Jersey civil servant's severance payments to be reviewed

Jersey's auditor general is to review the payments given to civil servants when they leave their jobs.

This comes after it was revealed that Bill Ogley received more than £500,000 when he resigned as chief executive of the States of Jersey last May.

A number of States members expressed concern at the size of the severance package, known as a golden handshake.

Christopher Swinson's report will look at how big these payments were and how many have been paid out.

Severance guidelines

A recent report by the Chief Minister, Senator Ian Gorst, confirmed for the first time that Mr Ogley was paid £546,337 when he left his post.

Senator Gorst confirmed this was part of his contract with the States of Jersey and that Mr Ogley agreed to the amount being made public.

He is waiting for other former States officers to confirm whether they are prepared to allow their payments to be made public.

The chief minister said he welcomes the investigation into payments and would wait for it to be completed before finalising new severance guidelines.

Mr Swinson will also examine the circumstances in which they were made, and how the island's policies compare with elsewhere.

He said he wanted to publish his findings as soon as possible.