Devon & Somerset Fire Service needs to 'make prevention a priority'
Inspectors say the brigade has made improvements though
Last updated 23rd May 2025
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service has been told it's 'made improvements in some areas, but needs to make prevention a higher priority'.
It's the finding of a report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) published today (Friday 23rd May).
Inspectors have graded Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service’s performance across 11 areas, finding it to be 'good' in three areas, ‘adequate’ in three areas and ‘requires improvement’ in five areas.
Areas like responding to emergencies, including major incidents, plans to deal with risks such as severe weather events, including flooding response and water rescue, have been highlighted in the report.
Inspectors were also pleased that the service has continued to consistently achieve highly for on-call firefighter availability.
There are sound financial management processes in place too, with regular reviews to consider all the service’s expenditure, including its non-pay costs, and this scrutiny helps makes sure the service gets value for money.
But HMICFRS said that since the service’s last inspection, not enough progress has been made to make prevention a sufficiently high priority and that the service should implement a robust and consistent method of prioritising its home safety visits to those most at risk.
Inspectors found that while the service has done considerable work to improve its culture, there is still more to do.
For example, some staff said they don’t feel confident in challenging inappropriate behaviour.
The report also found the service hasn’t made enough progress to improve its approach to equality, diversity and inclusion, with the team understaffed, leading to excessive workloads and delays in some improvements.
His Majesty’s Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services Roy Wilsher said:
“I am satisfied with some aspects of the performance of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service in keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks. But the service needs to improve in some areas. In particular, it needs to do more to prevent fires and other risks.
“We recognise that the service has experienced some changes in senior leadership roles. And I don’t underestimate the challenges in changing the culture, performance and efficiency of a fire and rescue service. But we were disappointed to find that the service hasn’t made the progress we expected. For example, five areas for improvement that we highlighted during our previous inspections of the service still haven’t been addressed.
“Overall, there is a clear commitment from staff and senior leaders to improve. The service is aware of the many issues we found and had plans in place to make improvements. I will keep in close contact with the service to monitor its progress in addressing the remaining cause of concern and associated recommendations.”
Responding to the report, Gavin Ellis, Chief Fire Officer for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue, said:
“We welcome the Inspectorate’s report, which is an important check-in against our improvement plans. It’s great to see our emergency response praised. It’s important for us that when people call 999, they get a good Service.
“Operational colleagues across the Service work hard every day to maintain cover and competency so that they’re ready should anyone in our communities need them.
“We’re pleased that our work to improve culture across the organisation has been recognised and the cause of concern removed. The Inspectorate has recognised that we have better reporting lines, including our Speak Up Guardians, which have successfully helped people to raise concerns. We know we still have more to do to gain confidence from people to report issues, to ensure our culture is consistent across the organisation and to better support our people to develop and thrive.
“Regrettably, the Inspectorate has issued a cause of concern about our prevention activities. Preventing emergencies is a huge focus for the organisation and our people are dedicated to keeping people safe. The recommendations made are process issues and we have already acted to ensure we are better at targeting our prevention work and evaluating its effectiveness.
“Our latest analysis shows that 85% of the referrals we receive from partners are from people who are either high or very high risk.
“Overall, we have a great foundation to keep on improving. The Inspectorate recognised the Service’s self-awareness and commitment of our staff and senior leaders to improve.”