Improvements needed at Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service says inspector following 'serious concerns'

The Fire Inspectorate has published the findings of an examination of the service, highlighting a number of areas of concern.

Following the publication of his report His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services Andy Cooke said he was disappointed at the lack of progress since 2021 - adding that 'many areas have deteriorated'.

The report judges the service in 11 areas - with one found to be 'good', three as 'adequate', six as 'requires improvement', and one as 'inadequate.

The service was found to be good in 'understanding fire risk', and adequate in 'preventing fire and risk', 'responding to fires and emergencies', and 'responding to major incidents'.

The report does say the service has "consistently" met standards to meet target times in 85 per cents of responses to incidents - 10 minutes in urban areas, 15 minutes in town and fringe areas, and 20 minutes in rural areas.

It added the time was faster than comparable services.

The report states: "The service consistently meets its standards. The service’s internal performance reporting for 2023/24 recorded that it met its response standards on 94 per cent of occasions.

"Home Office data shows that in the year ending 31 March 2023, the service’s response time to primary fires was 10 minutes and 57 seconds. This is marginally faster than the average response of comparable, predominantly rural services in England of 11 minutes and 5 seconds."

But the service was judged to be inadequate in 'best use of resources', and requiring improvement in a number of categories, including 'managing performance and developing leaders', 'promoting fairness and diversity', 'right people, right skills', 'promoting values and culture', 'future affordability', and 'future affordability', and 'public safety through fire regulation'.

The report outlines that the service attended 4,281 incidents in the year up to the end of December 2023.

Mr Cooke said: “I am grateful for the positive and constructive way in which Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service staff engaged with our inspection team. And I acknowledge the challenging and uncertain environment at the time of our inspection.

"However, I have concerns about the performance of Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service in keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks. In particular, I have serious concerns about its use of resources.

“We were disappointed to see that the service hasn’t made the progress we expected since our 2021 inspection despite having a good basis to build on. Many areas have deteriorated, particularly in relation to efficiency and the service’s people.

“In view of these findings, I have been in regular contact with the acting deputy chief fire officer as I do not underestimate how much improvement is needed. I will keep in close contact with the service to monitor its progress in addressing the cause of concern and associated recommendations.”

A statement from HMCIFRS said: "The inspectorate found that the service’s performance had deteriorated in some areas, with serious concerns about how it manages resources and risk. This is a cause of concern in relation to the scrutiny of financial decisions, transparency around capital project funding and performance management.

"The inspectorate said that the service needs to do more to improve its culture. Inspectors found that the service’s values aren’t routinely demonstrated by all staff and were disappointed to hear of instances of poor culture on some shifts, as well as misogyny and bullying. HMICFRS also found that staff have limited confidence in how well the service can deal effectively with these issues, as well as grievances and discipline.

"Despite the findings, HMICFRS said the service understands risk well and has improved its processes to manage risk information. For example, it routinely collects and updates information about the highest risk people, places and threats it has identified."

The detailed report also referenced a scandal  involving the chief fire officer and his deputy over Whatsapp messages, and the impact of the uncertainty on the wider organisation.

It stated: "At the time of our inspection, the chief fire officer and an assistant chief fire officer were away from the workplace on sickness absence.

"They were both subject to a misconduct investigation following allegations of inappropriate WhatsApp messages about female colleagues that appeared in the media on 23 April 2024.

"Clearly these events have affected the service and continue to cause a high degree of uncertainty.

"Staff are at varying levels of acceptance, with some shocked by the allegations. We found that staff are positive about the discussions and the support for their well-being the service is now providing."

But, it added that reports of bullying had increased.

It said: "In our staff survey, 16 per cent of staff (19 out of 121) told us they had been subject to bullying or harassment, and17 percent (21 out of 121) reported experiencing discrimination in the last 12 months.

"The results are large increases on our survey findings in 2021, when 3 percent of staff (5 out of 153) told us they had been subject to bullying or harassment and 7 percent (11 out of 153) reported experiencing discrimination over the past 12 months."

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service has been contacted for comment.