Fire chief is in line for ‘shocking’ £12,000 rise to take his salary up to nearly £170,000 a year even though his service is being probed over sexual harassment

• A similar rise is proposed for other senior officers – costing £80,000 in total 

A top fire chief is in line to get a ‘shocking’ £12,000 pay rise, which would take his salary up to nearly £170,000 a year, despite the fact his service is being probed over sexual harassment. 

Chief Fire Officer Huw Jakeway’s pay increase was recommended by an external consultancy – the bump will take him up to £169,574-a-year. 

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service is currently under external cultural review over claims of sexual harassment against women by firefighters.

Mr Jakeway is also under a separate investigation into whether he lied about what he knew about one of the cases. 

His proposed pay increase has been blasted by Tory MP Alun Cairns, who said: ‘There will be many front line firefighters and staff angry about this.’

Chief Fire Officer Huw Jakeway (pictured) is in line to get a ‘shocking’ £12,000 pay rise, which would take his salary up to nearly £170,000 a year

Chief Fire Officer Jakeway’s pay increase was recommended by an external consultancy – the bump will take him up to £169,574-a-year

A similar rise is also proposed for other senior officers – costing the public service more than £80,000 in total. Concerns have now been raised by frontline staff to Fenella Morris KC – who is writing a review into the fire service.

An investigation revealed one woman had been sexually harassed by a serving South Wales firefighter who was allowed to remain in the service.

In 2014, the service was the first in the world to ever be awarded ‘White Ribbon’ status by the domestic abuse charity of the same name, an accreditation which has since been suspended.

One victim, Shirley, who works as cleaner at the Ely station in Cardiff, said a manager exposed himself to her on night shifts in a years-long campaign of harassment. 

She said she plucked up the courage to report him when his behaviour got progressively worse, to the point where she feared she would be raped. 

Another victim, who has not waived her right to anonymity, was domestically abused by her fireman partner who also worked at the service.

Despite his conviction for assault, he was allowed to continue working there for years before being dismissed over another misconduct allegation.

The review into South Wales Fire and Rescue Service is due to be published by the end of the year – after any pay offer has been confirmed.

Shirley, who works as cleaner at the Ely station in Cardiff, said she was harassed by a firefighter for years in an interview with ITV News

Mr Jakeway is under a separate investigation into whether he lied about what he knew about one of the sexual harassment cases

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service is currently under external cultural review over claims of sexual harassment against women by firefighters

Alun Cairns, Conservative MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, said: ‘This is a surprising increase at best and shocking, considering the questions, investigations and judgements that he has made.

‘There will be many front line firefighters and staff angry about this. Not only will there be an inflation busting pay rise but the pension benefits will be significant too.’

Tristan Ashby from the fire service union, FRSA, said: ‘The timing of this recommendation isn’t good, one would hope that public perception is taken into account and that the uplift is either deferred, pending the publication of the culture review or the senior leadership team decline the increase.

‘For pay increases at the highest level of management within the service, there should be a correlation to performance, it doesn’t feel appropriate for such an increase at this time when the service is in the media spotlight for all the wrong reasons.’

A decision on the rise will be made on Monday, September 25 when the South Wales Fire Authority holds its meeting. Mr Jakeway, who sits on the board, will excuse himself from the discussion about his salary.

Source: Read Full Article