The Scottish Government

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February 2005
A Report by HM Fire Service Inspectorate for Scotland
St Andrew's House Edinburgh
ISBN 0 7559 4710 X

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Contents

Introduction
Executive Summary
Recommendations
Section 1 The Strategic Management of the Service
Section 2 Integrated Risk Management Planning
Section 3 Integrated Personal Development System
Section 4 Community Fire Safety and Local Government (Scotland) 2003
Section 5 Fire Safety Issues
Section 6 Heads of Agreement
Section 7 Diversity and Equality Issues
Section 8 Health and Safety
Section 9 Information/Communications
Section 10 Personnel Attendance Levels
Section 11 Freedom of Information Act
Section 12 IT and Data/Information Capture
Section 13 Duties under the Civil Contingencies Bill
Section 14 Funding

LOTHIAN AND BORDERS FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE

PERFORMANCE INSPECTION - 14, 15 and 16 FEBRUARY 2005

The Team:
Jeff Ord Chief Inspector
Andy Harrison Assistant Inspector
Angela Webb Assistant Inspector
Andy Wilson Assistant Inspector
Brendan McCaffrey Assistant Inspector

Background

As Fire and Rescue Services across Scotland move towards implementation of The Modernising Agenda, the Inspectorate will inspect the Services between October 2004 and March 2005. The findings of the inspection will be reported to Ministers, the relevant Fire Authority, the Firemaster and will be available to the public.

Aims and Objectives of the Inspection

The aim of the inspection is to support, assist and, where appropriate or necessary, challenge the Fire Authority and the Service's progress towards modernisation in accordance with National Guidance and within Best Value.

The objectives of the inspection are -

To assess:

• The overall strategic management of the Service;
• Progress on the Fire Authority's Integrated Risk Management Plan ( IRMP), including compliance with National Guidelines and timetables;
• Progress on the introduction of Integrated Personnel Development System ( IPDS), including Rank to Role and the opportunities this presents particularly for retained/
  part-time and support staff;
• The Fire Authority's preparedness for the new Statutory Duty (Fire Service Bill) of Community Fire Safety and the duties contained within The Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003;
• The Fire Authority's plans to become the enforcing authority for all fire safety issues (Fire Service Bill);
• The degree to which the Fire Authority is utilising the service delivery flexibilities arising from The Heads of Agreement signed between The Employers and the Fire Brigades' Union in 2004;
• The Fire Authority's and the Service's progress on Diversity, Equality of Opportunity and Cultural Change and compliance with all relevant legislation;
• The Fire Authority's performance on Health and Safety at Work in accordance with relevant legislation and guidance;
• The Fire Authority and the Service's information flow, staff communications and general consultation arrangements across all groups of staff;
• The Fire Authority's performance in terms of staff attendance levels;
• The Fire Authority's performance and compliance with The Freedom of Information Act and general handling of complaints, etc.;
• The Service's ability to maximise Information Technology ( IT) and central data capture;
• The Fire Authority's progress on identifying realistic efficiencies to enable the transitional funding for whole-time operational staff (provided by the Scottish Executive) to be absorbed over the Spending Review 2004 period; and
• The opportunities taken by the Service and/or the Fire Authority to review the uniformed Service establishment (Section 19 of The Fire Services Act 1947).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Over a number of years the Service has been building up towards a systematic organisation where the emphasis is on service planning, but equally one in which development of staff, diversity and organisational communications is valued. This approach is now embedded within the organisation and showing very good results, not least of which is the strategy for even greater delivery of safer communities.

The Firemaster, the Fire Authority and the Service in general are to be commended for achieving all the milestones in terms of the Modernisation Agenda and, in many areas, are showing real change throughout the organisation. These changes are all designed to ensure that the Service, its resources, and especially its staff are all at the highest level of competence and best placed to serve the community.

I am pleased to report that the Fire Authority and the Service are effectively discharging their duties within the general terms of the Fire Services Act 1947 and overall the outcome of the inspection places them in the "Achieving" area and, in some cases, the "Highly Achieving" area.

Whilst the relatively small number of recommendations in this report is a reflection upon the performance of the Fire Authority and the Service, they are nevertheless invited to adopt the recommendations and utilise them within the Modernisation Agenda and their associated action plans.

