Northamptonshire fire chief steps down over 'friendship' with commissioner who gave her job

A fire chief is to step down following speculation over her friendship with the county's fire and police commissioner - just a week after her appointment.

Nicci Marzec became acting chief fire officer for Northamptonshire after Mark Jones' sudden resignation and was expected to stay in the role until a permanent replacement could be found.

Concerns had been raised about the her suitability and background - having never worked as a fire fighter and or held an operational role with the service.

After questions were raised about the acting fire chief's relationship with Stephen Mold - the police, fire and crime commissioner for the county - he said it was no longer possible for Ms Marzec to carry out her job.

"My friendship with Nicci Marzec, who is a long-standing colleague, has become the story and that must not damage the reputation of these organisations I work so hard to promote and improve," he said.

The Fire Brigades Union has called for the PFCC to also stand down following what it described as a "shambolic series of events".

Adam Taylor, FBU executive council representative for the East Midlands, said: "The Fire Brigades Union welcomes the fact that the proposed interim chief fire officer has stepped back from her appointment. It should have been obvious that appointing someone to this role without any fire service experience was untenable.

"The rushed manner of this appointment, and the lack of accountability, is yet more evidence of the unsuitability of the police and crime commissioner system for the fire and rescue service."

Mr Mold was elected police and crime commissioner for Northamptonshire in May 2016 and in January 2019 took oversight of the county's fire service, to become the police, fire and crime commissioner.

Mr Mold conceded that, in his haste to get a new fire chief in place ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, he had not been able to properly justify the appointment.

"I took legal advice before asking Ms Marzec to temporarily act up in this role and I accept that I acted with urgency to ensure senior officer cover was in place, in advance of the British Grand Prix.

"I understand I acted too quickly and did not engage with the police, fire and crime panel in the way I would normally, and I did not have the opportunity to explain my rationale or the legal advice I had been given.

"With hindsight, I accept this has created a level of speculation and criticism that I had not expected and is not helpful to the service."

Mr Mold said Ms Marzec "genuinely had the best interests of the service as her priority" when she took the job and had already identified some areas for improvement.

"However, in the best interests of the people of the fire and rescue service who serve this county, she has decided to step back from both her acting role in the fire service and her responsibilities as monitoring officer," he added.

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