Hambleton District Council have defended a proposed severance package following criticism from unions and the TaxPayers Alliance.
Back in February 2020, the TaxPayers Alliance released a report on local authority settlement agreements, which found that between 2016-19 local authorities had paid out £98,059,105,00 in total on 6,980 settlement agreements. Hambleton District Council was amongst the list of local authorities whose data appeared in the report.
Taypayers Alliance Report
In a report compiled by the TaxPayers Alliance back in February 2020, it was revealed that between 2016-19, Hambleton District Council paid out £20,000.00 on 1 settlement agreement / severance package
2020 Report
The report also disclosed that between 2016-19 local authorities nationwide entered into 6,980 settlement agreements overall, with £98,059,105,00 paid out in total.
The average payout according to the report was £14,048.59, whilst the highest total amount paid out was by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, who paid out £8,552,433.00 in relation to 371 settlement agreements. This was also the highest number of settlement agreements entered into by any one Council, and included a pay out of £195,463.00 to just one particular individual, the highest known individual pay out by a local authority during the 3 period in question.
The highest average payout during the 3 year period was by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, with an average payout on their settlement agreements of £79,628.00. That Council paid out a total of £398,139.50 on 5 settlement agreements.
Severance Package
According to a report that appeared in Hambleton Today on the 29th September 2022, there was "a proposal to hand a £225,000 redundancy package to the chief officer of Hambleton District Council."
Criticism
Commenting upon the severance package proposal, a spokesperson for the trade union, UNISON, stated: "When we began discussions with our local councils regarding local government reorganisation in North Yorkshire, we made it very clear to councils that we expect all staff to be treated fairly and equally. To now discover that one of the chief executives is being allowed to leave his employment with an enhanced package of around £225,000 has left us dismayed and angry."
The chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, John O’Connell, also criticised the proposed severance package. He stated: "Taxpayers are fed up of footing the bill for golden goodbyes. Despite overstretched budgets and repeated tax rises, loaded council bosses are still taking bumper pay-offs. Hambleton Council must get a grip on these severance packages."
Council Defends Severance Package
Nevertheless, Hambleton District Council defended the proposed severance package. The Council leader, Councillor Mark Robson, stated: "We wouldn’t be treating the chief executive any differently to what we would deal with any member of staff within this authority. We have council policies that are there so our staff are treated fairly. It’s a council policy that is [the] same for all members of staff at whichever level they’re at....We are where we are because it is being forced upon us by the new authority that will take place from April 1."
Reorganisation
In July 2021, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced a reorganisation of the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire into a new unitary authority under which Hambleton District Council would be abolished with effect from April 2023. Hence, with Hambleton District Council ceasing to exist next year, the severance package has come about
The announcement of the reorganisation was made in the House of Commons on the 21st July 2021.
Given the above, Councillor Isobel Sanderson, stated: "Nobody’s got to forget that underneath all this we have someone who’s losing his job. Someone who is, I would say, at a very crucial age to lose your job, to be made redundant. You have some maximum earning years. It will be very difficult to find another job as a chief executive I am sure."