JEFF ORD
HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services
March 2005

Note: For further information relating to Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service visit their website: www.lothian.fire-uk.org

RECOMMENDATIONS

Section 3 - Integrated Personal Development System ( IPDS)

1. Guideline training is a safety critical issue. It is recommended that the Service examine the frequency of these exercises within the multi-pump format. (Para 3.10)

Section 4 - Community Fire Safety and The Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003

2. The Service will need to ensure that the increasing workload in CFS is adequately resourced to support the many initiatives contained within the CFS action plan. (Para 4.1)

3. The Service makes good use of data on operational activity and the various initiatives are monitored to assist in the development of targeted Community Fire Safety. However, the Service may wish to consider providing this information 'live' to stations so that they can immediately identify local issues and implement, where appropriate, a remedial plan. In addition, the Service should consider developing the wider use of the CFS Toolkit by station personnel to enhance and support local initiatives. (Para 4.4)

4. The Service is to be congratulated on its innovative partnership work which covers a wide and diverse range of activities. However, it may wish to review and, where possible, identify those activities which provide best practice and develop these across the service area. (Para 4.3)

5. From the evidence presented and staff interviews conducted during the inspection, the Service has a clear policy and strategy in place for operational staff involvement in Community Fire Safety work. However, some work is still required to fully engage all personnel in this process. (Para 4.7)

Section 5 - Fire Safety Issues

6. The Service should monitor the legislative workload to ensure that it does not exceed staff capacity, particularly whilst the review process is being undertaken. (Para 5.1)

7. The Service has consistently been able to complete its existing inspection programme. However, due to staff shortages and secondments, this has not been possible over the last year. There is no evidence to suggest that this has had an impact on safety critical premises.

The Service may wish to further examine its inspection programme risk categories. (Para 5.3)

Section 7 - Diversity and Equality Issues

8. The Service is a high achiever in the equality agenda. However, the Service must look at ownership of the Race Equality Scheme ( RES) and associated Action Plan and where this lies within the organisation. The Action Plan itself must be developed to make it more comprehensive and each function manager should be tasked to identify the specific functions of their departments which apply to the RR(A)A and prioritise them for action. Reporting on progress should be carried out on a regular (perhaps quarterly) basis to the Main Corporate Group. This should subsequently be reported to the Fire Board on a regular basis. Therefore, the RES should be a standing item on both the Corporate Management Team Agenda and the Fire Board agenda. The duties of the RES should not be delegated to the Equality Officer. This role should be utilised for advice and guidance, particularly on impact assessments. The Service must ensure that all policies and functions, including those already in existence, are impact-assessed; and that results of impact assessments undertaken and their outcomes are published on an annual basis. All grievances, discipline, promotions and access to training must also be monitored for ethnic origin and the results published on an annual basis. The identified duties and functions listed in the RES should be prioritised and timescales for completion given. This should then form the basis of some of the key points in the updated action plan. (Para 7.5)

Section 10 - Personnel Attendance Levels

9. The updated draft practice statement provided by the Service will enable a more accurate and evidenced record of secondary employment undertaken by staff. However, consideration should be given to requiring the secondary employer to endorse the application so that they also fully understand and accept the primary employment conditions set out in the contract by the Fire Authority to prevent a conflict of employment interests. (Para 10.6)

Section 13 - Duties under the Civil Contingencies Bill

10. It is recommended that the Service examines the opportunity to build on its existing training and exercise programme, to test these arrangements further on a multi-region basis with other Services which operate Scottish Major Incident Units. This will test mutual aid arrangements and further validate planning assumptions. (Para 13.8)

11. In light of the type of scenarios now envisaged, the Service should build on its excellent operational planning arrangements to further review site specific risks to encapsulate, where possible, the type and scale of events that would previously have been unimaginable. (Para 13.8)

Section 14 - Funding

12. The Fire Authority should further plan for the absorption of the recently announced transitional funding to part-fund the Modernising Agenda. (Para 14.2)

SECTION 1

1. The Strategic Management of the Service

1.1 For several years the Service has been introducing systems of strategic planning and performance management along with a host of other organisational tools and practices. Without doubt this strategy is producing effective results which benefit all those in the Service and the community they serve.

1.2 The practice of consultation, both internal and external, is extensive and of a high quality with clear audit trails of results and any appropriate actions taken.

1.3 An extremely positive aspect of this embedded strategy is that staff understand their role in the organisation and are aware of the expectations placed upon them. This is particularly useful for developing members of staff as they take up new positions in the Service.

1.4 The diversity, strategic ability and professional backgrounds of the senior management team are of a very high standard and these are clearly permeating throughout the organisation. This fact, coupled with the stability the Firemaster and his team have enjoyed, places the Service in a very strong position for the forthcoming challenges at strategic, tactical and service delivery levels.

