Selby council leader defends chief's £210,000 redundancy package

Janet Waggott's role will become redundant when North Yorkshire Council is formed in 2023

A council chief executive set for a £210,000 payoff is being treated in the same way as any other member of staff, the authority's leader has said.

Selby District Council is due to be abolished in 2023 when it will be replaced by a new unitary North Yorkshire Council.

The council was told Janet Waggott would be unlikely to find a role in the new authority.

Selby's Conservative leader Mark Crane said the rules were being followed.

"If one of our cleaners were to be made redundant, they would get the same settlements as the chief executive," he said.

"Clearly, they earn less money and the figures would be smaller, but the principle would be exactly the same - there's no enhancement here."

The package is made up of a redundancy payment of £66,971.59, payment in lieu of notice of £26,788.68 and a pension strain cost, which is the shortfall in pension contributions prior to the statutory age of retirement, of £116,169.10.

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According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Crane acknowledged the figures were "significant" but said if the pension element was removed "the figures are not as great as may have been feared".

The pension strain costs will go into a pension fund, rather than being a cash lump sum.

The notice payment is being made in lieu to reflect the fact that Ms Waggott will be working until the final day of Selby District Council's existence.

Eight councils that currently operate across North Yorkshire will be merged into one new local authority on 1 April 2023

Labour group leader Bob Packham said there had been no enhancement.

"It has been done according to the rules," he said.

The settlement will be examined by the council's independent person before a final decision is made at a full council meeting in December.

Glenn Sharpe, solicitor and deputy monitoring officer, said the council had taken legal advice and the settlement would ensure Ms Waggott would stay in her role until 31 March 2023 without "the potential for costly and disruptive legal proceedings".

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