Overall summary

Our inspection assessed how well Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service has performed in ten areas. We have made the following graded judgments:

In the rest of the report, we set out our detailed findings about the areas in which the service has performed well and where it should improve.

Changes to this round of inspection

We last inspected Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service in March 2022. And in January 2023, we published our inspection report with our findings on the service’s effectiveness and efficiency and how well it looks after its people.

This inspection contains our third assessment of the service’s effectiveness and efficiency, and how well it looks after its people. We have measured the service against the same ten areas and given a grade for each.

We haven’t given separate grades for effectiveness, efficiency and people as we did previously. This is to encourage the service to consider our inspection findings as a whole and not focus on just one area.

We now assess services against the characteristics of good performance, and we more clearly link our judgments to causes of concern and areas for improvement. We have also expanded our previous four-tier system of graded judgments to five. As a result, we can state more precisely where we consider improvement is needed and highlight good performance more effectively. However, these changes mean it isn’t possible to make direct comparisons between grades awarded in this round of fire and rescue service inspections with those from previous years.

A reduction in grade, particularly from good to adequate, doesn’t necessarily mean there has been a reduction in performance, unless we say so in the report.

This report sets out our inspection findings for Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service.

Read more information on how we assess fire and rescue services and our graded judgments.

HMI summary

It was a pleasure to revisit Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service, and I am grateful for the positive and constructive way in which the service worked with our inspection staff.

I am pleased with the performance of Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service in keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks, but it needs to improve in some areas to provide a consistently good service. For example, it needs to improve how it promotes the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion across the service. And it needs to develop a prevention strategy to direct activity, specifically on the main island of St Mary’s.

It is important to recognise that the service can’t directly be compared to other fire and rescue services on the mainland, and the assessment of the service against the characteristics of our judgment of good is relatively bespoke. It is led by a part-time temporary chief fire officer and operates an on-call duty system with one full-time station manager. What the service provides – with the resources it has – needs to be recognised in the context of the size, remoteness and uniqueness of the islands.

We were pleased to see that the service has made progress since our 2022 inspection. For example, the service has improved how it monitors the service level agreement with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service for the services the latter provides. The service manages this effectively through scrutiny and oversight.

My principal findings from our assessments of the service over the past year are as follows:

• The service is working to identify and inspect all commercial sleeping risk on the islands in its risk-based inspection programme, making sure the public are kept safe.
• Firefighter training is more structured, with the help of a computerised dashboard to record and direct training, which helps firefighters maintain the skills they need to keep them safe at incidents.
• Communication across the service has improved because of the introduction of the part-time temporary chief fire officer, supported by the station manager. This gives all staff a voice.
• Promotion and development processes have been introduced that show openness, clarity and direction for progression for all staff.

Overall, it is pleasing to see the improved performance of the Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service and the improvements it has made since our last inspection. In our next inspection, I look forward to seeing the progress it has made against the areas for improvement we have highlighted.

Roy Wilsher

HM Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services

Service in numbers

Percentage of firefighters, workforce and population who identified as a woman as at 31 March 2024

Percentage of firefighters, workforce and population who were from ethnic minority backgrounds as at 31 March 2024

References to ethnic minorities in this report include people from White minority backgrounds but exclude people from Irish minority backgrounds. This is due to current data collection practices for national data. Read more information on data and analysis throughout this report in ‘About the data’.

Understanding the risk of fire and other emergencies

Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service is adequate at understanding risk.

Each fire and rescue service should identify and assess all foreseeable fire and rescue-related risks that could affect its communities. It should use its protection and response capabilities to prevent or mitigate these risks for the public.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service identifies risk in the community

The service has assessed a suitable range of risks and threats using a thorough community risk management planning process. In its assessment of risk, it uses information it has collected from a broad range of internal and external sources and datasets. Datasets used to inform the service’s new community risk management plan (CRMP) include population, health, incident data, and crime data gathered through the Safer Scilly partnership. The service carries out work to understand how the population may change in future and how this will affect risk on the Isles of Scilly.

When appropriate, the service has consulted and held constructive dialogue with its communities and other relevant parties to understand risk and explain how it intends to mitigate it. For example, the service has set up a working group to address the objectives stated in the new CRMP, including who should be consulted. Consultees include the Isles of Scilly public, and partners such as heritage groups, the steamship group and various council boards and networks.

The service created an engagement and consultation plan when creating its new CRMP. This included a questionnaire, which the service shared with key stakeholders through the Council of the Isles of Scilly’s website and through social media platforms. The service collated the findings and produced a report on them.

The CRMP clearly outlines how the service will manage identified risk

The CRMP focuses on working together as a service and with partners to make the Isles of Scilly safer. The service intends to do this by delivering against risk objectives identified in each area of its work, which include:

• reducing the impact on individuals and the community from fire and other incidents;
• mitigating the social, economic and environmental impact of fires and other incidents through prevention, protection and response activity;
• improving its workforce’s understanding of diversity and inclusion to better represent the community; and
• seeking to reduce vulnerability by improving health and well-being in the community.

The service produces an annual assurance statement in which it shows how it is performing against its CRMP and the risk objectives identified.

The service effectively gathers risk information, but it needs to share it with all staff formally

The service routinely collects and updates the information it has about the highest-risk people, places and threats it has identified. This includes risk information about domestic properties such as oxygen users, and building risk information such as hazards, water supplies and evacuation plans.

We sampled a broad range of the risk information the service collects, including short‑term risk information gathered from home fire safety checks (HFSCs), and site‑specific risk information on high-risk premises.

This information is readily available for the service’s prevention, protection and response staff. This means these teams can identify, reduce and mitigate risk effectively. For example, a computer database is used to collect and store risk information, which is accessible to all staff. Mobile data terminals, SIM-enabled tablets and laptops can be used to access this information, including at the scene of an incident.

Staff at the locations we visited, including firefighters and emergency control room staff, were able to show us that they could access, use and share risk information quickly to help them resolve incidents safely.

In our last inspection, we gave the service an area for improvement concerning how risk information is collected from local knowledge and prevention activity, and how this is then recorded and shared. In the latest inspection, it was pleasing to see that the service used a formal process to record and share risk information collected during prevention activity. This is shared with appropriate staff such as those in fire control, which is provided by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, who can then communicate the risk to operational crews, should an incident occur at a domestic property. Therefore, we have closed the area for improvement.

Although information from prevention activity is being shared among the workforce, it isn’t certain if this is the case for protection activity carried out on the islands. Protection activity is provided through a service level agreement with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service. The service told us protection information was shared in the same way, but there was no evidence of this. It is shared on an informal basis through word of mouth.

Risk-critical information, including protection information, is distributed by the station manager, who is based on the main island of St Mary’s, to crew and watch managers. These managers then share it with crews by word of mouth. This information is managed locally and isn’t formally recorded. Some staff we spoke to were unsure how risk-critical information, such as known health and safety issues with equipment, was shared. Sharing of risk-critical information among the workforce is potentially being missed. The service would benefit from a formal process for sharing and recording risk-critical information, making sure staff understand what is being shared. As a result, we have identified this as an area for improvement.

