Glowing report for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service from Inspectorate

Cheshire is the first fire and rescue service in the country to be rated by inspectors as ‘outstanding’ for leading its people effectively.

Cheshire is the first fire and rescue service in the country to be rated by inspectors as ‘outstanding’ for leading its people effectively.  It was also rated consistently ‘good’ across every area and is the only service in the current inspection programme with no formal areas for improvement.

Following its latest inspection His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) graded performance across 10 areas, reporting that the Service was ‘outstanding’ in one area and ‘good’ in nine.  HMICFRS identified no formal areas for improvement and were satisfied that the five from its last inspection in 2023 have been addressed.  Inspectors also highlighted the Service’s excellent performance in keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks.

Councillor Stef Nelson, Chair of Cheshire Fire Authority, said:

“This is an excellent inspection report, which should reassure the people of Cheshire that they are kept safe by one of the best performing and best led fire and rescue services in the country.

“On behalf of all Fire Authority members, I would like to congratulate everyone in the Service for achieving such an impressive inspection result. It reflects their determination to go above and beyond to protect people and property from fires and other emergencies.”

In its report, published today (Thursday 18 June 2026) HMICFRS determined that the Service is:

• OUTSTANDING at leading its people effectively.
• GOOD at understanding the risk of fire and other emergencies.
• GOOD at preventing fires and other risks.
• GOOD at protecting the public through the regulation of fire safety.
• GOOD at responding to fires and other emergencies.
• GOOD at responding to major and multi-agency incidents.
• GOOD at making best use of our resources, to provide an efficient and affordable service.
• GOOD at promoting, embedding and improving our values and culture, and ensuring the health and wellbeing of its workforce.
• GOOD at training and developing the right people with the right skills.
• GOOD at ensuring fairness and diversity.

The inspection team also highlighted a ground-breaking programme to develop leaders and innovative work to develop workplace culture as examples of national good practice. They also praised the way the Service crews fire stations and uses its duty systems to maximise fire cover and the delivery of prevention and protection activity.

Alex Waller, Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive, added:

“I am very proud to lead an organisation whose people care so much about each other and the people they serve.  They go above and beyond every day to provide the best possible service to their communities.  I am very grateful to them; they all deserve this result and such positive recognition.

“I would also like to thank elected members of Cheshire Fire Authority for their ongoing support and investment in our Service. The inspectorate’s finding that our Service has strong governance and scrutiny arrangements reflects the very positive and progressive relationship with the elected members who hold us to account to improve the service in Cheshire”

HMICFRS visits every fire and rescue service in England every two years to assess how effective they are at preventing and responding to fires and other emergencies, how efficient they are, and how well they look after their people.

Across these three areas, there are 10 assessment criteria against which a graded judgement of outstanding, good, adequate, requires improvement or inadequate is given.

In this fourth routine inspection, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service was graded outstanding against one assessment criterion and good against the remaining nine. In 2023 there were 11 assessment criteria, against which the Service was graded good in six criteria and adequate in five.