Agenda item

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

Mick Sharman, Assistant Chief Fire Officer, presented the report providing an overview of the State of Fire and Rescue 2023 report published by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services and to provide an update on Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service’s most recent inspection, and highlighted the following points:

(a)  His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) is, by Royal appointment, the inspectorate body for fire and rescue services in England.

(b)  Each year, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector publishes a ‘State of Fire and Rescue, Annual Assessment’, which summarises the findings from the year’s inspections of the sector.

(c)  On 9 May 2024, Andy Cooke QPM DL, published his second report to the Secretary of State under Section 28B of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, based on the inspection reports published by HMICFRS between 20 January 2023 and 31 March 2024.

(d)  In March 2023, HMICFRS commenced the third full round of inspections, aiming to inspect all 44 Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) within an 18 month period. Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service’s (NFRS) inspection took place between 23 February 2024 and 19 April 2024.

(e)  The report is split into two chapters; chapter one sets out the systemic challenges facing the fire and rescue sector and chapter two sets out the interim findings from the Round 3 inspections, identifying some key themes.

(f)  In relation to systemic challenges, there are four main points highlighted:

·  at a national level, the fire and rescue sector has made some good progress, but the Government must press ahead with reforms;

·  values, culture and the management of misconduct needs to ‘urgently improve’ across the sector;

·  fire and rescue service leaders need to take a strategic approach to service improvements; and

·  HMICFRS requires additional powers to continue to make communities safer.

(g)  In 2019 HMICFRS made six national recommendations covering some of the structural aspects of the fire and rescue sector. The report highlights that three of these have been completed with the outstanding three recommendations – determining roles of FRS and their staff; reviewing and reforming structures for determining pay and conditions; and giving Chief Fire Officers operational independence – being a matter for the Government to resolve. The Inspectorate notes slow progress being made against these three areas and therefore highlights the need for sector reform.

(h)  The report covers in detail the need for the sector to improve its culture, values and misconduct management, citing that despite the focus on this area from HMICFRS, instances of inappropriate behaviour were still commonplace.

(i)  Following the second round of inspections, based on the Inspectorate’s findings on values, culture, and fairness and diversity, causes of concern, inadequate grades and areas for improvement were issued to a significant number of fire services. Members can be assured that the Strategic Leadership Team continues to place the highest priority on ensuring an appropriate and inclusive culture exists at every level within the organisation, and that cultural considerations are embedded within decision making processes. 

(j)  The report states that HMICFRS needs more powers so it can continue to make communities safer, and that these powers should be in line with those legislative requirements that govern police forces’ response to their inspections. Additionally, the Inspectorate has highlighted that FRSs should be able to request commissioned inspections in the same way as police forces do to fulfil their duty to deliver efficient and effective services to their communities.

(k)  In relation to interim findings, of the 15 Services inspected, seven Services have 12 causes of concern in place, of which eight are new and four have been carried over from Round 2. NFRS has had no causes of concern issued and the four areas of improvement issued following the last inspection were formally signed off at the Fire Authority meeting on 23 February 2024.

(l)  Workplace culture is once again highlighted as an issue for the sector, with HMICFRS stating that whilst progress is being made, some Services are struggling to make improvements. NFRS’s biennial staff survey concluded on 14 July and a breakdown of the results and follow up actions will be brought back to the Human Resources Committee, which will provide Members with insight into NFRS’s culture and the progress the Service is achieving in this area.

(m)  The report highlights the problems some Services are having with maintaining an effective On-call duty system, citing the difficulties in the recruitment, retention and training for On-call personnel. Members will be aware of the support the On-Call Support Team (OCST) provides to On-call firefighters throughout the Service which, along with the dedication of NFRS On-call personnel, has resulted in On-call appliances being available for 86.5% of the time in 2023/24; one of the highest levels in the sector.

(n)  Protection activities are highlighted within the report as being inconsistently applied across the sector with unsuitable quality assurance processes and a failure to meet audit targets common areas discovered by the Inspectorate. In addition, difficulties in recruiting and retaining suitably experienced protection staff are also highlighted. The Inspectorate raises more effective partnership working and better engagement with businesses as potential methods to mitigate the issues discussed.

(o)  Whilst the full report from NFRS’s most recent inspection will not be published until late Summer 2024, initial high-level feedback has been given to the Chief Fire Officer which explicitly outlined the positive manner in which the inspectors were greeted whilst undertaking the inspection, and the high levels of engagement they found from all Service personnel.

Resolved to note the report.