Inspection of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service: East Service Delivery Area

How effective is the Service in the East SDA at responding to incidents when the do occur? We consider this to be satisfactory.

The Service has assessed local risk and developed response plans accordingly; it has an exercise regime to test these plans in conjunction with partners where relevant; and has processes in place to amend plans as required.

There is a national system to access and store risk information. We have indicated in previous reports that access to this information has been problematic, due to issues with the system and the firefighter interface, a demountable tablet device. It is of concern that this situation continues, with many problems still unresolved.

There is an operational assurance process and recording system to evaluate operational performance. It supports organisational learning, though a lack of direct feedback was said to be disengaging staff.

There are regular occasions when Wholetime fire appliances are withdrawn from operation due to staff shortages. On-Call crewed appliance availability, particularly during the day, remains a challenge.

The operational assets are broadly fit for purpose there are however, some significant issues regarding the fabric and facilities at some fire stations. There are opportunities to improve the quality and provision of some equipment and to a lesser extent fleet, where some appliances are beyond their effectiveness due to age. Better use could also be made of some specialist appliances.