The service acts on regional and national operational learning appropriately

The service records and communicates risk information effectively. It also routinely updates risk assessments and uses feedback from local and national operational activities to inform its planning assumptions. For example, the service identifies suitable and appropriate learning that is available regionally and nationally, cascading this to managers for distribution among staff.

Preventing fires and other risks

Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service is adequate at preventing fires and other risks.

Fire and rescue services must promote fire safety, including giving fire safety advice. To identify people at greatest risk from fire, services should work closely with other organisations in the public and voluntary sectors, and with the police and ambulance services. They should share intelligence and risk information with these other organisations when they identify vulnerability or exploitation.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service doesn’t have a clear prevention strategy

The service doesn’t have a prevention strategy. It has a prevention statement that outlines what activity and shared service is provided through a no-cost arrangement it has with the Isles of Scilly airport fire and rescue service. This details the work carried out by airport staff as part of the arrangement. The work includes HFSCs, educational school visits, providing the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award training, community safety initiatives and sharing fire safety messages on social media.

Without a clear prevention strategy, there is no formal approach to how the service targets those most at risk of fire, nor a statement of what time frame it will carry out prevention activity in. Furthermore, the service doesn’t outline what other prevention activity it will carry out on the Isles of Scilly, for example educating schoolchildren or the public on water safety, road safety or wildfires. The service recognises that there is no dedicated resource to provide its prevention function as most staff are on call. This means individuals have a primary job outside the service. We have identified the lack of a prevention strategy as an area for improvement.

The service works well with other relevant organisations on prevention, and they share relevant information when needed. For example, the service works closely with adult social care, children’s social care and the police to target the most vulnerable and make sure that partners are using the referral process in place.

There is no formal process for targeting those most at risk

The service doesn’t have a clear, risk-based approach that helps it to direct prevention activity towards the people most at risk from fire and other emergencies. Due to the size and population of the islands, the approach the service has to prevention differs according to the situation.

All houses on the four inhabited smaller islands, known as the ‘off islands’, receive an HFSC by on-call firefighters on those islands. These checks include the sharing of relevant advice and the fitting of equipment as needed, including smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms.

The prevention activity on St Mary’s is mainly done through the arrangement the service has with the airport fire and rescue service. The work carried out is detailed in the prevention statement. It depends on the availability of staff as their primary role is with the airport. If they have capacity, they carry out HFSCs. These checks are generated through referrals and some targeting that has been carried out. However, they aren’t adequately targeted, nor are they carried out in an appropriate time frame. No official data is used to target the locations of checks, and they are normally done out of holiday season. However, the service is exploring ways of sharing data with partners and is looking to use quality data to direct its prevention activity accordingly. We look forward to seeing this.

The service doesn’t have adequate oversight of the prevention work carried out. We identified this in the previous round of inspection as an area for improvement, and this has remained.

The number of HFSCs carried out by the service is higher than the national average. In the year ending 31 March 2024, it carried out 52.5 checks per 1,000 population in comparison to the national average of 10.4.

Staff receive training to carry out HFSCs

Staff told us that training on carrying out HFSCs was provided by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service. This is part of the service level agreement in place. If required, additional support and advice are available for staff through this arrangement.

Staff also said they have the right skills and confidence to carry out HFSCs. These checks cover an appropriate range of hazards that can put vulnerable people at greater risk from fire and other emergencies. The service has recognised through an equality impact assessment (EIAs) that individuals on the Isles of Scilly have the potential to consume more alcohol. The service acknowledges this, and the advice given in HFSCs focuses on the dangers this can pose.

The service has recently introduced a computer system for recording HFSCs. This is in its infancy, and not all staff use this method of recording. Most staff still record this information on paper. This potentially limits how this information can be used to direct prevention activity.

Staff have the skills and training to appropriately respond to safeguarding concerns

Staff we interviewed told us about occasions when they had identified safeguarding problems. They told us they feel confident and trained to act appropriately and promptly. Staff have support tools, such as a flowchart in the fire engines to give them direction on how to make a safeguarding referral, and guidance on what to look for when addressing a safeguarding concern. The service gave us an example to show a safeguarding concern being addressed and appropriate action being taken by all relevant organisations including the service.

Staff told us that safeguarding training is provided by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service. This is part of the service level agreement in place. Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service offers additional support if needed when making a safeguarding referral or if concerns are identified. Following a recent review of safeguarding provision, the service has increased staff training to raise awareness. This is on a mandatory annual basis.

The service works well with partner organisations

The service works with a wide range of other organisations to prevent fires and other emergencies. These include the police and the coastguard. The service also holds educational days at St Mary’s fire station, and partners attend to give safety advice in their area of work.

We found good evidence that it routinely refers people at greatest risk to organisations that may better meet their needs. These organisations include adult social care when addressing individuals with hoarding problems. Arrangements are also in place to receive referrals from others, and the service has carried out work with partners to assist in highlighting the most vulnerable individuals. For example, dentist surgeries share details of patients – with their agreement – with the service. There has been an increase in referrals received, and these are more complex cases, but visits are carried out in an appropriate time frame. The service hopes it will receive more referrals through this partnership work.

The service routinely exchanges information with other public sector organisations about people and groups at greatest risk. It uses this information to challenge planning assumptions and target prevention activity. For example, the service is part of the Safer Scilly group, in which it offers support and carries out prevention activity. The group is used to share concerns, and the service has worked with partners to reduce the chance of wildfires caused by disposable barbecues and lanterns.

The service doesn’t carry out any road safety activity. Due to the size and road network of the islands, road traffic incidents are few. However, the service does alert the public to how parking can affect an emergency response.

The service has access to a competent and qualified duty fire investigator to support the prosecution of arsonists

The service has limited involvement in targeting and educating people who show signs of fire-setting behaviour. Although the service carries out educational visits to young people through the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme and attends some schools on some of the islands, this activity focuses on fire safety and prevention, and not necessarily the dangers of fire-setting.

The service has access to a qualified fire investigator to support the prosecution of arsonists, as part of the service level agreement with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service. If this service is needed, a crew, watch or station manager uses telephone or video calls to start and support the investigation process. If necessary, the Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service duty fire investigator will attend the islands. The number of incidents, including deliberate fires, on the islands is limited so doesn’t require an individual who is skilled to this level.

The service carries out minimal evaluation of its prevention work

We found limited evidence that the service evaluates how effective its activity is or makes sure all its communities get appropriate access to prevention activity that meets their needs. The service has a positive relationship with the communities it serves and uses social media to highlight campaigns. These include the importance of having working smoke alarms in homes. However, the service doesn’t carry out formal evaluation of this work.

The service does use its limited feedback to inform its planning assumptions and future activity, so it focuses on what the community needs and what works. Following a safeguarding case, a debrief takes place to evaluate how the activity went. This includes the service and its partners, such as adult and children’s social care, the police and the ambulance service. Learning is recorded to help future improvements, for example all partners carrying out joint training on adult safeguarding.

Protecting the public through fire regulation

Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service is good at protecting the public through fire regulation.

All fire and rescue services should assess fire risks in certain buildings and, when necessary, require building owners to comply with fire safety legislation. Each service decides how many assessments it does each year. But it must have a locally determined, risk-based inspection programme for enforcing the legislation.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The protection strategy is linked to the CRMP

The service’s protection strategy is clearly linked to the risks it has identified in its CRMP.

