Gloucestershire fire service placed in special measures

The fire service has been placed in special measures

Gloucestershire's fire service has been placed in special measures.

It faces similar scrutiny to the county's police force, which also falls under the "engage" level of monitoring.

The watchdog said the fire service had not made the required improvements since its previous inspection in February 2021.

Chief Fire Officer Mark Preece said the service was "working hard" to improve but residents could be reassured the issues would not compromise safety.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services said it was concerned not enough progress had been made to "promote a positive workplace culture" and there were also worries over diversity issues.

It called on the service to "improve levels of understanding and awareness of the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion".

'Improvement plan'

A report providing more detail on the issues of concern is expected to be published later in July.

Inspector of fire and rescue services Wendy Williams said: "Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service was asked to urgently produce an improvement plan and will meet regularly with our inspectors.

"We will work closely with the service to monitor its progress against these important and necessary changes."

'Speed up progress'

Mark Preece, Chief Fire Officer at Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "It is obviously disappointing that we hadn't made the level of improvement expected and that we would have wanted to make.

"Although change doesn't happen overnight, we need to make quicker progress in tackling these issues that are rooted in a historic culture.

"We developed a plan earlier this year to address these highlighted areas and are working hard to deliver it.

"We have an improvement board in place and have invested in the service to help make the required change and improvements.

"Whilst these are important elements of the service that we are committed to improving, we would like to assure residents this is not about their safety - crews continue to respond to the highest standard when called out in an emergency."

Gloucestershire Constabulary was placed in special measures last year for failing to record domestic abuse, problems with some investigations and concerns over its handling of demand, call-taking capacity and vulnerability risk assessments carried out by call handlers.