Consultation on the reform of fire and rescue authorities in Wales 2025

This chapter sets out the current arrangements for managing and providing fire and rescue services in Wales, and why the Welsh Government believes they should change. 

Fires and casualties resulting from fires have declined significantly since responsibility for fire and rescue services was devolved in 2004. This partly reflects the work of the fire and rescue service (FRS) to prevent fires and promote fire safety with success in reducing deliberately set grass fires. However, that trend appears now to have bottomed out, and the Service has appeared slow to address performance concerns about, for instance, responses to false alarms and containment of fires in the room of origin. 

The FRS needs to ensure that it is able to respond to long-term changes in risk. Such changes arise from, for example, demographic ageing, climate change, technological developments and changes in construction materials and practices. Any and all of these can be expected to require changes in firefighter training, equipment and working practices and procedures. To ensure this, the Service needs to be governed and funded in a modern, accountable and sustainable way.

A number of inspections by the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser and Inspector for Wales (CFRAI), and independent reviews of culture in all 3 fire and rescue services, have identified serious concerns relating to culture, leadership and operational delivery of fire and rescue services in Wales.

The Fenella Morris KC review of culture in South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS) and Crest Advisory reviews of the culture in Mid and West Wales and North Wales Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) highlighted serious concerns about culture and leadership, including bullying and harassment. The CFRAI has identified significant issues relating to firefighter and public safety, including the use of out-of-date tactics when responding to dwelling fires (an issue that is not confined to Wales), deficiencies in training and inadequate working practices. An inspection report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and fire and rescue services published in May 2025 identified further performance issues across a range of SWFRS’s functions.

The fire and rescue service needs to be able to understand and respond to current risks and emerging long-term challenges, and to do so in ways which reflect the wider context of public service delivery. We believe the current governance arrangements are not conducive to securing these aims and require urgent reform. There is a widespread acknowledgment that a lack of robust governance arrangements has contributed to a fire and rescue service across Wales that is underequipped to deal with poor performance and bad practice. This is compounded by a lack of clarity on roles and responsibilities between senior officers and FRA members, and a lack of external accountability.

In response to the mounting evidence set out above, the Welsh Government has committed to examine options to introduce reform through secondary legislation in this Senedd term. This consultation seeks to address the above by providing options to improve FRA leadership and decision making, to introduce transparency in budget setting, and to foster continuous improvement through robust inspection processes.

The current arrangements and what needs to change

Since 1995, fire and rescue services in Wales have been provided by 3 FRAs. Each FRA is, in law, a combined authority, meaning that it is formed as a combination of the local authorities in its area, although the FRA is a separate entity in its own right. Those constituent local authorities are in turn responsible for the membership and funding of the FRA.

Membership

Each local authority nominates a set number of councillors to be members of the FRA. That number broadly reflects the population of the local authority as a proportion of the population of the FRA’s area. This approach means that FRAs have a large and unwieldy membership.

The choice of members is one for each local authority but FRA members are generally drawn from councillors who do not have other responsibilities such as being members of a council executive or chairs of scrutiny or audit committees. Such councillors play an invaluable role within their authorities in representing local concerns and discharging their electoral mandates. They also help ensure the needs of citizens and communities are fairly reflected in the decisions made by local authorities about priorities across the wide and differing range of services they provide (education, social services, highway maintenance etc). However, the role of an FRA member does not specifically call for these attributes. Effective leadership of the fire and rescue service involves setting out a strategic approach which facilitates the effective management of fire risks and other emergencies in communities, ensuring the Service is prepared and able to respond to change safely and effectively, and ensuring that the services provided are efficient and value for money. Members need to provide strategic leadership to the Service, and to support and challenge senior officers on delivery.

To be effective members need clarity on their role and the role of senior officers and to be given the appropriate tools and training to deliver that role effectively.

We believe that Member-level governance should be structured to yield informed, efficient and effective leadership and decision-making, and members should be equipped and empowered to set a clear strategic direction for the Service and to hold officers to account for delivering it. This however should not come at the expense of local knowledge and accountability.