The protection function is provided by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service as part of the service level agreement. It includes development and review of the risk-based inspection programme to make sure it aligns to the risks identified in the CRMP, targeting the highest-risk premises.

Risk information that is exchanged between the protection department and other departments isn’t adequately recorded or shared. Information from protection activity carried out by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service is shared with the Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service on an informal basis, and this is then shared with the workforce accordingly. The service would benefit from a more formal process for sharing this risk information.

Audit activity is aligned with the risk-based inspection programme

We recognise that levels of risk on the Isles of Scilly can’t be compared to those on the mainland. However, we found that the service’s risk-based inspection programme is focused on the service’s highest-risk buildings. As at March 2024, it has identified 34 high-risk premises on the five inhabited islands. In our last inspection, we identified that it should review its records to make sure that all commercial buildings, including recently converted bed and breakfast accommodation, are included in the protection database. So it was pleasing to see that the service was carrying out work to identify all sleeping risk on the islands. Once reviewed and cleansed, the data will be included in the risk-based inspection programme.

The service acknowledges that the method used in the Isles of Scilly to categorise the risk of premises differs from that for Cornwall, and premises and occupation types also differ. This is due to the uniqueness of the islands. The service does inspect high‑risk premises, such as the hospital and the care home, and sleeping-risk premises. But it should develop a formal method to direct the activity of the risk-based inspection programme, and to help to identify and review all high-risk, medium-risk and sleeping-risk premises on the islands.

The audits we reviewed had been completed in the timescale the service had set itself. For the year 2023/24, 69 percent of the service’s audits (20 out of 29) resulted in a premises being declared unsatisfactory. This highlights effective targeting by the service. The service level agreement with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service states what protection activity will be carried out and how frequently. Two inspectors from Cornwall visit the islands for a week, twice a year. Some of the activity they carry out includes fire safety audits, working with local businesses, addressing complaints and concerns, and any post-fire activity and follow-up work because of a formal outcome. (A formal outcome is one that involves a prohibition notice, an enforcement notice or prosecution.) Inspectors visit the islands between these periods if necessary and requested to do so.

There is a consistent approach to fire audits

We reviewed a range of audits that the service had carried out at different buildings across its area. These included audits carried out:

• as part of the service’s risk-based inspection programme;
• after fires at premises where fire safety legislation applies; or
• after enforcement action had been taken.

The audits we reviewed were completed to a high standard in a consistent, systematic way and in line with service policies. Through a dedicated member of staff, the service makes relevant information from its audits available to operational teams and control room staff. This helps them take appropriate action.

A quality assurance process reviews fire protection activity carried out by officers

The service carries out proportionate quality assurance of its protection activity. Quality assurance of protection activity is carried out as part of the protection procedure in place with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service. This includes an annual review of the inspection officers’ work, including shadowing an audit, and review of administration and notices and letters issued.

It has good evaluation tools in place to measure how effective its activity is and to make sure all sections of its communities get appropriate access to the protection services that meet their needs. Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service receives informal feedback from the work it carries out with local businesses, including how receptive businesses are to the advice given.

The service has a consistent approach to enforcement

The service consistently uses its full range of enforcement powers. Enforcement is carried out by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service and follows the same process as in Cornwall. There is a consistent approach to enforcement, which we observed through the files we reviewed. The service follows the enforcement management model, when required, to determine the level of enforcement.

In the year ending 31 March 2024, the service issued 1 alteration notice, 17 informal notifications, 2 enforcement notices and 2 prohibition notices, and carried out 0 prosecutions.

We identified that a premises that had received a formal outcome hadn’t been reviewed within an adequate timescale. The service should have a process in place to make sure a premises that has received a formal outcome is adequately reviewed on time, and appropriate remedial action is carried out.

Resourcing of the protection function is achieved through the service level agreement

As part of the service level agreement, Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service must provide enough qualified protection staff to carry out what is detailed in the agreement. This helps Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service to provide the range of audit and enforcement activity needed, both now and in the future.

Staff get the right training and work to appropriate accreditation. This is carried out and managed as part of their primary role for Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service.

The service works with other enforcement agencies

The service works closely with other enforcement agencies to regulate fire safety and it routinely exchanges risk information with them. There is regular dialogue with partners such as the environmental health department to make sure that appropriate fire safety action is carried out when concerns are identified. If joint visits are needed at establishments that come under both remits, just one is carried out covering both food and fire safety for example.

The service doesn’t always respond to building consultations on time

The service doesn’t always respond to building consultations on time. This means it doesn’t consistently meet its statutory responsibility to comment on fire safety arrangements at new and altered buildings. During 2023/24, the service responded to 85 percent of building consultations (17 out of 20) within the required time frame. The service should make sure that it reviews and responds to building consultations on time, to make sure people and buildings are safe. Consultations are carried out by an inspection officer in Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service.

The service works well with local businesses to promote fire safety

The service proactively works with local businesses and other organisations to promote compliance with fire safety legislation.

Webinars are given by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service to management agents. The service also visits the islands to carry out two fire safety sessions for local businesses per year. These are said to be well attended and recipients are active participants.

The Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service is carrying out work with two main letting agents on the islands to improve understanding of compliance. Businesses are directed to the Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service website for further advice, which may create confusion but is sufficient.

The Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service is looking to explore the primary authority scheme alongside Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, with relevant partners on the islands.

The service has recognised an increase in unwanted fire signals

The service is taking only limited action to reduce the number of unwanted fire signals. During 2023/24, the service attended 17 false alarms. This is an 88.9 percent increase in comparison to the previous year, in which the service attended 9 false alarms. This means fire engines may not be available to respond to genuine incidents because they are attending false alarms. It also creates a risk to the public if more fire engines travel at high speed on the roads to respond to these incidents.

The service has acknowledged this increase. Due to the low number of incidents, the service sees it as beneficial to attend them for familiarisation with the process of responding. It has also said it will continue to work with local businesses to identify the causes of false alarms and provide advice on reducing them. It should make sure it continues to monitor and review its response to unwanted fire signals.

Responding to fires and other emergencies

Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service is good at responding to fires and other emergencies.

Fire and rescue services must be able to respond to a range of incidents such as fires, road traffic collisions and other emergencies in their areas.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service responds adequately to the needs of the islands

The service’s response strategy is linked to the risks it has identified in its CRMP. Its fire engines and response staff, as well as its working patterns, are designed and located to help the service respond flexibly to fires and other emergencies with the appropriate resources. The service is made up of on-call staff on the five inhabited islands. This means these individuals have primary employment outside the service, and will attend an incident when alerted to do so.

The service makes sure it matches equipment resources to risk and the incidents that occur on the islands. This is recognised in the CRMP, where it identifies that most incidents are secondary fires that occur outside in grassland, woodland and cropland. As a result, the service has introduced new equipment to assist in its response to these fires, such as aqua backpacks, wetting agents and more appropriate PPE.

The service meets its response standards

There are no national response standards of performance for the public. But the service has set out its own response standards in its CRMP. Its response standard for the number of personnel that will attend a dwelling fire is nine. Support on the off islands comes from St Mary’s. There were no dwelling fires in the year ending 2023/24.

