![](https://emergencyservicestimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ESS-Button-resized.png")
His Majesty’s Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services has emphasised the importance of effective leadership in improving the fire and rescue sector.
Roy Wilsher was speaking at an event hosted His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), which saw chief fire officers and fire authority chairs from throughout England come together to share knowledge in an effort to support improvements in the sector.
Wilsher set out the importance of strategic leadership, saying that fire services and other national leaders must address key challenges, which include tackling poor culture and improving misconduct management. He praised some services for their progress but reiterated the continued need for improvements, including on reform.
Attendees were reminded that everyone – not just services – but national organisations such as the National Fire Chiefs Council, the Local Government Association, unions and the Government have a role to play in making the improvements needed.
The event also provided an opportunity to hear feedback around areas of priority for the fire and rescue service, such as taking action to address Grenfell recommendations and findings from the recent report on tackling misconduct.
Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire Dame Diana Johnson was also in attendance. She discussed a range of areas such as integrity and culture, and reform.
The event is part of a series of engagement work by the inspectorate as it plans its 2025-27 round of inspections. This engagement has included workshops with every fire service across England and external reference group meetings with the sector’s key national bodies. The inspectorate intends to examine leadership in even greater detail as part of the next cycle of inspections.
“It is of vital importance to us in the inspectorate to hear directly from those working in sector. And so, it is always a privilege to bring together chief fire officers and fire authority chairs from across England. This event presents a unique opportunity to discuss challenges and share knowledge and insights face-to-face.
Roy Wilsher, His Majesty’s Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services
“The dedication and hard work of our fire and rescue services is something that is evidenced throughout our inspections. But there are still areas where the sector needs to make urgent improvements. These engagement events help us to understand how we can best support services to make sustainable improvements and bring about effective change.”
To read similar articles, check out our Leadership channel
