A fire service with a “boys’ club” attitude that tolerated sexual harassment and racism has been rapped for its “serious deficiencies”.
South Wales chief fire officer Huw Jakeway has apologised and said he intends to retire following the damning review led by Fenella Morris QC.
The report identified the “toleration of problematic behaviours” including negative assumptions about women, bullying, harmful banter, and drug and alcohol abuse.
It also discovered crew members posting sexualised images of themselves partially clad in uniform on OnlyFans and Instagram.
Investigators interviewed 150 people, with comments including “nothing good ever comes of putting in a grievance so we decided to keep quiet” and “you’d have to murder your own mother to get sacked from this place”.
The report was commissioned by the service following an investigation by ITV News in December 2022, which found evidence that two firemen had been allowed to keep their jobs despite sexually harassing and abusing women.
It found that just 8 percent of operational service staff are female, while only 17 members of staff self-identified as being BAME and 12 identified as LGBT+.
There was a “boys’ club” within the service, especially among senior managers, who were also criticised for taking a ski trip to Italy shortly before Wales went into the first COVID-19 lockdown.
There were also examples highlighted of “extremely offensive comments and grossly inappropriate material” shared within private WhatsApp groups and on social media.
“These include, for example, sexually explicit images, images of graphic violence, and sexist comments,” the report found.
“The service tolerates the use of Instagram and OnlyFans by its firefighters to post sexualised images of themselves alongside images that make clear their membership of the service.
“Some of these sexualised images show the member of the service partially dressed in their uniform.”
The report heard “pictures of genitals” were sent to women within the service and that “inappropriate advances” were made towards women.
The fire service’s response was found to be “confused, and damaging to trust and confidence within and outside the service”.
Examples of racism were cited, including racist abuse at a Chinese restaurant and urinating on the floor.
In an open letter, Mr Jakeway said: “For those who have had negative experiences of the service, I am profoundly sorry.”
“There is no place for inappropriate behaviour within South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.
“I have had the privilege of serving as the chief fire officer for over 12 years, where I have been entrusted to lead our service through many challenges and changes, such as austerity, a global public health pandemic, personal tragedy and significant emergency incidents that have tested us.
“I have always led with mutual respect, inclusivity, pride and passion.
“Now is time for a change in leadership and yesterday I informed the fire authority of my intention to retire.
“The next chief fire officer will have an opportunity to set their vision for the service and a long-term plan to address the recommendations and findings of the independent culture review.”
