North Lincolnshire Council chief executive departs in 'exodus' of senior staff

Labour claimed North Lincolnshire Council as "on the verge of crisis"

North Lincolnshire Council's chief executive has left his role along with a number of other senior staff.

Peter Thorpe departed in July and will receive a severance payment, the BBC understands.

The council's chief financial officer and chief legal officer have also quit in what the Labour opposition group described as a "mass exodus".

The authority's Conservative leader said "people leave councils all the time".

He accused Labour of "playing politics" over normal staff departures.

Eight senior officers at North Lincolnshire have left or handed in their notice in the last few months, according to Labour, which claimed the local authority was "on the verge of becoming a council in crisis".

The opposition group's leader Len Foster claimed staff had been pushed out of the door by a "culture" of councillors "micro-managing their portfolios and not letting professional officers do the job they are appointed and well-paid for".

"It's grown to a crescendo these last few months, ending up with the departure of the chief executive," he told the BBC.

He added: "It just beggars belief. A few years ago people were clamouring to come and work for this authority. Now senior managers can't get out quick enough."

The Labour leader claimed Mr Thorpe had left "because his situation became untenable" and a pay-off had been agreed at a meeting of the Appointment and Employment Committee in July.

He suggested the departures could leave a "vacuum" at the top of the council because some other senior positions will not be filled until the chief executive is replaced.

'Offensive'

In an email announcing his departure last month, Mr Thorpe told colleagues he had "decided to pursue a new chapter" after two years as chief executive.

Mr Thorpe last month apologised for more than 800 postal votes not being counted in North Lincolnshire's local elections, in which he was the returning officer.

Council leader Rob Waltham said he could not comment on the chief executive's reasons for leaving.

He added: "It's not something I would ever seek to personally probe, it's their business."

Mr Waltham said "the senior leadership team in most organisations changes all the time," adding some officers were retiring or moving on to higher-paid jobs at bigger local authorities.

"To suggest the departure of a handful of officers who are taking promotions or retiring - and have notice periods for a reason - is a crisis is simply offensive to the many people working day-in, day-out to deliver residents' priorities," he added.

Mr Waltham rejected Mr Foster's claims that councillors were "micro-managing" officers, saying: "Politicians set policy - that's the law, that's the way that it works - and it's officers' jobs to do that."