DEVON and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service has been told to make sure it has strategic oversight arrangements in place for issues that may affect its ability to mobilise crews to incidents.

A report from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services found that control staff have been reporting slowdowns in the mobilisation system, with these slowdowns becoming more apparent since 2023.

Staff working in fire control are ‘frustrated by lots of minor issues related to the system being old’, the Inspectorate said, though it found ‘no evidence of significant delays to attendance times in relation to these issues’.

The Inspectorate found that, in the past, some staff had been complacent about reporting minor system issues in fire control.

‘We found no clear guidance on when staff should escalate long-standing issues to the senior leadership team’, the Inspectorate said.

‘And there is no evidence that senior leaders within the service were aware of ongoing issues with the system before June 2025’, it added.

The fire service has recently taken steps to improve the risk mitigation and governance process, which was praised by the Inspectorate.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services issued the service with an area for improvement, saying ‘the service should make sure it has strategic oversight arrangements in place for issues that may affect mobilisation, and that staff regularly record any faults and escalate them to senior leaders when necessary’.