Since 1st April 1996, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service has been the responsibility of the South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority.

The Fire Authority meets several times a year and consists of 24 councillors from the ten local authorities that originally combined to form it.

The composition of the Fire Authority is determined by the size of the electoral representation within each local authority, and the political proportionality across the combined area.

At the annual meeting, the Authority appoints the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Authority and the Chairman, Vice-Chairmen and Members of its Committees.

Amongst its many roles, the Authority determines the annual budget, agrees the levels of personnel and vehicles, approves the Service’s plans, policies and strategies, and approves the composition of any Committees, Sub-Committees, Advisory Groups and Task Groups.

The core functions of the Fire Authority are set out in the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. In general, these are:

• To promote fire safety in order to prevent fires, and death or injury by fire, and to obtain the necessary information to assist in this.
• Extinguishing fires and protecting life and property in the event of fires, through the provision of personnel, services, equipment and training.
• Rescuing trapped/injured people from road traffic collisions, through the provision of personnel, services, equipment and training.
• Making arrangements to deal with calls for help and mobilising personnel, services and equipment to incidents.
• Dealing with emergencies, other than fires or road traffic accidents, as the Secretary of State may order. These include dealing with spillage and/or release of substances endangering life or the environment and responding to the effects of extreme weather conditions, e.g. pumping water from flooded property where there is life risk.

The priorities and objectives for Fire Authorities in Wales have been set out in the National Assembly for Wales’ Fire and Rescue National Framework document.

Management responsibility for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service rests with the Chief Fire Officer who is supported by five Principal Officers and a policy-making Corporate Continuity Board.