MS, Cabinet Secretary for
Housing and Local Government: Members will be familiar with the
cultural issues affecting our Fire and Rescue Services in recent
years. The most serious failings existed in the South Wales Fire
and Rescue Service, which led us to appoint Commissioners to take
it over in February 2024. They are making good progress, which
should allow the Service to return to local control next year.
However, the sector as a whole suffers from governance
arrangements which do not provide effective leadership or clear
accountability. Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs), as currently
constituted, are poorly equipped to provide strategic direction,
or to hold senior officers to account for service delivery and
improvement. That has undoubtedly contributed to the problems we
have seen, and their persistence.
This summer I consulted on options for reform of Fire &
Rescue Service governance in Wales. Following that consultation I
have considered the responses carefully. I am pleased that there
was widespread support in principle for change, including from
local authorities, unions, members of the public and the FRAs
themselves. However, views differed on the details of what a
reformed model would look like. I have therefore settled on
proposals which appear most likely to yield effective governance
for the Service, within the subordinate legislative powers
available to me. Those proposals are as follows:
Firstly, there will be a significant reduction in the number of
FRA members. FRAs are executive bodies, not deliberative or
representative ones – they are charged with overseeing delivery
of a single public service. While I am grateful for the
considerable efforts FRA members have made, the current
membership levels of between 24 and 28 nominated councillors are
far too high to allow for efficient and effective decision-making
in an executive role. Those numbers will be reduced to one
nominee from each of the FRA's constituent local authorities. To
generate stronger accountability to and within local authorities,
those members must also be members of their council's executive
or cabinet.
These local authority members will be supplemented by
independently appointed members who will be selected for their
particular expertise in issues facing the Service. Those members
will comprise one third of the total membership. They will be
appointed by the Welsh Ministers on the basis of fair and open
competition, and with the full involvement of local authorities,
FRAs and unions in the selection process. There will be the same
collaborative approach to the appointment of chairs and
vice-chairs – appointments will be made by the FRAs, engaging
with their constituent authorities and the Welsh Government, and
with the workforce in a full spirit of social partnership.
Overall, that means South Wales FRA will have 15 members, and
North Wales and Mid and West Wales FRAs will have nine each. To
embed and sustain these changes, we will continue to work closely
with the WLGA and the FRAs to strengthen member support, training
and development.
I believe these arrangements will yield the robust governance the
Service so badly needs. They will take over from the
Commissioners in South Wales in mid-2026, and immediately after
the 2027 local elections elsewhere.
Secondly, the process of FRA budget-setting will become fairer
and more transparent. Currently, FRAs fund nearly all their
expenditure by levying contributions on their constituent local
authorities, at rates they alone determine. While in practice
FRAs usually engage with local authorities about the size of the
levy, there is nothing requiring them to do so, or to take into
account any representations that local authorities make. There
will therefore be a duty on FRAs to consult their constituent
local authorities on their draft budgets, with a view to reaching
agreement with them. As part of that, FRAs will have to justify
the proposed levy in the context of likely local demand for fire
and rescue services.
Finally, I propose to enhance the inspection regime for the
Service. The role of the Chief Fire and Rescue Advisor and
Inspector will formally change to focus on inspection work, and
the post will be retitled accordingly – a move that the current
postholder fully supports. Additional inspection resources
will also be made available, working in partnership with the
other UK inspectorates.
The changes to membership and budget-setting will require
amendments to the FRAs' combination schemes, and I intend to make
the necessary subordinate legislation in the New Year. Enhancing
the inspection regime does not require legislation.
It was clear from the consultation that there is some support for
more fundamental change, such as FRAs with a wholly appointed
expert membership, operational independence for chief fire
officers, funding by means of a council tax precept or a single
all-Wales Fire and Rescue Service. Such changes would, though,
need primary legislation and will therefore be a matter for the
next Senedd.
