Northamptonshire fire chief left having signed settlement deal

Mark Jones left Northamptonshire fire service in July

A fire chief stood down having signed a settlement agreement, a series of emails have revealed.

Mark Jones left Northamptonshire Fire Service in July stating he wished to focus on recovering from injuries.

But an email to his successor Nicci Marzec, from the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) Stephen Mold, said Mr Jones had "signed agreement".

The PFCC office said it could not discuss the details for confidentiality reasons.

Mr Jones declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.

Settlement agreements are legally-binding contracts usually used to settle disputes between employers and employees, and often to terminate the employment.

Mr Jones was in post for less than a year when he "stood down by mutual agreement" and Ms Marzec took over as chief at Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Nicci Marzec was appointed interim fire chief for Northamptonshire by Mr Mold but stood down 10 days later

She had worked as monitoring officer and head of paid staff at the PFCC's office.

Ms Marzec started the job on 7 July but resigned 10 days later, amid speculation over her friendship with Mr Mold, the man who appointed her.

Through the Freedom of Information Act, the BBC asked for emails between Mr Mold and Ms Marzec, and Mr Mold and Mr Jones.

An email sent on 28 June, from a redacted individual but signed off as "Mark", contained a draft announcement proposal.

"I feel this method is the least likely to generate further speculation," the emailer wrote.

"Because of the lack of discretion I referred to when we met with Stephen, there is likely to be much conjecture and gossip but that will be the authority's issue to manage."

On 29 June, the emailer who signed off as "Mark" said they would "prefer to announce the matter, in confidence and with an embargo, to my team on Wednesday the 5th".

"They will have huge adjustments to make and I would not want to dump all of that on them in departing," it added.

Conservative Stephen Mold was elected as Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner in 2016

Mr Mold emailed Ms Marzec on 3 July under the subject "Mark Jones", stating: "I have a signed agreement. Can we double check and then I will sign."

In the same email train, a redacted individual attached a "signed settlement agreement and advisers certificate for Mark".

A spokesman for the PFCC's office said: "As we set out in a public statement on 7 July, Mr Jones stood down by mutual agreement.

"In his statement to his staff on leaving, he said that he had been affected by injuries and he wished to take time to concentrate on his well-being and make a full recovery.

"We are not able to discuss the specific details for reasons of confidentiality."