The title and job role of His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services in England, Scotland and Wales is combined with that known as Fire and Rescue Adviser (or Government Fire and Rescue Adviser) appointed by the devolved and national governments of the United Kingdom. Despite holding both titles simultaneously the roles of "HM Chief Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services", and that of "Fire and Rescue Adviser" differ slightly. There is currently an HMCI in England, Wales, and Scotland – all of whom are also fire and rescue advisers to their respective governments. Both roles are categorical in law and cannot be overruled except by the sovereign. In his or her political capacity as "Fire and Rescue Adviser" the post holder is responsible for advising their respective UK governments on all matters concerning the fire and rescue service in their jurisdiction. As His Majesty's Chief Inspector the post holder is responsible for auditing of all the

local authority fire service The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Emergency cover is provided by over fifty agencies. These are officially known as a ...

s in their jurisdiction to ensure they meet strict performance criteria and targets laid out by the government.

Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser

His Majesty's current Chief Inspector for England is also the UK's ''Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser''. He is the former Chief Fire Officer of

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service The Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service is the county-wide, statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the Shire county of Lancashire, England and also includes the unitary authorities of Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen. Lancashire Fire ...

, Peter Holland. The role of CFRA also includes additional responsibilities to HM Government. The CFRA is the most senior Fire and Rescue Service adviser to the United Kingdom Government, advising on policy, procedures, and legislative changes affecting the UK Fire Service. The devolved administrations consider and adopt UK policies and procedures where applicable. Each Inspectorate (England Wales and Scotland) reports on the activities of the public fire and rescue services in the UK as well as the Defence Fire and Rescue Service (which operated by the Ministry of Defence) on a voluntary basis. Airport fire authorities are inspected by the Civil Aviation Authority. The HMFSI's equivalent in Scotland is

His Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate for Scotland His Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate (HMFSI) in Scotland operates as a body within, but independent of, the Scottish Government. The inspectorate exists to provide independent, risk based, and proportionate professional inspection of the Scot ...

Background

In February 2007, the UK government announced it was setting up a new unit to advise ministers on

fire and rescue A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

issues and creating the role of Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser (CFRA) confirming in May the same year that Sir Ken Knight had been appointed to the position.Department for Communities and Local Government, News Release 022, ''New Advisory Unit for Fire and Rescue Services to be Set Up'', 8 February 2007 In October 2007, Sir Ken left the

London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992staff, in ...

to start his new role. The announcement was made by the then fire minister Angela Smith. The purpose of the unit and its adviser is to "provide ministers and civil servants with independent professional advice on fire and rescue issues". The Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser also retains the historic title of HM Chief Inspector which was traditionally given to the head of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Fire Service. The new unit and its chief advisor will replace HMFSI, its function is to advise ministers,

COBR The Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR) are meeting rooms in the Cabinet Office in London. These rooms are used for committees which co-ordinate the actions of government bodies in response to national or regional crises, or during overseas e ...

and other government departments; and local government. The Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser or CFRA reports to the Department for Communities and Local Government, which was renamed to

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of Government of the United King ...

in 2018. The new units remit only extends to England and Wales. Knight was succeeded in the role by Peter Holland on 28 January 2013. The separate His Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate for Scotland is under the leadership of its Chief Inspector, Steven Torrie.

The role of the CFRA

The DfCLG has outlined the ''general'' functions of the CFRA, and the new unit: *Advise ministers and senior staff on structure, organisation and performance, including equality, of fire and rescue services *It will identify and disseminate good practice to fire and rescue services *Continue the successful drive to reduce fire deaths, which have been halved in England over the last quarter of a century *It will also advise and liaise with government, local authorities, professional bodies and other interested organisations on fire, rescue and resilience matters *Is the umbrella organisation of the Crown Premises Inspection Group (CPIG). CPIG is the team of

fire inspector A fire marshal, in the United States and Canada, is often a member of a state, provincial or territorial government, but may be part of a building department or a separate department altogether. Fire marshals' duties vary but usually in ...

s, appointed by the Secretary of State, to enforce the

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (officially listed as ''The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 S.I. 2005 No. 1541'') is a statutory instrument applicable in England and Wales. The Order places the responsibility on individual ...

within Crown premises. The detailed job description was made available to the public ahead of Sir Ken's appointment. It said the role of CFRA comes with a "substantial six figure package". The CFRA will have to set up the new unit, the last HM Chief inspector of Fire Services was

Sir Graham Meldrum ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

who retired in January 2007. The new post of CFRA has been created to reflect changes to the fire and rescue service in the UK brought about by the

Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (c 21), sometimes abbreviated as FRSA 2004, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It came into effect on 1 October 2004. It only applies to Great Britain and most provisions apply only in Engl ...

, although it only applies to England and Wales. However, it is anticipated that the CFRA will advise the government on any major incident in the UK.

References

{{reflist Fire and rescue service organisation in the United Kingdom Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Fire and rescue in England

Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser

Background

The role of the CFRA

See also

References