Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service Press Release
County Fire Service getting better all the time

Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service is one of the best performing in the UK.

The Audit Commission’s comprehensive performance assessment (CPA) report into how GFRS operates is released today (Thursday).

It says the Fire & Rescue Service, part of Gloucestershire County Council's Community Safety directorate, is dynamic and is performing strongly, well above minimum requirements

The Commission’s annual assessment grades fire service’s on their direction of travel and gives them a star rating of one to four.

Gloucestershire was rated as a level 4 - the highest possible rating, for its service assessment and is improving well.

The report also says GFRS is among the best in the UK for reducing the number of deaths and injuries from accidental fires; preventing fires from spreading in homes; cutting arson attacks to vehicles, homes and empty buildings and reducing the number of malicious false alarms.

The service is also better than average at reducing fires in non-domestic properties and the number of fires attended where no smoke alarm was fitted.

The county’s strong emphasis on community safety was also praised by the Audit Commission.

The report says: “Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service has a good community safety culture and this is supported by clear structures and processes for the management of risk.

“It is performing well in most areas of service delivery, from prevention and protection activity through to emergency response.

“The Service has a wide range of targeted community safety initiatives in place, and these are operating well and benefiting the local community.

“Overall, it is a dynamic organisation that works well with the County Council.

“Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service is becoming the community safety focused organisation that it strives to be, and has established some innovative and dynamic plans to meet the modernisation agenda.”

The Audit Commission’s Comprehensive Performance Assessment  (CPA) is a national assessment measuring how services perform.

The CPA uses a combination of nationally recognised service ratings and an assessment of each service’s capacity to improve, known as a direction of travel.

The star ratings are based on performance across the service and include things like value for money and overall service assessment.

Acting Chief Fire Officer, Chris Griffin, said: “This is excellent news for Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service and for the county as a whole.

“Community safety is our main priority and this report recognises how hard we’re working to keep people safe and educate them to look after themselves.

“Getting the highest star rating possible is a real achievement for us and one we are extremely proud of - but this service is never complacent.

“No matter how good we are, we will keep working hard to be even better and continue providing a first-class service for the people of Gloucestershire.”

Gloucestershire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Cllr Will Windsor-Clive said: “This report confirms what we already knew - Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service is doing a fantastic job of keeping people safe.

“To be among the top in the country for reducing deaths and injuries in fires is great news and something we should be proud of.

“Gloucestershire County Council is committed to community safety and this report shows how hard we are working, and will continue to work to achieve that.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

The full CPA report can be viewed online at www.audit-commission.gov.uk/cpa/fire/

CONTACT:
Issued by Lisa Bonnell, Gloucestershire County Council's Media Team
Tel: 01452 425226

12th February 2009