1.5 These strategies and qualities are equally complemented by the support given by the Fire Board to the Service. There is no "blurring of the edges." The Board approves policies and then allows the Firemaster and his team to manage the Service, whilst always monitoring performance. Once again, this is a professional partnership which delivers results and one in which the public can have confidence.

1.6 The Firemaster has ensured that the managers of the Service are drawn from a diverse group and the use of support staff in specialist roles has certainly brought even greater quality and stability to the Service. This will place the organisation in a strong position for the challenges of making communities even safer.

1.7 Overall the Firemaster, staff and the Fire Authority have worked extremely hard to achieve this level of performance. Whilst they are conscious that even greater challenges lie ahead and complacency must be avoided, they should nevertheless be commended on their progress to date.

SECTION 2

2. Integrated Risk Management Planning ( IRMP)

2.1 The performance of the Service in this area is outstanding. All the milestones set by the Scottish Executive in their guidance documents have been exceeded, and the Service is effectively well ahead of the schedules. Whilst work will always be ongoing in this area, the Service is well placed in terms of data gathering, empirical evidence and professional judgement to make even further recommendations to the Fire Authority. This will have the impact of improving service delivery in areas such as fire safety, fire prevention and operational intervention.

2.2 The Firemaster and his team have taken every opportunity to share the work and competence of the IRMP team with other Fire and Rescue Services in Scotland. There is clear evidence that in some Services this has been beneficial. Continuation of this joint working will be of value to all the Services.

2.3 The impact and benefits of IRMP are being felt throughout the organisation. Staff in fire stations are now able to access fire "Hot Spots" which, in turn, allows them to better target their fire safety resources.

2.4 The Fire Authority has taken clear ownership of IRMP and is committed to consulting all stakeholders, both internal and external, with its proposals wherever change is required.

2.5 Lothian and Borders Fire Authority, the Service and staff have been recognised for many years as being leaders in terms of fire safety. When coupled with the excellent work of the IRMP team and those who support them, this places the Service in a very strong position to benefit from the opportunities arising from IRMP and the flexibilities it provides.

SECTION 3

3. Integrated Personal Development System ( IPDS)

3.1 The Service has a dedicated IPDS team consisting of a manager and two coordinators. The Service currently has around eighty candidates working towards the SVQ award. These students are being assisted towards that goal by a robust IPDS implementation system that has been developed by the Service. Staff working on this are very knowledgeable, committed and enthusiastic.

3.2 The Service has been proactive in piloting a watch manager development programme and developing an interim assessment development centre with associated assessment development interviews ahead of the national specification. Continuous Professional Development ( CPD) planning was evident with financial support available for staff.

3.3 The Service is currently active in increasing its numbers of assessors to provide local support to all candidates and reduce the need for visiting assessors. It has clearly identified in its action plan the next stages of the implementation. These consist of development programmes for station, group and area managers, and support staff, and building the IT infrastructure to enable effective use of the Personal Development Record ( PDR) system.

3.4 IPDS is currently supported on the Service's intranet, which provides all required information on IPDS and individual development. The Service is clearly progressing within the guidance documents available and the Authority is fully engaged at policy resources and review level.

3.5 Awareness of the impact and opportunities within IPDS was generally good amongst wholetime personnel but less well so with retained personnel.

3.6 Whilst the Service may feel that it is too early to see any improving service delivery from IPDS, it was apparent to the Inspectorate that the capability for delivering IPDS is progressing well.

3.7 Experienced and dedicated staff deliver the Service's training needs to a very high standard and manage the training reference.

3.8 The incident command system has been fully adopted by the Service and is understood by all personnel.

3.9 Realistic fire training is given at the Service's hot fire-training unit at Filleyside. An opportunity was taken to visit the unit and observe training in progress. The unit is on an industrial site, which facilitates the use of carbonaceous burning. Carbonaceous was expressed as being the preferred method of training amongst both staff and students spoken to. The Service's main training unit at McDonald Road is in the process of being converted from carbonaceous to gas operated due to the close proximity of new dwellings. All staff have received both technical and practical training in this subject area.

3.10 Whilst multi-pump exercises are carried out, the use of guidelines within these exercises did not appear to be adequate.

3.11 The Service's training department currently operates with four different duty systems in order to deliver the flexibility required to train wholetime and retained staff. It was also noted that the Service is moving towards a greater use of retained officers to direct training within their units with more facilitation being done by training officers. Both of these modernising approaches to training delivery are to be commended.

RECOMMENDATION

1. Guideline training is a safety critical issue. It is recommended that the Service examine the frequency of these exercises within the multi-pump format.

