Third fire chief in a year has no plans to leave

Simon Tuhill is the third chief fire officer in a year

The new chief fire officer for the West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) says he has no plans to leave, after being the third to fill the role in a year.

Simon Tuhill, the ex-deputy fire chief for Northamptonshire, has been in the role for 100 days.

Former chief Wayne Brown was found dead at his home in January, a day after the fire service announced he was under investigation over claims made about his qualifications for the role. His appointed successor, Ben Brook, then withdrew three days after getting the job.

Mr Tuhill said the last 12 months have been "quite traumatic" for some staff, but he had also found in the first few weeks of his tenure just how dedicated they were.

Last autumn, the interim chief executive of the fire service and the chairman of the fire authority both resigned following a dispute over fire authority governance.

The former, Oliver Lee, had publicly alleged West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority's (WMFRA) governance lacked "courage, transparency, care and honesty".

Mr Tuhill joined amid accusations of financial mismanagement within the West Midlands Fire Authority and a consequent underspend of £12m, which he said had not affected staffing numbers.

"Half that amount is linked to the capital programme we have refurbishing our fire stations and that isn't an underspend as such, it's just we've earmarked it against spend which sometimes takes for new fire engines and assets to arrive in the service," he said.

'We're not perfect'

"The remainder of the underspend is linked to things like vacancies, when a highly skilled firefighter leaves the fire service we can't directly replace them so often there will be a vacancy in some areas of the service for a short while."

Speaking to BBC Midlands Today, he admitted the service "was not perfect" and he would "strive to improve it".

"We're a big organisation," he added.

"We look after three million people across the whole of the West Midlands, but our service levels have never dropped throughout this time."

On Monday, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) backed the striking bin workers in Birmingham and advised members not to carry out any "strike-breaking work" and help clear rubbish from the streets.

Mr Tuhill said the service "remained neutral in the dispute", but had crews out referring any hotspots to the council and liaising directly with residents about any issues.

Regarding his future, he said he had several years to go before leaving the fire service.

"I think the welcome I have had, in terms of how everyone in the West Midlands has embraced me and been so positive, means that this journey for me is only just beginning," he added.