Appendix 3 HMIC Misconduct Report 2024
Recommendation 1 By 1 February 2025, Chief Fire Officers should, as a priority, make sure their staff are aware of, and follow the Core Code of Ethics. Services should build the code into all relevant policies and practices.	A range of communication tools have been utilised to communicate the Code of Ethics and the Code has been built into all policies
Recommendation 2 By 1 February 2025, Chief Fire Officers should make sure a policy for probationary staff is in place. This policy should make clear that services can immediately dismiss probationers who fail to meet the required standards of behaviour set out in the Core Code of Ethics and the Code of Ethics fire standard.	The probationary policy refers to people behaving in accordance with the Code of Ethics and Service values and individuals can be dismissed
Recommendation 3 By 1 May 2025, Chief Fire Officers should make sure their workforce plans allow staff to be moved from a wholetime watch to a different watch or station, within their contractual requirements, proactively and reactively as required. By 1 May 2025, Chief Fire Officers should also make sure firefighters who are promoted are posted to a different watch or station, including when the promotion is temporary for two months or more. If this isn’t possible, chief fire officers should show how the risks of reinforcing a negative culture have been addressed.	Individuals will be moved when there are concerns in relation to performance and individuals may be encouraged to move and volunteer to move for development purposes.  There are challenges in compulsory changing contracts of employment to enforce a move.    Currently exploring the implications of changing the Promotions Policy which is in the process of being updated.   However, there are challenges with FDC and On Call as individuals must live within 5 mins of their station.
Some staff don’t understand service policies on social media use it would be helpful to know exactly what is and isn’t allowed as they felt that so many things can be taken the wrong way.	A Communication Plan was delivered in terms of social media in terms of what was allowed
Chief Fire Officers consider creating professional standards function to oversee cases, make sure they are investigated in a fair and transparent way, and act as a point of contact for all staff involved. A small number of services have created some form of professional standards unit. But in all but the largest services, these aren’t a full-time dedicated resource, and their staff retain other roles and operational functions. Some smaller services have formed agreements with their local police forces or have employed private companies to provide this function. The evidence about the effectiveness of these units and other approaches is mixed. Many services are positive about the benefits they are bringing. However, some staff working in HR and professional standards also said that the professional standards function in some services don’t have staff with relevant training and enough staff to meet demand. And some external sources don’t have the FRS-specific knowledge needed to be fully effective. But these issues appear to be because the professional standards functions are relatively new. They were still being implemented when we inspected. We still consider that a professional standards function can be an effective tool to improve misconduct processes and increase staff confidence in those processes. So we are strengthening our values and culture spotlight report recommendation even further.	Suitably qualified and trained Human Resources Business Partners support line managers in the Disciplinary Investigation Process.  Hearing and Investigation Officers attend ACAS training on undertaking the investigative and hearing role.  The role of the Service Solicitor has been expanded to Legal Services and Standards Manager, they will be responsible for overseeing cases and making sure they are investigated in a fair and transparent way. This work is currently being scoped.
Recommendation 4 By 1 February 2025, Chief Fire Officers should make sure their services create or have access to dedicated professional standards function to oversee the investigation of concerns raised within a service or from an external source. This should oversee cases to make sure they are investigated in a fair and transparent way, manage complex cases directly and act as a point of contact for all staff involved.	The role of the Service Solicitor has been expanded to Legal Services and Standards Manager, they will be responsible for overseeing cases and making sure they are investigated in a fair and transparent way. The postholder is currently involved in assisting in investigations and complex cases building the capacity of Human Resources.
