CONCERNS have been expressed about a county fire service which has become ‘overly reliant’ on neighbouring services and has failed to provide staff with ‘clear directions’.

The concerns were expressed by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) after an inspection of Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service this month.

It has urged the service to make ‘urgent improvements’ after marking several areas of the service as ‘requiring improvements’.

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The service was rated adequate for responding to major incidents but inadequate for public safety through fire regulation.

For the seven other categories, including understanding fire and risk and responding to fires and emergencies, the service was rated ‘requires improvement’.

HM Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services, Roy Wilsher, said: “I have concerns about the performance of Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service in keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks.

“The service has made some improvements since our 2021 inspection, but we were disappointed to see that it hasn’t made enough progress in more areas.

“We recognise that it has faced challenges over recent years, including the capacity to change, although there is a clear commitment from staff in the service to improve.

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“Given the nature of some of the problems we have identified, we will keep in close contact with the service to monitor its progress in addressing areas for improvement, causes of concern and associated recommendations.”

The inspection, which began in mid-April and finished at the end of June, stated the service has made ‘some progress’ since the 2021 inspection such as raising awareness of equality, diversity and inclusion.

However, it found that the service has not done enough to provide ‘clear direction’ for staff in order for them to prioritise work.

It also stated: “The service’s staff are frustrated by a lack of clear direction and prioritisation from their senior leaders.

“Many staff feel overwhelmed by the increasing workloads and constant turnover of staff. We heard that staff want things to change.”

It also found the service had become ‘overly reliant’ on neighbouring services to provide a response to incidents.

The report said: “The service is overly reliant on its neighbouring fire and rescue services to provide a response to incidents in its area.

“It is struggling to have available all the resources it may need and to meet its public safety plan. This means that it isn’t meeting its own response standard and providing the best possible service that it can to the public.”

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Speaking to the BBC, Buckinghamshire Fire Service's interim chief fire officer, Mick Osborne, said: "We accept the feedback provided by this HMICFRS inspection report and acknowledge the areas of concern highlighted.

"I assure you we are already actively taking measures to address the areas where the service needs to urgently improve, particularly in fire protection.”