NEW DATA acquired by the Fire Brigades Union has listed the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service among those it is accusing of participating in “retire and rehire” practices.
Following a number of freedom of information requests made by the FBU, 13 services across England are accused of rehiring senior officers into their previous posts or similar.
The Fire and Rescue National Framework for England, published by the Home Office in 2018, expressly discourages the practice.
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service rehired a Chief Fire Officer in February 2012, predating the government’s framework by six years.
The framework states that: “Fire and Rescue authorities must not re-appoint principal fire officers after retirement to their previous, or a similar, post save for in exceptional circumstances when such a decision is necessary in the interests of public safety.
“Any such appointment must be transparent, justifiable, and time-limited.”
When it is the case that such an officer is rehired, the framework says that it “should be subject to agreement by a public vote of the elected members of the fire and rescue authority, or… the appropriate elected representative.”
Freedom of information requests by the FBU showed that one officer at Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service had been rehired following their retirement.
The FBU said that the practice can see officers “retiring and then being re-appointed into the same or a similar post, in arrangement with their employer and allowing them to save tax and draw down from their pensions early.”
It added that “The practice allows [officers] to access a quarter of their pension pot as a tax-free lump sum and then return to post and cease paying employee pension contributions, including any tax payable.”
Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said: “It is outrageous that bosses in fire and rescue services are being allowed to rob taxpayers in this way. It’s deeply unfair and unjust, that bosses on six-figure salaries are making cosy agreements that the firefighters they preside over could never hope for.
“FBU members will be furious that this is continuing despite the government formally saying it shouldn’t.
“FBU members have suffered pay restraint for over a decade, with chief officers standing idly by and doing nothing to demand better for their employees.
He concluded: “That bosses have been able to play the system to make themselves even richer when ordinary workers are struggling to make ends meet is truly abhorrent.”
A spokesman for Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue said: “The decision to re-employ the Chief Fire Officer was taken by the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority on 15 February 2012, predating the introduction of the Fire and Rescue National Framework for England in 2018, after which time the government discouraged the practice.
“The reasons for the re-employment of the Chief Fire Officer are set out in item 15 of the Fire Authority meeting, which is available to the public on the RBFRS website.
“The decision was based on considerations of the stability of the Corporate Management Team in the short to medium term, in light of the challenging times the Fire Authority expected to face as a result of restrictions on public finance, resulting in an unprecedented period of organisational change and potential industrial relations difficulties.
“Royal Berkshire Fire Authority and Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service are committed to being fully transparent in accordance with the principles of good governance and legal requirements, as set out in the Statement of Assurance and the Fire and Rescue National Framework for England.”
