Fire service praised over safety improvements

Louise Harrison was appointed chief fire officer just after the authority was placed under an enhanced level of monitoring

A fire service has been told it has made progress a year after a watchdog put it under special supervision over safety and diversity concerns.

Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service was told in October 2023 it failed to identify those most at risk from fire, it had to ensure teams prioritised work according to risk and it had to improve equality.

In an update, His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services said "significant steps" had since been taken over these concerns.

Chief fire officer Louise Harrison welcomed the report, saying it recognised "the hard work and dedication" shown by staff implementing the measures.

HM Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services Roy Wilsher said he was "pleased to see the significant steps the service has taken in response to the causes of concern we issued"

Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service is one of three fire services in England under enhanced monitoring after it was told it was "overly reliant" on neighbouring services to respond to incidents.

In a letter to the fire service, watchdog inspector Roy Wilsher said it was now prioritising those most at risk of fire for a home visit, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The service has also started to train all firefighters and staff involved with processing referrals and is regularly assessing the quality of this work, he added.

Mr Wilsher said: "All the recommendations have now been completed and the cause of concern is closed."

In another improvement, the inspectorate highlighted a new programme to identify very high-risk and high‑risk premises that should be prioritised for annual audit.

The fire service said it had audited 95% of those premises by September.

Last year, inspectors raised a lack of improvement in its equality, diversity and inclusion.

Mr Wilsher said the service had improved in this area, including appointing a people and culture officer and a director of HR and organisational development.

“These two roles are relatively new, but will help the service to focus on its work on equality, diversity and inclusion and make sure it is co-ordinated across the service’s departments," he said.

The service said it "remained committed to continuous improvement" and ensuring the safety of residents and would "continue to monitor its progress".

The inspection team will assess the impact of the fire service's progress with a virtual inspection in January and Ms Harrison said she was looking forward to the revisit.