A report compiled by the TaxPayers Alliance has found that Cumbtia County Council paid out £1,366,177.65 on 128 settlement agreements in just 3 years between 2016-19.
128 Settlement Agreements
The TaxPayers Alliance commissioned a report to determine how much local authorities had paid out nationwide on settlement agreements between 2016-19. The report reveals that local authorities entered into an astonishing 6,980 settlement agreements in total during the period, with £98,059,105,00 paid out overall. The average payout was £14,048.59.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council paid out £195,463.00 on 371 settlement agreements, the highest total amount paid out during the 3 year period, and also the highest number of settlement agreements entered into. The Council with the highest average payout was Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, with an average payout on their settlement agreements of £79,628.00.
The 128 settlement agreements that Cumbria County Council entered into between 2016-19, in which they paid out a total of £1,366,177.65, had an average pay out of £10,673.26. The 128 settlement agreements were the 11th highest nationwide in terms of numbers of settlement agreements entered into, and the total pay out of £1,366,177.65 was the 13th highest across the country
Within Cumbria:-
- Carlisle City Council paid out £390,094.59 on 12 settlement agreements, with an average pay out of £32,507.88
- South Lakeland Council entered into 12 settlement agreements, with a total payout of £344,513.88, and a average pay out of £28,709.49
- Barrow-In-Furness Borough Council entered into no settlement agreements during the period
- Copeland Borough Council paid out £66,000.00 on 2 settlement agreements, with an average pay out of £33,000.00
- Eden District Council entered into 5 settlement agreements, with a total pay out of £137,000.00, and an average pay out of £27,400.00
- Allerdale Borough Council paid out over £250,000.00 on 13 settlement agreements
Commenting on the findings for the the TaxPayers Alliance, representative Darwin Friend stated: "Though settlement agreements are sometimes necessary, councils need to remember that it's ratepayers who foot the bill. These settlements have been signed at the same time that the vast majority of local authorities have increased council tax, meaning some have spent huge sums on hush money while hiking up local rates."
Friend added: "Given that almost 50 councils have managed to spend nothing on these deals, it should be perfectly possible for those paying the most to do better and keep down the costs of individual golden goodbyes."
Data Acquired Through Freedom Of Information Requests
The TayPayers Alliance obtained the data for their report, including on the 128 settlement agreements that Cumbria County Council have entered in to, through the making of freedom of information requests. Moreover, as the large amounts being paid out by local authorities have come under growing scrutiny in recent times, more and more freedom of information requests of this nature have been made by the media.
One freedom of information request revealed that the City of York Council had entered into 33 settlement agreements, with a total pay out of £523,427.00 during a 4 year period between 2016 –20, with an average pay out of £15,861.42.
Cumbria County Council: Reaction To Their 128 Settlement Agreements
In response to the TayPayers Alliance findings re the pay outs on the 128 settlement agreements, a representative for Cumbria County Council told the News & Star that: “Cumbria County Council uses settlement agreements when there is a need to ensure that the terms of the exit between the employer and employee remain confidential. Settlement agreements are used in many organisations where the employer and employee have mutually agreed an end to the contract of employment, for reasons including redundancy."
The representative added: “The annual figures include the ‘total amount’ the employee is contractually entitled to when leaving the council, which means these payments include all contractual payments such as notice pay, outstanding holiday pay and any payment due as a result of voluntary redundancy, all of which are in line with the council’s policy. We are committed to transparency and value for money for the taxpayer and as such the use of settlement agreements is routinely reviewed as part of our policy review process."
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