NFCC launch Positive Practice Portal at Spring Conference

The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Positive Practice Portal has been launched today at the NFCC Spring Conference, taking place at St George’s Park (10 May 2023).

The Positive Practice Portal will share case studies and examples of positive practice captured by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), enabling fire and rescue services to learn from each other and improve their services for the benefit of the public.

NFCC is the professional voice of the UK fire and rescue service.

Since summer 2022, HMICFRS has been highlighting areas of innovative and positive practice undertaken by fire and rescue services during its inspections.

HMICFRS and NFCC have been working together to compile these examples into a database to drive improvement in fire and rescue services.

This joint initiative between HMICFRS and NFCC supports the continuous improvement agenda, developed to:

• share detailed information about the impact of initiatives such as new fire prevention activities;
• allow other services to take these ideas, learn from them and adapt them for their own teams; and
• drive innovation and improve services.

The Positive Practice Portal provides details about interventions, which have been developed to address a particular need, concern or organisational change and recognised by HMICFRS as innovative or positive practice. These practices cover areas such as building protection, home safety, workforce development and organisational culture.

The Portal also enables NFCC to continue to develop a portfolio of products to respond to the needs of members in fire and rescue services, increase organisational learning, and drive forward improvements to protect communities.

Mark Hardingham, NFCC Chair said:

“The Positive Practice Portal demonstrates NFCC’s commitment to work with HMICFRS and to engage our members by helping to share new ideas so fire and rescue services can continuously improve.

“Sharing innovative and positive practice means we learn valuable lessons from one another. We ensure every fire and rescue service is supported to have a positive, safe working environment, and one where everyone feels engaged and proud to work.

“I’d encourage all members and fire services to use this latest NFCC tool to add to the bank of knowledge within the sector and support one another.”

Andy Cooke, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services said:

“Every day, fire and rescue services across the country are testing new ways of keeping local communities safe, supporting the workforce and improving organisational culture.

“The new practice portal will act as a one-stop shop for fire and rescue services to learn from each other, while also making it easier for us to share the positive practice we find during our inspections.

“We urge fire and rescue services to play their part by sharing their experiences through the portal to help all services continue to improve and innovate.”

The Portal is freely accessible on the NFCC website at www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/positive-practice for colleagues in services to use to share ideas and details about innovative practice. To ensure transparency, it is open to the public so that they can learn about developments taking place across the UK.