We call in at West Midlands Fire Service HQ to chat to the new Chief Officer and see how he's settling in.
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00:00Mark Andrews for the Express and Style. I am at Western Midlands Fire Service
00:05headquarters in Eichels, Birmingham. I'm joined by the new Chief Fire Officer for
00:12the Western Midlands Fire Service, Simon Twohill. Good morning, good afternoon.
00:16Hello. Hello, pleased to meet you. You're marking your first 100 days in the post now.
00:21How has that been for you? Mark, it's been really positive. It's fair to say that
00:28West Midlands Fire Service has had some turbulent times over the last year, but my journey in the
00:33last 100 days has been really, really positive. The staff have been really welcoming. I've now
00:37been out to half of our fire stations and met many of our teams that also work in departments
00:43that aren't fire stations, and I've been really impressed with their enthusiasm and dedication,
00:48their commitment to keeping the West Midlands safer, stronger and healthier, and it's been a really
00:54pleasure of experience. And actually, it extends beyond just the staff. I've had the chance now
00:59to meet families as part of some honours and awards ceremonies where I've presented some of our staff
01:04for bravery awards, and of course, the wider public of the West Midlands. Everyone's welcomed me with
01:10open arms. It's been fantastic. You'll no doubt be aware of the words of your predecessor who said the
01:16fire service was ungovernable and impossible to manage. What would you say in response to what he said?
01:22Certainly not been my experience. I have a really positive working relationship now with the fire
01:27authority and the chair of the fire authority. As you'll probably know, we have a corporate governance
01:32oversight board that formally starts towards the end of this month. The board met informally
01:38beginning of this week. The chair of that board, vastly experienced Zoe Billingham, who was formerly of
01:44His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, so a really experienced
01:50independent chair. We've co-opted people from outside the sector who are experienced in governance,
01:55legal and finance, as well as senior members of the fire service and the fire authority.
02:00And that means I'm really confident that our governance improvement journey is going to continue
02:04really strongly. And in a nutshell, what are the steps that have been taken to address the issues
02:10raised by Oliver Lee? Well, part of that links into the governance improvement board that I just
02:15mentioned. I'm really pleased that the service is part of that. It helps me deliver and be held to
02:22account. Ultimately, the governance process in the fire service is about holding me to account as the
02:27chief fire officer, as we deliver crucial services to nearly three million people throughout 1900 staff.
02:33And what are the challenges you identify, you know, in meeting, you know, in sort of being in the fire
02:39service board during your term in office? Well, I think working in such a large farm rescue service,
02:45it's a complex place to work. There are nearly three million people who live out there. The risk
02:51throughout the West Midlands is huge. And I have 1900 staff doing their best to reduce that risk. And that
02:57comes with lots and lots of challenges for me in terms of trying to reduce the risk and, you know,
03:02make the public as safe as possible. But it's not something I'm unfamiliar with. I have 27 years of
03:07experience in the fire service now. And you know, the number of calls that we attend across the West
03:12Midlands is evidence and testament to the fact that despite, you know, the journey we've been on,
03:18we continue to deliver an excellent service. In the 100 days I've been here, we would have received over
03:2522,000 999 calls, we'd have mobilised to 7,000 operational incidents, and we'd have carried out
03:316,000 safe and well visits. So that's testament to the fact that my staff go about the business of
03:37keeping the people of the West Midlands safe every day, and that hasn't changed. Simon Tuhill,
03:42thank you very much. You're very welcome.