Efforts are being made to tackle bullying, harassment and discrimination in Cumbria’s fire service.
Peter McCall, the county’s police, fire and crime commissioner said the fire service was working to address deep-seated cultural issues within the service.
Mr McCall told members of Westmorland and Furness’s police, fire and crime panel that the commissioner’s office acknowledged the historical failings of the local service.
His remarks come after a report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, which found that staff reported allegations of bullying, harassment and discrimination in every fire and rescue service in England.
Mr McCall said: “First point is to completely acknowledge the failings of fire services across the country including our own historically and that’s laid out very clearly in the report that we received, a report which incidentally was completed and conducted prior to the handover of fire governance to my office.”
The report was published in March 2023 and called for appropriate background checks on all firefighters and staff and new misconduct standards to be introduced, including a national barred list and new mechanisms for staff to raise concerns.
Mr McCall said it was the role of his office to make sure the fire service was doing something about the findings of the HMICFRS report – and it was the office’s role to scrutinise that. He told councillors they were ‘absolutely doing that’.
He added: “It won’t be fixed overnight, some of the cultural issues are deep-seated and are being addressed. We absolutely are alive to all of those issues; they are going to be and are already scrutinised carefully. It is still early days, we’re only a few months in, but that is very much at the top of the agenda.”
His Majesty’s Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services Roy Wilsher said: “Our findings shine a light on deeply troubling bullying and harassment in fire and rescue services across the country and I fear this could be just the tip of the iceberg.
“Firefighters can be called upon to do an incredibly difficult job. They should be able to trust each other implicitly, just as the public need to be able to trust them.
“Unfortunately, our findings show this is not always the case. Instead, we found trust and respect is too often replaced with derogatory, bullying behaviour, often excused as banter.
“The majority of fire and rescue staff act with integrity and we are in no doubt of their dedication to the public.
“However, the shocking behaviour we uncovered makes it clear the sector cannot wait another day before it acts. We have made 35 recommendations and would urge chief fire officers, the government and national fire bodies to implement them as a matter of urgency.”
