A message from Humberside Fire Authority Chair Cllr John Briggs in relation to anonymous allegations against senior officers of Humberside Fire and Rescue Service:
Following anonymous whistleblowing allegations made against named senior officers of Humberside Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) to the independent Governance Audit and Scrutiny Committee of the Humberside Fire Authority (HFA), the Chair of the Authority Councillor John Briggs instigated an independent investigation into the allegations. The investigation was carried out by TIAA who are the internal auditors to HFA. TIAA have today (26 March) presented their final investigation report and findings to an additional meeting of the HFA.
The report confirmed that there were two allegations which related to the retirement and re-engagement of named senior officers and the disclosure of any outside business interests of named senior officers. The investigation report concluded that there was no evidence to support the allegations or of a breach of matters set out in the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, in relation to the disclosures contained in the two allegations.
The report does make a number of procedural recommendations relating to internal policy reviews including the tightening of the requirements for senior officers to declare outside interests. The HFA have today accepted all of the recommendations contained in the report and have instructed officers to implement them with immediate effect.
The final investigation report will also be presented to the Governance Audit and Scrutiny Committee of the HFA, on 12 April, following which the full report will also be made publicly available via the HFRS website.