Stephen Mold: Northamptonshire commissioner defends fire post decision

A commissioner criticised for appointing a friend to a senior fire service role has said the fallout from the row was "political shenanigans".

Northamptonshire's police, fire and crime commissioner (PFCC) Stephen Mold appointed Nicci Marzec as the county's interim fire chief in July but she resigned 10 days later.

He survived a vote of no confidence in September.

The Fire Brigades Union has called for his resignation but he is staying.

Mr Mold had appointed his friend Ms Marzec to lead the county's fire service, but she resigned amid speculation over their relationship and criticism from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) that she had no operational experience for the role.

Mr Mold admitted an "error of judgement" following the controversial decision to appoint her.

Speaking to BBC Radio Northampton, he said: "Sadly Nicci's no longer with us - she was hounded out of her job.

"We put somebody in a temporary position while we went out to recruit, so next week we will come forth with a new chief fire officer as we've gone out with a robust recruitment.

"There are always lessons that you can learn. I would still have made the same decision but I would have gone about it in a different way."

Nikki Watson, who recently retired as Deputy Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Police, is set to take on the role, subject to a Police, Fire and Crime Panel hearing in December.

Asked if he had thought about leaving the role, Mr Mold said: "I swore an oath to make the people of Northamptonshire safer. I've taken that very seriously.

"We've got an election so sadly these shenanigans - if you like to try and make something out of nothing in some of the cases that we're looking at - and I'm afraid it'll probably be that all the way until May."

Asked about some colleagues not wanting him to stand as their Tory candidate in the next election in May, he said he had been "re-adopted to run in May" and he would be doing so.

Mr Mold said during his time in the role, his office had made significant difference to both the police force and the fire service.

"We've got more police officers than we've ever had, we've got more firefighters than when we started in 2019, we've got new appliances, they've got 30% more budget."

Members of the Fire Brigades Union went to Westminster on Wednesday calling for the fire service to no longer be under the control of Mr Mold.

Adam Taylor, the FBU's representative for the East Midlands, said: "We're here to meet with the ministers to make a demand that government should be intervening on what is possibly one of the most serious breaches of governance of the fire and rescue service in recent times.

"Stephen Mold has survived a vote of no confidence. We [firefighters] are very disappointed in that.

"We still want [him] to do the right thing and resign."

Mr Mold said: "The [FBU] is diametrically opposed to PFCCs.

"They've got a political agenda, we feel very different about it, as you would probably expect.

"We sign an oath of impartiality so also in some of the political shenanigans that have gone on, it's quite right that I don't respond."

The panel that scrutinises the work of the commissioner is meeting on Thursday for an update on how he has responded to recommendations on how he should behave in future.

Mr Mold has told the panel he will "work harder" to communicate with them and has "re-read and reflected on" the commissioner's code of conduct.

He added a new definition of "close personal relationships" will be included in the code of conduct's provisions on appointing officials, along with a more precise wording of the procedures for temporary appointments.

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email [email protected] or WhatsApp 0800 169 1830