The TaxPayers’ Alliance has condemned a proposal to hand a £225,000 redundancy package to the chief officer of Hambleton District Council.
The pressure group has urged Hambleton District Council to reconsider its pay-offs for senior staff after a plan emerged to give its chief executive Justin Ives an undisclosed “golden handcuffs” compensation payment to keep him at the local authority until it ceases to exist on March 31 as part of his settlement.
Earlier this year, the TaxPayers’ Alliance identified Hambleton council as having paid Dr Ives £26,535, the country’s highest amount in bonuses and performance-related pay to a council employee.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “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.”
A report written by the authority’s leader, Councillor Mark Robson, to a meeting of the council’s cabinet on Tuesday states Dr Ives had been told he would not be taken on by the incoming unitary North Yorkshire Council.
While the median salary at Hambleton is £22,405, Dr Ives’ £132,676 salary, which is negotiated with the leader of the council, is the highest for a second tier council officer in North Yorkshire.
It is some £17,399 higher than that of his counterpart at the significantly larger authority in Harrogate Borough.
The report to cabinet states to avoid any potential conflict of interest over the redundancy settlement the council appointed independent, external advisers to provide advice, including leading employment QC, Dan Stilitz, whose past briefs have involved Formula One and Chelsea FC.
It states the advisors felt “it would be sensible and prudent to hold negotiations with the chief executive to establish terms on which he might be prepared to leave the employment of the council”.
The report adds an extra payment should be given to Dr Ives, who recently marked his tenth anniversary at the authority, to ensure he will continue leading the authority throughout the transition.
Under the proposals he will receive a redundancy payment of three weeks for each year of service and for agreeing to stay on in the role until March 31 an additional sum, known as a “termination payment”, alongside another payment for any outstanding holiday accrued and not taken.
The report highlights nine comments on the proposed settlement from the independent financial advisor the council employed, which state Dr Ives has a six-month notice period and that leaving before would be a breach of contract.
The advisor said Dr Ives’ performance-related pay would act as a retention incentive and the maximum statutory compensation for an unfair
dismissal was capped at £93,878, for the worst cases.
He also warns of “the potential negative reputational impact on the council of apparently large sums being paid to individuals upon leaving the council”.
The legal advisors Hambleton employed state the council must have close regard to the council’s duty to its taxpayers, be able to demonstrate it has secured demonstrable value for the council and that the payments “are not gratuitous in nature”.
Coun Robsons’ report, which will also be considerd by a full meeting of the council on October 11, states: “It is for members to consider and debate these matters in the context of their intimate knowledge of the strategic and operating environment of the council before coming to a conclusion.
“The council should assume that approval of any settlement proposal and its implementation would attract scrutiny in part because this is a substantial sum however; such matters are normally confidential in accordance with the terms of a settlement agreement.”
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