'Serious concerns' raised in fire service report

Inspectors have "serious concerns" about the way that Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) manages resources and risk, and saw instances of bullying and misogyny on some shifts.

In a report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), SFRS was criticised for its performance in 10 out of 11 areas.

Its most severe criticism was for its use of resources, which included its corporate risk register being "ineffectively managed".

The fire service said it accepted the findings and acknowledged improvements needed to be made.

Its previous report in 2021, which gave overall grades across three areas - effectiveness, efficiency, and people - rated the service "good" in all of them.

"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," said Andy Cooke, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services.

"Many areas have deteriorated, particularly in relation to efficiency and the service’s people."

The report said the service's medium-term financial plan was based on reasonable funding and cost assumptions, and that it had set a balanced budget for 2024-25.

However, HMICFRS said it had identified ineffective processes, controls and internal governance arrangements in place to manage strategic risks.

Suitable controls were not in place for risks including the security and resilience of its IT network.

It added: "Worryingly, during our inspection we identified that there had been a potential data breach with reports of a loss of medical records by an occupational health provider."

The report also stated that financial controls needed improvement.

At the time of the inspection SFRS chief fire officer Simon Hardiman and former assistant chief fire officer Adam Matthews were not in the workplace due to sickness absence, HMICFRS said.

The pair were subject to a misconduct investigation, following allegations of inappropriate WhatsApp messages about female colleagues.

Mr Hardiman was given a written warning and allowed to return to work.

Mr Matthews resigned in September.

The report said these events had caused a high degree of uncertainty, however, staff were positive about the discussions and support for their wellbeing the service was providing.

Although it found that most staff demonstrated the service's values, the report noted that there was not a strong culture of challenge.

"We were disappointed to hear of instances of poor culture on some shifts, as well as misogyny and bullying," it said.

"The service has put in place a confidential reporting line called Say So, but we found that staff aren’t confident to use it."

The report found that SFRS had a "thorough" community risk management plan.

It said the service routinely collected and updated information about the highest-risk people, places and threats.

"In our 2021 inspection, we identified as an area for improvement that: 'The service should make sure its firefighters and fire control staff have good access to relevant and up-to-date risk information,'" it said.

"We were pleased to see that the service has addressed this."

Responding to the report, Mr Hardiman said: "This has been a challenging year for the service, however it is important we take all opportunities to learn and make positive changes.

"I am pleased to see the report highlighted our readiness and ability to respond to emergencies, which demonstrates to the community that we will be there in their time of need.

"We have work to do around ensuring our processes are efficient and effective and that the right people are in the right roles."

He said the fire service was already making progress in these areas.

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