Select Committee on Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Written Evidence


Memorandum by the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) (FRS 60)

1.  BACKGROUND

  The Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) is not short of research findings on equality and diversity issues or consequential recommendations or action plans.

  In 1994 the Home Office published a report by Tom Burke. The FRS whilst still under the Home Office was subject to a thematic review in 1999. Following that, Professor Bain in his independent review published in 2001 also made adverse comments on the state of equality and diversity. All are referenced in the appendix of this submission. In addition the appendix includes other reports that are drawn to the Committee's attention containing additional and supporting information.

  All the research reports point to the Service's performance as being one of the poorest in the public sector in respect of equality and diversity. All provide excellent guidance and route maps for integrating equality and diversity as a key issue. Few have had any far-reaching impact. As often as not the FRS appears to resent the exposure their findings have generated.

  The CRE strongly supports the Committee's decision to review and focus on diversity. This memorandum relates to paragraph 2c of the inquiry's terms of reference. The CRE would be pleased to work with the Committee and provide additional evidence if needed.

  The memorandum sets out some of the key respects in which the FRS shows persistent poor performance on equality and diversity, and race equality in particular. It indicates some measures that we consider important and notes some of the good practice initiatives that have been developed recently but argues that these must be integrated into a coherent overall strategic approach.

2.  LEADERSHIP

  This is a recurring theme in many investigations and research reports on diversity in the FRS. We are concerned that the fire service has little understanding of how leadership within diversity should manifest itself. The FRS has largely failed to recognise true champions of diversity at any level. A public body such as the fire service should be able to identify and demonstrated achievement by its champions. Many Chief Fire Officers will claim they have the role of leadership but all too often this is more rhetoric than reality and not matched by performance or outcomes.

  The CRE expects public organisations such as the FRS to at least be able to demonstrate positive leadership and commitment. The basis for this is in the statutory duty, in place since 2001, requiring public bodies to take pro-active steps to promote racial equality. Committed leadership is crucial in demonstrating the legitimacy and credibility of equality and diversity both externally to private and community and voluntary sector bodies in the locality and internally to the organisation's own people.

  Leadership at central government level has also been muted. The ODPM has not sent out a clear and unequivocal signal that poor performance in the area of equality and diversity is not acceptable.

3.  POLICY AND PROCEDURES

  Parts of the Service have responded to the recommendations made in reports that are referenced in the appendix. This has been done well in some Fire and Rescue Authorities, but many have just copied policies from other FRAs or public bodies and these have either been applied inappropriately or remained mere paper policies, and appear to have had little impact if any on equality and diversity within many fire services. Many county authorities have simply relied on their county councils' overarching policies for compliance but these often fail to address the key and specific issues for the FRS.

  The requirements of the general statutory duty to promote race equality introduced through the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 have proven to be particularly poorly addressed by FRAs and we believe that compliance with the general duty and with the specific duties cannot be found in many FRAs, and certainly not a thorough embrace of the recommendations of the statutory code of practice. Until quite recently a substantial number of FRAs did not even have Race Equality Schemes. In 2005 up to 60% of FRAs had not completed any race impact assessments. One FRA, following an intervention by the CRE based on alleged breach of duty, is now demonstrating what it is possible to achieve and what managers are capable of if challenged.

  The CRE is shortly to embark on a monitoring study looking at the compliance of FRAs (among a range of other public sector bodies) with the statutory duties. We shall be putting particular emphasis on evidence that FRAs have robust arrangements for undertaking race equality impact assessments which they have effectively implemented.

4.  REVIEW AND MONITORING

  The FRS has been criticised by many including the Audit Commission for not applying best practice in performance management in general. For equality and diversity this is particularly true. Little evidence exists that a systematic approach is adopted to managing diversity or for evaluating initiatives. The FireWorks research supports this view. The ODPM and the CPA have not placed diversity sufficiently high in its priorities for monitoring or audit. In the first quarter of 2005 the Audit Commission carried out CPA inspections of the FRS using a methodology supported by a diagnostic tool on equality and diversity. However the references in the Commission's reports on individual FRAs in this area are patchy, often minimal, and inconsistent. One FRA reviewed and reported as excellent did not even have a strategy on diversity.

  The ODPM/ Fire Service Inspectorate should have carried out a follow up thematic in 2003. This still has not been done and in the 2004-05 Framework document a number of commitments were made that would have supported this area but again to date none has been carried out. These were:

    (a)  Review of training

    (b)  Review of equality officer role

    (c)  Develop a peer assessment tool

    (d)  Develop a bespoke tool to support the local government agenda.

