The fire and rescue service in Greater Manchester is “unprepared” to respond effectively to a terrorist attack and must do more to protect the public, a government inspectorate has said.
The issue is particularly sensitive as the service has previously apologised for serious failures that meant it played “no meaningful role” in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena terror bombing in 2017.
A report published on Wednesday by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) says the service “requires improvement at effectively and efficiently keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risks”.
It says three causes of concern raised in 2019 have been resolved. But it has identified “a new cause of concern regarding the service’s ability to respond to major incidents, such as a marauding terrorist attack”.
Greater Manchester fire leaders have accepted the report but expressed unhappiness at “contradictions” in how it has been presented. They argue the inspectorate is presenting headlines which are “not an accurate reflection of its own findings”.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has argued the report shows that the Greater Manchester service is struggling from the effects of government austerity.
Andy Cooke, the government inspector responsible for the report, said the Greater Manchester service was good at looking after its staff and responding to fires and other emergencies.
“However, there are several areas where the service needs to improve its effectiveness in keeping people safe – including preventing fires and protecting the public through regulation of fire safety,” he said.
“How the service responds to, and trains staff for, marauding terrorist attacks is a cause of concern.”
In a letter to Greater Manchester’s chief fire officer, Dave Russel, Cooke says the service needs to have a terrorist attack response which is “resilient, timely and cost effective”.
An action plan had been requested by 31 October but not yet received, Cooke writes.
The service’s poor response to the arena bombing four years ago makes the subject particularly sensitive in the city. Firefighters have described being ordered by superiors to move away from the arena rather than go to it. They watched on television colleagues from the police and ambulance services at the scene while they were told to stay back.
Russel said the “fair and detailed” report showed that the service was “an evolving and improving” emergency service.
“But there is a contradiction between the contents of the report itself and how it has been presented to the public,” he said. “It has been stated that the inspectorate has identified concerns regarding ‘the service’s ability to respond to major incidents’. In fact, the report praises GMFRS as being ‘well prepared for major and multi-agency incidents’ and that these plans are ‘well understood by staff’.”
Greater Manchester’s deputy mayor, Bev Hughes, said there was a disconnect between the report and how the inspectorate presented the report that did a “disservice” to both staff and the public.
“The people of Greater Manchester should be reassured to know,” said Hughes, that the inspectorate finds the service, “‘has effective means of declaring a major incident, and of responding to such incidents’ – it is a shame the inspectorate appears to have disregarded this and similar findings in its own press release.”
Ed Burrows, the FBU general secretary for the north-west, said Conservative austerity since 2010 had been a disaster for the Greater Manchester service. He said: “Between 2010 and 2019 more than £20m was removed from its budget, and since 2010 nearly one in three of Greater Manchester’s firefighters have been cut. That’s appalling.
“Unsurprisingly, this is having a real impact when it comes to the service the community receives.”
