadership, legislative change, and the establishment of a national professional framework are critical to securing long-term progress.

Future inspections for 2025–27 will place greater emphasis on leadership, culture, and governance, with a sharper focus on how services address persistent barriers to improvement.

While acknowledging the dedication of fire and rescue staff, the report warns that without clear direction and reform, the sector will continue to fall short of its potential to deliver a consistent, professional, and trusted service for the public.