Calls for reform of council pay-offs
GOVERNMENT watchdog the Audit Commission has called for reform of the system which awards big pay-offs to council chiefs who quit.
Auditors found that 37 top council officers who left their posts between January 2007 and September 2009 walked away with severance payments totalling £9.5 million.
The watchdog has called for tighter controls on and more openness about severance deals.
It said: "It is time we find a way to change the rules so taxpayers' money can be clawed back where the system has been exploited."
The report comes less than five months after Stoke-on-Trent City Council's interim chief officer, Chris Harman, accepted a £65,000 pay-out after going off sick when he failed to land the permanent chief executive's position.
Councillor Mick Salih, the council's Non-aligned Group spokesman, said: "A lot of these chief officers are earning more than the Prime Minister, which can't be right, but then when things go wrong they just walk away with a big pay-out and leave councillors to pick up the pieces."
2 Comments
by Michael, Stoke
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 7:37PM
“Call me naive if you like, but I've always wondered why someone who quits their job should get a payoff.
If these council officers had been made redundant then that would be a different matter.
If someone who works in a shop or a warehouse or factory decides to just quit they don't get a huge wad of cash thrown at them, so why should council officers?”
by Les Brayford, Clayton
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 4:27PM
“About time!
The use of Council Tax as a cash cow for these jokers is well overdue!”