Agenda item

(To receive a report from Mark Baxter, Chief Fire Officer, which provides a summary of the outcomes from the recent inspection of Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue by His Majesty’s Inspectorate for Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services)

Consideration was given to a report from Mark Baxter, Chief Fire Officer, which provided a summary of the outcomes from the recent inspection of Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue (LFR) by His Majesty’s Inspectorate for Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

Between May and June 2023, the HMICFRS inspected LFR and had reached a mostly positive conclusion; despite some areas requiring improvement, the inspectorate recognised a ‘good level’ of response to emergency events and multi-agency large-scale incidents.

Additionally, two areas of positive practice were identified by His Majesty’s Inspectorate (HMI); co-responding and assured level of risk model – both of which were embedded within the organisation and were proved to have provided a tangible evaluation of positive impact.

It was noted that HMI identified limitations of current IT systems used by the service which were inefficient. Additionally, following the inspection, LFR was updating its human resources (HR) policy to empower staff to raise and manage concerns. Additionally, the inspection team had signed off on two of the five recommendations from the 2021 cause of concern relating to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

LFR was also subject to a national thematic inspection by HMI which assessed misconduct and how it was managed; the outcome would form part of an anonymised report which would be published in June/July 2024.

Members were subsequently guided through the report, and the Chief Fire Officer assured that LFR would embed the 14 identified areas which required improvement into the overall improvement plan, and Members were informed that an updated report would be considered by the Committee on this delivery in 2024.

During consideration of the report, the following matters were highlighted:

·       The Executive Councillor for Fire & Rescue and Cultural Services thanked the Chief Fire Officer and LFR on the inspection; she assured that resources had been allocated to areas that required improvement and expressed confidence that the service would make the required improvements.

·       Multiple Members expressed concern regarding HMI’s findings that staff did not ‘have confidence in the service’s approach to dealing with bullying, harassment and discrimination’. The Chief Fire Officer echoed Members’ sentiments and asserted these findings were unacceptable and assured that these views were not widespread. The briefings from the national thematic inspection on misconduct noted occasions where staff used inappropriate language which was not initially or sufficiently addressed, however staff now better understood expected behaviours.

·       Concern was also raised regarding the description of the senior leadership team as ‘a boys’ club’; the Chief Fire Officer assured that addressing this comment was a focus of LFR and had resultantly sought to improve engagement and transparency to instill confidence. LFR was also working to recruit more female fire fighters through positive action campaigning which sought to address stereotypes that the service was overly male-orientated. The results of staff exit surveys had indicated no trend of women leaving LFR due to bullying or harassment.

·       It was noted that shift patterns could be more accessible and family friendly to recruit more women.

·       The staff survey was available for all to complete and was promoted internally; the Chief Fire Office accepted that the anonymous survey was limited as results did not illustrate the extent of issues. It was assured that the problems that were identified through the survey needed widely addressing regardless of whether incidents were isolated or widespread.

·       The report stated that the effectiveness of ‘protecting the public through fire regulation’ required improvement. Members were informed that LFR maintained a statutory duty to ensure business premises were safe, and the inspection had found there was a limited appetite to enforce regulations with some properties, although LFR held the ability to prosecute when appropriate.

·       Members considered whether the inefficient IT software used by LFR was due to a lack of funding and were subsequently informed that often the bespoke software for fire and rescue services were often clunky to accommodate the specific requirements; LFR was recently became part of the Council’s IT programme and was benefitting from the Microsoft 365 Suite.

·       It was questioned whether bureaucracy affected the performance of the service and the Chief Fire Officer accepted that a balance was required, insofar that bureaucracy enabled good scrutiny and ensured effective delivery, but in some areas it ought to be challenged or streamlined.

·       Horncastle Fire Service was praised for their delivery of equality and diversity training, and it was noted these sessions had increased understanding on acceptable behaviours in the workplace.

·       The Chief Fire Officer informed the Committee that it was difficult to comment on how LFR benchmarked against other services due to the broad scope of the inspection, although it was noted that other places had not received as positive of an outcome as LFR.

RESOLVED

1.      That the Committee considers the findings from the inspection report.

2.      That the Committee commends Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue on the outcome of the inspection.

3.      That the Committee requests an update on progress against the areas for improvement and the action plan in six months’ time