Inspection of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service West Service Delivery Area

• 291 Accidental Dwelling Fires
• 78 Road Traffic Accidents
• 216 Secondary Fires
• 1,152 False Alarms

Theme: Prevention and Protection

Highs

• Very good use of the TAP and engagement with partners to develop and deliver initiatives for prevention and protection. Provided good evidence of hosting joint training, hoarding presentations and delivery of training to P7 children throughout the area based on the school syllabus.
• Conducted a pilot of the EFQM, which provided a good insight into areas of strength and areas for improvement.
• There were good examples of Station Plans linked to primary plans, which were visible on station and staff were aware of them.

Lows

• Communication within P&P could be improved locally and nationally as per the EFQM outcomes.

Theme: Response

Highs

• A report has been developed regarding the SWaH issue and an outcome as to the way forward is awaited.
• There is good support to On-Call staff from On-Call Support Watch Commanders. There were said to be a lot of positives coming from the role regarding recruitment and maintaining availability, it is thought to be well received by On-Call staff.
• Proactive management of On-Call availability and examples of innovative local staffing solutions, which made the system more user friendly. Continually monitoring the availability levels and were working hard, within the constraints of Finance and Conditions of Service, with the local crews to maintain and improve availability using innovative solutions.

Lows

• The standard of SWaH training, procedures and equipment remains unaligned to that of the rest of the Service and presents a risk to the organisation.
• Staff from non-wildfire designated stations reported on numerous occasions concern regarding the lack of appropriate Wildfire PPE. There were occasions that staff had purchased their own equipment and medication to make attendance at these types of incidents more tolerable.
• Some stations had inadequate BA servicing facilities, limited access to recharging facilities, poor access to spare cylinders and limited facility for moving cylinders about safely. This gave the impression that training with and checking of BA set could be impeded or restricted on occasions.
• The provision and maintenance of BA skills and equipment in remote rural locations can be very challenging and there were instances in remote rural stations where it was clearly problematic to maintain safe delivery.
• The use of training staff and On-Call Support WC’s for logistic and resource movement was a waste of their capacity and skill with a detriment being to their primary role.

Theme: Partnership

Highs

• Positive use of the CAR with proactive engagement to add capabilities and skills to it.

Lows

• Identified that partnership working within the area could be improved with specific examples highlighted by the EFQM process.

Theme: People

Highs

• Aware of routine recruitment campaign initiatives as well as locally developed and innovative marketing and recruitment to increase public awareness. Some highlights were the development of modular courses; the development of social media promotional material; the development of more flexible availability systems; the involvement of On-Call Support WCs; the development of station curtilage banners and increased use of dual contracts. We found the local management teams and station crews to generally be very engaged with On-Call recruitment and would commend them for their efforts.
• There has been some improvement in the On-Call recruitment process with the introduction of the PREP and PREP2 systems. These were generally well received and had made the recruitment process easier.
• The introduction and delivery of modular BA and TTM courses for On-Call Staff was given good feedback. As was the delivery of local courses for remote rural communities.
• There was a decrease of WT and On-Call absence, year on year, within the area assisting with maintaining availability.
• There was an increase in use, year on year, of dual contracts within the area assisting with maintaining availability.
• On-Call availability was significantly above average compared to the WSDA average.

Lows

• Availability at some stations continues to be a challenge for the Service with recruitment and retention being two of the main factors.
• There is a degree of frustration around On-Call recruitment with a desire for more local involvement and control. Medical and fitness requirements for On-Call is said to be a challenge, particularly when there is a limited potential workforce and the standards being applied are inhibiting potential candidates from applying.
• The training commitment for On-Call staff is still considered to be an inhibitor to recruitment.
• Delivery of scrap cars for RTC training was said to be a challenge with crews reporting significant gaps between periods of practical training.
• The provision of ICT equipment and infrastructure to some stations was reported as being limited and of poor quality. This was significant for completion of TFoC and was particularly relevant where some of the modules need to be completed individually, such as cyber security.
• Some gaps in core and specialist refresher training for both WT and On-Call staff.
• Significant gaps in TFoC training for On-Call staff.