Isles of Scilly 2018/19

Overall, Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service requires improvement at looking after its people.

A fire and rescue service that looks after its people should be able to provide an effective service to its community. It should offer a range of services to make its communities safer. This will include developing and maintaining a workforce that is professional, resilient, skilled, flexible and diverse. The service’s leaders should be positive role models, and this should be reflected in the behaviour of the workforce. Overall, Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service requires improvement at looking after its people.

The service needs to improve how it promotes the right values and culture. It uses the local authority’s workplace health guidelines. The chief fire officer understands how these policies translate to the fire service. But crews cannot access the policies and other welfare information because of technical problems. The service is addressing this with new computers.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service has trained the service’s staff in equality, diversity and inclusivity.

The service tests staff for physical fitness every year. But the chief fire officer was reluctant to enforce too high a standard of fitness in case he lost staff.

Staff have little confidence in the grievance process and do not know how to use it. They find it hard to raise grievances because the service is so closely tied to the community. There were no formal grievances between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2018.

The service’s culture and values are based on the local authority’s code of conduct and whistle-blowing policy.

The service should improve how it ensures fairness and promotes diversity, although it is taking steps to improve the diversity of its workforce.

It acts on staff feedback in some areas, but not others. The service is less diverse than the population it serves, however, it is being more proactive in promoting diversity.

The service must improve how it gets the right people with the right skills.

Once recruited, firefighters complete a training programme. But the service has no training planner. It uses retained firefighter development folders but does not update or review them.

The service does not understand its responsibility to maintain core firefighting functions. We saw outdated guidance in use. The service does not state which procedures it follows.

The service will share Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service’s system for recording competencies. It has also taken on a tactical advisor, and now has a prioritised plan to improve its training. We hope to see that this results in safety-critical improvements by March 2019.

The service must improve the way it manages performance and develops leaders. Its firefighters have very high levels of community responsibility, so, the service assumes they can assure their own training. It pays Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service for a part-time station manager, who, among other things, analyses skills gaps and provides training.