  In the 2005-06 draft National Framework document all have disappeared, seemingly signifying that the failure to carry out the reviews and to drop rather than carry them forward means that the ODPM no longer believes these issues to be important.

  We believe that the National Framework document is a key driver in England and this should have clear and reliable commitments as to what ODPM will do and what Regional Management Boards and FRAs are expected to deliver on equality and diversity. This is particularly important in the case of the boards as these bodies are not themselves listed as subject to the duty to promote race equality and unless one of more constituent FRAs provide leadership on the issue it can easily fall from the agenda. We also believe that the framework, which is effectively a statement of policy, should be subject to a race equality impact assessment.[29] The CRE will be making a submission to the ODPM during formal consultation on the Framework document.

5.  CULTURE

  The culture of the fire service in spite of all the work that has been carried out, is still in places xenophobic, male, macho and bullying and to the extent that this is true it is not capable of sustaining or supporting equality and diversity. In the current climate it is not surprising to find the FRS failing to meet the government's and its own agenda on diversity. At the same time, culture is often used as an excuse for poor achievement.

  It is our view that the leadership does not understand the component parts of the cultural web that exists in the Service and does not know what impacts on it. They have failed to identify the critical success factors for changing the culture and more importantly what the role of Members of fire authorities and Chief Fire Officers is in changing the culture. ODPM needs to give clear indications on the type of culture the service should be aiming for and how it should be training staff and elected members to achieve the change. ODPM and fire authorities need to consider how this is to be monitored and audited. The time is right for a full cultural audit to be carried out and the development of clear, short and medium term plans to bring about real cultural change.

  We believe the cultural audit tool that has been developed by ODPM and CFOA has the potential to provide the springboard for change, However this is not the whole answer as discussed above.

6.  THE BUSINESS OR SERVICE CASE

  The FRS has no clear business/service case for equality and diversity. Much of the research has highlighted this issue. It is welcome that the ODPM will be leading work in 2006 to develop a business/service case. This should then provide one of the key building blocks for the FRS to understand and tackle the many issues relating to diversity that it currently faces.

7.  RECRUITMENT AND TARGETS

  The FRS has probably the worst figures in the public sector on the representation of black and minority ethnic staff in uniformed posts. Currently the Service has a workforce that is less than 2.4% ethnic minority, with a very similar proportion for women. Statistics for 2003-04 show that (excluding the "other" category) non-white, ethnic minority applicants for wholetime posts made up 11.3% of all applicants. However, only 2.7% of the ethnic minority applicants were successful compared with 6.2% of white applicants. These figures are unacceptable. They cannot be and are not condoned by government or accepted by the public. But determined action is needed if the FRS is to match the changes seen in the police force, prison service and the ambulance service over the last 10 years.

  We can only conclude that this is linked to the issue of leadership referred to earlier. Where the FRS sees a need, in our experience, it can and has made the change. The manner in which the culture of health and safety and community safety have changed in the FRS in recent years are clear indicators were leadership is found on a theme, achievement is matched by energy, commitment and resources.

  The targets first set in 1999 under the Home Office regime—7% of ethnic minorities in the workforce by 2009—are no longer fully owned by the FRS, though they still appear, for example, in the ODPM's public service agreement. We understand that the ODPM has undertaken a long-delayed review of targets and will issue a new strategy dealing with recruitment, retention and promotion in 2006. We support the review but are cautious in our optimism in case this should lead to a watering down of the current targets and the strategy have little impact on its own if not supported by other initiatives and also by robust monitoring, audit and inspection. The CRE will be participating in consultation on the strategy.

  We are more optimistic that the development of the service case will have an impact on this. A better understanding of why the Service should reflect the community can only lead to more within the service committing to the agenda and making a contribution.

  The FRS has had an excellent beacon of best practice on this issue in the outreach team of London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. London has in our view achieved some very notable results in the numbers of women and ethnic minority staff despite the organisational and political environment they have to work in.

  We strongly recommend that a national outreach team be established and charged with supporting local and regional recruitment. The model of best practice in London and the manner is which the National Fire Safety Centre has integrated faith issues (see paragraph 10 below) should be used to develop the approach.

8.  TRAINING

  No clear training strategy exists in the FRS in spite of the reviews that have reported this to be an issue. The recently concluded FireWorks project reported this to be a major issue and a barrier to achievement. The service has no clear needs analysis on diversity or vision as to what it is attempting to achieve through training. The training in FRS varies from a few hours to a comprehensive training programme. No measurement is made against objectives.

  The service needs to adopt the principles that the FireWorks team have recommended and the ODPM should provide clearer guidance as to what is expected.

