West Sussex's fire service making 'significant improvement'
Inspectors have been back for the second time since a highly critical report
Fire service inspectors have reported that West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service is continuing to make ‘significant’ improvement in a number of areas.
The inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) earlier this year was the second follow-up visit made following a 2018 report which rated parts of the service as 'inadequate'.
That report raised concerns in all areas of the service, concluding it 'was not making best use of resources' in terms of responding to incidents, as well as reporting of a 'culture of bullying' with staff facing incidents of racial and sexist abuse among other issues.
In a letter to the Chief Fire Office for West Sussex, Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, inspectors said extra funding from West Sussex County Council had contributed to the improvements being made to the service's prevention and protection teams.
They also noted that the funding has been used to bring in a new IT system to support the improvements.
Inspectors said while some of the changes could have been quicker, the pace of change had ‘understandably slowed’ due to COVID-19 and the service having to deal with the consequences of the pandemic.
In his conclusion, Matt Parr, the lead HMICFRS Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services, said:
“The amount of improvement work and change in the service continues to be significant.”
Inspectors identified further work needs to be carries out in the service’s prevention activity to better target the most vulnerable people and support those most at risk of fire.
Chief Fire Officer, Sabrina Cohen-Hatton said:
“It is really good news that the inspectors noted that we continue to make significant progress. We have always been realistic about the amount of time this work will take to get right, but the revisit has shown that we continue to make very real progress.”
Cabinet Member for the Fire and Rescue Service and Communities at West Sussex County Council, Duncan Crow, added:
"A lot of work has been going on at the fire service to tackle areas of improvement raised. We are on a journey and it is good to hear from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services that this journey continues to move positively and in the right direction as the revisit has demonstrated.”