NFCC welcomes the publication of new Fire Standard

The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) welcomes the publication of the seventeenth professional Fire Standard; Internal Governance and Assurance. 

The Internal Governance and Assurance Fire Standard focuses on ensuring that a fire and rescue service have internal governance structures and business planning processes which enable senior leaders to maintain comprehensive oversight of internal activities, assuring them that the service is operating effectively. 

One of the desired outcomes of the Fire Standard is that services’ internal change and improvement projects are managed through robust development, approval and initiation processes. This will ensure that such projects are aligned to the vision and strategic objectives of the service, and that delivery and organisational development plans are clear and understood by all within the service. 

The development of this standard has been led by Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Sabrina Cohen-Hatton of West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service and Chair of NFCC’s Improvement Committee, together with subject matter experts from the network of fire and rescue service audit teams and governance leads, Home Office specialists, as well as other key stakeholders. 

An expected benefit of achieving the Internal Governance and Assurance Fire Standard is that fire and rescue services will improve governance, internal culture and increase transparency. 

As with all Fire Standards, there’s a corresponding Fire Standards Implementation Tool to support services with the implementation. The tool was designed to support services understanding how well they meet the standard; helping them to embed the standard into existing and new action plans and address any gaps. 

 Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, CFO of West Sussex FRS and Chair of NFCC’s Improvement Committee, said: 

 “I’m proud to have led the development of this new Fire Standard which will support all fire and rescue services to follow a consistent and robust process when developing internal governance and assurance procedures.  

 “I also hope that working towards achieving this standard will create internal cultures and a positive working environments that are open to learning, self-evaluation and receiving feedback, creating a more productive, motivated and efficient workforce.”   

 “Thank you to everyone who has been involved in the development of this standard.” 

 More details about the Internal Governance and Assurance Fire Standard can be found by visiting the Fire Standards Board website: www.firestandards.org