Fire service is told to improve

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue has been told it ‘requires improvement’ by regulators with recruitment named as being a particular problem.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services stated the service had the second lowest rating in all categories effectiveness, efficiency and people in its report.

It said recruitment was down 19 per cent in the last five years.

The report states that improvements had been made recently including identifying and working with those in the community who are most isolated.

It says: “The service has made some progress to address the concerns we raised in our first inspection. But progress has been slow, and the service still has a lot of work to do.

“Recent investment in new software will help improve how the service records and monitors staff training.

“But in other areas the service has regressed, and we have new causes of concern. One of these relates to the service not doing enough to make sure it has the resources to meet demand and protect the community.

“Also, there has been little progress in the past two years to make sure the service is a fair place to work, and to promote equality and diversity.”

Ben Selby, Fire Brigades Union executive council member for the East Midlands, said: “The concerns raised by this report – that the fire and rescue service may struggle to fulfil its functions – are similar to concerns that our local officials already had prior to this report. We’d already been hearing noises to this end from firefighters and members of the community.

“We do not need to look far for the culprit here. Steep cuts over the last decade have left Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue severely under-resourced. For example, Lincolnshire now has around 1 in 7 less firefighters compared to 2010. That is a huge reduction.

“As a trade union we will continue to work with Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue as they work to try and improve the areas of their service that need requirement. However, we recognise that there is only so much that they will be able to do without further resources. The government cannot take significant funds from fire and rescue services across the country and expect everything to work as communities want. Worryingly, the report suggests that Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue requires improvement when it comes to ensuring fairness and promoting diversity. This is an area of vital importance and we particularly look forward to working with the service on this area”.