South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue praised with more compliments than complaints over last six months
A report's revealed out local first service has been praised dozens of times by members of the public since August
Last updated 11th Mar 2025
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service received three times as many compliments as it did complaints over a six-month period.
A report to the fire and rescue authority’s audit and governance committee
today (March 10) said that the service received 73 compliments between August 2024 and the end of January this year, a 17% decrease from 88 in the previous six months.
Of that total, 54 mention efficiency of work, 15 relate to visits and events attended by the service, three were for rescues of people or animals or assisting other services and one was for donations and charity work.
The report said: “Complaints received from the public are regrettable and give the service the opportunity to review our work and how we can improve.”
Over the same period, the service received an initial 23 complaints from members of the public, of which nine were transferred to the people team (human resources).
Of the remaining 14, six complaints were upheld, six complaints were not and two were partially upheld.
Seven complaints were about operational incidents, four related to personnel, two for vehicles or driving and one related to community safety. Eight complaints referred to the Sheffield area, three were Doncaster, two were Rotherham and and one was unknown.
The report said: “We were able to provide nine with a response within the 20-working day target, with five taking between 21 and 29 days.”
Coun Sue Alston of Sheffield City Council asked for details about the complaints that went to the people team. She was told it could involve an issue that might lead to a disciplinary matter.
Coun Alston asked for more details to be included in future reports because they could reveal an issue within the workforce.