Alongside the proposals set out at Chapter 1 regarding changes to the number and appointment of members, the Welsh Government is planning a review of member training and development. The new training and development programme forms one of four key strands of a package of support that is already underway to support all FRAs following the publication of the culture reviews in Mid and West and North Wales FRAs in February 2025. The new training programme, which is being developed in collaboration with the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), will form an integral element of our overall plans to improve the governance of the fire and rescue service. We are not consulting within this document on these non-statutory proposals which we believe are necessary irrespective of any other governance changes that are introduced.

The comprehensive training and development programme will include:

• clarity on the roles and responsibilities of FRA members and the knowledge and skills required to undertake the role effectively
• development of an overarching model of member training and support that reflects the above which will encompass organisational culture and workforce engagement, equality diversity and inclusion, and the strategic context and priorities of fire and rescue services, as well good governance, accountability, principles of managing public money, and standards of conduct
• detailed training plans to fill the gaps between what currently exists and what is required
• a member performance assessment tool that reflects the above
• training for officers on supporting and working with FRA members

Resourcing

Almost all FRA funding is provided by local authorities in the form of contributions which each FRA calculates and levies on each of its constituent councils. The amount of contribution is determined by each FRA. In practice, FRAs aim to levy contributions broadly based on each FRA’s share of the local population, to limit increases in funding to the minimum the FRA believes to be necessary, and to accommodate any reservations or comments made by local authorities, but there is nothing requiring them to do so.

Neither local authorities nor the Welsh Government have any right to challenge those rates. By contrast, local authorities derive the bulk of their funding from the Welsh Government, which in turn needs the approval of the Senedd to set a budget; most of the balance of each local authority’s funding is raised from Council Tax, for which the authority and its members are directly answerable to the electorate. This absence of any form of external control over FRA budgets is unique in the UK public sector. The current arrangements mean there are no adequate ways of verifying or challenging FRA budgetary decisions. A potentially powerful driver for ensuring value for money is missing.

Emergency services differ from most other public services. They must always be available to anyone who needs them, and those providing them can neither fully anticipate demand nor manage it by using waiting lists or similar. This has significant effects on resourcing and budget-setting, which must cater for the peak demand at any given time. Reform should take this into account whilst also considering the need for proper external governance and transparency over public money. We believe that funding mechanisms should yield demonstrable value for money, and should be fair and transparent particularly in light of wider pressures on public finances. Reform should create external accountability for FRA budget and spending decisions, while recognising the particular features of resourcing emergency services.

Accountability

The Welsh Government believes these arrangements mean FRAs are not as accountable as they ought to be. Members are not directly elected (as local authorities or Senedd members are) and FRAs are not formally and clearly accountable to such bodies.

While FRA members are elected councillors, those councillors are not accountable to their ‘home’ council for their actions as FRA members. When acting as members of the FRA they are duty bound instead to act in the interests of the FRA as a whole. FRA decisions are not grounded in any kind of democratic mandate, nor are FRA members answerable to the electorate for those decisions.

At the same time, FRAs are not fully accountable to the Welsh Government, and through it to Senedd Cymru, either. While the Welsh Government sets a broad strategic direction in the form of the National Framework for fire and rescue services, that is only guidance to which FRAs must “have regard” in carrying out their functions; strategic and operational decisions are solely for FRAs to make.

FRAs are liable to audit and inspection by Audit Wales, as are all devolved public bodies in Wales. That is external, independent and transparent; but it is limited by Audit Wales’ statutory remit and audit methodology. For instance, auditors never challenge the substance of any organisation’s policy or spending decisions or argue for alternatives. They can only consider the way in which those decisions were implemented and reflected in the organisation’s accounts.