  No training courses have been developed nationally to support specialist officers or the leadership of the service. In addition we are unaware of any training on diversity that is provided across the service for members of fire authorities who have a critical role on diversity. It is not surprising that in this vacuum we have such poor understanding at the very top of the service.

9.  SUPPORT GROUPS

  The FRS has many support groups and some like the Networking Women in the Fire Service are working at a strategic level and making a difference. Others such as the groups under the Fire Brigade Union are still tied very closely to the trade union and are not making the impact at strategic level that similar groups such as the Black Police Association are in the police service.

  Support groups in the FRS are not as well supported as their counterparts in either the police or the prison service, where national officers have full time paid posts. These officers are then able to make a much better and more consistent contribution to the diversity agenda. In the FRS this is left to willing volunteers or to paid union officials who are tasked with supporting national trade unions objectives which on occasion can be in direct conflict with the very people they represent.

  We believe that government should determine what good practice there is in the public sector and disseminate this to all. We believe that by forming strong and visible support groups with government backing the diversity issues can be integrated in all services more quickly and support can be provided for those whose treatment is unfair treatment or falls short of good practice expectations.

10.  GOOD PRACTICE

  We have previously provided some examples of good practice. A fuller list is proposed below and more will be available when the ODPM commissioned report Diversity Matters is published late 2005 or early 2006.

    (i)  National Champion

        The service clearly needs a focal point of contact and a national champion. The benefits of taking this approach have already been spelled out. The National Health Service and the Cabinet Office have appointed national champions working at the strategic level and they are having an impact. Nearly all the referenced reports in the appendix support this recommendation. In addition we believe that the secondment of a senior officer to ODPM 2004-05 has shown the potential there is for a role of this kind.

    (ii)  Diversity Matters

        ODPM have commissioned a report to highlight best practice. This has not yet been published but should be available to the Select Committee during the period of this inquiry. We believe that this is an excellent example of what can be done if resources are allocated to this task. This should be a regular activity of the ODPM.

    (iii)  Multi-faith

        The Fire Service has carried out pioneering work in this field which will be covered in some detail in the forthcoming "diversity matters" report. There are significant outcomes not only in respect of engagement with the communities locally but also in terms of enhanced recruitment and retention. The recent National Fire Safety Centre strategy we believe to be best practice in the public sector as are the CFOA conferences on this topic.

    (iv)  Outreach

        Clearly outreach in the London Fire Brigade is working and making a difference, this should be used as a model by regional management boards for regional application where that is appropriate. The ODPM should show some leadership and use the national fire safety model and the Army recruitment model to support this work.

    (v)  Integrated Personal Development System

        Although we have some concern around quality assurance we believe that this is again is an important cog in the changing of the culture of the service. All the role maps have a diversity element and no person may move on to a new role until competence in diversity is demonstrated. This is a positive development.

    (vi)  National Point of Entry Test

        The new tests will support the agenda. Any divergence from the national standard will have an adverse impact. We support these role related tests however have concerns that application may be diluted by stakeholders who do not apply them as they are intended.

    (vii)  Core Values and the Diversity Case

        The ODPM and CFOA have demonstrated leadership in championing the need for theses and the model adopted for the recently issued core values will be a good platform for the development of the service case.

11.  SUMMARY

  Although there are many points of criticism in the above—and justifiably so we believe—nonetheless it is right to recognise that the FRS has made some significant progress over recent years. For example, bullying and harassment are now the exception rather than the norm and racist behaviour is no longer openly tolerated. The changes of this kind are to be welcomed and supported. There is now a clear opportunity to move the agenda forward and the Committee's inquiry has the potential to accelerate change. This will not happen, however, unless the service moves to a "can do" approach to the equality and diversity agenda backed up by a national strategy that commands a consensus and integrates the contributions of all stakeholders and contains a clear commitment to organisational change rather than dithering over what to do.

  There is much notable and good practice that is not yet fully shared across the fire service and the FRS can also learn from the examples of good practice existing in other parts of the public sector. The appointment of an effective champion of equality and diversity and the development of leaders capable of bringing about root and branch change as well as sharing and communicating of best practice are we think necessary conditions of real change.

  If the service was to take a strategic approach under the areas set out above and an action plan was to be developed with a clear audit and reporting line to ODPM and ministers, the momentum on equality and diversity would increase and take the issues from the periphery to the heart of the modernisation agenda, and then the Fire and Rescue Service could become the beacon of best practice that it aspires to but to which it cannot presently lay claim.


29   See the CRE website www.cre.gov.uk for a guidance tool. Back


 
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