Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the report entitled Independent Challenge and Support Panel: Closing Report, published by the National Fire Chiefs Council on 19 February 2025.

I met with Anthea Sully, the Chair of the National Fire Chief’s Council’s (NFCC) Independent Challenge and Support Panel, prior to the report’s publication to discuss the panel’s work and its findings.

I welcomed the work of the panel, and its importance given my previous involvement with this work as the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee and now in my ministerial role.

The Government is committed to working with the fire and rescue sector to drive meaningful culture change.

Both the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and several independent reviews of culture in specific fire and rescue services have concluded that poor culture can lead to operational incompetence and therefore present a risk to public safety.

Following the publication of this report, the Government will work where appropriate to support the sector in the delivery and implementation of the 7 calls to action set out in the report to stop racism, misogyny, and other forms of criminal and unacceptable behaviour in the workplace.