Volvo S40 1999 GDI breaking problems and missing fuses

I have just recently bought a Volvo S40 1.8i 1999 model and I am having a big problem with the breaks.

When the car isn't at temperature the breaks are almost unusable. If I break coming up to a junction the break pedal doesn't seem to have much response at all and I have to press it down really hard. It feels very similar to aquaplaning.

I have read a lot a members mentioning the same problem with there breaks on these cars but every post I seem to come across about the topic is to do with the 1.9D which has the Vacuum pump and the Turbo petrol cars which have the pump as well. None of the posts relate to the naturally aspirated engine like mine.

My Dad owned the car before me and had the pipe to the servo changed for an insane price of £180 but that hasn't solved the problem. If anyone has any ideas please let me know as I'm actually a little worried about driving it at the moment. PS the break fluid level is fine.

The second thing I wanted some insight on is the fuses. This is none break related but when I looked in the fusebox under the bonnet to check that the ABS fuse hadn't blown (it hasn't by the way) I noticed some fuses missing. One of them was for the fuel pump and the other was for the Lambda Heater. is this normal or should they be there? Its also worth mentioning that the relay for the alarm siren has been removed too and it definitely has an alarm but I think I know why that has been removed as whenever the alarm is activated it goes off straight afterwards but I will fix that another day lol.