Agenda item

The Director of People and Development (DoPD) presented the report to members. In July 2023, the Home Secretary commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to conduct an inspection of the handling of misconduct in Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) in England. The report was published on the 1 August 2024 and identified a number of issues across the Services inspected and a set of recommendations. The services progress against the HMICFRS recommendations was included as Appendix A within the agenda report pack.

Reporting areas of concern

In terms of supporting individuals to highlight areas of concern, the Service had launched its anonymous reporting helpline, Safecall, and undertaken a communication campaign advising members of staff of the various ways in which matters of concern could be raised. 

Where individuals wished to raise complaints about their own employment, the Grievance Procedure and Bullying and Harassment Policy could be utilised.

Grievances

All members of staff had the right to raise a grievance. Within Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) seven grievances had been raised within the financial year which related to twenty eight members of staff. This compared to nine grievances last year and eight the year before.

Disciplinary

The Disciplinary Procedure was applied in cases of misconduct, the initial stages could be an informal fact finding or a formal investigative process. The findings from those processes would determine the next stage. On occasion an informal fact finding and investigation could result in no further action. 

Since this financial year fifteen disciplinary investigations had begun and from those six cases had been concluded which resulted in:

• One 6-month warning.
• One 12-month warning.
• One dismissal.
• Two resignations, where the investigation was concluded and would have resulted in dismissal.
• One resignation linked to a failure to respond.

Nine cases remained under investigation.

Bullying and Harassment

This year the Service had received no complaints of bullying and harassment and last year two complaints were received.

Whistleblowing and Safecall

Issues of concern could also come in via numerous routes utilising Safecall, the Grievance Procedure or Whistleblowing Policy. 

The Whistleblowing Policy was intended to cover major concerns that fall outside the scope of other procedures.

Where a matter was reported using Safecall it could then be investigated as a Safecall under the Disciplinary or Grievance Procedure depending on the nature of the case. 

Since 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, six matters of concern were raised utilising Safecall, all of the cases related to behaviour.

Further to the matters being raised the following action occurred:

• Mediation between two individuals and no further action.
• Recruitment and Selection Investigation – no further action.
• Formal investigation resulting in a management letter, additional training.
• Formal investigation resulting in a management letter, additional training.
• Matter investigated under the Grievance Procedure.
• Matter investigated under the Whistleblowing Procedure.

Since 1 April 2024, there had been two complaints utilising Safecall, one matter was under investigation, the other anonymous complaint had been challenging to deal with as no place of work or person was identifiable but the concerns raised would be the subject of training. 

Complaints

Members of the public could make complaints against members of staff and these were initially investigated by the line manager. If misconduct was found to have occurred the matter was passed to Human Resources (HR) where the matter was investigated under the relevant procedure. In this financial year there had been eighteen complaints. 

In response to a question from County Councillor D O’Toole in relation to the timeline for the services HMICFRS inspection, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO) confirmed that the inspection would commence on 17 February 2025. Prior to this date the self-assessment would be completed and submitted before commencement of the inspection including an update since the last inspection and the services current position against previous findings. The first three weeks of the inspection would be conducted remotely and the physical inspection within the service would commence on 10 March 2025. The inspection was expected to conclude in April 2025.

The ACFO advised that a familiarisation meeting would be taking place on 18 December 2024 with the services HMICFRS lead Phil Innis, although he would not take part in this inspection due to previous commitments.

The DoPD asked members to consider their training needs and the Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO) advised that there would be some input on training at the next Strategy Group Meeting in February.

The Chair thanked the DoPD for a comprehensive report.

Resolved: - That the Authority noted the report.