Inquiry after fire chief retires with £500,000 pay-out then gets job back

The Accounts Commission, which monitors how public money is spent, has asked Controller of Audit Fraser McKinlay to carry out new audits and report back.

Mr Sweeney, who worked his way to the top of the service and a reported £150,000-a-year salary after joining as a raw recruit in 1981, is front-runner to be Scotland’s new national fire chief.

He retired last July, getting access to the pension lump sum, and was rehired the next month. His annual pension is suspended for as long as he is in the job.

In its annual audit, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) questioned whether he had been independent of the decision taken by Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Board. But the board says PwC’s audit was neither balanced nor accurate and overlooked a saving to the public purse of £241,425 from Mr Sweeney not accessing his annual pension.

Accounts Commission chairman John Baillie said: “We have decided to seek further evidence and clarification from the Controller of Audit on the arrangements made by Strathclyde Fire and Rescue for its chief fire officer’s retirement. We are interested in the process by which the fire board reached its decision.”

Mr Sweeney has said the money did not come from public funds and was the result of him paying into a pension pot. However, the PwC report said more than £200,000 had come from the fire and rescue board.

In its findings, PwC said: “We can see no formal consideration within this process that alternative options, other than retirement and re-employment of the chief officer, were considered.

“In addition, the board has been unable to demonstrate to us that the chief officer was fully independent of the decision-making process. Overall, 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.”

The pay-off at a time of public sector cut backs has angered campaigners.

Emma Boon, from TaxpayerScotland, said: “Taxpayers are sick and tired of the public-sector redundancy merry-go-round.

“It’s appalling they are footing the bill for a half-a-million pay-out, only to see the recipient walk back into virtually the same job just weeks later. It’s extraordinary that Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Board have come to this cosy little deal at a time when they need to cut spending.”

However, the board stood by the decision. Councillor Brian Wallace, its convener, wrote to Audit Scotland in December, criticising the PwC report. “I write to you to express my disappointment that the report fails to provide a balanced or accurate view in relation to the chief officer’s retirement and re-employment,” it said.

He also defended Mr Sweeney’s role in the process. “It has been confirmed that the chief officer was not present at the executive sub-committee meeting held in February 2011, or the board meeting in April 2011, when the issue was discussed, albeit I recognise that the minutes do not reflect this fact.”

Yesterday, Mr Wallace said: “The board has acted with probity and transparency in this matter.”