Staffordshire fire chief turns down £7k bonus

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Authority approved the payment to chief fire officer Peter Dartford earlier this month at a behind-closed-doors meeting.

A day later, the £144,000-a-year boss told the Express & Star he did not support the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) strike over an ongoing pensions dispute with the Government.

But in a letter sent to Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Authority chairman Councillor Len Bloomer, Mr Dartford has said it would be 'inappropriate' to accept the payment in light of not all authority members supported the move.

In the letter he says: "I refer to the recognition payment that the appraisal committee recommended be made to me following the recent review of my performance and approved by the Fire and Rescue Authority at its meeting on July 14.

"I would wish to place on record my thanks to those members of the authority who sought to recognise my achievements and who wished to demonstrate their support and appreciation for them.

See also: Bonus for fire boss is bad timing

"However, I understand that support for the payment was not unanimous and that some members raised concerns about it being made. Consequently, I believe it would be inappropriate for me to accept the payment at this time.

"Having the full support of all members of the authority and their confidence in my professionalism, integrity and commitment to transparency is extremely important to me. Hence I would not want to accept any reward that was not wholeheartedly backed by the authority."

Members of the Fire Brigades Union this month staged a number of walkouts in a 10th round of industrial action since September.

When the bonus was agreed by many members of the authority, Councillor Frank Chapman, who sits on the authority, said he was not in favour of the decision and he said it was inappropriate in the present economic circumstances.

A day after the bonus was approved at the service headquarters near Stafford, Mr Dartford told the Express & Star: "I do understand that our firefighters have got worries about the future of their pensions and how they are going to sustain their retirement. But I do not believe striking is the way to resolve the dispute."

Bosses at Fire and Rescue Authority said at the time that Mr Dartford had not had a pay rise since 2008 and that a cull of bosses had saved £400,000 a year.