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London Fire Commissioner, Andy Roe KFSM has told the Mayor that he will retire and the campaign to find his successor is now underway.
Roe took over leadership of the capital’s fire service in January 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Having responded to the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 when he was Assistant Chief, he went on to deal with the aftermath of the 2019 inquiry report that was highly critical of the Brigade and directed dozens of recommendations for change in London and fire and rescue services nationwide.
Announcing Roe’s retirement, Sir Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor said that Roe had done “an outstanding job” as Commissioner and that it had been “a privilege” to work with him to transform the Brigade.
Roe joined London Fire Brigade aged 27 in 2002 following a number of years as a British Army Officer.
The retirement comes after a recent period of positive reviews of the Brigade, most recently with the fire inspectorate awarding it with an Outstanding grade for its major incident response. HMICFRS inspectors said that the Brigade had made “significant progress” since is last inspection where it was dealing with not only the existential changes resulting from the Grenfell Tower fire but reeling after the suicide of one its firefighters that lead to an independent review into its culture.
The culture review led by Nazir Afzal that concluded in November 2022 led to the introduction of new values for the Brigade, an independent reporting line for staff to report concerns, and a Professional Standards Unit – a first for the sector – underpinned by an unprecedented level of training and face-to-face engagement, said the Brigade.
“It has been an honour and a privilege to lead London Fire Brigade. When I became Commissioner, I inherited a service suffering from decades of under investment. Over the past five years, supported by the Mayor of London, I have been able to lead significant change and improvement in the organisation – including the way we respond to emergencies, and in our culture. Our people are now better trained and equipped for their mission to serve and protect London.”
London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe.
The Greater London Authority is responsible for appointing the London Fire Commissioner and said that the process of recruitment was underway and that Roe’s final day in office will be confirmed in due course.
Read more about the Brigade’s response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations, ‘Still more to do’ says London Fire Commissioner as Brigade completes Grenfell recommendations.
