North Yorkshire Fire Service Makes Improvements

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has ‘made significant progress’ and been rated ‘Good’ in Key Areas by inspectors.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has made significant progress and been officially recognised as ‘Good’ at understanding fire and other risks, preventing incidents and effectively responding to fires and emergencies.

The assessment comes from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), which today published its latest inspection report following their inspection of the Service during December 2024 and January 2025.

In total, the Service has been graded ‘Good’ in six out of eleven areas of inspection, with the remaining five graded as ‘Adequate’, a new grade which has been introduced between ‘Requires Improvement’ and ‘Good’. The report highlights significant progress and continued commitment to public safety across York and North Yorkshire.

His Majesty’s Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services Michelle Skeer said:

“The service has embraced change and made significant progress since our last inspection in 2022.”

HMI Michelle Skeer also commended the Strategic Leadership Team, led by Chief Fire Officer Jonathan Dyson, and all staff across the service for their willingness to change and their continued commitment to improvement.

Chief Fire Officer Jonathan Dyson welcomed the findings, saying:

“I am delighted that HMICFRS has recognised the significant efforts made by our Service and I thank Michelle Skeer for her comments. These results are a testament to the hard work, professionalism and dedication of our staff across the Service.

“The improvements, made since our previous inspection in 2022, reflect our ambition to continually improve and the efforts of our teams; particularly as we’ve delivered these results within a very challenging financial environment. 

“The investment we received in April this year (from council tax), after the Inspection, will enable us to continue to build on our achievements and drive sustainable progress with investment in support services, estates, equipment, firefighter safety and training. 

“We’re already making headway on improvements in the areas where we have received ‘Adequate’ gradings to further ensure we are a high quality and community focused service protecting those most at risk and vulnerable within our communities.”

In our previous inspection report, we were rated ‘inadequate’ in two key areas: Efficiency and People, both of which were accompanied by causes of concern. Since then, we have made these areas a top priority, resulting in a significant improvement of three rating bands. We are proud to be rated as ‘good’ in both.

Among the latest round of inspection reports, we are one of only 11 Services that did not receive a ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ rating in any area, of those currently published.

Previously, we were issued two causes of concern, which included eight recommendations and 24 areas for improvement. In the most recent report, HMICFRS has identified no causes of concern and reduced the number of areas for improvement to seven, which we had already highlighted as areas of focus and work is progressing on this activity.

Overall, we have shown improvement in nine out of eleven assessment questions across the categories of Effectiveness, Efficiency and People and achieved an uplift of 15 rating levels compared to our previous inspection, which is a significant shift for a Service, within one inspection period.

David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, has welcomed the latest inspection report.

Mayor Skaith praised the leadership of Chief Fire Officer Jonathan Dyson and the dedication of his senior team, staff, and firefighters:

“These results are a testament to the hard work, resilience, and commitment of our fire and rescue personnel. Over the past few years, the Service has taken bold steps to improve how it serves and protects our communities. 

“I am very proud of the progress made in such a short space of time. But we must go further. We will continue to work with, and hold to account North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, as they continue to make the improvements I, and the public expect them to make. I am confident the Service, and their leadership will continue to build on this momentum.  

The Mayor also acknowledged the work of Jo Coles, his Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire and Crime, in regularly seeking assurances about the Service’s performance and implementation of the action plan from the previous inspection. 

Jo Coles said,

“HMICFRS reports provide an independent and rigorous assessment that complements local scrutiny of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.”

“This report clearly shows that the communities of York and North Yorkshire are safer and more resilient as a result of the significant improvements made by North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in recent years. However, we will not rest on our laurels and will continue to support, and hold the Fire Service to account, as they continue to make improvements.”

“I’ll be talking more about this report in my next online public meeting with North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service tomorrow (19 June), and I’d encourage people to join us.”