A recent newspaper article by the Birmingham Mail has revealed that Walsall Council has paid out £434,571.16 in relation to 30 settlement agreements that it entered into with former employees between 2015 - 2018.
£434,571.16 Paid Out On 30 Settlement Agreements
A freedom of information request found that Walsall Council has paid out £434,571.16 in relation to 30 settlement agreements between 2015 - 2018. The largest pay out was £58,603.00, with an average payout across the 30 settlement agreements of £14,485.71.
A spokesperson for Walsall Council stated that: "It is not uncommon for organisations, including public sector organisations, to enter into such agreements. Whilst we are not able or willing to discuss any individual case they are only considered as a last resort. In all cases we are mindful of our obligations as both an employer and as a steward of public resources when considering if it is appropriate to enter into any agreement."
Settlement Agreement Pay Outs By Other Councils
Whilst Walsall Council have paid out over £430,000.00 on 30 settlement agreements, as we highlighted in a previous article, a freedom of information by Leicestershire Live found that Leicester City Council had entered into 36 settlement agreements, which had paid out a total of £531,716.00 since 2016. The highest pay out was £62,000.00. An earlier freedom of information request by Leicestershire Live had revealed that Leicestershire County Council had entered into 52 settlement agreements with its employees between 2016 and 2018, with a combined pay out of £465,144.44. The highest payment was £48,589.87.
As was highlighted in an earlier article, a freedom of information request by the Exmouth Journal revealed that Devon County Council had paid out £1,965,370 in relation to 145 settlement agreements that it had entered into with former employees between 2013 – 2017.
Walsall Council: £2.4 Million Overspend
The revelations in relation to the fact that over £430,000.00 has been paid out by Walsall Council in relation to 30 settlement agreements comes at a time when the Council is projected to spend £2.4 million over its 2018/19 budget of £172.21 million. A report stated that the overspend "potentially impacts on general reserve balances. General reserves were £15.23m at April 1, 2018. A year-end overspend of £2.40m would reduce reserves to £12.83m."