The service consistently meets its standards. Home Office data shows that in the year ending 31 March 2023, the service’s response time to primary fires was 10 minutes and 44 seconds. This is in line with the average for predominantly rural services. However, care should be taken when comparing this service with others due to its unique setting and the low number of calls attended.

The service has good operational availability

To support its response strategy, the service aims to have 100 percent of fire engines available on 100 percent of occasions. The data collected for the year 2023/24 shows it is meeting this aim. The service has six on-call fire engines: one on each of the off islands and two on St Mary’s. The types of fire engine available meet the needs of the islands. The service manages their availability effectively.

Incident commanders are adequately trained

The service has trained incident commanders, who are assessed regularly and properly. During 2023/24, all 13 incident commanders were accredited. The service recognises that its incident commanders will benefit from more frequent revalidation of their incident command skills. Therefore they are assessed every year, as opposed to every two years as set out nationally. As part of the service level agreement with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, instructors attend the Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service to carry out training and assessment of incident command. The training provided is in line with national operational guidance. This helps the service safely, assertively and effectively manage the whole range of incidents it could face, from small and routine ones to complex multi-agency incidents.

As part of our inspection, we interviewed incident commanders from across the service. They were familiar with risk assessing, decision-making and recording information at incidents in line with national best practice, as well as the Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles (JESIP).

Fire control staff are involved in training, exercises and debriefs

The control function is carried out by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service as part of the service level agreement. Mobilisation procedures are bespoke for the Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service. They are followed by control staff, and appropriate training is cascaded to make sure all staff in the control room are aware of them. If requested, control staff are also involved in any training that is carried out on the islands. And we were pleased to see control staff were involved in the service’s debrief process, whether this was following an incident or an exercise.

Staff have access to risk information

We sampled a range of risk information. The information included the risk type, fire assembly points, hazards, utilities, fire detection, occupants, contact details, plans of the premises and a risk-scoring matrix.

The information we reviewed was up to date and detailed. Staff, including control staff, can easily access and understand it. They can access it electronically, through mobile data terminals, SIM-enabled tablets or laptops.

The service could improve how it updates staff with learning gathered by evaluating operational performance

As part of the inspection, we reviewed a range of emergency incidents and training events. These include multi-agency exercises, such as an aircraft accident simulation, and small-scale incidents.

We were pleased to see the service routinely follows its policies to make sure that staff command incidents in line with operational guidance. It updates internal risk information with the information it receives. It carries out a range of debriefs including hot debriefs, formal debriefs – which are facilitated by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service – and multi-agency debriefs. And it exchanges this information with appropriate organisations, such as the police, the ambulance service and the coastguard.

The service has responded to learning from incidents to improve its service for the public. For example, the debrief that followed a multi-agency exercise involving a simulated aircraft accident made it clear that multi-agency partners would benefit from JESIP training. This training has taken place, and gave partners more of an understanding and awareness of emergency roles in a multi-agency environment.

We were encouraged to see the service is contributing towards, and acting on, learning from other fire and rescue services or operational learning gathered from emergency service partners. This includes the findings and recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. As a result, the service has purchased smoke hoods to help with the safe evacuation of the public from smoke-filled places.

Learning gathered from debriefs, other fire and rescue services or emergency service partners is emailed to crew and watch managers by a dedicated individual in the service. These managers are then supposed to share the learning with their staff. However, we found that not all staff were aware of the findings from debriefs. The service would benefit from a formal process for recording and sharing learning from debriefs. This would help to make sure all staff receive this information.

The service keeps the public informed about ongoing incidents

The service has good systems in place to inform the public about ongoing incidents and help keep them safe during and after incidents. These include using social media, the police and the Council of the Isles of Scilly’s website to communicate messages about ongoing incidents. The service is in contact with the council’s communication department. The department can use its position in the local resilience forum to inform the public of ongoing incidents.

Responding to major and multi-agency incidents

All fire and rescue services must be able to respond effectively to multi-agency and cross-border incidents. This means working with other fire and rescue services (known as intraoperability) and emergency services (known as interoperability).

Because of its remote island location, we didn’t assess the service for its ability to respond to major and multi-agency incidents. It should however be recognised that the service has carried out work to make sure it can respond effectively to such incidents. We set out our detailed findings below.

Main findings

The service has plans for major and multi-agency incidents, and staff are involved in exercises

The service has effectively anticipated and considered the reasonably foreseeable risks and threats it may face. These risks are listed in both local and national risk registers as part of its community risk management planning. For example, risks include extreme weather events, such as the risk of coastal flooding, that are likely to require a major or multi-agency response.

The service takes part in regular training events with other members of the local resilience forum. For example, one event involved a simulated aircraft incident. It uses the learning to develop planning assumptions about responding to major and multi‑agency incidents.

The service, with partners, has recently started to run a JESIP course on the islands. Staff from the service attend with other statutory partners such as the police, the ambulance service and the local authorities.

The service works well with partners and is an active member of the local resilience forum

The service has good arrangements in place to respond to emergencies with partners that make up the Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Resilience Forum. These arrangements include the new part-time temporary chief fire officer filling the forum’s senior responsible officer role for the training and exercises workstream.

The service is a valued partner and sits on various subgroups. Additionally, the chief fire officer has recently set up a blue light working group in which response plans and areas of focus and challenge are discussed.

The service makes use of national learning

The service makes sure it knows about national operational updates from other fire and rescue services and joint organisational learning from other organisations, such as the police service and ambulance trusts. It uses this learning to inform planning assumptions that it makes with partner organisations. The chief fire officer is a member of the National Fire Chiefs Council and has regular dialogue with the south‑west operational group of fire and rescue services to make sure his knowledge on the sector is current.

Making best use of resources

Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service is good at making best use of its resources.

Fire and rescue services should manage their resources properly and appropriately, aligning them with their risks and statutory responsibilities. Services should make best possible use of resources to achieve the best results for the public.

The service’s revenue budget for 2024/25 is £622,558. This is a 2 percent increase from the previous financial year.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service can better show how resources are allocated to reduce risk

In our last inspection, we identified an area for improvement about the need to show a clear rationale for the resources allocated between prevention, protection and response activities, which should reflect, and be consistent with, the risks and priorities set out in the service’s integrated risk management plan. We were encouraged to see the improvements the service has made in this area. Therefore, we have closed the area for improvement.

The service’s funding supports the implementation of its new CRMP, including the allocation of resources to its prevention, protection and response work. It has recognised that it isn’t practical or cost-effective to commit its own resources to providing some of its functions. And, since our last inspection, it has reviewed the agreements used to commission work from its partners, including the airport fire and rescue service, Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, and Cornwall Council.

The service’s on-call firefighters carry out prevention work on the four off islands. And the service has an arrangement with the airport fire and rescue service to carry out prevention work on St Mary’s. While the service and the airport are both overseen by the Council of the Isles of Scilly, prevention work is an extra responsibility for airport staff beyond their primary role. As a result, they can only give a limited amount of time to prevention activity. The service should assure itself that it has sufficient capacity for the amount of prevention work it needs to carry out.

