Statement from the Commissioners for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service

Vij Randeniya, Commissioner for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said:

The decision of the Commissioners to seek a secondment into the role of Chief Fire Officer was to provide immediate capacity and experience during the current intervention at South Wales Fire and Rescue, and is common practice across both the private and public sectors.

The process involved approaching several senior individuals within the other Welsh fire and rescue services, and testing their experience, skills, and availability against several prerequisites agreed by the Commissioners.

The Commissioners collectively decided that Stuart Millington met those requirements, and he has been transferred on a secondment basis to South Wales Fire and Rescue Service as Interim Chief Fire Officer.

All Commissioners were aware of Interim CFO Millington’s record and the forthcoming employment tribunal.

The recruitment process for a permanent Chief Fire Officer or Chief Executive Officer will begin as soon as the Commissioners have a clear view on the future needs of the Service.