Scottish Government

6. Policies and Management

Equality and Diversity Policies

6.1 An overwhelming majority of employees (87%) accept that it is their responsibility, along with all other employees at their Fire Service, to enforce equality and diversity policies effectively.

Figure 97: Who in your opinion is responsible for ensuring that equality and diversity policies work effectively within your Fire Service? By all employees

6.2 25% of employees have attended a course on equality and diversity in the last 12 months. The most common were courses on Equal Opportunities (17%) and Diversity/Cultural Awareness (15%). Full-time employees are the most likely to have been on a course.

Figure 98: In the last 12 months, have you attended courses that cover any of the following issues…? By all employees

Management of Their Fire Service

6.3 There are positive and negative aspects to employees' views of management - probably reflecting the last national dispute and the following changes through the introduction of the Service Reform Agenda.

6.4 Almost a half (48%) of employees feel that SFRS encourages training and personal development, but on many other issues concerning the management of SFRS more employees are dissatisfied than satisfied.

6.5 When asked how the SFRS may improve as an employer, almost all the responses focused upon the relationship between senior management and the lower ranks of SFRS. Employees would like to see more consultation, less bureaucracy, a greater honesty about policy direction and better communication.

6.6 Only 11% of employees feel that SFRS minimises bureaucracy, and only 21% feel that it consults its employees on priorities.

Figure 99: Thinking about senior management within your Fire Service, do you agree or disagree with the following statements? By all employees

Management Issues for Attention

• 39% of employees would like clearer leadership.
• 65% would welcome less bureaucracy.
• 59% would like more consultation with employees.
• 60% think SFRS does not deal effectively with poor performers.

Benchmarking

6.7 Figure 100 through to Figure 107 draw together a wide range of indicators under the heading of 'diversity' in order to compare each FRS with the other seven FRSs - as explained in paragraphs 1.16-22 of the Introduction. An explanation for each of the indicator labels is given in Figure 108.

6.8 The black line on each spider chart shows the performance of the FRS for each indicator. Each 'point' on the spider charts is determined by the ranking of the eight FRS's scores; points near the perimeter are good while those towards the centre are poor. The outer green band shows the range of scores that are significantly better than the Scottish average, while the middle yellow band shows the range of average scores; and the inner red band shows the range of scores that are significantly worse than Scottish average.

6.9 For FRS 1, points to note include:

• FRS 1 is not ranked top for any of the indicators 14 indicators
• FRS 1 is ranked significantly above average for 5 of the 14 indicators - senior managers score relatively well when compared with other SFRS for the way they manage their employees
• FRS 1 is not ranked significantly below average for any of the 14 indicators
• The average score for FRS 1 is 47.8 which is the 2nd highest average score.

Figure 100: Benchmarking results for policies and training: FRS 1

6.10 For FRS 2, points to note include:

• FRS 2 is ranked top for 13 of the 14 indicators
• FRS 2 is ranked significantly above average for 13 of the 14 indicators - senior managers score relatively well when compared with other SFRS for the way they manage their employees
• FRS 2 is not ranked significantly below average for any of the 14 indicators
• The average score for FRS 2 is 57.9 which is the highest average score.

Figure 101: Benchmarking results for policies and training: FRS 2

6.11 For FRS 3, points to note include:

• FRS 3 is ranked top for 1 of the 14 indicators
• FRS 3 is ranked significantly above average for 1 of the 14 indicators
• FRS 3 is ranked significantly below average for none of the 14 indicators
• The average score for FRS 3 is 39.6 which is the 7th highest average score.

Figure 102: Benchmarking results for policies and training: FRS 3

6.12 For FRS 4, points to note include:

• FRS 4 is ranked top for none of the 14 indicators
• FRS 4 is ranked significantly above average for 7 of the 14 indicators - senior managers score relatively well when compared with other FRSs for the way they manage their employees
• FRS 4 is ranked significantly below average for 1 of the 14 indicators
• The average score for FRS 4 is 47.2 which is the 3rd highest average score.

Figure 103: Benchmarking results for policies and training: FRS 4

6.13 For FRS 5, points to note include:

• FRS 5 is ranked top for none of the 14 indicators
• FRS 5 is ranked significantly above average for 7 of the 14 indicators - senior managers score relatively well when compared with other SFRS for the way they manage their employees
• FRS 5 is ranked significantly below average for 1 of the 14 indicators
• The average score for FRS 5 is 46.2 which is the 4th highest average score.

Figure 104: Benchmarking results for policies and training: FRS 5

6.14 For FRS 6, points to note include:

• FRS 6 is ranked top for none of the 14 indicators
• FRS 6 is ranked significantly above average for none of the 14 indicators
• FRS 6 is ranked significantly below average for 1 of the 14 indicators
• The average score for FRS 6 is 41.1 which is the 5th highest average score.

Figure 105: Benchmarking results for policies and training: FRS 6

6.15 For FRS 7, points to note include:

• FRS 7 is ranked top for none of the 14 indicators
• FRS 7 is ranked significantly above average for 1 of the 14 indicators.
• FRS 7 is not ranked significantly below average for none of the 14 indicators
• The average score for FRS 7 is 40.2 which is the 6th highest average score.

Figure 106: Benchmarking results for policies and training: FRS 7

6.16 For FRS 8, points to note include:

• FRS 8 is ranked top for none of the 14 indicators
• FRS 8 is ranked significantly above average for none of the 14 indicators
• FRS 8 is ranked significantly below average for 1 of the 14 indicators
• The average score for FRS 8 is 37.0 which is the 8th highest average score.

Figure 107: Benchmarking results for policies and training: FRS 8

Figure 108: Explanation of benchmarking indicators for policies and training