Council exit payments made under 'flawed process'

Councillors were not given the chance to scrutinise exit payments

An error in a council's pay policy could have led to exit payments of £1m to staff which an inquiry found were "unlawful".

Northumberland County Council's chief legal officer said its pay procedure between 2019 and 2022 did not provide the proper "democratic oversight".

By law, exit payments must be approved by the staff and appointments committee, or by full council if they exceed £100,000.

In a report to be presented to the council next week, Mr Gerrard said the "historic" flaws in the council's payment processes had been fixed.

Concerns were raised about six payments made to top council employees between May 2017 and May 2022, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

An investigation in July last year found payments totalling £1,068,801 did not have the proper authorisation from councillors.

The situation was reported to Northumbria Police in January and the force said it was "reviewing that material".

'A flawed process'

In his report, Mr Gerrard said the council had attempted to streamline the exit payment process but, in doing so, reduced the role council members played.

"As a result, it was arguable that the policy was not lawful," he said.

"Payments made under that policy were potentially made under a flawed process," he added.

The report said those who received the payments did so in "good faith" and the council's pay policy had been "completely revised".

The council's leader, Glen Sanderson, said: “I’m pleased this report finally draws a line under historical payments that go back more than two years. 

"These things can often take time to work through, but I assure residents we’ve put in place robust checks and balances to ensure matters such as these will not happen again."