'Toxic cultures' and 'unacceptable behaviour' in England's fire services, report warns

Cultural change is happening too slowly in England's fire service, with "abhorrent behaviour" such as sexism, racism and homophobia widespread across brigades, a report has warned.

An investigation by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Secure Services (HMICFRS) found that while there were early signs of improvement in the culture at fire services, "too much unacceptable behaviour remains."

The report, which focuses just on England, found instances of sexist, racist and homophobic language, being used mostly among groups of firefighters who work closely together, known as "watches."

Staff described examples of "toxic cultures" where managers didn't challenge poor behaviour in order to "remain popular."

The inspector expressed significant concern about a "lack of confidence" in misconduct processes, with managers not properly trained to deal with unacceptable behaviour.

His Majesty's Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services Roy Wilshertold ITV News: "Cultural change does take time, but change isn't happening quickly enough"

He revealed that some of the behaviour he uncovered broke the law: "A lot of it is offensive behaviour, racist, sexist, homophobic. Some of it is inappropriate messages and abuse of power, and some of it does actually touch on criminality."

Mr Wilsher said there was a big issue around people lacking confidence to report negative behaviour, adding: "People are afraid that their confidentiality will be breached, and we've actually had examples of people being told their careers will be limited if they do raise issues."

The inspector is urging fire services and the authorities that govern them to introduce 15 recommendations in order to tackle the crisis in culture.

They include introducing better training and support for staff on investigating misconduct, and creating a "professional standards function" within each service that staff have access to.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The findings from the Inspectorate’s report are deeply concerning.

"There is no space for misconduct in our Fire and Rescue Services, and we expect it to be addressed at the earliest opportunity.

“We will be carefully considering the recommendations, and will be kept updated by HMICFRS on progress made.

"We will also continue to work with closely with the fire sector to ensure that the highest levels of integrity are maintained across services.”

ITV News' UK Editor Paul Brand has reported extensively on toxic cultures, harassment, and bullying within fire services.

A series of investigations by ITV News has uncovered sexual harassment and abuse of women at fire and rescue services including South Wales, Dorset and Wiltshire, Tyne and Wear and most recently, in Shropshire.

Two independent reviews sparked by ITV News' reporting have already concluded that there is a toxic culture in some fire services.

Earlier this year, the Chief Fire Officer of South Wales Fire Service was forced to retire (on full pension) after a damning review into his organisation, with the service subsequently put into special measures by the Welsh government.

In Dorset and Wiltshire, a review found that misogyny and sexism was rife within the service, despite the Chief Fire Officer previously telling ITV News that his organisation "does not have a problem with women".

In May this year the Home Affairs Select Committee declared the fire and rescue service "institutionally misogynistic, racist and homophobic."

Mr Wilsher would not use the word "institutional" to describe the issues, adding: "We try not to call that out on different organisations because people concentrate on that then, rather than what's happening and what needs to change."

The Committee also recommended giving HMICFRS more enforcement powers in order to improve the sector, which the inspector said he hopes the new home secretary will introduce.

"At the moment the power is in our voice, we write reports, we highlight things... but we have no other powers. So it's not sweeping powers we're calling for, but we do want to make people do things if we recommend they should happen."

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