Buckinghamshire fire service 'overly reliant' on other counties

Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service relied too much on neighbouring counties, inspectors found

A county fire service is "overly reliant" on neighbouring services to respond to incidents, inspectors found.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services has asked Buckinghamshire to make "urgent improvements".

The service was rated adequate for responding to major incidents - and inadequate for public safety through fire regulation.

The fire service said it was actively taking measures to address the issues.

HM Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services, Roy Wilsher, said: "I have concerns about the performance of Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service in keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks.

"The service has made some improvements since our 2021 inspection, but we were disappointed to see that it hasn't made enough progress in more areas."

'Recruitment struggles'

The inspection, which began in mid-April and finished at the end of June, found staff were overwhelmed by the increasing workloads and wanted "clear direction and prioritisation from their senior leaders".

Inspectors said the service struggled to resource all its fire engines and to recruit on-call firefighters.

On-call fire engines at Stokenchurch, Brill, Chesham and Winslow were used at incidents "less than 0.5% of the time" between 1 April 2018 and 30 June 2022, the inspectors found.

Buckinghamshire Fire Service has its headquarters in Aylesbury

They also noted "almost 30% of incidents in its area received a response from a neighbouring service", partly as a result of "borderless mobilising and sending the nearest fire engine to an incident".

But they questioned whether "the increased reliance on other services is sustainable".

Mr Wilsher said: "We recognise that it has faced challenges over recent years, including the capacity to change, although there is a clear commitment from staff in the service to improve."

It was also rated requires improvement for nine areas, including responding to fires and emergencies, preventing fire and risk, and managing performance and developing leaders.

Buckinghamshire Fire Service's interim chief fire officer, Mick Osborne, said: "We accept the feedback provided by this HMICFRS inspection report and acknowledge the areas of concern highlighted.

"I assure you we are already actively taking measures to address the areas where the service needs to urgently improve, particularly in fire protection.

"We do not underestimate the challenges we face and are working closely with the Fire Authority and HMICFRS to make the changes and improvements required."

Simon Rouse, chairman of the Buckinghamshire Fire Authority, said: "Despite many positives, the service has not made enough progress since the last HMICFRS report.

"The authority will be seeking clear plans and focused action to which we can hold the service to account in urgently addressing the areas highlighted."

He said the financial position of the fire service and "operational headcount" were at their highest since 2013.

"With finances now strengthened and operational resources increased, a sound platform to now accelerate transformation of the service is there to deliver the improvements needed," Mr Rouse added.