CHIEF Constable Sir Norman Bettison has lost a battle to receive a police pension alongside his six-figure salary as West Yorkshire's top police officer.
It has been revealed that Sir Norman took legal advice after his former employers – Merseyside Police Authority – stopped paying his pension when he took up the £150,000-plus post as head of West Yorkshire early this year.
Sir Norman, 51, who is o
n a five-year contract with West Yorkshire Police, would have ended up receiving almost a quarter of a million pounds a year, had he won his challenge.
His decision to take legal advice was seen as a test case. Sir Norman was the chief constable of Merseyside until 2004 when he retired to become chief executive of the national police training organisation Centrex, which is in the private sector.
After two years he returned to regular policing after being appointed chief constable of West Yorkshire.
It was at that stage that Merseyside Police Authority stopped his pension, to which he was automatically entitled after 30 years in the police service.
News of his wrangle has broken as rank and file officers in West Yorkshire – and the other forces in England and Wales – are fighting the Government to claw back a £200 cut in their pay rise.
Sir Norman Bettison has been widely tipped as a successor to Britain's top police officer – Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. Details of his pension/salary battle emerged as the chief constable caused a rift with many rank and file officers in his own force, over a proposed new shift pattern.
In a statement today, West Yorkshire Police confirmed that the dispute over Sir Norman's pension had been concluded. The spokesman added: "Sir Norman receives a salary for being chief constable of West Yorkshire and is not in receipt of any pension".
Keith Vaz, MP, chairman of the Government's Home Affairs Select Committee, has asked the Home Secretary to examine the practice of senior officers receiving both salary and pensions.