Performance management and inspection

FRAs current performance management arrangements are set out in the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 (2009 Measure). In outline, the 2009 Measure places a general requirement on FRAs to ‘make arrangements to secure continuous improvement’ in the exercise of their functions. The FRA performance management arrangements must include:

• formulating and consulting on annual ‘improvement objectives’, i.e. priorities for improvement in the coming year
• collecting quantitative performance data and other types of information which show how far those objectives are being met
• reporting publicly after the end of the year about progress in attaining improvement objectives
• an annual inspection by Audit Wales of the extent to which the FRA has complied with the Measure

These arrangements were designed primarily for local authorities which face very different challenges to FRAs. The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 introduced amendments to the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, giving Welsh Ministers powers to introduce performance reporting requirements in relation to the exercise of the FRAs’ functions, including reporting plans and performance assessments. These powers will be used once a new National Framework is introduced.

Over the last 10 years the inspection programme for Wales has focussed on a series of “thematic reviews” looking primarily at specific elements of fire and rescue services operational functions. The subject of each review has been decided by the CFRAI annually in discussion with the Welsh Government and based on any significant issue that is relevant at that point in time, for instance the thematic review undertaken in 2021 following the publication of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 report to assess the progress being made by the three FRAs against its recommendations. However, the independent reports into FRS culture have exposed issues that go beyond operational matters. Though similar culture issues were found in FRAs beyond Wales, despite the existence of broader inspection programmes elsewhere, we think there could be value in a more holistic independent inspection process that encompasses all of an FRA’s role, including leadership, governance, culture, and equality and diversity. FRAs’ performance at all levels and across all functions, contributes to providing improved services to the public, and to keeping both the public and FRS staff safe. It is important that this is reflected in any inspection programme.

We believe that FRAs should be clearly and openly accountable to local authorities, the Welsh Government and other stakeholders, and should welcome and act on scrutiny, challenge and constructive criticism.

We also believe that audit and inspection should be independent, consistently and clearly identify good and bad practice within the sector, and should result in recommendations which FRAs must either accept or offer compelling reasons for taking alternate action.

Reform objectives

Our key objectives for reform therefore are:

• Member-level governance should be structured to yield informed, efficient and effective leadership and decision-making.
• Members should be equipped and empowered to set a clear strategic direction for the Service and to hold officers to account for delivering it.
• Funding mechanisms should yield demonstrable value for money, and should be fair and transparent particularly in light of wider pressures on public finances.
• FRAs should be clearly and openly accountable to local authorities, the Welsh Government and other stakeholders, and should welcome and act on scrutiny, challenge and constructive criticism.
• Audit and inspection should be independent, consistently and clearly identify good and bad practice within the sector, and should result in recommendations which FRAs must either accept or offer compelling reasons for taking alternate action.

Limitations on the change that can be introduced as a result of this consultation

This consultation focusses on those proposals that can be introduced through secondary legislation and policy change. This will enable the Welsh Government to introduce changes to the governance arrangements that we expect to result in meaningful improvements quickly and without disruption to front-line services. We want new arrangements to be in place as soon as possible.

Stakeholder engagement

The Welsh Government is committed to developing our plans for governance reform in social partnership. Over the last year we have engaged with a range of key stakeholders on these issues including FRA Chairs and Chief Fire Officers, the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service Commissioners, relevant Trade Unions, local authorities and the Welsh Local Government Association, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. These discussions have helped us to shape the options for reform that are set out in this consultation document.

As set out in the case for change we believe that Member-level governance should be structured to yield informed, efficient and effective leadership and decision-making. Members should be equipped and empowered to set a clear strategic direction for the Service and to hold officers to account for delivering it.

Our aim is to reduce complication and delay in effective decision-making and to facilitate a membership with broader expertise to enhance strategic direction setting, decision making and the scrutiny of proposals put to the FRAs. We propose doing this by ensuring a broader set of skills, expertise and diversity across FRA membership.

Sources of membership

Members of public bodies (other than those who are directly elected) are normally nominated or appointed to their posts by other organisations or office-holders. There are 2 broad options through secondary legislation for that in the case of FRAs:

• Local authorities could continue to nominate councillors to FRA membership.
• Membership could be mixed with some members nominated by local authorities and some independently appointed on the basis of merit, following a fair and open competition. There are a number of possible approaches to such a model:
  • Independent members could be directly appointed by Welsh Ministers following fair and open competition.
  • Local authorities could continue to nominate councillors, but also directly appoint some members, following a fair and open competition.
  • Independent members could be directly appointed by both Welsh Ministers and local authorities.

Whilst retaining the current approach retains FRAs’ political leadership at its current local level a mixed membership would introduce a broader set of expertise and diversity, with directly appointed members offering a different challenge and perspective.

Number and type of members

FRAs in Wales have a large and unwieldy membership. North Wales FRA currently has 28 members, Mid and West Wales FRA has 25 and, prior to the Welsh Government intervention, South Wales FRA had 24 members. This is a larger membership than any Local Health Board and not much less than our smaller local authorities, despite FRAs having only a fraction of their budgets. North Wales FRA is also the largest FRA in the UK by membership despite being one of the smallest in terms of population served.

Membership from each constituent local authority is generally based on population and the funding contribution made by each. For instance, Swansea County Council nominate seven members to sit on Mid and West Wales FRA, whilst Ceredigion County Council nominate 2.

FRA members are required to act in the best interest of the fire and rescue service as a whole rather than the interests of their constituent local authority and we believe that should remain the case. There is no link between a member’s role on the FRA and the ward they represent within the local authority. Consequently, this brings into question the utility of representation in proportion to local authority population. An unduly large membership complicates and delays effective decision-making and incurs extra costs in the form of members’ salaries and expenses.

We believe it would be better for FRA members to be fewer in number, but to have a more clearly defined remit and the capability to carry it out. We have previously set out that current FRA members are almost always nominated from the ranks of ‘backbench’ councillors, i.e. those who are not members of a council executive or chairs of scrutiny or audit committees. This approach effectively separates the governance of fire and rescue services from other local services.

One option would be that all nominated FRA members must be members of their council’s cabinet, appointed by the Leader as normal. They would come together as an executive decision-making FRA, replicating the roles they exercised in their ‘home’ authority. This would strengthen strategic leadership and connections with other services. However, we have concerns about the capacity of cabinet members to fulfil the role of an FRA member given the current statutory cap on the size of local authority cabinets.

Alternatively, each local authority could nominate 1 member of the FRA, regardless of population, supplemented by independent direct appointments. Independent members can bring experience in governance, audit, transformation, strategic insight, innovative thinking and experience from other sectors. Under current primary legislation Welsh Ministers are able to directly appoint up to 49% of an FRA’s membership. There is no such restriction on Local Authorities. One third of an FRA’s membership could therefore be made up of independent appointments. That would meet our aim of reducing the size of FRA membership and introducing a broader range of expertise, whilst retaining FRAs’ political leadership at a local level.

We are interested in views on reducing the number of local authority nominated members to one per local authority, and to appointing a third of members independently, or other alternative approaches.

Scrutiny and challenge

In local authorities, accountability is enhanced by dividing responsibilities between a cabinet, which takes most major decisions, and scrutiny committees, which hold the cabinet to account. That distinction does not formally exist in an FRA because it depends on members being elected on a political mandate. Local authority cabinets are normally composed of the ruling party group or coalition, with scrutiny committees constituted to give other parties fair representation. Even under a model where FRA membership came from local authority cabinets, individual members might be subject to scrutiny in their ‘home’ authorities, but that would not necessarily embrace their roles as FRA members, nor would it apply to the whole FRA.

There needs to be another means of holding the FRA to account and introducing constructive challenge into its decision-making. In their report into FRA governance “Sound the Alarm” published in 2024, the Equality and Social Justice Committee suggest the Chair and Vicechair of the FRA act as the executive with remaining FRA members acting in a scrutiny role. That would mean the executive (ie chair and vice-chair) being appointed by those charged with scrutinising them. It is not clear how an unelected FRA could reasonably approach such an appointment, or how there would be any practical separation of executive and scrutiny roles. In local authorities while the Leader is formally appointed by full Council, that invariably reflects the result of the election, with the majority party or coalition supplying the Leader and Cabinet. We have concerns this approach would add complication to an FRA’s nomination processes for those roles. Appointing independent members in a non-executive capacity may be a more viable option. Such non-executive members would not make decisions; instead, their role would be to provide advice and challenge to those who do. Non-executive members are normally appointed because of the particular knowledge or expertise they would bring to the role and to the organisation as a whole. We believe this approach could work well for FRAs. It would provide scrutiny and challenge without compromising local control.