SECTION 4

4. Community Fire Safety and The Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003

4.1 The Service has a clear policy to involve all operational staff in both Community Fire Safety ( CFS) and, where appropriate, legislative work. In general, wholetime personnel have embraced Community Fire Safety and a number of examples were provided of station personnel carrying out CFS work in the local community. There are some notable initiatives being driven both centrally and locally. The priorities for prevention form an integral part of the Service's IRMP. The Service is very proactive in identifying operational activity trends and implementing appropriate intervention strategies which are clearly having a positive impact on incident reduction and community safety. The Service is considering the use of improved measurement of outcomes to determine the success or otherwise of safety initiatives. This is to be commended and will also assist in ensuring that resources are targeted in the areas of greatest risk.

4.2 The Service conducted an initial review of its Community Fire Safety resources in 2002. This review identified the need for further resources to support the Service's role. A further review, presently being undertaken for the Service's management team, will encompass both current and future work commitments in regard to Community Planning and Community Fire Safety. The Service's IRMP has identified the need for a full review of present methods of supporting CFS, which will also consider decentralising some of these functions to fit better with the local area committee structure within the Service's region. In addition, the Service is considering a more flexible use of legislative inspecting officers, which will balance their work between legislative and community safety. The Service has an extensive range of partnership initiatives across its area, and whilst this is most commendable it is, by its very nature, resource intensive.

4.3 The Service is an established partner in each of the council area community planning forums, and it continues to develop innovative partnership arrangements to drive down incident occurrence and enhance community safety. Where possible, good use has been made of partnership funding award schemes to support these initiatives. The Service is fully engaged with operational crews in the delivery of CFS, and encourages partnership working at the point of service delivery. Once again, this is commendable and clearly demonstrates Best Value. The CFS work at station level is centrally directed, and involves initiatives such as home fire safety risk assessments and fitting of smoke alarms.

4.4 The Service's priorities for prevention form part of the Fire Authority's published Community Fire Safety Strategy and are an integral part of the Service's IRMP. At the time of inspection the use of validated data or evidence to provide a true measurement of the outcomes in regard to the success or otherwise of certain initiatives was being achieved. The developing work resulting from the FSEC toolkit will be utilised to accurately measure results and target resources.

4.5 Robust reporting and auditing is featured across the range of activities carried out by the Service. This is further supported by regular reporting on outcomes to each of the local area committees. The Community Fire Safety toolkit is available and utilised across the Service. At present this is predominantly within the wholetime sector.

4.6 Examples of good practice were identified which confirmed that operational personnel were prepared not only to take ownership of initiatives, but to use local knowledge to identify and prioritise targets within their own station area, such as hot strike campaigns where operational activity has highlighted specific risks to the community. Operational activities are also monitored and the information fed back into the CFS department to identify trends and develop targets as part of the overall CFS strategy for the department and stations. The full use of the work emanating from the FSEC toolkit is still at an early stage. The Firemaster and his team are encouraging (in a monitored and co-ordinated manner) the development of "bottom up" fire safety/awareness and educational initiatives from staff throughout the Service. This has the obvious benefits of allowing local staff to initiate local solutions to local risks. This is not being undertaken at the expense of national or strategic initiatives. It is simply complementary and encourages ownership of these challenges at the local level.

4.7 The Service has attempted to pro-actively use retained staff to develop CFS in their areas and has introduced more flexible employment arrangements for wider use of retained staff. However, in light of the change in emphasis from intervention to prevention, the Service will need to consider how to maximise the effectiveness of retained personnel in delivering community safety initiatives. Competing work/life priorities may impact on the success of this work.

4.8 In general, wholetime personnel have embraced Community Fire Safety and a number of examples were provided where station personnel had initiated CFS work in the local community. As previously highlighted, the Service has an established arrangement for home safety visits. This work is specifically targeted and these targets are regularly measured and formally reported to the Council and the local area community groups.

RECOMMENDATIONS

2. The Service will need to ensure that the increasing workload in CFS is adequately resourced to support the many initiatives contained within the CFS action plan.

3. The Service makes good use of data on operational activity and the various initiatives are monitored to assist in the development of targeted Community Fire Safety. However, the Service may wish to consider providing this information 'live' to stations so that they can immediately identify local issues and implement, where appropriate, a remedial plan. In addition, the Service should consider developing the wider use of the CFS Toolkit by station personnel to enhance and support local initiatives.

4. The Service is to be congratulated on its innovative partnership work which covers a wide and diverse range of activities. However, it may wish to review and, where possible, identify those activities which provide best practice and develop these across the service area.

