Procurement and Cyber Standards signal “milestone” for Fire Standards Board

The Procurement and Commercial Fire Standard and the Digital and Cyber Fire Standard are now published on the Fire Standards Board’s website following consultations with both the Fire and Rescue Service sector and wider stakeholders. Just like the other Fire Standards, these documents will “help to drive continuous improvement and service delivery£ across England’s Fire and Rescue Services.

For its part, the Procurement and Commercial Fire Standard sets out the importance of procurement and commercial Best Practice within Fire and Rescue Services. Implementation of this new Fire Standard will help to ensure that contracts and relationships with suppliers realise value for money and result in the delivery of high-quality public goods and services that support the environment and the diversity, safety and well-being of people and communities.

In a world where all organisations need to continually monitor and develop their digital services and cyber security processes, the Digital and Cyber Fire Standard sets out a series of recommendations and procedures that will help Fire and Rescue Services deliver excellence to the public by using ICT safely, effectively and efficiently. In so doing, Fire and Rescue Services will be able to deliver better prevention, protection and response services, which will in turn contribute to the enhanced safety of communities.

Positive outcomes

Commenting on the publication of these Fire Standards, Suzanne McCarthy (chair of the Fire Standards Board) explained: “The Fire Standards Board has always been intent on ensuring that Fire Standards are focused on achieving positive outcomes, consistently applied nationally and underpinned by national guidance tools and supporting information.”

McCarthy continued: “Through consultation with Fire and Rescue Service subject matter experts and wider stakeholders, we’ve now published a suite of 19 meaningful Fire Standards that, taken together, will support improvement and help reinforce the professionalism of the Fire and Rescue Service. The initial suite of Fire Standards establishes what ‘good’ looks like and will continue to be increasingly referenced within the HMICFRS’s inspection framework and inspections.”

As is the case for all Fire Standards, there’s a corresponding Implementation Tool. This is designed to support Fire and Rescue Services in assessing how well they meet a given Fire Standard and build an Action Plan designed to identify and address any gaps.

The Fire Standards Board will be continuing its engagement programme with Fire and Rescue Services in order to generate a better understanding of the impacts and benefits realised by Fire Standards.