A former chief fire officer had his wages topped up with a 10% “supplement” of taxpayers’ money to cover pension contributions, official documents have revealed.
David Dalziel was given the extra cash for more than two years in an arrangement branded “appalling” by the Fire Brigades Union.
The Courier can reveal the information following Mr Dalziel’s unsuccessful tribunal claim for unfair dismissal against the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
Tayside’s Alasdair Hay secured the top job at the new single service but Mr Dalziel claimed he missed out on a string of senior posts because of his age.
Documents released under Freedom of Information confirm an agreement was made for the 62-year-old to receive extra money as he could no longer gain further benefit from paying into his personal pension pot, although he continued to qualify for insurance.
FBU Scottish secretary John Duffy said: “The FBU find it appalling that someone who manipulated their own salary to cover their pension costs, retired with a significant lump sum and then manoeuvred themself back into a rollingre-employment should be so driven by greed as to take this action.
“This type of individual is unsuitable for a role in any publicly-funded service. ”
A spokesman for Mr Dalziel said the information was “inaccurate”.
He added: “The process in question was approved by internal audit and was done at the board’s request and not at the request of Mr Dalziel.
“It was accepted by Audit Scotland as transparent and wholly in accord with Scottish public pension policy.”