SUFFOLK'S fire service is improving its culture as a Government inspection nears, the county's chief officer has said.

Jon Lacey, the chief fire officer, gave county councillors an update on improvements made by the Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) during a scrutiny committee meeting last week.

It followed an inspection from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), which outlined serious concerns about the culture within the service.

Inspectors found some members of staff had been belittled and dismissed by their seniors, who displayed behaviours perceived as hostile and toxic and did not act as role models.

Since then, the service had worked really to understand staff needs, particularly around the culture within it, said Mr Lacey.

A new inspection measuring progress will take place later this month, with results expected around Christmas time.

Mr Lacey told councillors the report had been 'really hard reading' and led to difficult conversations but said he was confident a lot of improvements had been made.

"Some of it was very difficult to get to grips with, it was challenging, it was very personal to a lot of us," he said, "hitting it head on, accepting it and moving on into the future is the way to deal with it."

"Staff are buoyant, they're motivated, they have good morale, but we have still got an awful lot of work to do."

The report's result was accompanied a £1.6 million investment by the county council in April in order to implement initiatives and improvements.

This included extra engagement, improvements in retention of staff, and extra recruitement for positions in communications, staff support, health and wellbeing, risk management, and IT.

Several other measures are still pending or ongoing, such as the launch of a staff survey, ongoing feedback sessions, internal scrutin and audits.

Mr Lacey warned, however, that more money would still be needed to carry on with the cultural improvements, as well as the good service delivery recognised by the inspector, as the SFRS gets impacted by devolution and local government reform.

He said despite these pressures he was keen to continue with progress 'foot down to the floor'.

Cllr Steve Wiles, the lead for public health and protection, said: "The pride that this service had before this inspection has not been dented, it's actually been bolstered.

"The idea of having any [key performance indicator] and any assessment of what you're doing is to find continuous improvement."

Both Mr Lacey and Cllr Wiles will report back to the scrutiny committee with more data on the service's progress, as well as the results of the upcoming inspection.