The service has an agreement with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service to carry out protection work. The agreement sets out how much time that service will give to carrying out this work and what activities it will do when visiting the islands.

The service has an adequate response function with an appropriate number of fire engines for the unique risk profile of the islands. The service is small with few incidents. There is one fire engine on each off island and two fire engines on St Mary’s. Operational staff consist of on-call firefighters and one wholetime station manager.

The service has better oversight of its commissioned services

In our last inspection, we identified an area for improvement about the need to review the agreements used to commission services from partners and strengthen the governance arrangements to provide adequate oversight and scrutiny of these agreements. We were encouraged to see the improvements the service has made in this area. Therefore, we have closed the area for improvement.

The service has reviewed the content of, and management arrangements for, its agreement with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service. The updated agreement sets out all the services provided by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service and how much they cost. There is improved oversight of the agreement. Quarterly meetings take place between the two services. The agreement is discussed, performance reviewed, and actions agreed and recorded. If there are performance issues which can’t be resolved, they are escalated to strategic management.

The service monitors prevention performance, including what is provided through the arrangement with the airport fire and rescue service. This arrangement has no financial cost to the service as the airport’s parent authority, the Council of the Isles of Scilly, pays airport staff an additional responsibility allowance. But this prevention work is an extra responsibility for airport staff beyond their primary role. The service is aware that airport staff capacity is limited. It needs to assure itself that its prevention arrangements are meeting the priorities in its CRMP.

The service’s new CRMP includes some performance measures covering areas such as availability, compliance and training. It doesn’t include performance measures for prevention and protection, but these are monitored by the service. The service provides strategic performance reports for the Council of the Isles of Scilly. These reports cover how the service is performing in areas such as incidents attended and mobilisation time to incidents, prevention and protection activity, and training and development of staff. The chief fire officer meets regularly with the council’s chief executive and the chair of the council’s scrutiny committee to discuss the service’s performance.

The service collaborates effectively with other organisations

We were pleased to see the service meets its statutory duty to collaborate. It routinely considers opportunities to collaborate with other emergency responders. Collaboration includes:

• sharing fire stations with other emergency partners such as the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust;
• carrying out prevention activity with the airport fire and rescue service;
• attending blue light working group meetings to discuss emerging themes and issues encountered on the islands by emergency services;
• supporting other responders at operational incidents by providing additional personnel for logistical assistance and transportation support between the islands;
• supporting the ambulance service in the event of a shortfall of medical personnel by providing it with on-call firefighters who are also ambulance community first responders; and
• supporting the coastguard to make sure landing sites are safe on one of the islands for a search and rescue helicopter to land.

Collaborative work is aligned to the priorities in the service’s CRMP. For example, due to the size and location of the islands and the service, the CRMP emphasises the service’s priority of collaborating with other organisations to provide resilient and cost-effective services. To align with this priority, there are agreements with:

• Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service (at cost to the service), which provides specialist training, emergency call handling and management, protection work, CRMP development, and fire and rescue strategic support and management advice;
• Cornwall Council (at cost), which provides budgeting, financial management, and IT equipment and support; and
• the airport fire and rescue service (at no cost), which carries out prevention work on St Mary’s and equipment maintenance and testing.

As part of the review of the agreement with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, the service has considered its cost-effectiveness. For example, it has considered other options for emergency call handling and management, but these would be more expensive.

However, the service told us that bringing some work areas back into the service had reduced overall costs from around £120,000 per year to around £84,000 per year. It has achieved this through the introduction of a new role of part-time temporary chief fire officer. The officer can provide more support to the service, through their operational knowledge and understanding of the fire and rescue service.

The service has sufficient continuity arrangements

The service has good continuity arrangements for areas in which it considers threats and risks to be high.

In the event of a scenario, such as a flu pandemic, that results in crewing being affected, the service will implement its degradation plan. This involves one crew being made available on St Mary’s, using a wholetime duty system rather than the normal on-call duty system, until the scenario ends. If additional resource is required, the service will request support from Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service through the declaration of a major incident.

The service has explored what contingency it would need in the event of extreme weather conditions and how crews would be mobilised across the islands to support operational activity. This will be managed locally by a dedicated officer on the islands. They will use their position in the local resilience forum to obtain additional support if required.

There is a contingency plan for fire control. Control is provided by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service. Should there be a problem with this service, such as a high number of calls or a problem with control’s premises, control will switch to a backup control function with North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The service reduces costs where appropriate

The service faces challenges in reducing its costs. This is due to its small size and the additional expense related to providing goods, materials and services to a remote island location.

There are regular reviews to consider all the service’s expenditure, including its non‑pay costs. And this scrutiny makes sure the service gets value for money. For example, the service holds monthly monitoring meetings with the Council of the Isles of Scilly’s finance department.

The service makes sure it carries out joint procurement with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service to reduce costs where possible. For example, both services have jointly purchased road traffic collision cutting equipment.

Making the FRS affordable now and in the future

Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service is good at making the service affordable now and in the future.

Fire and rescue services should continuously look for ways to improve their effectiveness and efficiency. This includes transforming how they work and improving their value for money. Services should have robust spending plans that reflect future financial challenges and efficiency opportunities, and they should invest in better services for the public.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service understands its future financial challenges

As a department of the Council of the Isles of Scilly, the service understands its future financial challenges. For example, due to the remoteness of the islands, these include providing an affordable and cost-effective service across five island communities.

As a small service in a remote location, the service recognises the importance of finding economies of scale to reduce costs where possible and provide resilience to the services it provides. The agreements it has with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service and Cornwall Council are examples of where it does this. It should continue to review and monitor these agreements to make sure they offer value for money.

Increased costs for travel to and from the mainland are a risk the service manages. For example, the service previously sent staff to the mainland for occupational health provision. But now it has an arrangement for an occupational health provider to come to the service and see multiple staff in one visit.

There are clear arrangements for accessing reserves

Reserves are held by the Council of the Isles of Scilly. The service can apply to use them, through a business case, if needed.

Fleet and estates support the requirements of the CRMP

The service’s asset strategy, which includes fleet, links to the risks identified in the CRMP. And it links to the asset replacement capital programme, which has around £611,000 allocated between 2024/25 and 2026/27.

Fleet and equipment are purchased to meet the specific operational requirements on the islands. And options are considered to reduce costs. For example, the fire engine on St Mary’s has been replaced with a second-hand fire engine.

Maintenance of the service’s estate is carried out by the Council of the Isles of Scilly as part of its wider asset management plan. The council’s estates management process has been reviewed since the last time we inspected the service, and improvements have been identified. Through its conditions survey, the council identified that one of the off-island fire stations was in need of repair. At the time of our inspection, this work was expected to be completed by March 2025.

The service makes good use of IT systems to improve effectiveness and efficiency

Although the service doesn’t feature in Cornwall Council’s IT strategy, the agreement with Cornwall Council sets out what IT support will be provided to the service. The service meets monthly with the Council of the Isles of Scilly to discuss any changes to requirements.

Since our last inspection, the service has introduced new mobile data terminals and SIM-enabled tablets to access risk information and supporting documents for response to incidents. These replace a paper-based system.