There is however an equal case for building greater balance into the decision-making process from the outset by giving directly appointed members equal status with those members nominated by local authorities to ensure that decision making is focussed on what is best for the communities serviced by the FRA as a whole. Giving all members equal status would open up the potential for the appointment of independent Chairs to further strengthen objectivity and impartiality in the FRA decision making process. Under this proposal the total number of independent members would remain at one third of overall members to maintain the balance that we have referred to. That would mean for instance South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority having an Independent Chair and 4 other independent members, and 10 local authority Councillor members.

We are interested in respondents’ views on the most appropriate role for FRAs’ independent members, and on the appointment of independent Chairs.

Independent members (including an independent Chair) can be appointed by constituent local authorities. However, we would consider it necessary for there to be a process and set of criteria agreed by Welsh Ministers and all constituent local authorities to do so. The most straightforward approach would probably be for the Welsh Ministers to appoint independent members on the basis of fair and open competition. That would not make FRAs unduly accountable to the Welsh Government, as elected members from constituent local authority membership must make up at least 51% of membership overall and our proposal above is that independent members should make up one third of overall membership. It would, however, ensure consistency across Wales and could attract a higher number and calibre of applicants. We are interested in respondents’ views on who should appoint independent members to the FRAs.

In Chapter 1 we refer to separate work being undertaken to develop a comprehensive training and development programme for members. This will include clarity on the roles and responsibilities of members and the knowledge and skills required to undertake the role effectively. It is crucial that this forms the basis of the local authority nomination process, and any direct appointment process that is introduced. We will continue to develop that expectation and understanding with local authorities though our work with the WLGA.

We believe that funding mechanisms should yield demonstrable value for money and should be fair and balanced in light of wider pressures on public finances. Our aim is to provide proper accountability for budgets and expenditure, while maintaining the level of funding needed to provide an effective emergency response and the full range of other crucial services provided by fire and rescue services.

Sources of funding

We have identified 3 possible approaches to future FRA funding:

• Direct funding from the Welsh Government. This would mean the current funding route via local authorities would end. Funding would have to be ‘top-sliced’ from the local authority revenue support grant (RSG) in the first instance. This would ensure accountability to the Welsh Government and the Senedd and be broadly consistent with funding for agencies in areas like health. It would eliminate the need for local authorities to pay money on to FRAs but would remove local accountability. We believe funding from the Welsh Government alone would be inconsistent with the local governance model for FRAs proposed in the previous chapter.
• Introducing a Council Tax precept, i.e. an extra charge on local Council Tax bills determined by the FRA, to pay for fire and rescue services, an approach favoured by some local authorities in Wales. However, such a model would require a significantly longer lead time without necessarily providing any significant advantage over the other options and is therefore not being considered at this time. This proposal would also give unelected bodies the power to levy taxes. All other levying or precepting bodies in Wales are directly elected and answerable to the electorate for the levies they set.
• Contributions from local authorities, as now, but with some form of external control on, or agreement about, the level of such contributions. This would sustain local accountability for budgets and spending.

Modifying the current system would provide greater accountability and control if FRAs are required to agree the level of funding each year with their constituent local authorities. Doing so would also put FRA funding more clearly in a wider context of funding other local services and would stimulate broader debate. We therefore propose that that FRAs should be required to:

• consult with their constituent local authorities, in the form and manner specified by the local authorities themselves with a view to reaching agreement on their budget for the coming year
• agree with constituent local authorities the evidence that will be required to support that consultation process. As a minimum this should include:
  • an assessment of any work the FRA has undertaken to ensure that it is efficient and effective across the range of its functions and duties
  • an assessment of how the proposed budget will effectively manage the risk identified in the FRA’s Community Risk Management Plans, and how the FRA will monitor and measure that

We believe that would make a positive and immediate difference.

As set out in Chapter 1, we believe that FRAs should be clearly and openly accountable to local authorities, the Welsh Government and other stakeholders, and should welcome and act on scrutiny, challenge and constructive criticism.

We also believe that audit and inspection should consistently and clearly identify good and bad practice within the sector and should result in recommendations which FRAs must either accept or offer compelling reasons for taking alternate action.

Performance management

The National Framework for fire and rescue services provides the Welsh Ministers’ strategic Wales-wide vision for FRAs. It should be at the heart of their performance management arrangements. Chapter 1 of this consultation sets out that the Welsh Ministers now have powers to introduce performance reporting requirements for FRAs that can be specifically linked to the Welsh Government’s priorities in the Fire and Rescue National Framework. The National Framework is guidance but FRAs must have regard to it in carrying out their functions, and failure to act in accordance with it would be relevant to the Welsh Ministers’ intervention powers.

The current National Framework has been in place since 2016. Whilst much of it remains valid, it does not address issues which have arisen or increased in prominence since then, such as the climate emergency, the Grenfell Tower fire and the revelations about dysfunctional cultures within the fire and rescue service. Our plan therefore is to develop and consult on a new National Framework with a view to introducing it by the end of 2025 to 2026.

We will then develop performance arrangements focussed on delivering against the priorities it sets out. These detailed arrangements will be subject to further consultation in due course. Our proposals for introducing a new Framework and these supporting performance arrangements are therefore simply referred to in this consultation to provide a clearer picture of how all the various elements of reform will work together.

We would welcome early views from consultees on how and to whom reporting against the National Framework should take place.

Inspection

The Inspector element of the CFRAI role is a Crown appointment under s28 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 and supports the Welsh Government in discharging its duties under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. The Crown appointee is also legally responsible for inspecting fire safety in all non-military Crown premises in Wales. Welsh Ministers also have powers to appoint assistant inspectors.

In England, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and fire and rescue services (HMICFRS) independently assesses the effectiveness and efficiency of police forces and fire and rescue services, and in Scotland, His Majesty’s Fire Service Inspectorate (HMFSI) operates under the leadership of HM Chief Inspector of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. The Northern Ireland Assembly has historically commissioned its inspectorate function from HMFSI.

As set out in Chapter 1, the inspection programme for Wales over the last ten years has focussed primarily on specific elements of fire and rescue services’ operational functions, with the subject of each review being decided annually. We believe that this needs to change to provide for a strengthened broader inspection programme that forms an integral part of overall governance and accountability arrangements for FRAs.

We believe the following outline principles are key to delivering an effective inspection function:

• inspection needs to be broad and thorough
• inspections themselves and their outcomes and recommendations should be independent
• the findings of inspection reports should be acted upon by FRAs
• the findings of inspections need to be easily understood by the public and other interested parties
• inspections should be regular and programmed, but flexible enough to encompass emerging risks and challenges in the sector

In our view that means:

• We need an inspection programme that covers all FRA’s duties and functions, and should encompass people and culture, equality and diversity duties, governance, strategic direction and community risk management as well as efficiency and effectiveness, value for money and operational delivery.
• A medium-term inspection plan and standard inspection criteria and material to support the review programme is necessary to provide clarity for FRAs and other stakeholders and aid a continuous self-improvement approach.
• Any inspection plan needs to be discussed with FRAs and agreed with Welsh Ministers before its publication and introduction.
• Inspection reports need to be published and should provide a simple and transparent analysis of FRA performance that is easily understood by the public and other stakeholders, probably through graded judgements. This would also provide for comparison across the fire and rescue services in Wales and, to a certain extent, elsewhere.
• Inspection findings should form an integral element of the performance management and performance reporting process in each FRA and be part of each FRAs improvement journey.
• Any inspection programme needs to be resourced to deliver the above.

Models

The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 provides for the appointment of inspectors by His Majesty the King by Order of Council, and the appointment of assistant inspectors and other officers by Welsh Ministers for the purpose of obtaining information as to the manner in which fire and rescue authorities are discharging their functions and technical matters relating to those functions. There are a number of options for delivering an inspection function in Wales, including those set out below. Whatever model we use, the new Fire and Rescue National Framework will include a clear expectation that FRAs will act on all inspection and independent review findings. Consideration will also be given to a requirement in the associated performance management arrangements referred to above for FRAs to report on their progress against all inspection and review recommendations. Both the Framework and the performance management arrangements will be subject to further consultation in due course.

• Welsh Ministers appointing inspectors and other officers to undertake a more comprehensive inspection programme: a Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser and Inspector for Wales is already appointed and in post. This option would provide the additional resource required for a comprehensive inspection programme to be introduced, for standard inspection material to be developed and shared, and for reports to be published in a format suitable for the public and other stakeholders.
• An alternative approach, procuring or commissioning services from a suitably qualified provider: this model could take a number of approaches, ranging from formal procurement, commissioning or a partnership arrangement. It could, for example build on the existing positive engagement between the inspectorates in Wales, England and Scotland. It might involve alignment of inspection programmes, processes, inspection criteria and approaches to grading performance between Wales and England.

We have not ruled out more radical change to the inspection process in the longer term, however primary legislation may be required, depending on the approach that is decided upon. The governance reforms determined through this consultation will be monitored and evaluated and the requirement for further reforms will be considered by the next Welsh Government.

Question 1

Do you agree the objectives for reform are appropriate and important?

Question 2

Are there other objectives that the reform programme should pursue?

Question 3

Do you think that membership of FRAs should be reduced to provide for a more streamlined, efficient and effective decision-making process?

Question 4

Do you think that local authorities should nominate one FRA member each?

Question 5

Do you think that FRAs should also have independently appointed members?

Question 6

Do you think that independent members of FRAs should be appointed by Welsh Minsters?

Question 7

Do you agree that independent members should make up one third of an FRAs overall membership?

Question 8

Do you think that independent members should be appointed to act as full members of the FRA?

Question 9

Do you believe that FRAs should have independent Chairs and if so who should appoint them?

Question 10

Do you agree that FRAs should be required to formally consult with a view to reaching agreement with local authorities on the level of FRA funding each year?

Question 11

Do you have any views on how and to whom reporting against the National Framework should take place?

Question 12

Do you agree with the principles and requirements for an inspection programme for Wales as set out in the consultation document?

Question 13

Do you agree that there is a need for a different approach to be taken to FRS inspection in Wales. If so, what aspects of the options in this paper should be progressed?

Question 14

We would like to know your views on the effects that the policy proposals would have on the Welsh language, specifically on opportunities for people to use Welsh and on treating the Welsh language no less favourably than English. What effects do you think there would be? How could positive effects be increased, or negative effects be mitigated?

Question 15

Please also explain how you believe the policy proposals could be formulated or changed so as to have positive effects or increased positive effects on opportunities for people to use the Welsh language and on treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language, and no adverse effects on opportunities for people to use the Welsh language and on treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language.

Question 16

We have asked a number of specific questions about FRA governance, finance, performance management and inspection. If you have any related issues which we have not specifically addressed, please use this space to report them:

Submit your comments by 24 October 2025, in any of the following ways:

• complete our online form
• download, complete our response form and email fire@gov.wales
• download, complete our response form and post to:

Fire Services Branch 
Welsh Government 
Rhydycar 
Merthyr Tydfil 
CF48 1UZ 

The 8 week consultation period is to ensure that secondary legislation to introduce any proposed change resulting from this consultation can be introduced by the end of 2025 to 2026. This will ensure new arrangements are in place when the intervention in South Wales Fire and Rescue Service comes to an end. Pre-consultation engagement with key stakeholders has taken place. 

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Number: WG52625

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