Fire service told leadership needs to improve

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service has been told leadership needs to improve following an inspection by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

Inspectors assessed the service between December 2025 and January 2026, examining its operational performance, leadership, efficiency and approach to diversity.

The report also highlighted other areas requiring improvement including how it records information from incidents and improving staff diversity.

However, it praised the service's work to protect the public through fire regulation and ability to identify risks.

Inspectors found more work was needed to make recruitment "fair and accessible to applicants from a range of backgrounds" and criticised the service for not reflecting the communities it serves.

According to the report, by March 2025 some 4.1% of staff were from an ethnic minority background compared to 14.6% in the local population.

Although generally considered to have "well-defined values", the inspectors noted not all leaders acted as role models.

"We heard from one firefighter that a supervisory manager failed to intervene after a firefighter was mocked during a training exercise. We also heard that some leaders could be defensive when operational matters were raised, and that feedback didn't always reach senior leaders.

In addition, some staff told inspectors they had been "shouted at", the report noted.

It also said the service needed to improve its procedures to record important operational decisions made at incidents.

Despite these issues, the service was praised for its overall understanding of risk and its work to protect the public through fire regulation.

It was rated adequate in its response to major and multi-agency incidents, preventing fire and other risks, making the best use of resources, promoting values and training.

Performance data showed the service attended the most serious incidents within target times.

However, challenges remained with on-call fire engine availability, which increased only slightly from 56.2% to 56.8%, falling short of the service's target.

Chief fire officer Matthew Warren welcomed the findings, noting the report recognised the service's commitment to keeping communities safe.

"The majority of the areas highlighted for improvement are things we are already aware of and are working towards improving. We are a small fire and rescue service and we prioritise our areas of focus based on risk and resources, knowing we cannot do everything at once," he said.

"Having an independent team come in and look at what we do, recognise what we do well and suggesting where they think we can improve, ensures we continue to deliver the best service we can to the communities we serve."

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