Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service needs to support staff, report says

Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service has been rated as "requires improvement" by inspectors

A fire service needs to offer more support to staff who feel "overworked and under pressure", a report has said.

Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service has been rated as "requires improvement" by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

The service "especially" needed to improve its support for "under-represented groups", the report said.

It needed to provide a "fair, diverse and inclusive place to work", it added.

Deputy chief fire officer Mick Osborne said: "The Fire Authority's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion plan and well-established working group is at the centre of ensuring all our staff are fully represented in their workplace.

"The HMICFRS report highlights areas where we can further enhance and improve, and we will ensure the findings are fully considered and remains one of our key focus and priority areas."

The report said the service had "worked hard" to address capacity concerns.

"It has increased its capacity to meet its public safety plan and so this cause of concern has been closed," the inspectorate said.

Although praising its work to "improve value for money", the report said there were "still concerns about the service's funding model".

"Its limited reserves are being used to supplement funding of its response functions," the report said.

Inspectors said the service also needed to improve its prevention work

The service was staffing daily demand with on-call staff and full-time staff on extra shifts.

"We believe it would be a very significant challenge to crew all the additional fire engines it holds should a major incident occur," the inspector said.

The report said staff were "committed to the service and feel pride in the work they do" but many felt "overworked and under pressure".

This negatively affected their productivity and morale, the report said.

"Support for staff, especially under-represented groups, could be better," it said.

"The service needs to do more to provide a fair, diverse and inclusive place to work."

Chief fire officer Jason Thelwell said the service had "come a long way in the short period since our first inspection".

"This has been against a continuously difficult financial landscape, during a global pandemic which has tested us all," he said.

"This has only been possible because of the excellent people who work at Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, who strive to do their best for this service, every day."