Chaos reigns at West Midlands Fire Service as chief executive withdraws resignation only to be 'sacked' hours later

The agenda of today's West Midlands Fire Authority included the resignations of interim chief fire officer Oliver Lee and chairman of the authority Councillor Greg Brackenridge, who stood down with immediate effect over the weekend.

Any hopes the meeting would steady the ship after a stormy month including a vote of no-confidence in the authority by top firefighters, accusations of Lee over-stepping his powers and subsequent investigation, a High Court injunction attempting to gag Lee and then his parting shot when resigning which took aim at his former colleagues bosses and the Government.

Such was the breakdown in relations between the professional firefighters and the elected officials appointed to run the fire service, the Government, through the Fire and Rescue HM Inspectorate, warned the safety of the people of the West Midlands was being impacted by the lack of leadership.

Councillor Brackenridge, who is married to Wolverhampton North East MP Sureena Brackenridge, resigned after online allegations about his military record were reported in national media.

Veterans protesting over Councillor Brackenridge chanted slogans outside the Fire Service HQ before the meeting which, unlike most other meetings of the body, was standing room only.

Almost immediately the meeting was adjourned as "new information" had come to light which the members needed to discuss in private. It subsequently emerged Lee had withdrawn his resignation which will create a massive administrative headache for the service, authority, Home Office and the Fire Inspectorate which already has a dim view of the service which has lurched from one disaster to another in the last year.

Lee announced his resignation last week but the meeting was told he had withdrawn his resignation, however, a statement later read out sounded like it was just a symbolic move and he was leaving the service.

He said: "Profoundly disappointed though I am with my treatment and the frailties in West Midlands fire service in terms of specialist expertise and depth of knowledge of the organisation, this message refers to neither. Rather, I wanted to reflect briefly on what we have done over the past seven months, which is, of course, about people.

"First, the physics, the work to put in place proper foundations for the organisation to correct misguided previous decisions and to address long overdue challenges.

"Second, the chemistry, the determination to make 1900 people feel valued, safe, cared for, inspired, informed and able to contribute. Third, the headline of one team of 1900 people pursuing excellence on behalf of communities of almost three million people. This has not been easy to lead as it has been unforgiving and relentless. It has taken a considerable toll, but it has been right."

He added: "It has also shown a clear alternative to the disliked but long standing status quo. Whilst this is often misunderstood, leadership is about service to others as opposed to being about the leader. At the heart of this is selflessness and courage. I'm truly grateful for all your help in driving this desire to change West Midlands Fire Service. Hard thought it is to do, I would not change it for the world."

On the agenda was "Section 5 Legal advice and Interim CEO and Section 151/Treasurer written consultation response" which was discussed behind closed doors. This was concerning Mr Lee's conduct and whether he had overstepped the mark by suspending the organisation's finance director Sofia Mahmood.

After the secret discussion, monitoring officer Satinder Sahota confirmed the Authority agreed with his complaint Lee did act outside his powers on at least two occasions, including suspending Miss Mahmood in May this year.

Which had obvious ramifications for Mr Lee, who hours later posted on Linkedin: ""Well, that’s been a few hard months of trying so hard to do the right thing in the face of the contrary. I felt over the weekend that the situation might have changed in the face of the Chair’s resignation. So, for 1900 people, I made my first ever u turn, and withdrew my resignation. To help.

"Sadly, I have just received this from the army of lawyers employed by West Midlands Fire Service:‘Your employment with WMFRA has terminated.’

"An extraordinary lack of duty of care, just as I inherited and have tried so hard to change for the better. I did everything I could to help this special organisation. I am sorry that this was not good enough, which is on me."

Oliver Lee was appointed after the death of former WMFS CFO Wayne Brown

Lee was appointed after the death of former CFO Wayne Brown, who was being investigated for getting the job on the back of a CV riddled with false information and inflated qualifications.

After the meeting, at West Midlands Fire Service headquarters, vice chairman of the authority Councillor Catherine Miks released a statement confirming she would be Councillor Brackenbridge's temporary replacement and Mr Lee's number two Simon Barry will get the top job until a new appointment.

She said: "Following Oliver’s 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."

HM Chief Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services Andy Cooke QPM wrote a scathing letter to Councillor Brackenbridge and Mr Lee on October 4, which the Government published on Friday.

He said: "I am writing to you both to express my significant concern about the leadership and governance of West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS); most particularly an apparent breakdown in the relationship between senior members of the service and the fire and rescue authority (FRA).

"This appears to have escalated over recent days, leading to three principal officers of the service taking the highly unusual and very significant step of signing a letter of no-confidence in the Authority. I am concerned that the current situation will affect public confidence in the service and the FRA, impact the workforce of WMFS, and has the potential to jeopardise a safety critical service for the residents of the West Midlands."