The service is aware that improvements to the mobilisation system can be made. It is working with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service and Cornwall Council to explore how an automatic mobilisation system can be introduced to the islands to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its response. In our next inspection, we look forward to seeing if this has been introduced and how well it is working.

The blue light working group has identified risks concerning communications resilience. As a result, Starlink (a satellite internet service that provides broadband internet access) has been purchased. This provides resilience to communication arrangements in the event of a major incident.

Through Devon and Cornwall Police, the service has access to the force’s scanning and mapping system. This creates spatial imagery of buildings and terrain to support the service at incidents.

The service should continue to assure itself it has the capacity to manage change

The service has carried out work to create capacity and capability to bring about sustainable change, but it recognises there is more to do. It has appointed a new part‑time temporary chief fire officer to support the full-time role of the station manager in some areas of work. The service should continue to assure itself that it has the resilience and capacity to provide the change and improvements it has planned.

Promoting the right values and culture

Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service is good at promoting the right values and culture.

Fire and rescue services should have positive and inclusive cultures, modelled by the behaviours of their senior leaders. Services should promote health and safety effectively, and staff should have access to a range of well‑being support that can be tailored to their individual needs.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

There is a positive culture and a sense of pride in the service, and staff model its values

The service has well-defined values, which staff understand. The service has adopted the values known as the “five ethical principles” set out in the Core Code of Ethics. We found staff at all levels of the service showed behaviours that reflect service values. It has implemented the code well and staff understand it. The service says the code is part of everything it does.

In our staff survey, we identified that nearly all respondents were aware of the service’s statement of values, and nearly all staff agreed or tended to agree that their colleagues modelled and maintained these values. When we visited the service, we observed the culture to be positive, and staff told us they felt a sense of pride in working for the service.

Nearly all staff who responded to our survey said that senior leaders acted as role models, and they modelled and maintained the service’s values. This response was supported by staff we spoke to during the inspection, who told us that the new chief fire officer was approachable, positive, helpful, supportive, keen to be involved and showed gratitude. Most of the staff who responded to our survey said that they agreed or tended to agree that their manager consistently modelled and maintained the service’s values.

There is a positive working culture throughout the service, with staff empowered and willing to challenge poor behaviours when they come across them. The chief fire officer regularly attends stations to speak to staff members and hold open discussions to give individuals a voice.

The service should better communicate its well-being support

The service continues to have well-understood and effective well-being policies in place, which are available to staff. A significant range of well-being support is available to support both physical and mental health. For example, staff have access to occupational health, external support services, the Fire Fighters Charity, the council’s well-being support service – Care first – and a diffusion officer for post-traumatic incident support. To promote physical well-being and help to maintain the required fitness standard, staff also have access to gym facilities on each island. The service has introduced an arrangement for an occupational health provider to visit the islands, which makes it cheaper and more efficient for staff to attend appointments. In the past, staff would travel to the mainland to attend appointments, which would affect resource levels when there was travel disruption.

There are good provisions in place to promote staff well-being. These include posters being displayed in fire stations, and discussions taking place formally and informally with line managers. In our staff survey, nearly all respondents said that they felt able to access services to support their mental well-being. Most staff told us they understand and have confidence in the well-being support processes available. But some staff we spoke to weren’t aware of how this support could be accessed. The service would benefit from better communicating its well-being provision to staff, specifically those who are new to the service.

There is a positive attitude to health and safety in the service

The service continues to have effective and well-understood health and safety policies and procedures in place. It uses the Council of the Isles of Scilly’s health and safety policy, which covers all council employees. This is reviewed annually or when a significant change occurs. Consultation and co-operation with representative bodies takes place through a health and safety advisory group. A fire and rescue authority representative is also invited to attend.

These policies and procedures are readily available, and the service promotes them effectively to all staff. Most staff who responded to our staff survey said that they understood them. Our survey results also show that all staff are encouraged to report all accidents, near misses and dangerous occurrences and that there are clear procedures on the reporting process. Staff have confidence in the health and safety approach the service takes.

All staff carry out health and safety training. Induction sessions for new starters also include this.

There is no clear guidance available for staff about secondary employment. Operational staff have primary employment outside the service, and their secondary contract is their on-call role. While the service doesn’t carry out formal active monitoring of hours, it told us this would be managed locally, making sure firefighters are fit for duty.

The service recognises the importance of minimising firefighters’ exposure to contaminants, and all firefighters have access to additional firefighting PPE. Given the size of the service and the low number of incidents on the islands, we consider this to be sufficient.

The service manages absence well

We found there are clear processes in place to manage absences for staff. There is clear guidance for managers, who are confident in using the process. The service manages absences well and in accordance with policy. It monitors absence to identify trends and causes of long-term absence. It reports results monthly to the operational leadership team of the Council of the Isles of Scilly. And it presents quarterly performance reports that include absence data to the full council.

There is a clear process for staff to follow when recording absence. However, some staff were unaware of the process and said they would contact their line manager for instruction. All staff said they would book themselves off-duty on the computer system straightaway so another firefighter could replace them if necessary to maintain the availability of the fire engine.

Getting the right people with the right skills

Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service is good at getting the right people with the right skills.

Fire and rescue services should have a workforce plan in place that is linked to their community risk management plans. It should set out their current and future skills requirements and address capability gaps. This should be supplemented by a culture of continuous improvement, including appropriate learning and development throughout the service.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

Succession planning is carried out informally

The service has good workforce planning in place. This makes sure skills and capabilities align with what it needs to effectively carry out its CRMP. For example, the service recognised that it needed to implement a robust promotion process to make sure an appropriate number of individuals are in position to assume the role of crew or watch manager. Individuals are skilled to the appropriate level before a position becomes available, so the transition to the next rank is smoother. This has made sure the service has enough appropriately trained staff to maintain its response levels.

Due to the size of the workforce, succession planning is managed on an informal basis between the station manager and the chief fire officer. Available positions and specific skill sets required are discussed to identify where gaps exist, and appropriate action is taken to fill these. The service also uses individuals’ performance development plans to highlight anyone who is on a promotion pathway and displays potential.

The service effectively monitors workforce skills and capabilities

Most staff told us that they could access the training they need to be effective in their role. This wasn’t just focused on operational skills. The service’s training plans make sure they can maintain competence and capability effectively. For example, all staff who completed our staff survey told us they had received sufficient training to effectively do their job.

The service uses a computerised competency dashboard to monitor staff skills and abilities to carry out the role of firefighter. Training is structured through the dashboard, which sets out what training is needed each month, for example training on road traffic collisions or breathing apparatus. If an individual needs further training on specific equipment, training is tailored to meet this need. This was an area for improvement in the last round of inspection. It is pleasing to see that training is now more structured and beneficial for staff. Therefore, we have closed the area for improvement.

Skills that need formal assessment, such as breathing apparatus or incident command, are covered by a service level agreement with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service. Depending on the skill being assessed, either Isles of Scilly staff visit the mainland or Cornwall staff visit the islands to carry out formal training and assessment. With increasing travel costs, the service recognises that this provision may not be sustainable, which could affect the provision of future training.

