Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority "Best in country"

Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority has been rated as the top fire authority in the country, according to an Audit Commission report released today.

In particular Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority was judged to be improving strongly in terms of its use of resources and service delivery and received the highest rating for value for money.

Bill Feeley, Chief Fire Officer for Kent Fire and Rescue Service, said:

"Once again Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority has been rated the top service in the country. That really is something that everyone in the county can be proud of.

"We have achieved this with a lot of hard work by our dedicated team of fire fighters and staff, but it is also thanks to the people of Kent, who have listened to our calls to improve fire safety in their homes.

"As a result the number of fires in the county has fallen by 36% and the number of deliberate fires by 42% in the last five years. But we are not complacent, and there is still a lot of work to do. We were pleased that the Audit Commission recognised our efforts to reach vulnerable groups such as older, blind and deaf people including training some of our fire fighters in sign language. We must continue to promote fire safety and to get the message out about how we can help with home fire safety visits and fitting smoke alarms."

The Audit Commission assessed Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Service as an Excellent service in its first assessment in 2005. In future annual assessments we have been rated as improving well and twice as improving strongly - the highest available score. This rating looks at 'direction of travel', building on the existing Excellent rating to assess how well the Service is improving. Kent also received the top mark of 4 in the Value for Money assessment.

The Audit Commission's report to Kent states that:

"Partnership preventative working with police and schools has reduced deliberate fires in homes in the last year, in line with its local priority. There were also fewer injuries in fires than last year. Vehicle fire numbers are also falling although fires in non-domestic properties are increasing. Whilst 60 per cent of its Best Value Performance Indicators improved in the last year and 20 per cent were in the top quartile, both were below the average for fire authorities. It engages well with vulnerable people, including giving home safety advice to people with sensory impairments, older people and migrant workers, with firefighters using sign language to improve communication in their work. Successful equalities work includes the current accreditation to level 3 of the Equalities Standard. The number of female firefighters is improving. The Authority provides excellent value for money, has less staff sickness, and more disabled people employed in the top earning jobs. It is a key player in the Regional Management Board, strengthening regional working through chairing the Board and leading regionally on improving leadership."