Update on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s planning and preparedness for COVID-19

This report has been provided by HM Chief Inspector of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to the Director for Safer Communities on behalf of the Scottish Government (SG).  The report provides an update on the position that was reported on 8 April 2020, to provide assurance on the ‘Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s (SFRS) plans and preparedness for COVID-19’(C-19).

In April the original review concluded Her Majesty’s Fire Service Inspectorate (HMFSI) Scotland believes ‘there is good evidence to support the SFRS strategic planning assumption and the necessary mitigation that will enable the Service to continue to deliver its statutory duties’.

This update reports on; Planning and Preparation, Opportunities and Organisational Learning and Working with Others.

Our work included reviewing all of the information and evidence originally provided by the SFRS as well as any documentation changes, scrutiny of minutes, decision and actions logs that were available.  This information has been triangulated with phone calls and virtual meetings with staff at all levels of the SFRS management, Representative Bodies and Regional Resilience Partners.  The information is current at the time of writing this report.

Throughout the report we have identified our findings using bold text.