Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue told to get better at responding to emergencies
Inspectors also found the service "inadequate at getting the right people with the right skills"
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service has been told to get better at responding to emergencies.
A report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services also says the services' ability to get the right people with the right skills was inadequate.
The service was rated as good at preventing fires and other risks.
Chief Fire Officer Neil Odin has praised the work of firefighters and says the report recognises the improvements they've made.
He said: "The inspectors have carefully looked at our service and checked every part of what we do. They found areas where we are doing well, recognised improvements we’ve made, and identified some things we still need to work on.
"I am pleased that the report recognises our focus on understanding risks in our communities and helping people stay safe by preventing fires, including the delivery of a record number of home fire safety visits. There is also praise for our volunteers and the work we do with young people.
"We are already making progress in the areas for improvement. One of the areas flagged by the inspectors relates to a nightly software update that impacts our mobilisation system. I would like to reassure our communities that this is an administrative issue and does not affect our operational capabilities or response to incidents, a manual fix is in place and has proven to safeguard against any potential impact to mobilisation.
"Another area we are working on is workforce planning and as recommended we are pulling together the work we do across service departments into a coherent service-wide plan to bring together current and future workforce and skills requirements in one place."
The FBU however says the report shows problems within the services, Jamie Kelly, FBU brigade secretary for Hampshire and Isle of Wight said:
“The inspectorate’s report makes it clear that Hampshire and Isle of Wight is in desperate need of investment, at a time when the chief fire officer is threatening further devastating cuts.
“The damning conclusion that the service ‘requires improvement’ at responding to fires and emergencies is the result of over fourteen years of cuts to firefighter posts.
“The public deserve a service that can send firefighters out quickly to incidents. Yet, right now, as firefighters from across the region tackle the major incident in Dorset, we have only 23 of 80 fire engines available due to lack of crews.
“On top of this, senior management need to show leadership when it comes to tackling bullying, harassment and discrimination.
“Slashing the number of firefighters instead of taking action and calling for government investment will only deepen the crisis laid out in the report.”