Executive board

Roger Thomas

Chief Fire Officer 

Iwan Cray

Deputy Chief Fire Officer

Mydrian Harries

Assistant Chief Officer

Craig Flannery

Assistant Chief Fire Officer

Sarah Mansbridge

Sarah Mansbridge

Section 151 Officer

David Daycock

Clerk and Monitoring Officer

Departments

Each of the Directorates within the Service is comprised of a number of separate Departments. The roles of these departments is quite varied, addressing functions such as Business Fire Safet​y, Front-Line Operations, Control Room Activities, Finance and Human Resources.

Business Fire Safety

The Business Fire Safety department is responsible for providing advice and direction to all business owners, employers or owners of business premises to ensure legal obligations are met in preventing fire to protect businesses, employees, properties, the general public and firefighters who might attend an incident.

Community Safety

Our Community Safety department work to ensure people stay safe as possible from fire and other emergencies in the home, at work or elsewhere in our area, we do this by educating both adults and young people to potential hazards and how they can protect themselves and their families from harm.

Corporate Communications and Business Development

The Corporate Communication and Business Development department is responsible for internal and external communication, including graphic design; e-communication, including management of the external website and the intranet; managing the Service’s improvement planning framework and performance data; managing the work of the Fire Authority and supporting elected members; as well as the Service’s governance arrangements, including compliance, compliments and complaints.

Corporate Risk

The Corporate Risk department is responsible for providing advice and direction on six distinct subject areas including, Liability Claims & Litigation, Business Risk, Health & Safety, Insurance Management, Environmental Management & Sustainability and Business Continuity & Security.

Estates

The Estates Department is responsible for the management of revenue and capital budgets for over 70 properties, at locations throughout the operational area of Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service. The team provide an integrated approach to operating, maintaining, improving and adapting the Service’s buildings and infrastructure to ensure they are well-maintained and fit for operational objectives.

 

Responsibilities range from the acquisition of land, major capital schemes, management of hard and soft facilities services such as heating, electrical services, cleaning, waste and energy management, as well as the day-to-day maintenance issues consisting of minor repairs, such as a leaking tap to more involved minor works projects.

Fleet, Engineering and Logistics

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service maintains an extensive vehicle fleet which comprises a diverse range of specialist vehicles.


Supporting these vehicles to ensure they are always available to support a whole range of operational demands faced by the Service, is the responsibility of the Transport Department.

Finance

The Finance Department is responsible for overseeing the Service’s finances. The Exchequer Services team pays invoices from our suppliers, sends invoices to our clients and deals with indirect taxation. Our Accountancy team prepare and monitor budgets, prepare statutory accounts and give advice to non-financial staff. They also deal with leasing, banking arrangements, investments and borrowing, as well as preparing financial returns and liaising with auditors.

Human Resources

The role of the Human Resources department is to develop and support the Service’s plans for recruiting, developing and retaining high performing employees in a fair and supportive environment.

The department is arranged around five internal functions: Employee Relations, Occupational Health, Equality and Diversity, Human Resources Administration and Corporate Administration. Collectively, the department deals with terms and conditions of employment, policy formation, support and implementation, absence monitoring, health and wellbeing, cultural change, recruitment, employee data processing, and front of house services.

The department also comprises the Service’s payroll function, which deals with all matters relating to salaries and expenses for Councillors and staff, as well as direct taxation issues.

Information and Communications Technology

The ICT department is responsible for implementing and supporting information technologies in a secure manner, in order to deliver business efficiency improvements, enhance the safety of operational firefighters and empower all Service staff.

 

There are two elements to the ICT Department, namely Support and Development. The Support arm addresses the installation and maintenance requirements of PC hardware, radio equipment, paging and mobile data requirements. Whilst the Development team undertake the commissioning, configuration and management of business software systems. 

Service Control

The principal function of Service Control is to provide the first point of contact to our communities during an emergency, through the receipt of 999 calls. Our operators then assess the information given to them, before identifying the appropriate operational response, such as the dispatch of a fire engine and crew. Service Control also provides continuous support to fire crews when there is prolonged operational activity, as often occurs for large fires or widespread flooding.

Operational Equipment and Assurance

OEA is responsible for the research, development and purchasing of operational equipment; with an overall view to ensuring consistency of approach across the Service area.

The department has a water section who are responsible for securing and maintaining effective firefighting water supplies and carrying out hydrant maintenance, liaising with water companies.

The department also coordinates the inspection and assurance programs for the Service.

Operational Procedures and Learning

OPAL has the responsibility to manage the transition from our current Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to National Operational Guidance (NOG). During this transitional period, OPAL will also ensure that our current SOPs are reviewed and updated, as required.

The department is also responsible for operational learning and managing the Operational Learning System (OLS), which assists the Service to achieve and maintain the highest level of operational safety and performance.

People Development

The principal role of the People Development department is to identify and support professional development opportunities for all staff, in order to ensure that the Service maintains and develops a highly skilled workforce.

 

The development of learning and development opportunities for personnel is recognised as paramount to the Service’s future success. The department is committed to the continual development of the Organisational Development Pathways model in order to identify and support individuals in their role within the Service.​

Procurement

The Procurement department deal with initial acquisition and supply through to disposal, incorporating sustainable considerations such as economic, ethical, moral and environmental factors.

 

Within the central team, corporate procurement is covered in terms of strategy, policy, tendering, contracts, training, national issues and support to budget holders. We aspire to influence national and sector-specific procurement and foster collaboration.

Service Response Triangle logo

Service Response

Service Response provides our core protection duties for the communities we serve, comprising of Fire Control, along with our 58 Fire and Rescue Stations and their respective Command areas. 


Our Fire Control Room, based in Bridgend, receives all emergency calls, processing them accordingly and mobilising the appropriate operational crews to deal with any incidents.


We cover some 12,000 square kilometres of Wales, with 58 Fire and Rescue Stations located across the area to ensure we are able to protect all our communities. These Stations are covered by a mix of crewing models based on risk and share the wide variety of skills required to deal with all the incidents we respond to. You can visit the Your Area section of our site to find out more about your local Fire and Rescue Station.

Training Delivery

The principal role of the Training Delivery department is to train and assess our operational personnel in a range of risk critical skill areas. These include Breathing Apparatus; Fire Behaviour; Road Traffic Collision; Manual Handling; Line Rescue; Emergency Response Driving; Water Rescue and Immediate Emergency Care. We also deliver initial foundation training to recruit firefighters, providing them with a range of skills which allows them to ride on our front line appliances.

Our provision of high quality training and regular assessment in these key areas ensures that the Service maintains a competent and  highly skilled workforce, thereby providing a world class service to the communities it serves.

Chaplaincy Team

Pastoral and welfare support for firefighters, support staff, their families and retired personnel can be provided in times of need by the network of four Fire Service Chaplains who are affiliated with the Mid and West Wales Service.

The Chaplains are available to visit Service personnel at any time, be it at the fire station, headquarters or in times of crises at home, regardless of faith. They are often called to attend emergency incidents and, where appropriate, provide reassurance, prayer or pastoral support to staff, casualties or others involved at the scene.