The London Fire Commissioner has today updated the London Assembly Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning (FREP) Committee on the findings of the independent investigation into allegations of bullying, harassment and discrimination towards trainee firefighter, Jaden Matthew Francois-Esprit.
The independent report was commissioned by London Fire Brigade from CMP Solutions Ltd on 28 March 2023, after concerns were raised by Jaden Matthew Francois-Esprit’s family. It was finalised on 22 February 2024.
CMP has found no evidence of direct discrimination, bullying or harassment against Jaden Matthew Francois-Esprit by his colleagues at London Fire Brigade. None of the allegations were formally upheld.
The London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said: “The death of Jaden Matthew Francois-Esprit was a shocking tragedy for London Fire Brigade (LFB). It was important to understand more about Jaden’s lived experience at work in the time leading up to his death and to ensure that his case was fully and properly investigated.
“The independent external report found no evidence of direct discrimination, bullying or harassment against Jaden Matthew Francois-Esprit by his colleagues at London Fire Brigade.
“Nevertheless, we cannot ignore what the evidence tells us about Jaden’s personal lived experience at the Brigade in the time leading up to his death. The report’s findings indicate failings of our day-to-day protocols, approaches and systems at the time and reinforce the need for organisational improvement identified in the Independent Culture Review and previous internal investigations.
“Since the tragic event of Jaden Matthew Francois-Esprit’s death, LFB has taken action to ensure the systems and processes that let him down are improved and where required, changed, and we continue to do so.”