Date: 31st January, 2023
Statement provided to ITN as right to reply
The matters you have raised with us are deeply concerning and we take allegations of this nature extremely seriously. As allegations of criminal behaviour are involved, we have immediately alerted the police so the appropriate action can be taken.
I am also commissioning an independent investigation. As part of this investigation, I will be providing all of our female staff with the opportunity to speak to an independent organisation. It is vital to have their help in identifying any inappropriate behaviour – in a modern fire and rescue service there is absolutely no place for it.
In addition, we have set up a confidential helpline so if any of our staff have immediate issues as a result of these allegations, the right support is in place.
There is an expectation for our staff to work in line with our code of ethics which sets out high levels of expected behaviours. The vast majority of our staff are good people, working hard and doing a great job. But when and if those standards are not met, we will move quickly to address it.
Where people do come forward with concerns, we conduct thorough investigations in accordance with our disciplinary procedures.
We are unable to comment on individual cases, but what we can say is that we continue to work to ensure that our organisation is a safe place, where staff feel able to report concerns of inappropriate conduct or behaviour.
We are extremely shocked and appalled to hear about these allegations. We would ask that ITN or any individuals affected, provide us with further information to allow us to investigate these allegations and to enable us to offer our support to them.