 On 28 July 2017, the Chief Fire Officer, Kevin Pearson was suspended following the publication of a report from the Home Office on an investigation into how the service is run, citing that it was being run as an "old boys' club", and that Pearson had been "unchallenged and not held properly to account for too long".Deputy Chief Fire Officer Lorraine Houghton was also suspended.The service is governed by the Avon Fire Authority, which has a total of 25 councillors from the four councils within the region.