Agenda item

Members received the Minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Standards Committee held on 12 April 2019, along with the report submitted to that meeting and a statement prepared in consultation with the Chief Fire Officer and the external auditor following the meeting of the Committee.

The Secretary and Monitoring Officer reported that, at the request of the Committee, a meeting had been arranged between the Executive and the Chief Fire Officer to discuss this matter.  Arising from this meeting, a statement had been produced for publication.  This statement had been discussed with the Chief Fire Officer and the external auditor who had agreed its terms.

The Chair advised that the Audit and Standards Committee had been considering the issue for some months and that the new Members on the Authority had not been provided with the historical documentation relating to the investigation. It was acknowledged that this placed new Members of the Authority in a difficult situation, as they were being asked to make a decision without full knowledge of the background. However, given the length of time that had passed since the first consideration of this matter, Members agreed that they wished to reach a conclusion at this meeting.

As the Chair of the Audit and Standards Committee, Councillor Headley introduced the Minutes and expressed his disappointment in the statement that had been produced and queried why the Authority was not being asked to approve the report agreed by the Committee for external publication. He expressed the view that, whilst the decisions made were marginally legal, it could be that, after ratifying the decisions that had been made in 2010 and 2012, the Authority may wish to seek to negotiate future arrangements with the Chief Fire Officer, taking into account the Government guidance on the abatement of pensions

Members had a lengthy discussion about the implications of pursuing various courses of action, including whether the Authority could be vulnerable to a claim of unfair dismissal and its duty of care as an employer, as well as the governance failings which had led to the decisions being taken at that time and the measures that had since been put in place to improve the governance and decision making of the Authority, including the establishment of the Executive as a formal committee and the arrangements for recording decisions taken by the Executive Committee.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the following past decisions of the Authority be acknowledged:

a.    the decision taken by the Chair of the Authority (with the support of the Executive) to use the pensionable salary received by the Chief Fire Officer during his last full year of service as the basis for abating his pension when he retired and was re-engaged in February 2010.

b.   the decision taken by the Chair of the Authority on 30 May 2012 (supported by the Executive and with the agreement of the Chief Fire Officer) to extend his fixed-term contract and apply abatement to the Chief Fire Officer’s salary rather than his pension.

2.         That the report prepared by the Secretary and Monitoring Officer for the meeting of the Audit and Standards Committee on 12 April 2019 be approved for publication, along with the statement regarding the pensions investigation that was agreed with the Chief Fire Officer.

3.      That the Minute of this discussion be made public.

(Note: The Chief Fire Officer was not present during the consideration of this item).