HM Fire Service Inspectorate in Scotland: Chief Inspector's plan - 2021 to 2024

Local area inspections

The 2005 Act requires the SFRS to appoint a Local Senior Officer (LSO) and develop a Local Plan for each local authority area in Scotland. The Local Fire and Rescue Plan sets out the SFRS's priorities and objectives for that local area. Inspections of the SFRS service delivery within local authority areas aim to examine the development and delivery of Local Fire and Rescue Plans.

Since 2014, HMFSI has carried out a programme of inspections of the SFRS local service delivery across some of the local authority areas of Scotland. It is our intention that this programme will continue during the lifespan of this Chief Inspector's Plan. This programme of inspections reflects the clear intent of the Fire and Rescue Framework that there should be strengthened connection between the SFRS and communities.

By undertaking inspections of SFRS service delivery within local authority areas, HMFSI can:

• provide assurance to Scottish Ministers and the public that the SFRS is making adequate provision for local service delivery;
• scrutinise the nature and quality of service provision, including working with partner organisations within local areas, and promote good practice;
• where appropriate, co-operate with other scrutiny bodies to provide collaborative, place-based scrutiny;
• maintain a good level of awareness of the Service's functions; and
• gather intelligence that will inform more strategic, thematic inspections of the SFRS.

Our local area inspections are managed in consultation with the SFRS LSO for the area under review. Since the commencement of this programme of activity, we have completed inspections in fourteen local authority areas.

An inspection does not end with the publication of a report. It is important that we ensure that our work adds value, and assists in driving improvement. We proactively monitor the recommendations made, and assess the extent to which they have been implemented. We therefore routinely carry out a follow-up review, usually six months after the publication of our local area inspections reports. The purpose of these reviews is to gain an understanding of actions taken by the LSO to address the issues raised in our report, and the impact of any changes made. These reviews are conducted with the LSO and the Deputy Assistant Chief Officer who has overview for that Service Delivery Area.

In our previous Scrutiny Plan we outlined our programme of activity. The Annual Report, published on our website, gives details of the Local Area and Thematic Inspections conducted since our last Plan.

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Inspections undertaken to date

1. Aberdeen City

2. Dundee City

3. East Renfrewshire

4. Na h'Eileanan Siar

5. Glasgow City

6. Moray

7. Scottish Borders

8. South Ayrshire

9. West Lothian

10. Highland

11. North Lanarkshire

12. Dumfries and Galloway

13. Edinburgh City

14. Midlothian