Deputy Minister for Social Partnership, Hannah Blythyn gave the Welsh Government’s response to the scathing report.

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Watch Deputy Minister for Social Partnership, Hannah Blythyn gave the Welsh Government’s response to the scathing report. - Tindle News on Dailymotion

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00:00 on the Minister Hannah Blythyn.

00:02 In December 2022, ITV News ran a story exposing serious misconduct

00:08 by staff of South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

00:11 It included a case of gross and prolonged sexual harassment by a firefighter

00:16 towards a colleague at a fire station in Cardiff,

00:18 and a case of a firefighter convicted of domestic violence.

00:22 In both cases, the response of management was wholly inadequate.

00:27 Neither firefighter was dismissed nor even suspended at the time.

00:31 This compounded the suffering that their victims had experienced,

00:34 and it also suggested serious problems with the service's corporate culture and values.

00:39 Immediately following the ITV report, I met the chair of South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority

00:44 and made clear to him the need for a thorough, independent review of the service.

00:49 He agreed to do so, and Fenella Morris-Casey was subsequently appointed to lead the review by the FRA.

00:56 Fenella Morris-Casey spent most of last year gathering evidence

00:59 and interviewing current and former staff members and others.

01:02 Chloe, I want to pay tribute to the individuals who have come forward

01:07 and given evidence of abuse, mistreatment, misbehaviour and mismanagement

01:12 that they have suffered and witnessed.

01:14 The courage that this has taken should not be underestimated.

01:18 Without them, nothing might have come to light and nothing could now change.

01:22 Thank you.

01:24 The report was published last week on 3 January, and it is in a word, damning.

01:29 The headline finding is that discriminatory attitudes and behaviours exist at all levels,

01:33 up to and including senior management.

01:36 It would be too simplistic to focus on the specific incidents identified in the report,

01:40 shocking and horrific as they are.

01:42 Misogynistic remarks, excuses, banter, sexualised images of staff in uniform,

01:48 homophobic Christmas decorations or firefighters being forbidden to take the knee.

01:53 All of these are, of course, repugnant and reprehensible.

01:56 Those responsible for them have brought disgrace to the service

02:00 and tarnished the high regard in which firefighters are rightly held.

02:04 But the report also finds serious underlying problems.

02:09 A boys' club exists within the service, especially within senior management.

02:13 There is widespread staff discontent and demotivation

02:16 and a belief that nothing will ever change.

02:18 Promotion arrangements are widely believed to be subject to bias and favouritism.

02:22 Disciplinary procedures too often lead to inadequate sanctions or no sanctions at all.

02:27 Key HR policies are out of date, inadequate or concerning,

02:30 while protecting the reputation of the service and the rights of individuals.

02:34 And the firefighting workforce remains overwhelmingly male and white,

02:37 with little effective progress in addressing that.

02:40 In short, there are many serious, long-running failures of management within the service.

02:45 The norms, rules and processes that should exist within any well-run organisation

02:50 appear to be missing or ineffective.

02:53 That may well contribute to the incidents of misconduct that have been identified.

02:57 If senior management operates in an autocratic way,

03:01 if promotion depends on who you know, not how good you are,

03:04 and if behaviours such as fighting on duty or posting hateful and discriminatory comments online

03:09 is punished only with a warning,

03:11 then it is unsurprising that those who are motivated to misbehave

03:14 think that they can get away with it.

03:16 And sadly, it is also unsurprising that they did get away with it.

03:20 When I met the Chair of South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority yesterday,

03:25 it was clear that he is taking the report seriously and accepts the recommendations in form.

03:30 But that can only be the start of a long process of reform and cultural change.

03:36 And I am far from convinced that the Authority alone is capable of designing,

03:40 overseeing and implementing that process.

03:43 To be clear, the issue is not whether the Welsh Government becomes involved,

03:47 but how and to what extent.

03:50 In particular, I will need assurances on three issues.

03:53 Firstly, how can sustainable change take place

03:56 when so many of the existing management structures and practices have been implicated in failure?

04:01 The retirement and replacement of the Chief Fire Officer is nowhere near sufficient

04:05 to stimulate and embed the degree of cultural change that is necessary.

04:10 I will need to be assured that the capacity, capability and willingness

04:14 to complete that change programme is in place.

04:17 Secondly, there is a danger that the identified failures

04:20 might also affect the delivery of frontline services.

04:23 Individuals who assault, bully, harass and victimise their colleagues

04:28 are palpably unfit to discharge duties relating to public protection.

04:32 Staff who experience or witness this kind of treatment

04:35 or who see promotion based on nepotism, not merit,

04:38 are very likely to be demotivated, mismanaged and badly led.

04:42 An organisation that tolerates such misconduct

04:46 may be complacent and likely to accept other forms of bad practice too.

04:50 If South Wales Fire and Rescue Service's ability to discharge its core functions has been affected,

04:55 then that would clearly be a very serious matter indeed

04:58 and I will need very clear assurance about that.

05:01 Finally, we need to understand the role of the Fire and Rescue Authority in all of this.

05:06 This report relates to failures of officer level management

05:09 and it would be unfair to expect the Authority members

05:12 to be fully aware of every detail of management practice.

05:15 But the Authority is nonetheless the employer and the statutory body.

05:19 Issues should show clear leadership and hold management to account.

05:23 I am not convinced it has done so.

05:25 I will be considering how the governance of the Authority

05:29 might be strengthened to oversee sustainable change

05:31 and prevent a recurrence of these failures.

05:34 I will reflect on all these issues urgently

05:36 in further discussion with the Authority and others.

05:39 I would urge our other Fire and Rescue Services,

05:41 and indeed other public services,

05:43 to read and reflect on the report

05:45 of an example of how badly wrong things can get

05:47 if issues of good governance and management are neglected.

05:51 But, to be clear, I am ruling nothing out

05:54 in terms of Welsh Government support, direction or intervention

05:58 in South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

06:01 We simply cannot accept this level of discrimination

06:04 and mismanagement in a public organisation

06:06 charged with protecting people from serious harm.

06:09 I will make a further statement to the Senate as soon as possible.

06:14 Thank you.

06:15 James.

06:16 Thank you, Clive.

06:17 And can I thank you as well, Debbie?

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