Fire service 'still not free from technical faults'

The new report follows a visit to the fire service in March

A fire service which suffered IT crashes during 999 calls is still not "free from technical faults", an inspector has said.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) raised concerns about Avon Fire and Rescue Service (AFRS) in 2023.

It has since revisited the service twice and published an update on Wednesday stating it was encouraged to see the AFRS system was "more reliable" on its visit in March 2024 - but said it still experienced technical issues.

Avon Fire & Rescue Service chief fire officer, Simon Shilton said inspectors had "acknowledged significant improvements made to the reliability and functionality of our mobilising system".

The watchdog's original inspection in 2023 found an "accelerated cause of concern" about the service's mobilisation service, which records information and dispatches firefighters to emergencies.

The system was deemed to be unreliable and crashed during emergency 999 calls, which meant people were experiencing slower responses in emergencies.

A diagnostic tool, which collects data logs allowing engineers to dial into computers for investigation, was found to be the cause of the crashes during emergency calls.

The tool has now been removed and the operating systems on computers in the control room upgraded, "which has helped with the reliability of the system", the report said.

'Human error'

However HMICFRS' latest update did identify a recent unrelated incident involving the mobilisation system, in which the nearest available fire engine wrongly appeared as unavailable due to a technical fault.

AFRS told inspectors the issue was due to "human error", with a fire control operator who was shadowing the call at the time unknowingly holding back the fire engines leading to "confusion" and "delay".

This meant the response was delayed, although firefighters were still able to attend the incident within their target time.

AFRS told inspectors it plans to reintroduce the diagnostic tool, causing "some reservations and concerns" among staff due to previous crashes.

Inspector Michelle Skeer, who signed off on the update, said: "We will need to be assured that the original problems with the mobilisation system have been fully addressed and won’t happen again."

Mr Shilton said: “Notably they have recognised our appropriate governance arrangements to monitor progress around improvement actions, as well as recognition of a more reliable mobilising system setup."

He said the inspectorate had also recognised the "provision of good two-way communication mechanisms between fire control staff and managers to report problems; welfare support put in place for control staff".

He added: "They have recognised that staff are feeling increasingly confident in the reliability of the system."

The HMICFRS will revisit the service in September.