Reflecting on a year since the Culture Review for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service
It has been a year since the publication of the Independent Culture Review by Fenella Morris KC, and it’s been a year of change for the service.
In February 2024, four Commissioners joined the service to oversee the governance of and work with senior leaders to develop robust processes for a new strategic approach, decision-making processes, improvements for mitigating risk, and increased transparency.
In April, a new Director of Strategic Change and Transformation, Dominic Mika, joined the service, working alongside the Commissioners and the Executive Leadership Team to deliver the Transformation Programme to address the recommendations in the review into culture.
In July, Fin Monahan was announced as the new Chief Fire Officer in south Wales. He joined in November with a different approach to leadership, along with expertise in organisational culture.
The Commissioners’ focus is for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service to be a healthy, efficient, and effective fire and rescue service, delivering an excellent service to our communities in order to ensure South Wales Fire and Rescue retains the confidence of all our communities and supporting staff to be their very best selves.
They continue to provide strategic governance, and some of their key decisions through the year included commissioning an assessment by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services to complement the work by the Culture Review team by adding further context and insight. The report is due in the coming months.
Through the governance structure, the team is scrutinising plans and progress on key areas of work like the Step Forward Transformation Programme with the nine areas of work, the national thematic reviews for key areas of operation and changes to ways of working, policies and procedures to change the culture of the service to ensure everyone is treated with dignity and respect.
Recent oversight has focused on the development of the vision, mission and values and the overarching strategy for the service – outlining the approach that will be taken and the strategic areas of focus, along with updates on progress for the transformation projects that with strengthen the foundations for future work.
The Transformation Programme, known internally as ‘Step Forward’, has nine projects, and goes beyond the recommendations from the culture review, with the overall aim to transform ways of working and build strong foundations for an even better future.
The projects address issues such as governance, to ensure we do things right, as well as a focus on digital and data change so that technology better supports our work. These provide the foundation for positive culture change via projects dedicated to improving communications, developing leadership at all levels, and ensuring a safe and positive environment for everyone, amongst a range of themes:
A key part of the transformation is listening to the thoughts of staff thorough the service, their experiences and their feedback on what they would like to see their service to be. From policies and procedures through to values and behaviours, their input in manager and team member workshops, online forms, meetings, forums and feedback sessions with the 10KV activities with the Hydra Foundation, has been vital.
From this engagement, in January the service published its Culture Statement. It outlines expectations for behaviours, ways of working, and put into practice the National Fire Chiefs Council Core Code of Ethics of putting our communities first; integrity; dignity and respect; leadership; equality, diversity and inclusion.
Working together, the service is developing a new vision, mission and set of values that will be the bedrock for a better future and be delivered by a new strategic plan that encompasses all workstreams taking place.
During the year, all staff continued to serve the communities of South Wales and protect nearly 1.5 million people with training, learning, and ongoing recruitment taking place.
There were some notable incidents where crews responded quickly and professionally, working hard to minimise damage and protect lives, including the large fire at the car showroom in Tredegar, the charity shop in Abergavenny, and some extreme flooding in and around Pontypridd. Teams dealt with nearly 37,000 calls for assistance, including over 3,700 deliberate fires, 687 dwelling fires, and 870 road traffic collisions.
Their work on prevention and advice continued, with community and business fire safety teams delivering nearly 37,000 safety talks and over 15,000 home safety checks. As well as open days and large events that attracted huge crowds of people over the summer, including station open days, Bryn Bach Park and Cardiff Bay 999 days, Pride Cymru, the Fire Cadets Challenge, the first Women in the Fire Service Cymru event, and the national Eisteddfod.
Reflecting on his first three months in service, Chief Fire Officer Fin Monahan said, “My time here so far has been incredibly busy, yet deeply rewarding. I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the most dedicated individuals I’ve encountered in my career. These are people ready to respond at a moment’s notice to emergencies—whether fires, floods, rescues, or other critical incidents.
He continued, “Every organisation faces challenges, and ours has historical issues, as outlined in the Fenella Morris report. My approach is to listen first—only by understanding the concerns of our people can we implement meaningful change. My goal, particularly within this transformation programme, is to ensure every member of the organisation can perform at their best, so that we can protect the people of South Wales effectively.
“Since joining, I have prioritised visible leadership, spending long days engaging with staff across different watches and departments. I want my team to know that I am accessible and that they can speak to me directly.
“Following the Fenella Morris report, I introduced a confidential email system, allowing staff to report concerns about bullying, harassment, or any discomfort. This has been invaluable, enabling me to connect with individuals, understand their challenges, and take meaningful action. While not all issues have been resolved, we have made significant progress, simply by fostering open communication and ensuring that people feel heard. When staff see their chief listening and taking action, it makes a real difference.
“Cultural transformation is my area of expertise. I hold a PhD in organisational culture and have led major change programmes in my previous role. What encourages me most about this organisation is the readiness for change. The Fenella Morris report was a wake-up call, and our people do not want to be in the media for the wrong reasons—they recognise that transformation is necessary.
“We have already built a strategic plan, which I will soon present to the commissioners. This plan focuses on delivering the best possible service while driving cultural change. However, changing culture doesn’t happen overnight—it requires every member of the organisation to reflect on their values and behaviour.”