A police chief who is leaving his force for a senior job at Scotland Yard is facing demands to repay part of the £70,000 resettlement package he received less than three years ago.

The Times revealed this year how Ian McPherson negotiated the deal on top of his £126,000 salary when he became Chief Constable of Norfolk in December 2006. The deal involved the local police authority paying the £31,800 stamp duty when Mr McPherson bought a house costing £795,000 near Norwich in August 2007.

It is understood that the house will remain his main family home after Mr McPherson takes up the post of Assistant Commissioner in the Metropolitan Police. He is expected to commute between London and Norwich in his new position, which comes with an annual salary of £177,000, a rent-free apartment in West London and a car and driver.

The disclosures will provoke anger about the “gravy beat” culture among some senior ranking officers. The Liberal Democrats and the Norfolk branch of the Police Federation called on Mr McPherson to consider repaying some of his resettlement package as a “goodwill gesture”.

Police authority members said that they were “disappointed” with his resignation and would raise the issue at future meetings. But the officer is under no requirement to repay any of the package. His contract contained clawback provisions if he departed after less than three years in the post. But he is not due to leave until late December, and will have served the minimum period.

When The Times disclosed the “off-book payments” in July, the Norfolk Police Authority defended its decision to pay Mr McPherson over the odds. Stephen Bett, the authority chairman, said then that he had put together “a package of pensionable pay, market supplements, and ancillary benefits” to “attract and retain officers of high calibre”. He added: “Having got them here and they having proved their credentials, we do not want them being poached, often very quickly, by other larger forces.”

Four months later Mr Bett has had to let his chief constable go after Mr McPherson secured the job of Assistant Commissioner for Territorial Policing in the Met.

Mr Bett said: “We cannot outbid all the bigger forces, nor does Norfolk provide the ongoing professional challenge that some like Ian McPherson relish. However, we were prepared to think outside the box and to attract him to deliver a vision for a new rural policing model. He has done that, and others have recognised his talent, hence the challenge he now has in the Metropolitan Police.”

The authority is prepared to offer financial incentives for Norfolk’s next Chief Constable but wants to tie the successful candidate to a longer period of service.

Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, led calls for Mr McPherson to refund some of the money. “At a time when police budgets are under strain, it seems overly generous to be offering two fulsome resettlement packages to a senior officer in less than three years,” Mr Huhne said. “As Mr McPherson’s career advances, it would be a nice gesture to his former officers in Norfolk if he repaid the stamp duty on his house in Norwich.”

Dave Benfield, general secretary of Norfolk Police Federation, said: “Norfolk Constabulary is under the same financial constraints as other forces with significant savings required across the board to address the budget deficit. My understanding is that the chief constable’s relocation package was based on the fact that he would be committing himself to Norfolk for at least the medium-term future and there may well be questions from the local community about whether they have received value for money from his spell here.”

Mr Benfield suggested that either the Metropolitan Police Authority, or Mr McPherson, could return a part of the £70,000 package to Norfolk. He added: “That may be something Mr McPherson may wish to consider in view of the current financial challenges facing the constabulary, but, of course, that is a matter between him and the police authority.”

Kit Malthouse, the deputy mayor of London with responsibility for policing, said this year that the Met was prepared to outbid other forces to recruit the people it wanted. But the police authority denied making any additional payments to secure Mr McPherson.

A spokesman for the London authority said: “In this instance we are delighted that the authority did not have to offer a package to any of the candidates for Assistant Commissioner for Territorial Policing — all three, including Ian MacPherson, were very keen to come on normal terms and conditions to lead the largest operational command in the country, possibly the world, and to take on the challenge of making London even safer.”

Off the book...

A number of police chiefs have benefited from “off book” payments and allowances variously covering school fees, TV and broadband, private health insurance and “lifestyle coaching”

Sean Price, Chief Constable of Cleveland, was paid a £50,000 “retention package” and an “honorarium” of £24,000, raising his income to £200,000 in 2008-09

Sir Norman Bettison, Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, has a “unique package” worth £55,000 a year on top of his salary. His authority says that the deal “reflects his exceptional experience and abilities, his significant national responsibilities and the exceptional demands currently placed upon the force and its chief constable”

Roger Baker, former Chief Constable of Essex, was paid an undisclosed “annual retention package” but resigned this year and is now an inspector of constabulary

Car and driver: all chief officers are entitled to a car and, usually, a driver. The Metropolitan Police spends £2 million a year on cars and drivers for senior personnel

Pensions: senior officers can retire after 30 years, collect their final salary pensions and start work with non-Home Office forces such as the British Transport Police

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