Agenda item

The Chair invited Mark Norris (MN), Principal Policy Adviser, to introduce the report.

MN set out some of the recent issues and incidents which had shone a light on culture within a number of Fire & Rescue Services (FRS) in England and Wales. The importance of the LGA continuing to work jointly with the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) on addressing the challenges was stressed. Comments were invited from members on the proposed next steps and future actions outlined in paragraph 35.

Cllr Jane Hugo, FSMC Equalities Advocate, stated that there was plenty of best practice and skills/expertise both within and outside the sector that could be shared, and stressed the importance of all partners working together to address the worrying situation.

Mark Hardingham (MH), NFCC Chair, stated that FRSs were not yet as diverse as they should be and, although there had been progress in recent years, e.g. through establishing a Core Code of Ethics and the Fire Standards Board, there was much work still to be done. The current situation represented a failure of leadership within the sector and the challenge of addressing it ranked alongside the responses to Grenfell and Manchester Arena. MH outlined some of the measures being taken by the NFCC, including internal restructuring and establishing an external advisory group. Finally, it was important to link this into the wider fire reform agenda currently being taken forward by the Home Office.

Alex Hill, HMICFRS, reiterated that their inspection process had highlighted the fact that the people pillar was the one area that FRSs struggled with more than any other. HMICFRS was currently producing a ‘spotlight’ report on this issue which could feed into the wider work to address the problems. HMICFRS was also learning and adapting its inspection process in the light of emerging incidents and also using learning from recent experiences in police services.

Jonny Bugg (JB), Head of Fire Strategy and Reform Unit, Home Office, stated that this was a key issue of concern for the Minister, and the Home Office response to the Fire Reform White Paper would likely contain more about improving values and ethics. A 4^th session Bill in Parliament was still on course. He reported that later in the Spring, the vetting system for FRS employees would be upgraded to move it in line with other public-facing professions. The vital importance of maintaining the trust and confidence of the public was emphasised

Members’ comments and questions:

·       Whilst there were 20 out of the 44 FRSs that HMICFRS had identified as requiring improvement on EDI issues, it should not be forgotten that 24 were performing well and there was plenty of good practice that could be used to support the 20. The LGA’s sector-led support offer was highlighted as a means of helping FRAs and it was suggested that there would be benefits of jointly delivering this with the NFCC

·       Support and training for EDI champions and other FRA members was requested to enable proper scrutiny of senior officers. The questions asked by HMICFRS of FRS’s during an inspection could also be fed in

·       It was stated that proposed Home Office reforms around governance and operational independence of CFOs were a distraction and would not address the underlying cultural issues in the sector. By contrast, it was stated that two thirds of the White Paper was about people and professionalism, and the FSMC should therefore get behind and embrace these proposed reforms which were essential in order to drive longer-term cultural change in the sector. The importance of strong leadership, and of embedding meaningful change within all processes in an FRS, was highlighted

·       Members felt that the final bullet point in ‘next steps’ around engaging with the Home Office on sector-led support should be clarified and strengthened, with particular reference to seeking funding for the LGA to provide peer support. In this regard, it was suggested that, following the publication of the HMICFRS spotlight report, a meeting be convened with the LGA, NFCC and Home Office to work out a way forward in terms of roles, responsibilities and funding. JB agreed that this would be a useful exercise in relation to directing existing funding more effectively

·       It was considered vital for FRA members to appreciate the importance of communication and transparency within their service, from the bottom up, and to challenge their senior leadership team on those grounds

·       The penultimate bullet point around legal frameworks was considered to be vital. Similarly, how FRSs operate, for example through the watch system, was central to the culture issue and needed to be looked at as part of a fundamental review. The Trade Unions should be a key partner in this work.

·       All services could learn lessons from Dorset & Wiltshire, South Wales and London and how they considered, with hindsight, that they might have handled their interactions with the media in particular, differently.

In summarising, the Chair asked that the next steps be strengthened to include engagement, not just with NFCC, but also with the Home Office, HMICFRS and Trade Unions to consider a way forward for the sector as a whole, in order to tackle these deep-seated issues. MN added that officers would draft a revised next steps action plan, based on the comments made during the discussion, and bring it back to FSMC Lead Members for final agreement. This could then be used as a starting point for joint discussions with the NFCC, Home Office, HMICFRS and Trade Unions.

Decision:

FSMC endorsed the next steps set out in the report, subject to the amendments agreed above

Action:

Officers to redraft next steps in line with comments made and bring back to Lead Members for agreement