5. From the evidence presented and staff interviews conducted during the inspection, the Service has a clear policy and strategy in place for operational staff involvement in Community Fire Safety work. However, some work is still required to fully engage all personnel in this process.

SECTION 5

5. Fire Safety Issues

5.1 The Service is well placed to accommodate the forthcoming statutory duty of becoming the enforcing authority for fire safety. The sustained capacity and competency of staff in this specialist area is commendable. There is a robust risk-based approach to all legislative enforcement work. During 2005, a further review of the risk classification of premises was commenced to further validate the current inspection regime. The Service's policy remains flexible to change, subject to new work or reassessment of existing priorities.

5.2 The Service has, in regard to licensing of houses in multiple occupancy, seconded an officer to the Local Authority which provides a beneficial working arrangement to better manage this expanding area of work.

5.3 Due to staffing shortages, the department had been unable to meet its target inspection programme and this has resulted in some lower risk premises not being inspected in accordance with the existing risk profile timescale.

5.4 Currently, the profile of staff within the legislative section of the department is well balanced in terms of expertise and experience and there is a reserve of appropriately trained personnel throughout the Service who can be utilised where necessary. The Service do not experience difficulty in attracting staff into the department which is seen as an important element of career progression.

5.5 The current risk categorisation arrangements are sufficiently flexible to manage any changes due to additional new work and/or reassessment of existing priorities. The Service's improvement plan for 2005-06 includes a planning strategy to discharge new enforcement duties emanating from the Fire (Scotland) Bill.

5.6 The Service utilises wholetime operational crews to undertake the majority of routine inspection work in the city areas.

5.7 The department uses a software data package called "Terian" to manage legislative fire safety information. This system is currently used in a number of Fire Services throughout Scotland. It was apparent during the inspection that very strong confidence in this system was displayed at all management levels.

RECOMMENDATIONS

6. The Service should monitor the legislative workload to ensure that it does not exceed staff capacity, particularly whilst the review process is being undertaken.

7. The Service has consistently been able to complete its existing inspection programme. However, due to staff shortages and secondments, this has not been possible over the last year. There is no evidence to suggest that this has had an impact on safety critical premises.

The Service may wish to further examine its inspection programme risk categories.

SECTION 6

6. Heads of Agreement

6.1 The recent long-running dispute in the service was ended with the joint signing of a document entitled "Heads of Agreement." Once again the Fire Authority and the Service are ahead in many areas arising from the Heads of Agreement. All the necessary policies and processes are in place with regard to pre-arranged overtime, mixed crewing, voluntary use of wholetime staff undertaking part-time duties, etc. The Service and staff are now utilising these flexibilities which, in turn, is improving productivity in all areas of the Service.

6.2 The Service utilises support staff in key specialist posts across all functions. It has also put in place dedicated administrative support staff to support strategic wholetime stations, which releases operational staff to concentrate on core activities. Although as yet there has been no further significant development in this area, such development will be considered in line with the development of IPDS and the change to the current appointment and promotions regulations.

6.3 The Service has particular areas where recruitment difficulties impact on service delivery, and the Service currently utilises a combination of local and centrally managed initiatives to raise awareness in the communities where problems exist.

6.4 The Service also operates a wholetime/retained policy in specific joint wholetime and retained crewed stations. Wholetime overtime can be used to fill crewing shortages on retained appliances and this arrangement has already enhanced operational appliance availability in specific problem areas.

SECTION 7

7. Diversity and Equality Issues

7.1 The Service is doing excellent work on equality and has been for some time. There are a number of areas where examples of good practice are shown. This is partly due to the management processes and procedures that are currently in place, ensuring that all functional managers consider equality issues in all their processes and policies.

7.2 The Service has made valuable use of an independent company to deliver equality training to 23 key staff members, who will subsequently form a team for delivery of this training throughout the Service. The team members are a mix of grades and roles, and bring their own diverse experience to the task. This is an area of good practice in training delivery for equality.

7.3 Another such area is the positive action in recruitment work currently being undertaken in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender ( LGBT) communities. The Service has done considerable work with the LGBT community, building links and networks throughout this area of business. This has resulted in a significant rise in the numbers of LGBT people showing an interest in the Fire Service, and has led to a specific recruitment event taking place in the LGBT Centre in Edinburgh.

7.4 On disability, the Service has also done considerable work through the use of an officer attending the Chief Fire Officers' Association ( CFOA) Disability Guidance Task Group. This has resulted in a Disability Discrimination Act ( DDA) Action Plan being formulated, along with a specific training pack on disability issues. This training will be delivered as part of the Service's normal teaching schedule.

