Today, a full Fire Authority (FA) meeting was held at West Midlands Fire Service Headquarters. Thank you to all those who attended.
Following Cllr Brackenridge’s resignation, I, as vice-chair of the FA chaired the meeting. This was not a situation I expected to find myself in, but I am proud to have the opportunity to lead the Authority despite these difficult circumstances, and my commitment remains fully on supporting the excellent people of West Midlands Fire Service.
The full minutes will be published in due course, however there is one decision that we made that I would like you to know today, as I understand it is already being shared publicly.
Following Oliver’s (Lee) resignation last week it was necessary for the Fire Authority to accept or decline his resignation. Based upon independent legal and employment advice the Fire Authority has made a decision to accept Oliver’s resignation with immediate effect. As before, Deputy Chief Fire Officer Simon Barry will continue to lead the service until a permanent appointment to CFO/CEO is made.
Please can I, on behalf of all of the Authority, take this opportunity to thank our staff, and you personally for everything that you do for the service. I realise these have been difficult and disruptive times, but the Authority is entirely committed to ensuring we support our staff to provide an outstanding service to the communities of the West Midlands.
We will continue to move forward with the inspection of governance by the HMICFRS, and work with our partners and stakeholders to provide whatever additional scrutiny and insight is required.
Cllr Catherine Miks
Vice Chair, West Midlands Fire Authority