Firefighters in Wales are being let down by leadership failings, a damning Senedd committee report has found. The Equality and Social Justice Committee heard evidence that fire authorities are not up to the task and some members lacked the skills required for their jobs.
Published today, the report, called Sound The Alarm, also details concerns about Stuart Millington’s appointment as interim Chief Fire Officer at South Wales Fire and Rescue Service. The “defensive tone” of the response to these concerns was “troubling” and “risked reinforcing the negative perceptions amongst staff and the public about senior management”, the committee said.
The committee’s inquiry into the governance of fire and rescue services was prompted by the “alarming findings” of the Culture Review of South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, headed by Fenella Morris KC. Following this, the Welsh Government ordered independent reviews into North and Mid and West Wales FRSs as well.
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The Morris culture review questioned the role of the Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs). The Fire Officers’ Association told the committee that members of South Wales FRA lacked the “requisite skills to provide the level of oversight, scrutiny and challenge required when providing governance.” Join our WhatsApp news community here for the latest breaking news
The FOA also said that many FRA members “make little or no contribution” during meetings and “become confused with regard to the content” of papers. The association concluded that the members of the FRA were “unlikely to be in a position to provide the level of effective strategic oversight needed to assist the organisation in achieving the cultural change required.”
In the report, the committee called on the Welsh Government to reform how FRAs work, including reducing their overall size, and encouraging people with outside knowledge and expertise in equality, diversity and inclusion to be co-opted onto each FRA. The committee also heard concerns about the South Wales Commissioners’ appointment of Stuart Millington as interim Chief Fire Officer at South Wales Fire and Rescue Service in February this year following the culture review, despite unresolved alleged misconduct relating to bullying.
“We found the lack of clarity and the defensive, bordering on dismissive, tone of several individuals responding to these concerns troubling. In our view the questions surrounding the appointment have risked reinforcing some of the negative perceptions amongst staff and the public about senior management and the commitment to change,” the committee’s report said.
“Moreover, some of our Members in their roles representing constituents have also received representations from staff directly. While it has not been possible for the Committee to accept these as formal evidence to the inquiry, these testimonies have nevertheless given us reason to believe, anecdotally at least, that staff confidence in the process has been undermined,” it added. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsle