I'll probably get slaughtered for this.....
I'll probably get slaughtered for this.....
.....so you think we were greedy....
Fury as London fire chiefs award themselves whopping pay increases despite forcing through cuts in service
LONDON FIRE BRIGADE chiefs have provoked uproar after awarding themselves yet another inflation-busting pay increase, despite trying to impose cuts throughout the rest of the service. The proposed rises, which are almost certain to be rubber-stamped at January’s fire authority meeting, will come as a kick in the teeth to London’s firefighters, who were forced to take to picket lines three years ago in an attempt to secure a modest pay rise.
London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) leaders recently forked out £90,000 to a firm of consultants to undertake a pay review for senior staff and the subsequent increases are likely to cost the taxpayer around a quarter of a million pounds. Following publication of the review, Commissioner Ken Knight will recommend to the fire authority that his pay increase by a whopping £26,000 - a 17.5% rise which takes his annual salary to £175,000. Knight provoked similar fury in 2002 when, as chief officer of West Midlands fire service, a behind-closed-doors meeting of the fire authority decided to award him an 18% increase. News of that rise broke just days before firefighters went on strike for better pay. This means that, in just over three years, Knight has seen his pay rocket by a massive £84,000 (92%). During the same period, Knight has been a driving force behind fire service employers' attempts to hold down firefighters' pay.
Knight’s deputy, Roy Bishop, will receive a £16,000 (13.5%) increase, taking his pay to £135,000, whilst London’s assistant commissioners are also in line for a substantial hike. Currently earning a generous £95,000 a year, five of the six ACs across the capital will see their pay increase by a handsome £15,000 (15.5%), taking their annual earnings to £110,000. Luckier still is AC Ron Dobson, who, in his new role as the brigade’s “third officer”, will be the recipient of a bumper £25,700 increase (27%), propelling his annual earnings to £121,000.
The brigade’s leading main grade staff are also the beneficiaries of bountiful pay rises. The director of corporate services, Rita Dexter, will be £11,666 (12%) a year better off and the head of human resources, James Dalgleish, the man who represents the brigade in negotiations with the FBU and has in the past justified the regular paltry increases in London weighting awarded to London’s firefighters, is the recipient of a £7,700 (8.3%) increase, seeing his pay shoot up to £100,000.
The Organiser first warned about the proposed pay hikes for brigade chiefs back in September, when we revealed how LFEPA councillors had voted themselves a colossal 600% increase in expenses over four years and had commissioned another review of top bosses’ pay. A similar review just four years earlier recommended a 17% increase in the pay of the then chief officer, Brian Robinson. Robinson retired just eighteen months later, the pay review having helped secure him a lump sum commutation of £300,000. Critics say it is no coincidence that Ken Knight is also due to retire next year. By serving twelve months at the new rate of pay, Knight will be eligible to retire with a tax-free lump sum of around £380,000.
Speaking about the controversy, the FBU's executive council member for London, Mick Shaw, said, “I am astounded that the same politicians who last year closed a fire station and cut fire crews in order to save money now appear to think that it is okay to spend a quarter of a million pounds to give fire bosses massive pay hikes and huge pension entitlements. My members and most of the public would love to be able to submit reports to their employer recommending inflation-busting pay rises for themselves. It is a scandal.”
