People who dial 999 and ask for the fire service in Devon and Somerset, receive a good response according to the Service’s latest inspection report. But while the fire inspectorate has said that Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service has made improvements in some areas, it needs to make prevention a higher priority.
“Senior leaders continue to model poor behaviour while failing to support firefighters who have experienced harassment, discrimination or bullying at work,” an inspection report has found in a damning assessment of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (D&SFRS).
The report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has raised deep concerns about the culture, leadership and resourcing of the service, which covers one of the largest fire service areas in the country, serving over 1.8 million residents.
In a comprehensive inspection, the watchdog noted that “the service hasn’t made the progress we expected since our 2021 inspection” and was failing in several key areas, particularly in promoting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), supporting victims of bullying, and prioritising fire prevention for those most at risk.
The report highlights areas that the Service is doing well in, such as responding to emergencies, understanding risks within communities, and responding to major incidents, while also recommending areas for improvement. The Inspectorate has removed a previous cause of concern for culture noting the hard work over the last three years to improve culture and introduce reporting lines for people to raise concerns.
HM Inspector Roy Wilsher acknowledged that some work had been done since the last inspection, particularly around cultural improvement, but warned that more was required. “Although we are pleased to close this cause of concern [from 2021], there is still more work to do. The service still needs to make sure that all staff are trained and supported to identify and challenge inappropriate behaviour,” he said.
The report also found that the service’s processes hadn’t been followed, leading to tragic consequences. A fatal fire review revealed that despite historic engagement, the service hadn’t made a home safety visit to an individual who was on the backlog list. Months later, before a visit was made, the occupant died in a fire. At one point, there were over 7,000 outstanding home safety visits, and although a backlog-clearing effort was undertaken, “it wasn’t prioritised based on risk.”
Gavin Ellis, Chief Fire Officer for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue, said: “We welcome the Inspectorate’s report, which is an important check-in against our improvement plans. It’s great to see our emergency response praised. It’s important for us that when people call 999, they get a good Service.
“Operational colleagues across the Service work hard every day to maintain cover and competency so that they’re ready should anyone in our communities need them.
“We’re pleased that our work to improve culture across the organisation has been recognised and the cause of concern removed. We know we still have more to do to ensure our culture is consistent across the organisation and to better support our people to develop and thrive.
“Regrettably, the Inspectorate has issued a cause of concern about our prevention activities. Preventing emergencies is a huge focus for the organisation and our people are dedicated to keeping people safe. The recommendations made are process issues and we have already acted to ensure we are better at targeting our prevention work and evaluating its effectiveness.
“Our latest analysis shows that 85% of the referrals we receive from partners are from people who are either high or very high risk.
“Overall, we have a great foundation to keep on improving. The Inspectorate recognised the Service’s self-awareness and commitment of our staff and senior leaders to improve.”
His Majesty’s Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services Roy Wilsher said: “I am satisfied with some aspects of the performance of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service in keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks. But the service needs to improve in some areas. In particular, it needs to do more to prevent fires and other risks.
“We recognise that the service has experienced some changes in senior leadership roles. And I don’t underestimate the challenges in changing the culture, performance and efficiency of a fire and rescue service. But we were disappointed to find that the service hasn’t made the progress we expected. For example, five areas for improvement that we highlighted during our previous inspections of the service still haven’t been addressed.
“Overall, there is a clear commitment from staff and senior leaders to improve. The service is aware of the many issues we found and had plans in place to make improvements. I will keep in close contact with the service to monitor its progress in addressing the remaining cause of concern and associated recommendations.”
Alex Smith, Fire Brigades Union brigade chair for Devon and Somerset said: “When the bells go down, our firefighters are called to action and we respond. Meanwhile, the senior management of Devon and Somerset fire service are putting their fingers in their ears and ignoring the call to action.
“As the inspectorate’s report highlights, senior leaders continue to model poor behaviour while failing to support firefighters who have experienced harassment, discrimination or bullying at work. Instead of taking action to improve the service, management have focused their attention on attacking the terms and conditions of the workforce. This has come to their detriment.
“Rather than resource fire safety visits to improve public safety, as the report calls for, they are choosing to threaten to reduce retained firefighters’ pay and change the shift patterns of wholetime staff.
“Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service senior management must stop attacking the terms and conditions of their workforce and start actioning cultural change at the top.”
Despite the serious concerns, the inspectorate did find areas where the service was performing well. It praised the emergency response capability and highlighted “consistently high on-call availability” and effective collaboration in major incident responses. It found the service was ‘good’ in three areas, ‘adequate’ in three areas and ‘requires improvement’ in five areas.
HMICFRS said the service is good at responding to emergencies, including major incidents, and has plans to deal with risks such as severe weather events, including flooding response and water rescue. Inspectors were pleased to find that the service has continued to consistently achieve high on-call firefighter availability.
The inspectorate also said that the service has sound financial management processes in place. There are regular reviews to consider all the service’s expenditure, including its non-pay costs, and this scrutiny helps makes sure the service gets value for money.
However, HMICFRS said that since the service’s last inspection, not enough progress has been made to make prevention a sufficiently high priority. The service should implement a robust and consistent method of prioritising its home safety visits to those most at risk.
Inspectors found that while the service has done considerable work to improve its culture, there is still more to do. For example, some staff said they don’t feel confident in challenging inappropriate behaviour. The service needs to evaluate the effectiveness of actions taken so far and whether they are having the intended impact to improve its culture.
HMICFRS also found that the service hasn’t made enough progress to improve its approach to equality, diversity and inclusion. Inspectors were disappointed to find that this team was understaffed, meaning staff have excessive workloads and some improvements have been delayed.
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