Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service has been slammed in a new inspection report that uncovers serious failings in emergency response, a shortage of frontline firefighters, and a lack of confidence in senior leadership.
The report, published by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), finds that the service is requiring improvement in how it responds to fires and other emergencies. Inspectors also highlight significant failures in dealing with ongoing firefighter shortages.
This comes as the Fire Brigades Union warns of a deepening crisis, with £1.6million of further cuts to firefighter posts currently proposed. This includes the permanent closure of Bembridge and Yarmouth fire stations, and the removal of 1 of 2 Aerial Ladder Platforms on the Island.
According to the report, the service is failing to “consistently [maintain] good levels of available fire engines”, with performance falling short of its own targets for response times. Shockingly, the service only meets its own response time target for the Isle of Wight 67% of the time – a standard that is already 2 minutes slower than the Hampshire benchmark. This means that in around 3 out of 10 emergencies involving risk to life or property, a fire engine does not arrive within 10 minutes.
The inspectorate also confirms a critical lack of fire cover, with only 3 fire engines available on the Isle of Wight at one point during their inspection. This follows Island Echo’s report published only yesterday (Tuesday), which revealed that fire cover reached a critical low over the weekend. This demonstrates that dangerously low levels of fire cover are not isolated or historical – they are ongoing and frequent.
Another alarming issue highlighted is a major technical fault within the mobilisation system used to dispatch fire crews. Inspectors were told that the system can freeze at midnight during daily software updates, leaving fire control unable to mobilise appliances for up to 5 minutes. This issue, first reported in 2023, is still unresolved – and some operators have reportedly stopped raising concerns due to a lack of action.
The HMICFRS report also criticises the service’s senior management, stating it is “failing to promote positive values and culture, and fairness and diversity”. Staff are said to lack confidence in how bullying, harassment and discrimination complaints are handled.
Jamie Kelly, FBU brigade secretary for Hampshire and Isle of Wight, has said:
“The inspectorate’s report makes it clear that Hampshire and Isle of Wight is in desperate need of investment, at a time when the chief fire officer is threatening further devastating cuts.
“The damning conclusion that the service ‘requires improvement’ at responding to fires and emergencies is the result of over fourteen years of cuts to firefighter posts.
“The public deserve a service that can send firefighters out quickly to incidents. Yet, right now, as firefighters from across the region tackle the major incident in Dorset, we have only 23 of 80 fire engines available due to lack of crews.
“On top of this, senior management need to show leadership when it comes to tackling bullying, harassment and discrimination.
“Slashing the number of firefighters instead of taking action and calling for government investment will only deepen the crisis laid out in the report.”
Ben Selby, Assistant General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, has added:
“Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service is on its knees after a loss of nearly 1 in 4 firefighters to cuts since 2010.
“Incidents like the raging wildfire at Holt Heath expose the depth of the crisis fire and rescue services are facing. Inadequate resources spread far too thin over large areas means that there is no resilience, leaving the public at greater risk.
“Instead of threatening more cuts, Hampshire and Isle of Wight chief fire officer and fire authority must start calling for the central government funding the service desperately needs.”
Roy Wilsher, His Majesty’s Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services, has said:
“I am satisfied with some aspects of the performance of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service in keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks, but there are areas in which the service needs to improve.
“The service has made some progress against some of the areas for improvement we identified in our previous inspection. For example, it has put in place a more effective system for staff to use learning and debriefs to improve operational response and incident command.
“But it is disappointing to see that the service hasn’t made the progress we expected. For example, it still needs to make sure senior managers are visible and demonstrate service values through their behaviours. And it hasn’t implemented an effective system to ensure that all risk and safety-critical information has been read and understood by staff.
“I recognise that recruiting on-call firefighters can be difficult and the service is planning some significant changes to meet the financial challenges it faces. I will keep in close contact with the service to monitor these changes and its progress in addressing our concerns and associated recommendations.”
Doesn’t surprise me, just like most island organisations
3rd class service is provided.
Roll on devolution, the island needs change and brains
running the show.