Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service Chief Fire Officer responds to His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services report

Nottinghamshire's Chief Fire Officer says he is taking very seriously a report of widespread bullying and discrimination in the fire service across England.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services looked at the values and culture of all 44 fire and rescue services in England, and drew on evidence collected during inspections since 2018.

It found repeated incidents of “bullying, harassment and discrimination”.

Individual fire services were not named.

Nottinghamshire's Chief Fire Officer Craig Parkin said: “Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service welcomes the latest report from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) and takes the findings very seriously.

“It is clear that the fire and rescue sector needs to face some hard questioning, and we acknowledge that every service across the country will need to make improvements.

“In our latest HMICFRS inspection (2021-22), we scored good for our people.

“We will continue to work with HMICFRS to make our service the best it can be for our people, and our communities. This includes taking the opportunity to review the report's recommendations, to see where improvements must be made.

“Work is already ongoing against a 12-point action plan put in place following an independent external review into Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service in September 2021."