Partnership Working

Why Partnerships Matter

Partnership working is essential to how we deliver safer outcomes for Scotland’s communities.

Many of the risks facing Scotland are complex and connected. These include vulnerability, health inequalities, climate change and changing patterns of demand.

No single organisation can address these challenges alone.

Strong local, national and international partnerships allow us to:

Target prevention activity more effectively
Support vulnerable people earlier
Share insight and intelligence
Respond together during emergencies

Our Commitment to Partnership Working

Partnership working sits at the centre of how SFRS protects communities. By working together we can increase our collective impact across Scotland. This allows us to prevent harm, improve safety and deliver meaningful outcomes.

The Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2022 sets out the importance of this approach. It places a statutory responsibility on SFRS to work collaboratively with communities and partners across sectors. The Framework makes clear that partnership working must be embedded throughout the organisation.

It requires SFRS to:

Contribute to community planning processes
Support shared local and national outcomes
Align services with the needs and priorities of communities

SFRS also has statutory duties that depend on strong cross-sector partnerships. This requires close collaboration with emergency responders and key stakeholders. As a core partner in prevention and local priority setting, we support wider community wellbeing goals.

This places SFRS firmly within Scotland’s justice and public protection landscape, helping to reduce inequalities and strengthen community safety.

Improving Services Through Collaboration

We use a forward-thinking partnership approach to address the key challenges facing Scotland. This can be done through joint initiatives, shared insight and coordinated planning. This helps us deliver high-quality, responsive and prevention-focused services.

By combining skills, resources, and local knowledge, partnership working helps us keep services:

Evidence-led
Responsive to community needs
Aligned with wider wellbeing goals
Improves how we respond to emerging risks

This approach also supports how we meet our responsibilities within Community Planning and other statutory partnerships.

Our Key Partners

We work every day with partners across the public, private, third and community sectors. These include:

Community Planning Partnerships
Health and Social Care Partnerships
Justice partners
Local authorities
Voluntary and third sector organisations
Community groups and other key stakeholders

Working in Partnership Report

Each year we publish SFRS Working in Partnership. This highlights the range and impact of our partnership activity across Scotland.

These reviews provide a clear overview of how we work with partners at local, regional and national levels to keep communities safe and well.

They show:

The breadth and diversity of partnership activity
Examples of effective collaboration
The impact of joint working on communities
Our approach to partnership working
The principles that guide us
Our commitment to consistent and effective collaboration

Publishing these documents promotes transparency and shared understanding. They help partners take part confidently in joint planning and delivery. They also support evaluation, highlight good practice and improve how we work together across Scotland.