Dear Brother/Sister
Select Committee – Pre-Appointment hearing with Andy Cooke – preferred successor to HMICFRS Chief Inspector
Thomas Winsor, the current chief inspector at Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), will retire from the role on 31 March. On 16 March it was announced that the government’s preferred successor is Andy Cooke, the former chief constable of Merseyside. He has been a junior inspector at HMICFRS since April 2021. On 23 March the Home Affairs select committee held a short pre-appointment hearing with Cooke, which is a chance for committees to scrutinise ministerial decision-making over appointments to significant roles. Tom Winsor attended the session as a spectator.
Cooke was open during the session about having less experience of the fire and rescue service, having spent 36 years in the police force. He said “Although I know an awful lot more about policing, I have some knowledge of fire—but I need to develop it”. As a starting point for this he stated “I will be going to the Police Federation, the Police Superintendents Association and the National Fire Chiefs Council, [and] I will also go to see the Fire Brigades Union to seek their perspective on how the fire service needs to move forward”.
He stated that in particular he needs to learn more about fire governance, and “what the role of the firefighter is, because it means a lot of different things to different people”. He stated later in the session that due to the changing nature of incidents firefighters respond to, he would endorse increased collaboration with the police, saying “There are far fewer fires now than there used to be, so, again, that role of the firefighter needs to be looked at, in total, to see whether we are doing the right things. Police, fire and crime commissioners are one way of bringing the two sides together. I know that a number of control rooms are shared across the country by police and fire. Are there further opportunities? Yes, I am sure there are, and they are opportunities that need to be taken”.
He also addressed comments from the panel, such as Labour’s Paula Barker, about diminished trust in the police, following recent scandals including Sarah Everard’s murder and the conduct of officers at Charing Cross police station. He stated that such ‘bad apples’ need to be rooted out: “No chief constable or chief fire officer in this country should ever allow individuals who are not worthy to wear the uniform or to be in those services”.
Cooke stressed his independence. He stated that despite his background, he would not shy away from criticising the police if necessary. He defined the role of HMICFRS as “to vigorously inspect on the public’s behalf how well the fire service and police service are performing. I will never shy away from that. The important thing, as I will continue to maintain, is that this is about protecting our communities, not organisations….the public is my boss”. He also explained his fair analysis of crime during his career, where he concluded that criminality results from poverty, and people could often be saved from resorting to crime if there was more government investment in reducing deprivation and increasing opportunity.
Asked what success looks like, by Conservative MP Simon Fell, Cooke responded “Success looks like improvements to the fire service and the police service—not short-term improvement, but long-lasting improvement. It is increased confidence in policing and fire to keep our communities safe”.
On diversifying the sector, Cooke said: “I think that 7% of actual firefighters are women, which is far too low; although females are in 17% of roles, most of those are not actually firefighters. The diversity of both police and fire is not where it needs to be, and that needs to be increased in both services”.
Cooke vowed to be an assertive chief inspector, saying “Getting our stakeholders…to follow the path that we recommend to them is something that I will vigorously follow up on each and every occasion. I am aware of a number of recommendations that we have made over the last few years that have not been carried out”.
He also stated that HMICFRS will start thematic reviews of the fire and rescue service later this year, having already started thematics in policing on various issues including serious violence.
Officials will report back to members after meeting with Cooke.
Yours in unity,
Matt Wrack
General Secretary
