[2] In November 2018, an inspection of NFRS by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found that the service was routinely operating below the safe number of fire engines needing to cover the county.

It also found that firefighter training records were incomplete and the service could not assure itself that they all had the necessary safety-critical skills.

[6] Three follow-up visits by HMICFRS in 2019 and 2020, allowed them to announce in March 2021 that they were satisfied with NFRS progress.

[6] Every fire and rescue service in England and Wales is periodically subjected to a statutory inspection by HMICFRS.

On a scale of outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service was rated as follows: