'Morale has never been lower and nothing is changing', says South Wales firefighter

• ITV Cymru Wales' Andrea Byrne reports.

A serving firefighter has described how he believes South Wales Fire and Rescue Service has not acted on the findings of a damning review into its culture.

'Gareth', which is not his real name, told ITV Cymru Wales that "things that haven’t been dealt with and the same old things on station are still being said".

He said if issues continue at the scandal-hit service, it could pose a risk to the public's safety.

In January, a review into culture in South Wales was published and included details of sexual harassment, misogyny, racism and homophobia being tolerated at the service.

The service told us it has been a "difficult and unsettling time for our staff", but it is "not complacent about our Service’s culture."

'It has just gone unchallenged for so long'

'Gareth' said when issues first came to light about bad behaviour at South Wales Fire, he was relieved that he wasn't alone in thinking there were problems.

He told us he had witnessed people making "racist jokes, racist comments about people’s skin, people’s religion, people fleeing horrendous situations."

"There was a story about someone in charge of a watch who had taken the brave step to come out as part of the LGBTQ+ community", he said.

"Then a picture of their face was put on top of a Christmas tree fairy and that was put on top of the Christmas tree. I can just imagine if you were part of that community how that made you feel and how you didn’t think you were accepted as part of South Wales Fire and Rescue Service."

'Gareth' said, "it’s not something that I thought I would have to contend with joining a public service".

'A glimmer of hope that everything would change'

When a review was announced into the culture at the service, 'Gareth' says he was hopeful that it would lead to meaningful change.

He said he was "really excited for this prospect of change. I knew a lot of people really didn’t think that anything would come of the report but I was one of those minority that thought: ‘Yes, this is going to lead to something productive and useful and help us’."

When it was published in January 2024, the review outlined a toxic culture and revealed allegations of sexism and abusive behaviour towards staff.

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said it was confident that the service would "emerge with a more positive and inclusive culture" as a result of the review.

However, more than eight months later, frontline staff told us a very different story. 'Gareth' says "everything seems to have just not moved along at all." He told us he is looking for ways to leave the fire service. "Morale is really low, I don’t want to work there anymore".

"Nothing is happening, nothing is changing. The same old things on station are still being said, people are still gaining advantages because of people they know and I’m back to the point where we were a year ago, where I’m just not proud anymore."

'That did nothing to reassure staff'

Some staff blame the appointment of a controversial interim fire chief for the lack of progress at the service.

Stuart Millington was brought in to steady the ship after the publication of the damning cultural review. However, days later ITV revealed he was facing questions over his conduct.

The former Welsh leader of the Fire Brigades Union, Cerith Griffiths said, "As soon I was told that he’d been given the interim appointment of Chief Fire Officer, I was really taken aback."

It emerged that Mr Millington was facing an employment tribunal, accused of bullying and harassing a member of staff whilst he was Assistant Chief Fire Officer at the North Wales Service.

Mr Griffiths said, "That did absolutely nothing to reassure staff that things were going to change".

An employment court has since struck out the case against Mr Millington after it was argued the claimant submitted his complaint outside of the legal time limit.

Mr Millington always denied the allegations and faces no further action.

Cerith Griffith said, "When Fenella Morris’ review came out, that gave people hope. You could feel there was hope now that things at last were going to change and unfortunately, to date, it doesn’t feel like that has happened.

"Morale, unfortunately, is on rock bottom."

The service told ITV Cymru Wales it "will persist with making improvements to the culture of the Service with the recruitment of a new Chief Fire Officer who joins us later this year".

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service also said, "Since publication of the report, transformation and change have been key priorities for the Service.

"Amongst other things, we have recruited a Director of Strategic Change and Transformation to lead our Step Forward programme, have held many internal events to engage with staff and give them chance to have their say on issues including culture, and have been working on dispelling inappropriate behaviour across the Service."

'Gareth' wants to see change soon, but he says without accountability, things cannot improve. “There needs to be a wider conversation about how we have let things get to this stage”, he said, “and how do we go about learning from the mistakes of the past and making sure they are never repeated and no one ever has to suffer unnecessarily again”.

You can hear more of Gareth's story on Wales This Week: Can our Fire Services be Rescued? on Thursday 5th September at 8:30 pm on ITV Cymru Wales.