Firefighters have been let down by senior management who may not understand the scale of problems facing the service, according to a committee of politicians.
The committee, made up of MSs from a variety of different parties, has heard evidence from a range of senior figures in Wales' fire services including Dawn Docx, the chief fire officer of North Wales Fire Service. The report points to comments made by the man responsible for oversight of North Wales Fire, Dylan Rees, as an example. In evidence to the committee, Mr Rees said: "We don't know if some of these 'complaints', in inverted commas, are historic complaints with people who are dissatisfied with something that's happened."
The committee concluded they "found the lack of clarity and the defensive, bordering on dismissive, tone of several individuals responding to these concerns troubling", adding "staff confidence in the process has been undermined". Meanwhile, Vij Randeniya is the lead Welsh Government-appointed commissioner in charge of reforming the south Wales service and is understood to have been the person who first selected Mr Millington for the interim role. He is part of a team of four commissioners who were parachuted in to oversee the south Wales service after the fire authority was discharged.
Dawn Docx declined an interview with ITV about the report's findings, but in statement said, “We welcome further discussion around the governance arrangements for fire and rescue authorities in Wales. Effective governance is crucial for delivering the best possible service to our communities, and we support further academic research to explore the benefits of different governance models.
"Recommendations relating to bringing 'fresh individuals with skills and experiences from outside the sector' to the service are an integral part of our terms of reference and are already well underway.