Formal fit to ride courses, which provide operational training, are run annually. The service has identified that it would benefit from providing new staff with some basic skills before sending them on a formal fit to ride course. This would allow them to carry out specific duties sooner and give the service some resilience before new staff attend the formal training.

Staff carry out mandatory equality, diversity and inclusion training through an e‑learning package. However, staff are unclear whether this is monitored and provided by the service or the council.

Operational staff would benefit from some form of fire protection training. This would help them to spot hazards when attending familiarisation visits at premises, for example.

Staff have access to learning and development opportunities

The service promotes a culture of continuous improvements throughout the organisation, and it encourages staff to learn and develop. For example, staff can use the performance development plan process to highlight any additional training they wish to carry out. Also, the service has provided its managers with leadership training to help them to manage people.

We were pleased to see that the service has a range of resources in place. These include e-learning, training courses and formal development, and continuous professional development.

All staff told us they can access a range of learning and development resources. And all staff who completed our staff survey agreed that they could access the right learning and development opportunities when they needed to. This allows them to do their job effectively.

The service uses the debrief process, national learning and reviews of processes such as recruitment and promotion to create improvement. However, staff are uncertain how formal learning from the debrief process is shared across the entire workforce. The service would benefit from a more formal process for cascading this learning to all staff to make sure it is shared consistently. We found this was being communicated at the discretion of the managers.

The service carries out regular collaboration training

We found that staff carry out regular training with emergency service partners. This gives them the opportunity to learn new skills from partners, as well as how they can work together operationally. It includes JESIP training, and local resilience forum training to make sure all emergency responders are prepared to respond effectively to a major incident. It also includes training with the coastguard.

Ensuring fairness and promoting diversity

Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service requires improvement at ensuring fairness and promoting diversity.

Creating a more representative workforce gives fire and rescue services huge benefits. These include greater access to talent and different ways of thinking. It also helps them better understand and engage with local communities. Each service should make sure staff throughout the organisation firmly understand and show a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. This includes successfully taking steps to remove inequality and making progress to improve fairness, diversity and inclusion at all levels of the service. It should proactively seek and respond to feedback from staff and make sure any action it takes is meaningful.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

Staff have confidence to provide feedback and challenge

The service uses a variety of methods for staff to provide feedback. These include the appraisal process, internal staff surveys and a programme of monthly chief fire officer visits to each island. In addition, the chief fire officer encourages staff to talk to him about any issues, in person, by phone or by email. There is evidence that individuals have taken up this offer.

Staff told us that since the new chief fire officer was appointed, internal and external communications have improved. They said that as he isn’t from the islands, he can provide a more independent view. They also said he is very approachable and has listened to feedback from staff. For example, he asked for views on previous recruitment processes, and as a result the process has been improved.

In our staff survey, we found that the majority of staff had confidence in the processes for providing feedback at all levels, and nearly all staff agreed that they were confident that their ideas or suggestions would be listened to.

The service doesn’t work with staff associations or representative bodies. And not many staff are members of any representative bodies. The service is considering how it can consult representative bodies on a variety of work such as developing new policies and processes. This work hasn’t yet started.

There are no network groups available to staff, either in the service or in the Council of the Isles of Scilly. Staff would benefit from having access to diversity network groups for support, guidance, advice and consultation.

There are clear procedures for tackling bullying, harassment and discrimination

Staff have a good understanding of what bullying, harassment and discrimination are, and their negative effects on colleagues and the organisation. It was pleasing to hear that all staff we spoke to said they had confidence to challenge a colleague’s inappropriate behaviour, and that this was encouraged by the service. Data from 2023/24 shows the service has had no discipline or grievance cases.

In this inspection, a small number of staff reported through our staff survey that they had been subject to bullying, harassment or discrimination over the past 12 months.

Most staff are confident in the service’s approach to tackling bullying, harassment and discrimination, grievances and disciplinary matters. Staff don’t have access to a confidential reporting line, but the service told us staff would raise any issues of concern with managers. If individuals can’t speak to line managers or the station manager, they will go to the chief fire officer or human resources.

The service has made sure all staff are trained and clear about what to do if they encounter inappropriate behaviour. The service trains managers in how to manage people, including managing challenging conversations. Staff have access to legal advice and support from the Council of the Isles of Scilly. Staff can also access council policies for further guidance on bullying and harassment, whistleblowing and grievance procedures. However, when we reviewed these policies, we found most were out of date and needed review to stay current. The service has acknowledged this, and is prioritising policies for review. We also highlighted this issue in our last inspection.

The appointment of a non-resident chief fire officer has given staff more confidence when reporting any concerns, operational or personal. They feel that he is more independent by not living on the islands. Previously individuals had been hesitant to share issues due to a feeling that they wouldn’t be kept confidential because of the size of the islands and many residents knowing one another.

The service carries out work to recruit a more diverse workforce

There is an open, fair and honest recruitment process for staff or those wishing to work for the fire and rescue service. The service has an effective system to understand and remove the risk of disproportionality in recruitment processes. For example, it has reviewed the recruitment and promotion processes, and made sure that inclusive language has been used on the application form.

The service has put considerable effort into developing its recruitment processes so that they are fair, and potential applicants can understand them. The service holds ‘have a go’ days at stations. These give members of the community an opportunity to see what is involved in the firefighter role and recruitment process, including the weight of the equipment and physical requirements. The service uses the Council of the Isles of Scilly’s overall recruitment policy, which clearly sets out the minimum requirements individuals need to meet to apply for specific job roles. It hasn’t been updated since May 2019 and would benefit from being reviewed to make sure it is relevant.

The service advertises recruitment opportunities both internally and externally on the service’s website and social media platforms. Due to the remoteness of the service, it faces challenges with recruiting. Other than the chief fire officer, staff must live on the islands to provide an immediate operational response. The population is about 2,200 and is ageing, which limits the recruitment pool.

The service has made some improvements in increasing staff diversity at some levels of the organisation. Unfortunately, it is difficult to compare data with that for 31 March 2023 as the earlier data was inaccurate. As at 31 March 2024, the proportion of firefighters that identified as being from an ethnic minority background was 9.5 percent (4 people). The proportion of firefighters who identified as a woman has increased from 4.8 percent (2 people) as at 31 March 2023 to 9.5 percent (4 people) as at 31 March 2024.

For the whole workforce, as at 31 March 2024, 9.3 percent identified as being from an ethnic minority background compared to 5.3 percent in their local population and 9.7 percent throughout all fire and rescue services. A total of 11.6 percent identified as a woman, compared to an average of 20.2 percent throughout all fire and rescue services. The service has recently collected diversity data for all staff and told them how this will be used.

The service has taken steps to improve diversity. For example, it focuses on under‑represented groups when hosting station open days, and funds transport between islands to encourage individuals to attend. As a result, it has recently recruited from a minority group.

Other examples of the service’s work to improve diversity include attendance at school careers events both during the daytime and during the evening when parents and guardians are invited. The service is also considering how it can recruit individuals from under-represented groups. For example, it is working with a women’s rowing club to discuss the career opportunities available in the service. It has assigned an individual to take up this area of work, and we look forward to seeing the service’s progress in this area.

To help avoid instances of staff misconduct, the service carries out enhanced DBS checks for all staff during recruitment.

The service should improve its approach to equality, diversity and inclusion

The service needs to improve its approach to equality, diversity and inclusion. The Council of the Isles of Scilly is looking to introduce an equality, diversity and inclusion policy, which the service will be able to use. But it is yet to go through consultation before being released. In the meantime, the service does have access to the council’s equal opportunities policy. This is clearly linked to the objectives of the Equality Act 2010 across all the protected characteristics, but hasn’t been formally reviewed since May 2016. This must be actioned to make sure it is still current.

We recognise that providing gender-appropriate facilities in stations is a challenge due to their size and limited space. However, there are suitable facilities for individuals to change if they need to, while maintaining privacy. PPE and uniform designed for women are available for staff, but the service should make sure these are readily available without a delay. For example, there have been occasions when women have had to wear substitute PPE until their size became available.

The service needs to make sure all staff understand the benefits of equality, diversity and inclusion and their role in promoting it

In our last inspection, we gave the service an area for improvement which focused on making sure all staff understand the benefits of equality, diversity and inclusion and their role in promoting it. In this inspection, it was pleasing to hear that individuals felt a sense of inclusion at work, and promoted the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion to colleagues. However, there wasn’t enough evidence across the whole service to show that this area of improvement has been adequately addressed.

The service does carry out ongoing work to make sure it is meeting the public sector equality duty requirements. However, there is no clear strategic direction regarding the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion, and promoting these values. There is no dedicated equality, diversity and inclusion lead. The head of human resources in the Council of the Isles of Scilly carries out this role across all departments of the council. However, they have minimal personnel to support them. It is important that the service prioritises this area of work and recognises that it is important not only for recruiting a more diverse workforce but also for making sure individuals in a minority group have the support they need. We have therefore identified equality, diversity and inclusion as an area for improvement.

The service has more to do to assess the equality impact of its policies and procedures

In our last inspection, we gave the service an area for improvement which focused on making sure it had robust processes in place to carry out EIAs and reviewing any actions agreed as a result. In response, the service has just started work on assessing equality impact. An individual has been commissioned on a temporary basis in the human resources department of the Council of the Isles of Scilly to complete the work on EIAs. This work is in its infancy, and all managers in the service have received training. The National Fire Chiefs Council template is used. Only a few policies have had an EIA so far. These include the promotions policy and the policy for drugs and alcohol testing.

The service and the council’s human resources department monitor actions identified in EIAs. These actions support other areas of work in the service. For example, on completing an EIA for drugs and alcohol testing, it was identified that people on the Isles of Scilly are more likely to drink more alcohol than people on the mainland. So the service has tailored prevention activity to highlight fire safety while people are under the influence of alcohol.

The service needs to make sure this area of work is sustainable and can be maintained if the commissioned resource is no longer available. In addition, if negative impacts are identified, the service needs to make sure these are addressed and recorded as completed, to make sure policies don’t disproportionately affect certain groups. EIAs for council policies, such as human resources and IT, need to be completed, as well as EIAs for operational service policies, such as training. This will help make sure all individual needs are assessed, and adequate support is put in place if required.

Although the service has made progress against the area for improvement, we feel there is more to do. So the area of improvement remains.

Managing performance and developing leaders

Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service is good at managing performance and developing leaders.

Fire and rescue services should have robust and meaningful performance management arrangements in place for their staff. All staff should be supported to meet their potential and there should be a focus on developing staff and improving diversity into leadership roles.

We set out our detailed findings below. These are the basis for our judgment of the service’s performance in this area.

Main findings

The service has a good process for managing staff performance

There is a good performance management system in place, which allows the service to effectively develop and assess the individual performance of all staff. We highlighted this as an area for improvement in our last inspection. Since then, the service has made some improvements. For example, it uses performance development plans for individuals to highlight how they wish to progress in the service. Staff have more of an understanding of the link between the appraisal process and their development for current and future roles. And the service has introduced a new promotion pathway, which helps develop staff in leadership positions. Therefore, we have closed the area for improvement.

Through our staff survey, some staff reported that they have regular discussions with their manager and these are meaningful. A small number of staff said they felt they aren’t meaningful. Each staff member has individual goals and objectives, and regular performance assessments. Staff feel confident in the performance and development arrangements in place. In our staff survey, 72 percent of respondents (31 out of 43) said they had had a formal performance development review in the last 12 months.

The service told us it used the performance development plan to discuss goals, aspirations, performance and personal well-being, as well as to generate conversations and highlight ideas individuals may have. For example, it uses it to discuss providing prevention activity in schools, and initiatives to share prevention advice and guidance in the communities. The appraisal process also refers to the service’s values, which it adopted from the Core Code of Ethics, to make sure individuals are displaying them.

A new promotion process is effective and fair

The service has put considerable effort into developing its promotion and progression processes so that they are fair and all staff can understand them. The newly appointed part-time temporary chief fire officer has recently introduced a new promotion pathway, which is available to all eligible staff. Staff who wish to progress in the service complete this process. Staff have embraced the pathway, and feel it is fair and clear, and offers an opportunity to progress for individuals who wouldn’t have had the same opportunity in the past.

The service uses the Council of the Isles of Scilly’s promotion policy. This is being reviewed in the council, and an updated recruitment, selection and promotions policy will be introduced following consultation. The service will use the new policy for both permanent and temporary promotion processes.

The service has a more informal succession-planning process in place, which allows it to effectively manage the career pathways of its staff. This has recently been introduced in the service to coincide with the new promotion pathway.

The service manages selection processes consistently. We reviewed files for temporary and permanent promotions. The review showed the selection process was managed fairly as well as consistently, with a suitable range of assessment methods used and results recorded. The service uses temporary promotions appropriately to fill short-term resourcing gaps.

The service faces challenges with diversifying its leadership

Due to the size of the service, there is only one wholetime station manager and one senior manager position, which is the part-time temporary chief fire officer role. The remainder of station-based staff are on-call. The service recognises recruiting a diverse workforce into management positions is challenging because individuals must be located on the islands. Because of this, the service doesn’t use external platforms to advertise these vacancies.

The service has carried out work to review recruitment templates to make sure they use inclusive wording. It makes sure all staff have the same opportunity to progress, and encourages all eligible staff to apply for promotion.

The service would benefit from diversifying its interview panels for recruitment and promotion to highlight the importance of recruiting a more diverse workforce and to show representation.

The service uses the appraisal process and new promotion pathway to identify talent

The service has effective succession-planning processes in place, which allow it to manage high-potential staff into leadership roles. The new promotion pathway identifies individuals who have high potential using a scoring matrix. It gives them experience of a leadership role on a temporary basis before they apply for the actual role.

The service uses action plans tailored to the individual’s development to help in future promotion processes. Individuals who aren’t seeking promotion still have the opportunity to develop, and can take an incident command course, for example, to gain additional skills in this area.

The appraisal process highlights individuals who wish to develop, and offers the opportunity to discuss an individual’s skill set for the service to draw on.

Further information

Download the PDF report

Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service 2023-2025

More about Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service

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Our work

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Useful links

Fire and rescue national framework for England 
National Operational Guidance website
National Fire Chiefs Council website