7.5 Regarding the duties of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act ( RR(A)A) 2000, the Service is undertaking a number of good initiatives and has networks and links with the Black and Minority Ethnic ( BME) communities. However, ownership of the duties and legal obligations does not appear to sit at corporate level within the Service. No evidence was provided that the Race Equality Scheme or subsequent action plan(s) have been specifically discussed at Senior Management Team level, or at recent Functional Managers Group meetings. It was also found that some of the work being undertaken by the Service which would fit the duties/action plan has not been properly evidenced.

7.6 The Race Equality Scheme ( RES) Action Plan formulated under the RR(A)A is not comprehensive enough, as it does not contain specific actions for each department or function. Function Managers should have ownership of the action plan duties for their specific departments, and feed updates and progression through the corporate group on a regular basis. The current methodology will not result in the mainstreaming of race equality throughout the Service, as intended by the legislation. The Service has begun to undertake Equality Impact Assessments ( EIAs) and some training has been delivered in order for staff to meet this requirement. The RES itself is a good document; all policies and functions of the Service have been identified within it, although no priority rating has been given to them as yet.

7.7 The culture of the organisation appears to be good and the communication of equality issues is also good. The Service uses a number of communication tools; one worthy of mention is the Service Magazine. A senior officer has a regular column in the magazine discussing equality issues. Comments are invited from staff and this enables equality issues to remain high on the agenda, and for two-way communication to take place.

RECOMMENDATION

8. The Service is a high achiever in the equality agenda. However, the Service must look at ownership of the Race Equality Scheme ( RES) and associated Action Plan and where this lies within the organisation. The Action Plan itself must be developed to make it more comprehensive and each function manager should be tasked to identify the specific functions of their departments which apply to the RR(A)A and prioritise them for action. Reporting on progress should be carried out on a regular (perhaps quarterly) basis to the Main Corporate Group. This should subsequently be reported to the Fire Board on a regular basis. Therefore, the RES should be a standing item on both the Corporate Management Team Agenda and the Fire Board agenda. The duties of the RES should not be delegated to the Equality Officer. This role should be utilised for advice and guidance, particularly on impact assessments. The Service must ensure that all policies and functions, including those already in existence, are impact-assessed; and that results of impact assessments undertaken and their outcomes are published on an annual basis. All grievances, discipline, promotions and access to training must also be monitored for ethnic origin and the results published on an annual basis. The identified duties and functions listed in the RES should be prioritised and timescales for completion given. This should then form the basis of some of the key points in the updated action plan.

SECTION 8

8. Health and Safety

8.1 The management of health and safety within the Service can only be described as impressive. Excellent use is made of IT for accident reporting, for risk assessment and risk management. Whilst not all department staff were available during the inspection, those present demonstrated both excellent skills and enthusiasm in their work. The Service has gained a silver award from the Scottish Health at Work scheme.

8.2 Safety is managed in a holistic manner with the three elements of health and safety, occupational health and a fitness advisory unit all working together for the benefit of Service staff. These three elements are also shared collaboratively with two other Services.

8.3 The Services competent person is clearly operating at the correct level within the organisation. Horizon scanning on behalf of the Services Principle management was evident with a corporate awareness seminar having recently been run on the corporate impact of current legislation. The Service has not been inspected by the HSE since the last report.

8.4 It was noted that the required qualification level for operational watch managers was being changed, from the NEBOSH certificate to the lower level of the "Managing Safely" certificate. Whilst this decision is not in itself questioned, it was felt that this did not align itself to the Service's current drive toward watch managers having greater responsibility and autonomy. The Service may wish to consider this comment.

8.5 Excellent use of collected data for reactive and proactive risk management was very evident during the inspection, with excellent use being made of information technology. The Service is actively looking for alternative IT systems to improve on some areas of this work.

SECTION 9

9. Information/Communications

9.1 A sample of staff feedback was taken from across the Service with some very positive results. Staff felt well informed, generally consulted with in most areas and, most significantly in terms of wholetime staff, were fully committed to the new statutory duty of community fire safety.

9.2 The Inspection team visited wholetime stations at Newcraighall and Crewe Toll. The duty personnel at both stations displayed a good knowledge and understanding of the Modernisation Agenda and were generally satisfied with the level and methods of communication within the Service. This also included station consultation visits on current key issues such as IRMP and IPDS.

9.3 The Service has an excellent intranet system which is available to all staff. Those sampled were content that, when required, they could access a wide variety of information which supported existing internal publications such as Service orders, general instructions, procedures and the Service's newsletter "The Message".

