Senedd sounds alarm on fire authorities

Chris Haines ICNN Senedd reporter

Senedd members called for an “urgent and long overdue” overhaul of fire authorities amid concerns about a culture of bullying, misogyny, racism and nepotism.

Jenny Rathbone warned Wales’ fire and rescue authorities are ill-equipped to hold services to account, with a lack of separation between executive and scrutiny functions.

She said: “These bodies are anachronistic in the public sector in Wales because they are not accountable clearly enough to any outside body, and their membership is large and unwieldy; they all have between 24 and 28 members.”

Ms Rathbone drew a comparison with West Midlands fire authority which has 15 members for a population comparable to the whole of Wales.

Leading a debate on an equality committee report, entitled Sound the Alarm, after an inquiry on fire service governance, she noted that previous attempts at reform failed.

‘Self-interest’

The inquiry was sparked by ITV Wales investigations and Fenella Morris’ scathing review of the culture of South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

Ms Rathbone, who chairs the committee, said the Welsh Government faced huge resistance to reforms in the previous Senedd term to 2021.

“Self-interest played its part,” she said. “And we know that turkeys never vote for Christmas.

“However, the excruciating detail in the Fenella Morris report has silenced these opponents of reform – for now.”

Ms Rathbone raised concerns about the “defensive” testimony of senior fire and rescue leaders across Wales “which at times lacked candour”.

She said: “This reinforced our concerns about whether senior leaders fully grasp the extent of the change needed in fire services for the years ahead.”

‘Vacuum’

The Conservatives’ Joel James criticised ministers’ “panicked” reaction to the Morris review.

He said the rapid removal of Huw Jakeway, the former chief fire officer, led to an “operational vacuum … and undoubtedly worsened the situation”.

Mr James warned that the appointment of Stuart Millington, who had a pending employment tribunal, as interim chief fire officer only fuelled public condemnation.

“To put it bluntly,” he said. “It went against the remit of establishing a senior management team untainted by the failings identified in the Morris report.”

Calling for an overhaul, the South Wales Central MS raised concerns about ITV reports of whistleblowers warning “nothing is happening, nothing is changing”.

‘Appalling’

Plaid Cymru’s Sioned Williams criticised the failure to reform services over many years.

She told the Senedd: “It’s clear that failure to get to grips with this matter earlier had a truly damaging effect on staff confidence. And it was appalling but telling, I think, of the government’s reluctance to ensure action on this matter.”

Calling for “urgently needed and long overdue” reforms, Ms Williams warned that fire and rescue authorities are ineffective at holding fire services to account.

Ms Williams, who represents South Wales West, pointed out that the Welsh Government failed to take forward reforms to fire authorities in 2018.

She said: “There can be no more excuses for such an appalling lack of delivery, which has resulted in such awful consequences.”

‘Antiquated’

Jane Dodds, the Liberal Democrats’ leader in Wales, described the committee’s report as painting a grim picture of the culture of governance within fire services.

Criticising the slow pace of change, Ms Dodds called for a timeline for new governance arrangements to finally end a misogynistic, sexist and racist culture in the fire service.

Labour’s Hannah Blythyn appointed four commissioners to take responsibility for the south Wales fire authority in her previous role as a deputy minister in the Welsh Government.

Ms Blythyn suggested the size and footprint of fire authorities needs to change.

The Delyn Senedd member also called for reforms of the “unaccountable and antiquated” levy on councils which pays for fire and rescue services.

‘Inaction’

Jayne Bryant, who took responsibility for fire services in July, accepted the committee’s six recommendations in her formal response to the inquiry’s report.

Wales’ local government secretary acknowledged widespread calls for urgent reform of fire authorities over accountability, scrutiny and financial concerns.

She accepted previous attempts at reform floundered in the face of opposition as she cautioned that current changes may not always be immediately visible.

Ms Bryant committed to reforming governance “as soon as possible”, with work on developing proposals for consultation to get under way in the new year.

“Reform has to happen, inaction is not an option,” she said.

Closing the debate on October 9, Ms Rathbone called for a paper on reforms to be published by the end of this year, so legislative proposals can be put to voters in 2026.