Latest news with #HMICFRS
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Surrey Police vetting requires improvement
The vetting procedures at Surrey Police have been rated as "requires improvement" by force has been criticised over delays in vetting new applicants and serving findings are in a report into vetting, professional standards and counter corruption published by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) on Police said it fully accepted the findings in the report and recognised there were "significant areas for improvement highlighted". At the time of the inspection, there were 1,178 applications waiting to be processed, meaning more than 160 people are in posts for which they have not undergone full vetting, the report force was also told to improve the monitoring of its computer equipment, with staffing levels in its anti-corruption unit not able to meet demand, and so not able to proactively look for force was judged as good on its ability to tackle potential Wilsher, a member of the inspection team, said his concerns were not "too great"."A number of the things Surrey need to do, extra training, some extra capacity, better paperwork in their decision making, are things they can put right very quickly, and I'm confident they will," he said. 'Working hard' Dep Ch Con Tanya Jones said the force welcomed the report."When police officers, police staff, or volunteers, are involved in misconduct or criminality, it has a direct impact on public trust and confidence and, in turn, our legitimacy to fight crime, protect people, and be there for everyone who needs us," she said."While it is positive that the HMICFRS identified good practice, particularly in our ability to tackle potential corruption, we fully accept the findings in the report and recognise there are significant areas for improvement highlighted."We are working hard on improving these areas, with advancements already being made since the inspection. We will prioritise these recommendations, make the necessary improvements and be transparent about our progress with our people, and the public."
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Hundreds of unvetted staff in Hampshire police, report says
A police force has 362 workers who have not been properly vetted, a report has and Isle of Wight Constabulary, which employs nearly 6,000 people, has been ordered to improve its vetting procedures by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).The cases involve existing staff whose vetting has expired or who have been promoted without higher level clearance, the report force said it had recruited a further 12 staff to make checks and had "robust processes" to identify unsuitable new applicants. At the time of the inspection, the force vetting unit did not have enough staff to meet demand, the report analysts and three senior staff were working on 223 applications, with a further 462 cases pending, it a review of vetting decisions on new joiners, inspectors agreed with 18 out of 25 outcomes but said some risks were not force was rated as "requires improvement" for vetting, but "adequate" for other integrity standards including challenging misconduct and tackling an HMICFRS review of 40 cases identified three where potential crimes were missed. These included an officer who tested positive for drugs and one who sent misogynistic, homophobic and racist later resigned, but the report gave no outcome for a third case involving an allegation of aggravated a statement, Acting Chief Constable Sam de Reya said she welcomed the added: "We had already recognised and responded to the challenges around our vetting arrangements, particularly around ensuring we had sufficient resources to meet demand. "Our ambitious recruitment programme to increase the number of police officers within the force required us to also bring in more staff to carry out vetting checks."The report recognised our efforts to increase capacity within the team, and we have recruited a further 12 staff since the inspection."Importantly, our robust processes ensure that only those who are suitable for policing are able to join the force."The senior officer added that the force's internal investigations had been found to be "good", with "proportionate, consistent and fair" outcomes. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
ITV News
6 days ago
- ITV News
Liverpool response shows police have learnt from Southport
While the focus today is rightly on the lives changed by Monday's horrific scenes in Liverpool, there are also signs that Merseyside Police is itself transformed since the last time it dealt with an incident on this scale. Three words indicate a step change in the force's communications: 'white British man'. It took them less than two hours to inform us of the suspect's profile last night. Contrast that with the vacuum of information following the Southport murders last July, and it's clear the police have learnt from the past. I was in Southport a few hours after three little girls - Elsie, Alice and Bebe - were killed and saw for myself how disinformation filled the void left by police communications. Online, outright lies spread about the attacker. Mainly that he was a Muslim asylum seeker who had arrived via a small boat. He wasn't and he hadn't. So determined were the advocates of that disinformation that still to this day some people believe and perpetuate those conspiracies. By the time Merseyside Police released the full information about Axel Rudakubana - including that he was from Britain - it was too late to put the falsehoods back in the box. This is something the inspectorate HMICFRS subsequently criticised police for, recently concluding that 'the police service needs to better appreciate that fast-moving events require it to respond with an accurate counter-narrative". So this time, Merseyside Police acted quickly. I noticed that within minutes last night theories were once again circulating on social media, where irresponsible accounts deliberately stoked a particular narrative. This time, before it could take hold, the Merseyside Police statement landed shortly before 8pm, stating that the suspect was male, white and British. But quickly criticism turned to whether or not the police were too quick to outline the man's profile. In future, will police always be expected to state the ethnicity and nationality of a suspect? What if that information inflames rather than eases tensions, or feeds a false narrative rather than dispelling it? And if police don't routinely release this information, in future cases people will ask why not. There has been great praise today of the police officers - and other emergency services - who responded at the scene of the incident. But the back office staff who decide what information to release must feel they cannot win.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Fire service criticised after person dies in blaze
A fire service has been criticised after a resident died in a house blaze while waiting for a safety visit, a watchdog has said. Poor prevention work was one of "many issues" uncovered during a recent inspection of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS), which was also told to improve its culture and how it promotes diversity. But, his Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) praised the service for how it dealt with emergencies, including major incidents. Gavin Ellis, chief fire officer in Devon and Somerset, said preventing emergencies is a "huge focus" for the service, which had "already acted" on recommendations. Inspectors highlighted particular concerns about fire prevention and a backlog of 7,000 home safety visits - up from 1,400 in 2021. The HMICFRS report said the fire service told its inspectors it had "mostly cleared" the backlog but not before there were "tragic consequences". "A fatal fire review revealed that despite historic engagement, the service hadn't made a home safety visit to an individual who was on the backlog list. Months later, before a visit was made, the occupant died in a fire," it added. A spokesperson for the fire service told the BBC it visited the property involved in 2017 and 2018 and worked to make it safer while providing advice. They added: "We received a further referral and made attempts to contact the individual, which were unsuccessful. We were due to try again when, sadly, the fatal fire happened. We review all fatal fires to learn about what we can do differently in the future." During its inspection, the HMICFRS found the service was good at responding to fires, emergencies and major incidents and at understanding fire and risk. It was deemed adequate at ensuring public safety through fire regulation and at managing resources and future affordability. However, it required improvement in fire prevention, as well as how it promotes values and culture and matching the right people to the right skills. While the service was praised for doing "considerable work" to improve its culture, some staff told inspectors they did not feel confident challenging inappropriate behaviour. The service had also not made enough progress in its approach to equality, diversity and inclusion, the report added. It said inspectors were "disappointed" to find the diversity and inclusion team was "understaffed" and had an "excessive" workload. His Majesty's Inspector Roy Wilsher said: "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." Mr Ellis said the authority "welcomed 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." He said work to improve culture "has been recognised". On the prevention of fires, Mr Ellis said the recommendations made were "process issues" and the service has "already acted" to better target its prevention work. "Preventing emergencies is a huge focus for the organisation and our people are dedicated to keeping people safe," he said. "Overall, we have a great foundation to keep on improving." Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Plan to change how fire service responds to alarms Students taking 'lifesaving' firefighter training Students taking 'lifesaving' firefighter training Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services
BBC News
23-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Devon and Somerset fire service criticised after person dies in blaze
A fire service has been criticised after a resident died in a house blaze while waiting for a safety visit, a watchdog has prevention work was one of "many issues" uncovered during a recent inspection of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS), which was also told to improve its culture and how it promotes his Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) praised the service for how it dealt with emergencies, including major Ellis, chief fire officer in Devon and Somerset, said preventing emergencies is a "huge focus" for the service, which had "already acted" on recommendations. 'Tragic consequences' Inspectors highlighted particular concerns about fire prevention and a backlog of 7,000 home safety visits - up from 1,400 in HMICFRS report said the fire service told its inspectors it had "mostly cleared" the backlog but not before there were "tragic consequences"."A fatal fire review revealed that despite historic engagement, the service hadn't made a home safety visit to an individual who was on the backlog list. Months later, before a visit was made, the occupant died in a fire," it added.A spokesperson for the fire service told the BBC it visited the property involved in 2017 and 2018 and worked to make it safer while providing added: "We received a further referral and made attempts to contact the individual, which were unsuccessful. We were due to try again when, sadly, the fatal fire happened. We review all fatal fires to learn about what we can do differently in the future." During its inspection, the HMICFRS found the service was good at responding to fires, emergencies and major incidents and at understanding fire and was deemed adequate at ensuring public safety through fire regulation and at managing resources and future it required improvement in fire prevention, as well as how it promotes values and culture and matching the right people to the right skills. Understaffed While the service was praised for doing "considerable work" to improve its culture, some staff told inspectors they did not feel confident challenging inappropriate service had also not made enough progress in its approach to equality, diversity and inclusion, the report added. It said inspectors were "disappointed" to find the diversity and inclusion team was "understaffed" and had an "excessive" workload. His Majesty's Inspector Roy Wilsher said: "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." Mr Ellis said the authority "welcomed 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."He said work to improve culture "has been recognised".On the prevention of fires, Mr Ellis said the recommendations made were "process issues" and the service has "already acted" to better target its prevention work."Preventing emergencies is a huge focus for the organisation and our people are dedicated to keeping people safe," he said."Overall, we have a great foundation to keep on improving."