Recommendation 5 By 1 November 2024, chief fire officers should make sure all staff understand how to raise a concern and use grievance and whistle-blowing processes. Chief Fire Officers should: • make sure staff know how services will handle responses and maintain confidentiality and anonymity; and • explain how staff can access services’ whistle-blowing capability and the difference between whistle-blowing and other processes for raising concerns	Information has been publicised on the Engine House in terms of which complaints process should be used in terms of Grievance, Harassment and Bullying, Whistleblowing, Anonymous Reporting Line
Recommendation 6 By 1 February 2025, Chief Fire Officers should make sure a programme of training is in place for all supervisors and managers on how to manage staff performance and welfare and how to raise an issue. It should be supported by relevant policies and procedures. Training should include: • staff welfare and absence management; • the process for managing individual staff performance, addressing poor performance and potential misconduct issues; • how to handle difficult conversations and resolve issues informally, if appropriate, when a concern is identified; and • clarifying the role of HR services in helping managers to deal with staff concerns and misconduct issues. Chief Fire Officers should make sure all managers and supervisors attend the training programme.	Supervisory and Middle Managers attend a management development programme at Level 3 and 5 as appropriate.  The training course covers welfare and absence management, addressing poor performance, how to handle difficult conversations, ACAS Undertaking Investigations Training.  This training is supplemented by relevant policies and guidance which clarifies the roles of all parties within the process
Recommendation 7 By 1 May 2025, Chief Fire Officers should make sure the policies and processes for misconduct are consistent for all staff and are fairly applied within their respective conditions of employment. By 1 August 2025, the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services and the National Joint Council for Local Government Services, supported by the National Fire Chiefs Council, should make misconduct processes consistent for all staff irrespective of the terms and conditions of their employment. Many investigations don’t have clear terms of reference The terms of reference should be the starting point for any misconduct investigation. They should clearly set out: • how the person concerned is alleged to have breached the standards expected; • who the investigator will be; • the provisional time frame for the investigation; • the relevant policies and procedures to be followed; and • the sources of the evidence that should be collected, including the people who should be interviewed. Without clear terms of reference to guide it, an investigation is less likely to be effective.	Clear Terms of Reference are in place in relation to the Disciplinary Investigation process and this is a focus of the ACAS Investigation Training.
Recommendation 8 By 1 November 2024, Chief Fire Officers should make sure all allegations of misconduct are handled in a consistent way and staff have confidence in misconduct processes. Chief Fire Officers should carry out a full review of the processes, from initial identification of a misconduct issue through to the resolution or outcome. This should include a review of how services: • monitor and manage investigations; • maintain accurate records; and • adhere to required timescales. There are several root causes of ineffectiveness in misconduct processes.	Monitoring meetings are held with the ACFO and Area Managers in relation to the handling of misconduct issues and governance is provided through the EDIC Board in relation to the allegations of misconduct.
Recommendation 9 By 1 August 2025, chief fire officers should introduce a case management system if they don’t already have one. The case management system should allow data to be produced that will help them to better understand and oversee misconduct cases in their services. In several of the inspected services, people told us that not having enough capacity, especially at middle manager level, was a significant root cause of many of the issues we identified with misconduct investigations. In particular, the capacity of middle managers to carry out investigations was a barrier to adhering to the timescales. This was because middle managers carried out investigations on top of their existing high workloads. This is an issue for which some services have been exploring potentially promising practice. One service we inspected outsourced some of its investigations to its local police professional standards department. Another service could call on county council managers to help with investigations. A third service had created a small team of station managers led by a group manager who was dedicated to investigations. All these solutions have the potential to address the capacity issues that can affect misconduct investigations. Solutions in which the investigation is carried out by a partner agency have the added benefit that they reassure staff the investigation will be independent and impartial. This can build staff confidence in the process. Using external investigators can increase capacity and capability for investigations.	Case Management System within iTrent is currently within development
Recommendation 10 By 1 May 2025, Chief Fire Officers should make sure their services have enough capacity to carry out their misconduct investigations. They should consider using external investigators or a similar independent resource to support the process if required. Union representatives can sometimes use their expert knowledge to extend and frustrate misconduct processes.	The Service has professionally qualified and experienced Business Partners supporting the investigation process, there is no experience of representative bodies frustrating the process.  There is enough capacity, but in the event of a peak in demand cases do need prioritisation.
Recommendation 11 By 1 May 2025, Chief Fire Officers should review the training their services provide for supervisors and managers who investigate misconduct issues at all levels. Chief Fire Officers should make sure: • all staff who carry out investigations receive adequate training to carry out the task; • a programme of refresher training and ongoing support is available so that staff can maintain a level of competence; and • it is clear how services’ HR provision, staff associations and any trade union representative or fellow employee will support the investigation process. Welfare support to staff involved in misconduct processes is often good but isn’t always provided consistently Involvement in misconduct processes can be highly stressful.	ACAS training is provided to those who investigate misconduct cases, ongoing support is provided by HR Business Partners, roles and responsibilities are clearly defined in policy and guidance documentation.  Welfare support is offered to all those going through the investigations support, individuals are signposted to Employee Assistance.
Recommendation 12 With immediate effect, Chief Fire Officers should make sure all staff are aware of the welfare support, including occupational health support, that is available to staff involved in misconduct processes. Chief Fire Officers should encourage all staff involved in misconduct processes to access this support, whether they are an alleged perpetrator, complainant, witness, investigator or decision-maker. Welfare personnel should be independent of the investigation and have been appropriately trained for this role.	All letters to all parties’ signpost to support.  The Management Disciplinary support pack been updated
Recommendation 13 By 1 November 2024, fire and rescue authorities and Chief Fire Officers should consider varying the approach to hearing appeals so that appeals for complex or serious cases are heard by a panel rather than one person. By 1 February 2025, fire and rescue authorities and chief fire officers should make sure all service managers and members of fire and rescue authorities who hear appeals receive appropriate training. Chief Fire Officers should make sure services have a consistent approach to hearing appeals. People retiring or resigning during a misconduct case has a negative effect on morale and the culture in the fire and rescue service. In our values and culture spotlight report we noted that when someone is due to be dismissed for misconduct, they can retire or resign instead. We considered this evasion of the sanction to be a significant flaw in misconduct arrangements and recommended that such cases be continued to conclusion in the person’s absence.	Officers who undertake investigations, hearings and appeals are appropriately trained.  Human Resources monitor outcomes to ensure consistency.  Whilst individuals can choose to resign or retire pending an investigation the investigation process would be concluded and an outcome received.   A change to appeal arrangements would require a change to National Terms and Conditions, and/or a renegotiation of the current Disciplinary Procedure.
Recommendation 14 By 1 November 2025, Chief Fire Officers should implement a process that makes sure they can oversee and scrutinise their services’ performance relating to misconduct issues. This process should provide: • a strategic overview of performance and analysis of trends, including disproportionality; • regular reporting of issues, outcomes and trends to the fire and rescue authority; and • identification of learning outcomes and how they will be shared with fire and rescue service staff, to prevent repeat behaviours. Services need to identify learning from misconduct cases and find appropriate ways of sharing it with their staff.	All matters are reported to the EDIC Board.  In addition, as part of Performance Management arrangement a report is considered at CPB. Further to the disciplinary investigative process an evaluation is completed, and supplementary actions as required.
Recommendation 15, we propose a national system is established to address the concerns that smaller services with relatively few cases have raised with us about protecting confidentiality. We also urge chief fire officers to identify practical solutions to help learning at the service level. These could include, but aren’t limited to, communicating only the learning and not the case itself, and batching cases and communicating the learning from them as a batch.	Evaluation of in each case now in place.  Details of cases reported to the EDIC Board, Total Numbers of cases reported, and details of misconduct reported to CPB.  Further to cases reaching resolution, other actions may take place e.g. policy update, communication with the Crew, item and publicity on the Engine House.
Recommendation 15 By 1 February 2025, Chief Fire Officers should put in place a process for sharing learning from misconduct cases that have been resolved while preserving the confidentiality of all parties involved. Any learning should feed into the national system, when established. By 1 May 2025, the National Fire Chiefs Council should establish a system for sharing learning from more serious cases of misconduct with fire and rescue service staff. The information shared should preserve the anonymity and confidentiality of all parties involved. The College of Fire and Rescue, once it is established, should take responsibility for maintaining this system.	Action not for LFRS