Pressure grows on Northamptonshire’s police, fire and crime commissioner Stephen Mold as panel prepares to discuss his actions behind closed doors amid protest rally

Under pressure Northamptonshire’s police, fire and crime commissioner Stephen Mold will face the panel appointed to scrutinise his actions at a crunch meeting tomorrow,

Members of Northamptonshire’s police, fire and crime panel will meet tomorrow morning behind closed doors as members of the Fire Union rally outside Northampton’s Guildhall.

Made up of councillors and independent members, the panel was not convened to approve a controversial appointment of a friend of Mr Mold’s, Nicci Marzec.

Ms Marzec had been appointed by Mr Mold after the shock resignation of former chief fire officer Mark Jones on July 7 – she then resigned on Monday (July 17).

In an interview with BBC Radio Northampton, he apologised for appointing Ms Marzec ‘with too much haste’ but denied he had broken rules by not consulting a panel of councillors and members of the public about it.

North Northants Council panel member Cllr Zoe Mc Ghee, who is due to attend the meeting on Thursday, said: “The events of the last two weeks have been worthy of a soap opera.

"Once again, we can see a woman taking the consequences of a man’s rash decision. I am urging Stephen Mold to take accountability for his mistakes and to understand the effects of this decision on members of the fire service, as well as the complete loss of faith from the public.

“Regardless of friendship rumours the appointment was unviable because of the way the panel was clearly bypassed.

"There has been contradictory legal advice given to both parties.

"West Northants Council have confirmed rules have been broken.

"However, the OPFCC maintain their legal advice was that no rule was breached.

"Where is this legal advice coming from? There has been zero transparency on this. Is the chair of the panel (Cllr David Smith) prepared to ask these questions?

“Now it seems as though the chair of the panel and Stephen Mold are showing their true contempt by refusing to have a public debate on the issue.

“I agree with public consensus, and I can see the irony, that the man who is responsible and representative of the two main institutions who upload respect, safety, and integrity in the county, will not be held accountable in an honest discussion in an open forum. If this is the case, then his position is not tenable.”

The panel’s chairman, Cllr David Smith, said last week that he had been ‘extremely concerned’ Ms Marzec was appointed without a confirmation hearing.

Anita Shields, an independent member, has also said that she felt Mr Mold’s position had become untenable.

Fire Brigades Union (FBU), which opposed Ms Marzec’s appointment because she has no operational firefighting experience, was blamed by Mr Mold for undermining Ms Marzec.

He is due to attend the panel to confirm Simon Tuhill as interim chief fire officer – the role gifted to Ms Marzec.

Mr Tuhill joined the fire service last week as deputy chief fire officer but was asked immediately to lead it after Ms Marzec’s first resignation.

It is understood there will be a discussion into Ms Marzec’s appointment as interim chief fire officer but that it will not be open to members of the public or press.

The FBU are due to protest outside Northampton Guildhall on Thursday, ahead of the panel’s meeting.

Adam Taylor, FBU representative for Northamptonshire, said: "Stephen Mold must not be allowed to continue dragging out his disgraced tenure. The events of the past weeks have made it crystal clear: his position is untenable.

“Firefighters from across the region are outraged by this embarrassing fiasco. We anticipate a big turn-out at the rally, and everyone who believes Stephen Mold should resign is invited to join. We will not stand for this, and the public are with us.

“We rightly expect firefighters to behave with honesty, dignity, and professionalism. Having the commissioner overseeing our service fail to meet any of these standards is a recipe for disaster.

“We call on the councillors sitting on this scrutiny panel to do the right thing and ensure that Stephen Mold is held to the highest account in a public, open meeting. The people of Northampton deserve nothing less.”

A rally is due to take place from 8am onwards on Thursday, July 27 outside Northampton Guildhall, in St Giles’ Square, NN1 1DE.