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Fire Fighters Charity appoints new chief and instigates pay review

Governance | Tania Mason | 20 Jul 2011

The Fire Fighters Charity has finally appointed a new chief executive to succeed Jan Barlow, the previous incumbent who left without explanation in November last year after just nine months in post.

John Parry (pictured), a former chief fire officer of Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and a firefighter with 30 years’ experience, has been chosen to lead the benevolent fund following an “extensive selection process which attracted very high-calibre applicants”.

The charity has also appointed the Hay Group to review its salary structure in the wake of criticism of its director-level salaries.

Keith MacGillivray, chairman of the charity, released a statement saying that Parry’s appointment “completes the recruitment of the senior management team”.  The team now comprises three directors - Helen Harper, who joined as director of fundraising and communications in March; Dr Jill Tolfrey, who joined as director of operations last November, and Martin Smith who has been finance director for several years.

The announcement from the Fire Fighters Charity marks quite a departure from its media relations strategy of last year, when it refused to respond to any enquiries about its management from civilsociety.co.uk.

Then, the charity refused to confirm or deny reports that its new chief executive Jan Barlow had quit just nine months after taking up the role. It also declined to respond to questions regarding a website that had been set up by serving and retired firefights to highlight the “excessive” salaries paid to directors of the charity and “inflated operating costs” incurred by it. The site, called ‘Our Ben Fund!’, has since been taken down.

According to the Fire Fighters Charity’s latest annual report, from 2009/10, its highest-paid employee earned a salary and benefits package of between £140,000 and £150,000 and two more staff received packages that ranged from £110,000 to £120,000. 

Pay review

Today, Helen Harper said John Parry's salary was still being negotiated and that the whole staff pay structure was being reviewed by the Hay Group.

She said the charity would not be revealing individual employees' salaries but that the number of staff in pay bands above £60,000 would be published retrospectively in the charity's annual reports.

The 2010/11 annual report, due to be published shortly, will show that the highest-paid employee had emoluments of £110,001 - £120,000 and two others below £100,000 "so the total salary and benefits of senior staff has reduced considerably on the previous year".

Harper insisted that the salary review was not sparked by the criticism of director-level salaries but "as part of our normal activities to ensure that the charity demonstrates the hallmarks of an effective charity".

She added she did not know why Jan Barlow left the charity when she did.

The Fire Fighters Charity assists over 17,000 individuals every year, providing treatment and support services from three therapy and recuperation centres in Cumbria, Devon and West Sussex.

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