Fire service told to improve 'oversight of system'

Staff have been urged to record faults and escalate them to senior leads

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service has been told to make improvements to its oversight of a system used to assign and mobilise crews to incidents.

A report from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services said inspectors had identified "lots of minor issues" which related to its mobilisation system.

The visit was part of a response and investigation into issues another fire and rescue service had been having with the system.

The report added inspectors found no evidence of significant delays to attendance times in relation to these issues.

It said some of the issues could have delayed mobilisation to an incident, including a slowdown of the system at midnight while it received an update from another system.

Senior leadership teams lacked oversight of ongoing issues, it added, and staff should be urged to record faults and escalate them to senior leads.

The inspector said fire control staff had been reporting slowdowns in the mobilisation system since 2023.

It said, in the past, staff were complacent about reporting minor system issues in fire control - but managers had highlighted the importance of reporting issues.

"We found no clear guidance on when staff should escalate long-standing issues to the senior leadership team. And there is no evidence that senior leaders within the service were aware of ongoing issues with the system before June 2025," it added.

It said the midnight slowdown issue, which had the potential to delay mobilisation, was originally escalated to the system provider in April 2023.

The inspector said the cause of the issue had been identified by the system provider and said a fix "appears to have resolved the issue".

The inspector issued the service with an area for improvement to ensure it has strategic oversight arrangements in place for issues which may affect mobilisation.

It said the service should also make sure staff regularly record any faults and escalate them to senior leaders when necessary.

The fire service said it had "taken on board" the inspectorate's recommendation, and would put the necessary changes in place "to ensure issues are escalated and acted on faster."

It said the report had found its staff were "knowledgeable and confident in using back-up systems" while a fix - which had now been implemented - was worked on.