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The Home Office has launched the recruitment process for the next His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) Chief Inspector, with the successful candidate set to oversee the inspection of police forces and fire and rescue services across England and Wales.
The post combines the roles of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary and His Majesty’s Chief Fire and Rescue Inspector for England, making it one of the most senior oversight positions in the UK’s policing and fire governance landscape. The appointment is for a fixed term of up to five years, and carries a salary of £226,289 per annum.
According to the job announcement, the Chief Inspector will lead HMICFRS in assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of police forces in England and Wales and fire and rescue authorities in England. The role also involves reporting inspection findings publicly, advising government ministers, and providing evidence to parliamentary committees.
HMICFRS operates independently of government and the services it inspects, although its inspection programmes require approval from the relevant Secretaries of State. The Inspectorate’s findings are used to help drive improvements across policing and fire services, with reports enabling the public to compare performance between forces and fire and rescue services.
The new Chief Inspector will also be expected to guide the organisation through a period of change in policing policy. The Home Office said the appointment comes at a “crucial moment” as the government prepares wider reforms set out in its forthcoming policing White Paper for 2026.
Key responsibilities will include setting the Inspectorate’s strategic direction, overseeing inspection programmes, and acting as a senior public voice for the organisation. The Chief Inspector will also chair HMICFRS’s Strategic Board and assign inspection responsibilities across the body’s team of inspectors.
The current Chief Inspector is Sir Andy Cooke QPM DL, who has been an HMI since 2021 and became chief in April 2022. In December 2024 he was knighted for services to policing public service in the King’s New Years Honours List. He will be taking up the post of Professor of Policing Studies at Liverpool John Moores University in the Liverpool Centre for Advanced Policing Studies (LCAPS).
Applications for the role opened on 9 March and close at 11pm on 7 April, with interviews expected to conclude by 11 May.
We spoke to HMI Kathryn Stone OBE in a recent episode of For Every Response. Listen now to find out more about what an HMI does, and how Kathryn brings a victim-focused lens to her role.
