Agenda item

Report of the Chief Fire Officer

Mick Sharman, Assistant Chief Fire Officer, presented the report detailing the recent publication by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services of the Standards of Behaviour report and outline the steps being taken by the Service to address the recommendations, and highlighted the following points:

(a)  Following reports of misconduct, and the findings of the Independent Cultural Review of London Fire Brigade, the Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to publish a spotlight report into the values and culture of fire and rescue services (FRSs). This report, containing 35 recommendations for improvement, was published in March 2023. A paper outlining the report was presented to Human Resources Committee in April 2023. A further update report, detailing progress made against the recommendations, was presented to the Human Resources Committee in April 2024.

(b)  Building on some of the findings of the spotlight report, between October 2023 and January 2024, HMICFRS carried out further research into the handling of misconduct in FRSs. Data and staff surveys from 44 FRSs were analysed, along with 10 thematic onsite inspections.  Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) was not one of the 10 FRSs inspected.

(c)  Some of the key findings within the HMICFRS Standards of Behaviour report include:

·  Improvement is happening but unacceptable behaviours remain – the report states HMICFRS is “pleased to see the beginning of improvements”. With awareness of the Core Code of Ethics (CCoE) being raised, “but pockets of unacceptable behaviour remain, and future progress is needed, particularly in parts of the misconduct process”.

·  Staff are experiencing misconduct – 10% of the FRSs workforce responded to staff surveys as part of the thematic inspection on standards of behaviour. Of these, 41% had witnessed misconduct in the previous 12 months and 34% had experienced misconduct in the same period.

·  Watch culture – the impacts of “negative watch cultures”, are noted within the report stating that although attitudes and behaviours are showing signs of improvement, these changes are too slow, built on poor foundations, and are not being made consistently across England.
A lack of confidence in the processes for raising concerns – the report identifies that while staff felt the process for raising concerns was clear, there was some confusion about different reporting mechanisms. The report also highlights a perception by respondents that issues raised, “wouldn't be treated confidentially or impartially,” emphasising that such perceptions are a serious problem.

·  Inadequate training for those undertaking investigations – the report identifies “the inadequacy of training” as the most common and significant root cause of issues related to misconduct investigations. This shortfall is also evident among those who hear appeals, as they “rarely had training to do so” and overly relied on human resources support.

·  Scrutiny of misconduct cases is ineffective – the report found limited evidence of oversight and scrutiny in misconduct cases across most of the inspected FRSs. The report indicates the need for better organisational learning and the development of practical solutions at a service level.

(d)  The report presents 15 recommendations to improve the sector. The recommendations are broken down into the areas of:

·  The culture in fire and rescue services;

·  The extent to which services are identifying misconduct;

·  The effectiveness of misconduct processes;

·  Understanding misconduct and sharing lessons learned.

(e)  Each recommendation has a timeframe allocated to it by which HMICFRS state that they expect to see implementation. One of the recommendations is for immediate implementation, while the others are spread over a timeframe of 12 months.

(f)  The Service is reviewing each of the recommendations and is in the process of undertaking a gap analysis to define the actions required to complete the recommendations. An action plan will then be produced.

(g)  Scrutiny of the delivery of this action plan will be through the Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) Assurance Board which is chaired by the Chief Fire Officer.

(h)  The Standards of Behaviour report does not make for positive reading for the sector. NFRS recognises the effect that this could have on local trust and confidence in the Service.

Members were assured that NFRS is a progressive organisation and, although it wasn’t part of the inspection, it won’t be complacent in addressing the recommendations.

Resolved to

(1)  Note the contents of the report.

(2)  Agree to receive further updates via the Human Resources Committee.