A “deeply troubling” report detailing unacceptable racist, sexist and homophobic behaviour in fire services across England has been released – just a week after a North East brigade was hit with serious allegations.
Male firefighters joking with a female colleague that they were “going to rape her” and a senior official using a racial slur were among the harrowing tales of bullying, harassment and discrimination uncovered by an investigation looking into the culture of all 44 fire and rescue services in the country. His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) warned that “recent headlines about misconduct may be just the tip of the iceberg”.
It comes after it emerged last week that the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service had allowed a firefighter to be promoted while he was under investigation by the police for an alleged rape. An ITV News report also contained accusations from a female former firefighter in Tyne and Wear who claimed she was bullied and sexually harassed by colleagues, including having her equipment tampered with and being left alone in a fire.
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HMICFRS, which last week said it was "deeply concerned" by the Tyne and Wear allegations, has called for organisations to “get a grip” and urgently implement new measures, including background checks and new misconduct standards. Tyne and Wear’s chief fire officer, Chris Lowther, said he had “already made clear in recent weeks that we will not tolerate bullying, harassment and victimisation here”.
He added: “This report makes clear that every fire and rescue service needs to improve and we fully accept there is still more we can do to create an environment for our staff where they have the confidence to speak up where things are not right, and know that this is acted upon. Our staff are dedicated public servants who come to work every day to support our vision of creating the safest community.
“However, that must not leave us blind to the improvements we need to make here in Tyne and Wear, or across the sector. We will ensure that, where improvements are required, we act swiftly and decisively to address these. Our staff, and the communities we serve, deserve no less than this.”
Mr Lowther, who is due to retire later this year, admitted to having not acted to halt the promotion of the Tyne and Wear firefighter subject to the rape allegation – despite having known about the investigation, which did not lead to further police action. An independent cultural review of the service had already been commissioned prior to last week’s revelations and is due to launch in April.
The new HMICFRS report does not name the brigades in which claims of racist, homophobic and misogynistic were made. It describes the fire and rescue sector as a “boys’ club” and says that incidents had gone unchallenged or been dismissed as “banter”.
Further claims include homophobic abuse being written on a firefighter’s locker, men using women’s toilets and staff being humiliated for making mistakes during training sessions. The watchdog’s Roy Wilsher said: “Our findings shine a light on deeply troubling bullying and harassment in fire and rescue services across the country – and I fear this could be just the tip of the iceberg.
“Firefighters can be called upon to do an incredibly difficult job. They should be able to trust each other implicitly, just as the public need to be able to trust them. Unfortunately, our findings show this is not always the case. Instead, we found trust and respect is too often replaced with derogatory, bullying behaviour, often excused as banter.”
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