9.4 The staff sampled had a good awareness of the role of the New Dimensions arrangements and displayed an enthusiasm for taking on these new areas of work. Some concern was raised in regard to access to suitable local training facilities for some of the more specialist roles. However, the Service is already reviewing these arrangements, and their concerns are also being considered as part of the wider national training strategy.

SECTION 10

10. Personnel Attendance Levels

10.1 The Services policy on personnel attendance levels is currently being redrafted. The existing policy, whilst working reasonably well, was felt to have lost some of its impact with key managers. The reasons for this were that the policy document was not user friendly and was felt to be too large and cumbersome for routine use. The new policy will be modular in style; this will help to focus managers on the policy and assist them in its application as well as facilitating future amendments and revision. Those modules that have been completed were made available to the Inspectorate and discussed with key staff. What is being considered for the remaining module was outlined and discussed.

10.2 In line with best practice, the existing policy trigger for long-term sickness will become 28 days and absence related to psychological health problems will automatically result in an immediate medical referral. The Service is to be complimented on this approach.

10.3 In line with the Service's stated objective of devolving watch managers' responsibilities, the Service is actively considering how best to frame the functioning of the policy at this level, particularly in regard to the use of trigger points and medical referrals.

10.4 The Inspectorate was able to offer some advice on this and to recommend a Service with whom the policy writers may wish to benchmark and confer before coming to a final decision.

10.5 The Service has a long established secondary employment procedure for all staff and formal approval is required from the Firemaster before any member of the Service can undertake any form of secondary employment. This is incorporated in current Service Order A25, which also includes details of guidelines for applicants on secondary employment.

10.6 The Service has reviewed existing procedures and produced a comprehensive draft practice statement which takes into consideration a number of legislative changes that have occurred since the adoption of the original Service order. The draft practice statement also provides comprehensive guidance to staff and specifies the essential information in regard to the secondary employment contract that must be provided in the application.

RECOMMENDATION

9. The updated draft practice statement provided by the Service will enable a more accurate and evidenced record of secondary employment undertaken by staff. However, consideration should be given to requiring the secondary employer to endorse the application so that they also fully understand and accept the primary employment conditions set out in the contract by the Fire Authority to prevent a conflict of employment interests.

SECTION 11

11. Freedom of Information Act

11.1 The Service has prepared, in cooperation with the CFOA Scotland Freedom Of Information ( FOI) group, a model publication scheme which has now been adopted and approved by the Scottish Information Commissioner. To support this new requirement the Service Management Group has embedded FOI into its overall corporate strategy and a new post of Information Manager, reporting to the Corporate Communications Manager, has been established.

11.2 Within the existing Corporate Communications strategy, additional part-time staffing support has also been identified to assist in the development of the necessary procedures, guidance and information management arrangements associated with this new area of work.

11.3 On a day-to-day basis, relevant responsibility for FOI has been devolved to each of the Functional Managers. This enables them to embed into their managerial responsibilities the overall requirements of the corporate strategy. This is in line with the Service's existing policy of transparency and open publication of relevant information, via both the intranet and the Service website.

11.4 Managers have also been provided with strategic training as part of collaborative arrangements through the CFOA (Scotland) FOI group.

11.5 The Service is working with this group to establish an appropriate training/awareness package for other staff who are likely to have a lesser, but nevertheless important, part in relation to the general management of information and receiving of FOI requests.

11.6 The model publication scheme and an interactive FOI application form is available via the Service intranet and website for reference and use by staff and stakeholders. A copy of the model publication scheme was provided, as was a suite of additional draft documents which are presently out for consultation. These detail the Service procedures on areas such as records management and retention and disposal schemes.

11.7 The Service had, at the time of inspection, carried out an information audit on Service orders and procedures.

11.8 Based on staff sampling and evidence provided during the inspection, it is apparent that the Service has the resources, procedures and infrastructure in place to support the implementation of FOI.

11.9 The Service procedures for handling both complaints and letters of appreciation are satisfactory and, on the evidence provided, the Service has an appropriate audit trail on the outcome of each investigation and the feedback to the complainant. These procedures are also being reconsidered in light of the FOI Act.

SECTION 12

12. Information Technology and Data/Information Capture

12.1 The Service's excellent intranet facility is widely accessible and extensively used by staff. Sampling during the inspection confirmed that the Service has also supplied additional computers, where necessary, to overcome the common difficulty of gaining access for large numbers of staff on stations.

