Legal Officer’s Role in £71k Loan Write-Off Raises Questions Amid Cleveland Fire Brigade CIC Collapse

Legal officer for CFA Peter Devlin is facing calls to be investigated over his move to advise CFA's officials to 'write off' £71k of debt to a now collapsed business that he formally held the directorship of....

18th August 2025

A legal official working for Cleveland Fire Authority is facing calls to be investigated over his role in a failed community interest business, after its been revealed he provided legal advice to its parent companies officials to 'write off' £71k worth of debt owed by the organisation he formally was the director of just weeks before it collapsed into insolvency.

Cleveland Fire Brigade Risk Management Services C.I.C., a now insolvent community interest company (CIC) linked to Cleveland Fire Authority (CFA), collapsed under a staggering £2 million pounds worth of debts this month, significantly more than the previously estimated £1.2 million. The CIC, which entered liquidation in August 2025 following a creditors’ petition led by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for unpaid debts of approximately £680,000, sparked controversy over the actions of its directors, particularly Mr Peter Devlin, a former Chief Solicitor to Hartlepool Borough Council and a serving legal officer for Cleveland Fire Authority.

Peter Devlin, who served as the director of the failed CIC until resigning just weeks before HMRC’s bankruptcy petition in April 2025, is now facing calls to be investigated after reportedly advising CFA officials in August 2025 to agree to write off a £71,000 debt owed by the CIC to the fire authority. According to documents seen by the Teesside & Durham Post, Devlin himself signed off on the recommendation during an extraordinary meeting with CFA officials in early August this year. The write-off, absorbed by CFA’s supposedly “favourable financial position,” effectively transferred the debt burden onto local taxpayers, raising concerns about conflicts of interest given Devlin’s former links to the CIC.

Devlin’s resignation from the now failed CIC board in April 2025, shortly before the insolvency proceedings were set to be filled has fuelled speculation that he anticipated the collapse of the CIC and sought to distance himself to avoid potential investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) over his role int he scandal, with critics arguing that his actions, including the loan write-off, may have prioritised personal reputation over public interest.

Directors’ Actions and Financial Distress Warnings Ignored

The collapse of Cleveland Fire Brigade Risk Management Services C.I.C. has raised questions about just how much its directors, including Mr Devlin and Mr Ian Hayton, former Chief Fire Officer of Cleveland Fire Brigade, knew about the company’s financial affairs prior to its collapse, with sources claiming that CFA officials were in fact 'warned' of mounting financial difficulties as early as 2024, yet no significant action was taken to salvage the business.

Instead, directors established a new company, CFB Risk Management Group Ltd., in February 2025, just three months before HMRC’s bankruptcy petition, with the move being described by some as an attempt to “shift operations” and deliberately avoid the CIC’s debts, leaving creditors and taxpayers to bear the losses.

The new company was ordered to be wound up by the court earlier this month, intensifying suspicions about misconduct by its directors. The CIC, originally established back in 2011 to support public safety initiatives through commercial services, was intended to reinvest profits back into the community. However, its said to have consistently operated at a loss, with no tangible community benefit reported.

The company’s 2023 accounts showed the CIC had £190,000 in reserves, but by the following year, it was burdened with over £1.2 million pounds worth of in debts, a figure now estimated to be £2 million pounds following a liquidators progress report The Teesside & Durham Post has now seen.

Allegations of Indirect Financial Benefit

Whilst directors, including Devlin & Hayton, have reportedly claimed they received no remuneration from the CIC, investigations by the Teesside & Durham Post suggest otherwise, where its been found at least one director is linked to another company regularly received funds from the CIC for supposedly 'contracted work', raising questions about whether directors themselves indirectly benefited through these arrangements.

This has further eroded public trust, with accusations that the CIC was being regularly mismanaged and operated for private gain rather than community benefit or the business was being "loaded with debts" to facilitate the financial security of other firms propped up by its directors.

Calls for Investigation

Mr Devlin & Mr Little, both of which had previously been employed by Hartlepool Borough Council put forward the recommendations, despite Mr Devlin having an interest in the failed cic up until just a few months ago...

The timing of Devlin’s resignation from the CIC, combined with the creation of a new company and the failure to act on financial distress warnings, has led to calls for a thorough investigation by Companies House, the Insolvency Service, and potentially the police, with Legal analysts suggesting that evidence of foreknowledge or deliberate mismanagement of the firm could warrant serious inquiries & where necessary, disqualification from operating as a Director of any other companies. .

The spotlight's now said to be particularly on Mr Devlin, whose legal expertise and dual role as a CFA officer and CIC director place him at the centre of the controversy especially over his decision to terminate his appointment as director of the failed firm weeks before its creditors went to court seeking the firm be placed into liquidation. .

The collapse has also left taxpayers having to absorb not only the £71,000 loan write-off but also the broader financial fallout from the CIC’s £2 million in debts. CFA’s finance official, previously the Chief Finance Officer at Hartlepool Borough Council, stated that the authority’s financial reserves would cover the loss. However, this has done little to quell public anger, with many viewing the CIC’s failure as a misuse of public funds by insiders who walked away unscathed.

As liquidators continue to assess the CIC’s collapse, the full extent of the directors’ actions remains under scrutiny. While no formal investigations into Devlin or other directors have been confirmed, the growing evidence of mismanagement and questionable financial decisions suggests that further revelations may emerge.

For now, the case serves as a stark reminder of the risks associated with community interest companies when oversight and accountability are clearly lacking.