By Jaimie Kaffash
26 August 2009
The severance payouts given to ‘boomerang bosses’ – ousted council chief executives who quickly find employment in other local authorities – will be reviewed by the Audit Commission.
The commission has been asked to review the regulations regarding large severance payouts following a number of high-profile cases.
Announcing the review, Local Government Secretary John Denham said: 'It’s not acceptable for town hall chiefs and council leaders to agree expensive deals to part company just because they don't get on or because they'd prefer to work with someone else.
'If a chief executive, who has served his or her administration well, leaves for no justifiable reasons it does not mean a council should spend large amounts of taxpayers’ money just to move them on to the next council so they can then find a more favoured face.'
A 2008 report by the commission – Tough at the top – warned that severance pay to the highest earners within a local authority was increasing recruitment costs. It also highlighted the increase in roles being filled by people from other councils as opposed to promoting the expertise that existed within.
Recent examples of boomerang bosses include John Foster, former chief executive of Wakefield council. He left the Yorkshire authority with a redundancy payout of £340,000 following a clash with council leader Peter Box, only to take over as chief executive of Islington council weeks later.
The Local Government Association said that it was up to councils to decide who they should hire. Chief executive John Ransford said local authorities were responsible for ‘multi-million pound budgets in highly complex organisations’ and should hire ‘the best and brightest people’.
But, he added: ‘It is right that chief executive pay is subject to public scrutiny. All council senior pay and severance packages are subject to scrutiny by external auditors. Council leaders are very aware of the impact of decisions about senior staff as they are subject to the voters’ judgement through the ballot box.’
David Clark, the director general of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, called on ministers to ensure that council leaders ‘should not be ousted on the whim of the political leadership of a council’.
‘We would hope that any investigation will cover the well documented cases of the past eight years when chief executives were pushed out of councils, stigmatised and then were unable to return to local government,’ he added.
26 August 2009
The severance payouts given to ‘boomerang bosses’ – ousted council chief executives who quickly find employment in other local authorities – will be reviewed by the Audit Commission.
The commission has been asked to review the regulations regarding large severance payouts following a number of high-profile cases.
Announcing the review, Local Government Secretary John Denham said: 'It’s not acceptable for town hall chiefs and council leaders to agree expensive deals to part company just because they don't get on or because they'd prefer to work with someone else.
'If a chief executive, who has served his or her administration well, leaves for no justifiable reasons it does not mean a council should spend large amounts of taxpayers’ money just to move them on to the next council so they can then find a more favoured face.'
A 2008 report by the commission – Tough at the top – warned that severance pay to the highest earners within a local authority was increasing recruitment costs. It also highlighted the increase in roles being filled by people from other councils as opposed to promoting the expertise that existed within.
Recent examples of boomerang bosses include John Foster, former chief executive of Wakefield council. He left the Yorkshire authority with a redundancy payout of £340,000 following a clash with council leader Peter Box, only to take over as chief executive of Islington council weeks later.
The Local Government Association said that it was up to councils to decide who they should hire. Chief executive John Ransford said local authorities were responsible for ‘multi-million pound budgets in highly complex organisations’ and should hire ‘the best and brightest people’.
But, he added: ‘It is right that chief executive pay is subject to public scrutiny. All council senior pay and severance packages are subject to scrutiny by external auditors. Council leaders are very aware of the impact of decisions about senior staff as they are subject to the voters’ judgement through the ballot box.’
David Clark, the director general of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, called on ministers to ensure that council leaders ‘should not be ousted on the whim of the political leadership of a council’.
‘We would hope that any investigation will cover the well documented cases of the past eight years when chief executives were pushed out of councils, stigmatised and then were unable to return to local government,’ he added.
