Devon and Somerset 2021/22
Read more about Devon and SomersetThis is HMICFRS’s second full assessment of fire and rescue services. This assessment examines the service’s effectiveness, efficiency and how well it looks after its people. It is designed to give the public information about how their local fire and rescue service is performing in several important areas, in a way that is comparable with other services across England.
The extent to which the service is effective at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks is good.
The extent to which the service is efficient at keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks is good.
The extent to which the service looks after its people requires improvement.
Wendy Williams, HM Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services
HM Inspector's summary
It was a pleasure to revisit Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service. We are grateful for the positive and constructive way that the service engaged with our inspection.
We are pleased with the performance of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service in keeping people safe and secure from fires and other risks, and the service has made notable improvements in these areas, but it needs to improve the way it looks after its people.
In our 2019 inspection, a cause of concern was issued stating that the service cannot be sure that operational staff meet the minimum fitness requirements. We are pleased that enough progress has been made for this cause of concern to be discharged.
However, we have identified a new cause of concern based on the behaviours of some staff. The executive board clearly intends to improve the culture of the service. But more needs to be done. We have found evidence of poor behaviours that are not in line with service values. A common theme during our inspection was that some staff groups didn’t feel respected or valued.
The service needs to do more to make sure its recruitment and promotion processes are fair. Many operational staff were frustrated and didn’t have confidence in the promotion process.
The service has the highest number of on-call fire stations in England. In our last inspection, we said it should improve the availability of its on-call fire engines. Encouragingly, in 2020/21 the on-call availability was 88 percent, an improvement of 7 percentage points compared to the previous year.
The service has set up a building risk review team that focuses primarily on high-rise premises. We are pleased to see the service has added to the team an operational risk information officer and a prevention officer. This makes sure that a joined-up approach to prevention, protection and response is taken when visiting these premises.
Fire and rescue services should continually review whether its resources are located to respond to areas of greatest risks. The service has done this by closing fire stations, allowing it to relocate resources where the risks are greater. It also reviewed its duty systems and explored the removal of second and third fire engines at some stations. And it introduced a voluntary Pay for Availability scheme for its on‑call firefighters. We look forward to seeing how the scheme develops.
We are pleased with the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the service. But more work is required in how it looks after its people. We will continue to review progress.