Shropshire’s fire service introduces ‘scrutiny’ at new committee

Shropshire’s fire service is gearing up to make a huge amount of information available to the public for the first time.

A new committee this week heard that data about actions being taken to rectify issues identified in two consecutive critical inspection reports is to be placed on its recently revamped website.

A report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services in November 2024 identified that Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service “requires improvement” in six key areas, and is “inadequate” at managing its resources.

Some of the issues had not been adequately tackled since the previous inspection.

Chief fire officer Simon Hardiman told a meeting of Shropshire & Wrekin Fire & Rescue Authority’s performance and scrutiny committee on Wednesday (April 1) that the organisation had “sat on its laurels” after the first inspection.

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“The organisation thought that it had proved itself after the first inspection and was surprised when it did not,” Mr Hardiman said.

He added that the organisation has changed its attitude to inspections and now welcomes them.

It is also seeking to be “transparent with our public”.

Area manager Scott Hurford said he “foresees” the new information – including  new data about individual fire stations – being made live in “about eight weeks.”

A recent county fire service website upgrade cost the organisation £20,000, less than the original planned redesign.

The committee meeting at Shrewsbury Fire Station was shown the details of everything it is doing across the organisation to tackle some 248 individual actions needed to rectify 30 areas for improvement.

Members were told that “scrutiny is a new function for the fire authority” as they were presented with a live dashboard of information screened live from a Microsoft Planner.

The performance and scrutiny committee was formed as part of a review of the way the authority is governed following the 2024 inspection.

The fire authority is shaking up the way information is presented to councillors as well as asking them to challenge it.

Mr Hardiman said that traditional committee reports would often contain information that is one month old by the time members get to see it. As a result the committee saw live information instead of printed reports.

The new committee was joined for the first time by three new independent members Robin Bennett, Yasser Khan, and Justine Vaughan.

Committee member Councillor Susan Coleman (Conservative, Severn Valley) said she thought having three independent members made the committee “top heavy”.

“I do not feel we need to have that much external input, perhaps I am wrong.”

The committee was told that the three independent members were approved by the fire authority and that their input was welcomed.

Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service is set to be reinspected this autumn (2026).