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

• 211 Accidental Dwelling Fires
• 112 Road Traffic Accidents
• 625 Secondary Fires
• 2,612 False Alarms

Theme: Prevention and Protection

Highs

• Good communication structure and we observed the use of an innovative communication and engagement booklet called ‘The Buzz’ which helped keep staff abreast of area news.
• Very good use of the TAP and engagement with partners to develop and deliver initiatives for prevention and protection. The area seems to be particularly active with water safety and provided good evidence of Partnership Approach to Water Safety (PAWS).

Lows

• The loss of the CO fund was an issue identified in the area, with staff raising concern that they were restricted with purchasing and delivering deaf alerters, fire retardant bedding and secure letterboxes to the most vulnerable.
• Maintaining the composition and skill level of FSEO and AO teams had been a challenge, which was exacerbated by the long term issues surrounding abatement and job evaluation.

Theme: Response

Highs

• There is good support to On-Call staff from On-Call Support WCs. 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.
• Proactive use of finance and local contacts to secure a disused building for the remote rural crew at Salen and give them a designated station for the appliance and crew.

Lows

• 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.
• RAAC panel roofing issues are present at Milngavie and Helensburgh fire stations. This has been an issue for the staff at these stations for a significant amount of time.
• 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.
• Instances, predominantly in remote rural On-Call stations, where appliances had been changed over with no RTC hydraulic rescue equipment provided, and with management not being made aware of the position until an operational response was required.
• 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

• The LSO acts as the Chair of the CPP management Committee. The Council felt that it was important that another organisation led the group. The Service continues to be very involved in non-fire activities, such as mentoring of young people, vulnerable people, water and road safety education.

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.
• The local delivery of WT supervisory managers development course was good and provided important training for staff within the area. These sessions were well received by the staff and funded by the area.
• The local delivery of On-Call supervisory manager development and engagement sessions was very good and provided important training, communication and feedback for staff within the area. These sessions were well received by the staff and funded by the area.
• There was a moderate increased use, year on year, of dual contracts within the area assisting with maintaining availability.
• There was a moderate decrease of WT and VDS absence, year on year, within the area assisting with maintaining availability.
• On-Call availability was above average compared to the WSDA average.

Lows

• That said, 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.
• Significant gaps in core and specialist refresher training for both WT and On-Call staff.
• Significant gaps in TFoC training for VDS staff.