Brigade managers pay survey 2022/23 – Final report July 2023

The salaries and numbers survey was sent to Chairs and clerks of all 48 fire and rescue authorities in the United Kingdom at December 2022. The survey collected information relating to pay, covering basic salary and gross total pay, and salary schemes in use at both 31 March 2021 and 31 March 2022 for Brigade Managers within the scope of the NJC, including those who pay managers on locally agreed rates. The survey also collected information on working status and some personal characteristics of these senior managers. By December, responses had been received from all 48 authorities.

When comparing results from year to year, it should be noted that the numbers of staff covered by the survey are relatively small, and results can therefore be influenced by a small number of responses.

A copy of the survey notes of guidance is provided in Annex A

 

• The survey found a total of 48 chief fire officers, 43 deputy chief fire officers and 84 assistant chief fire officers in 2022.
• The average basic pay for chief fire officers in all fire and rescue authorities in 2022 was £149,156 and average gross pay was £149,752. Among deputy chief fire officers, average basic pay was £122,452 and average gross pay was £124,744, and for assistant chief fire officers the average basic pay was £109,865 and average gross pay was £110,076.
• Average basic pay for chief fire officers changed negligibly between 2021 and 2022, while for deputies and assistants it fell by 1.3 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively. Gross pay followed a similar pattern (It should be noted that this is not necessarily a like-for-like comparison due to, for example, changes to pay structures).
• In 2022 seven chief fire officers, three deputy chief fire officers and fifteen assistant chief fire officers were female.
• The survey found that one deputy chief fire officer and one assistant chief fire officer were from a minority ethnic background.

At 31 March 2021 there were a total of 170 brigade manager posts in all fire and rescue authorities, at 31 March 2022 there were a total of 175. Each authority had one chief fire officer post. Between 2020 and 2021 the number of deputy chief fire officer posts increased slightly from 40 to 43, and the number of assistant chief fire officer posts increased from 82 to 84. Table 1 illustrates these findings.

At 31st March 2021, three DCFO and four ACFO posts were vacant, and in 2022 two DCFO and three ACFO posts were vacant.

Base: All respondents (48).

In 2021, a total of 27 postholders were recorded working at ACFO level or above who were not within the scope of the Brigade Managers NJC and therefore not employed on Gold Book terms and conditions. This equates to 16 per cent of all posts. The corresponding number in 2022 was 31 (18 per cent of all posts). A breakdown of the numbers is given in Table 2.

Base: All respondents (48).

The average basic pay of chief fire officers in all fire and rescue authorities at 31st March 2022 was £149,056, an increase of 0.1 per cent since 2021. Among deputy chief fire officers, average basic pay fell by 1.3 per cent to £122,452. The average basic pay of assistant chief fire officers fell by 0.7 per cent to £109,865. A breakdown by population band is shown in Table 3.

Base: All respondents (48).

Overall average gross total pay of chief fire officers changed negligibly between 2021 and 2022 when it stood at £149,752. For DCFOs, gross pay fell by 0.9 per cent to £124,744 and for ACFOs it fell by 1.4 per cent to £110,076. A full breakdown by population band is shown in Table 4.

Base: All respondents (48).

Overall, 85 per cent of postholders were male and 15 per cent female in 2022, little different to 2021 when the proportions were 84/16 per cent. The number of female chief fire officers increased by one in 2022 to seven. At deputy chief fire officer level, the number of females reported decreased by two to three, while the number of female assistant chief fire officers increased from 14 in 2021 to 15 in 2022. These findings are shown in Table 5.

Base: All respondents (48).

(2) All information on gender, ethnicity and age relates to postholders only so the findings can be affected by vacancies at the time the survey was conducted.

 

In 2022, one deputy chief fire officer and one assistant chief fire officer were from a minority ethnic background, little changed from the picture in 2021. A breakdown of these figures is shown in Table 6.

Base = All respondents (48)

Overall, brigade managers most commonly were in the 45-49 and 50-54 age groups, accounting for almost two-thirds of postholders in 2022 (102), compared with almost three-quarters in 2021. Twenty-six postholders were aged under 45 (18 in 2021) and 33 were aged 55 or over (23 in 2021). A full breakdown of these findings is shown in Table 7. (Note: no information was provided for 21 postholders.)

Base = All respondents (48)

The number of fire and rescue authorities using local agreed pay rates at one or more Brigade Manager levels stood at 22 out of 48 in both 2021 and 2022. In total, these covered 76 of all 173 posts recorded by the survey in 2022 (44 per cent). There is a breakdown of these findings in Table 8.

Base = All respondents (48).

The survey asked a series of questions about fire and rescue authorities’ use of NJC (Gold Book) terms and conditions when setting contracts of employment and salary levels (There is a two-track approach for determining levels of pay for Brigade Manager roles within the NJC for Brigade Managers (Gold Book) - (1) Agreement on any annual pay awards, which are applicable to all. (2) All other decisions about the level of pay and remuneration to be awarded to individual Brigade Manager roles which are taken by the local Fire and Rescue Authority). In 2022, 38 applied NJC terms and conditions when setting the contracts of employment for chief fire officers (39 in 2021), 35 used them for deputy chief fire officers (31), and 33 did so for assistant chief fire officers (35). These findings are shown in Table 9.

Base = All respondents (46). *FRSs who employ officers within this level

A total of 26 fire and rescue authorities reported that they determined chief fire officers’ basic salary levels in accordance with the guidance and minimum salaries set out in the NJC Gold Book in both 2021 and 2022, 24 did likewise for deputy chief fire officers in 2022 (20 in 2021) and 22 did so for assistant chief fire officers (23 in 2021). These figures are shown in Table 10.

Base = All respondents (46). *FRSs who employ officers within this level

The fire and rescue authorities who reported that they do not use the NJC guidance and minimum salaries were asked whether they linked their local pay arrangement to the periodic pay awards agreed by the NJC. Of those who answered the question, 14 applied it for chief fire officers in 2022, 15 did so for DCFOs and 16 did so for ACFOs. A breakdown of these findings is shown in Table 11.

Base = All respondents (46). *FRSs who answered the question and employ officers within this level

View Annex A and B