12.2 The Service has recognised the increasing demands of enhancing its existing holistic communications and IT strategy, particularly in light of the developing modernisation programme involving IRMP, CFS, IPDS and new regulatory requirements such as Freedom of Information.

12.3 This has been progressed through the Corporate Group, which approved a restructure of the Corporate Communications Function to provide additional staffing to support this important and increasing area of work. This will help to coordinate centrally a plethora of information and data.

SECTION 13

13. Duties under the Civil Contingencies Bill

13.1 The Service has in place robust emergency planning arrangements supported, where necessary, by site-specific operational plans and a comprehensive multi-agency exercise programme. These arrangements are clearly embedded into the Service's emergency operational planning process. They form the foundation for multi-agency plans to support integrated emergency management arrangements for dealing with a wide and varied number of major high profile events that regularly take place across the Service area, particularly within the capital city every year.

13.2 In recognition of this important new piece of legislation, the Service has also seconded an officer to work on behalf of both the Service and the Chief Fire Officers' Association ( CFOA) Scotland in developing these arrangements. This work includes representation on the Scottish Executive Civil Contingencies Bill ( CCB) Regulatory Working Group, in the review and development of the regulations and production of supporting guidance for all participating Services and agencies in Scotland.

13.3 From the evidence presented and staff sampling during the inspection, the Service has in place the necessary arrangements and expertise to support the new duties emanating from the new Civil Contingencies Bill within its well established emergency planning and coordination arrangements.

13.4 The Service is a primary provider of mass decontamination assets via the nationally provided Major Incident Unit. The Service has established, in line with national protocols, the necessary training systems and operational procedures to support deployment of mass decontamination assets, both locally and as part of the Scottish New Dimension resilience capability.

13.5 These arrangements have been fully embedded into the Service's operational procedures and awareness amongst the staff sampled indicated a good understanding of the Service's role. Procedures have been actively developed and validated by participating in various Service and multi-service exercises within the local emergency co-ordinating group.

13.6 The Service has developed an appropriate deployment strategy in accord with the Scottish-wide arrangements for Urban Search and Rescue ( USAR) work. It continues to work with the Scottish Fire Service Inspectorate and the other Scottish Fire Services to develop on this new area. The Major Incident Unit has been fully integrated into the Service to enhance normal operational heavy rescue response for the Lothian and Borders area, as well as providing a national USAR resilience capability.

13.7 The Service continues to support the Scottish USAR arrangements and, in line with the national arrangements, has established a cadre of specially trained personnel to support deployment, as well as providing dedicated resources to enhance Service operations at more frequently occurring emergencies.

13.8 A key component of resilience planning is the need to review both existing and potential risks in the Service area against a range of accidental and/or deliberate Chemical, Biological, Radiation or Nuclear ( CBRN) scenarios. Guidance was issued to the Scottish Fire Service by the Inspectorate in November 2001 and CFOA provided a planning tool and guidance for this purpose to all Fire and Rescue services in June 2002. The Service, along with its partners on the local Joint Emergency Co-ordinating Group, are undertaking such a review and the development of a risk register in line with the requirements of the Civil Contingencies Bill. The Service has an excellent operational risk assessment process which, on a tiered basis, identifies the need for a range of site specific plans. However, this process does not fully consider the type of catastrophic event that the aforementioned CBRN guidance was designed to support.

13.9 With the Service hosting so many major events on a regular basis, it has well-established collaboration arrangements with police colleagues to ensure necessary information is available to support and inform operational planning arrangements.

RECOMMENDATIONS

10. It is recommended that the Service examines the opportunity to build on its existing training and exercise programme, to test these arrangements further on a multi-region basis with other Services which operate Scottish Major Incident Units. This will test mutual aid arrangements and further validate planning assumptions.

11. In light of the type of scenarios now envisaged, the Service should build on its excellent operational planning arrangements to further review site specific risks to encapsulate, where possible, the type and scale of events that would previously have been unimaginable.

SECTION 14

14. Funding

14.1 The Service has recently identified a number of efficiencies within the organisation, allowing staff to be redeployed into other vital areas such as fire safety. This will also generate revenue savings over a two-year period which is both commendable and compliant with Best Value.

14.2 The Fire Authority and the Service are already considering the methods by which the transitional funding (recently announced by the Scottish Executive to part fund the modernising agenda) can be absorbed over the next three years. Whilst this will be challenging, there is every reason to be confident that this can be achieved in a manner that reflects the strategic approach taken elsewhere across the organisation.

RECOMMENDATION

12. The Fire Authority should further plan for the absorption of the recently announced transitional funding to part-fund the Modernising Agenda.