Furore over re-employment of Strathclyde Chief Officer

From @paulhutcheon The Sunday Herald 29th January 2012

Brian Sweeney, Chief Officer of Strathclyde Fire & Rescue, received a lump sum of around £500,000 last July after taking early retirement at the age of 50, then walked straight back into his old £155,000-a-year job just a month later.

He was rehired on a three-year contract. The deal, condemned by firefighters and politicians, is currently being investigated by the public spending watchdog, Audit Scotland. At the time, Sweeney said the money was "not taxpayers' money" as it was the result of 31 years of paying into his pension scheme.

But the Sunday Herald has obtained a secret report into Sweeney's pension by Strathclyde Fire & Rescue's auditors, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which says there was a £200,000 impact on public funds, as the fire service budget took a hit. It says:l Sweeney should have forfeited £206,000 as a penalty for retiring before 55 but the fire board agreed to pay it on his behalf without the treasurer being consulted.

Sweeney's "flexible retirement" did not follow the rules laid down for other firefighters; The board failed to consider alternatives to Sweeney's early-retirement deal. Sweeney may have been actively involved in the process leading to the decision which enriched him;

Overall, auditors saw insufficient evidence of a "best-value decision". But the convener of the board overseeing Strathclyde Fire & Rescue last night defended Sweeney and attacked the auditors' report.

Councillor Brian Wallace said Sweeney's re-employment deal "not only offered best value, but secured the services of a highly experienced and respected Chief Officer at a critical time for the Service, Strathclyde and the whole country".

Earlier this month, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill published the bill which will lead to the merger of Scotland's eight fire services into a new single service. Sweeney is tipped to run the new body, and is understood to have told colleagues of his interest in the job. The new chief will be appointed this year.

PwC said the key paper on Sweeney's retirement went before the fire board in June 2009, after Sweeney discussed his "future career plans" with the board's clerk. It proposed letting Sweeney continue in post for three years after July 2011 – the point he became eligible for early retirement.

But PwC said the paper failed to explain to the board that "this meant the Chief Officer would effectively retire and be re-employed"

Although the board had a "flexible retirement" policy allowing firefighters to retire and restart, staff had to apply in writing within a year of retiral, and re-employment was for a maximum of two years to "facilitate succession planning".

In Sweeney's case, the rules were not followed.PwC said: "In the case of the Chief Officer, no application in writing under this policy was submitted; the conversation noted in the June 2009 Board Paper between the Clerk to the Board and the Chief Officer was not formally recorded; the decision was taken two years, rather than one year or less before potential retirement; and the Chief Officer has returned on an expected three-year contract, not on the usual two years or less."Because Sweeney retired before 55, "an employee unauthorised payment charge" should have been levied.

But in April 2011, the board agreed to pay Sweeney's penalty of £206,000 on top of the board's own employer penalty of £29,000."We understand that the Treasurer was not consulted over this decision, despite the financial implications for the board," PwC said.

Auditors concluded: "We can see no formal consideration that alternative options, other than retirement and re-employment ... were considered. The board has been unable to demonstrate to us that the Chief Officer was fully independent of the decision-making process."The level of evidence made available to us does not readily support a best-value decision concerning retirement, re-employment and the potential use of board funds to pay the Chief Officer's £206,715 unauthorised payment charge."

Roddy Robertson of the Fire Brigades Union said: "It's nothing short of scandalous the board have allowed public money to be used in this way."