New government guidelines will put a stop to ‘boomerang bosses’
in the fire service.
The current practice can see senior officers retire from their
job and draw on pension benefits – before being re-employed
almost immediately in the same or a similar post on potentially
more lucrative terms.
A long-serving chief fire officer on a typical salary of around
£140,000 can potentially access a lump sum from their pension pot
of over £400,000 and then avoid employee pension contributions of
more than £20,000 a year after being re-employed in the same
role.
The government has previously urged fire authorities to take
action to stamp out the practice, which means taxpayers have to
make up the shortfall in pensions through direct contributions
from the exchequer.
But amid concerns it is ongoing in some authorities, Fire
Minister is to redraw
the fire and rescue national
framework to ban it, unless fire authorities can
demonstrate an exceptional public safety need.
, Minister for Policing and
the Fire Service, said:
It’s completely unacceptable for fire services to act in this
way. It erodes public confidence, undermines the respect of
firefighters and staff in their leadership, and creates the
perception that there is one rule for file and rank
firefighters and another for those at the top.
This government is reforming the fire service to make it more
accountable, efficient and effective in performing its vital
duties on behalf of the public.
So I’m going to rewrite fire service rules to stop authorities
employing boomerang bosses – and conduct a wider review of the
guidelines to help drive the government’s reform programme.
The new rules will also bar an officer who returns to work in
such an exceptional circumstance from drawing their pension
alongside their salary.
The Home Office will now
conduct a 6 week consultation and will ask for the views
of fire and rescue authorities, trade unions and other interested
parties on the best way to deliver the required reforms.
This comes ahead of a full review of the national framework later
this year, which will reflect the wider fire reform agenda.
