paperwork
Anger at council pay-off
By Richard Young
Thursday, July 1, 2010
3:57 PM
Almost £170,000 – the figure a council has had to pay out to a chief executive after he left his post in a policy row.
The final pay-off for Peter Ollis, who held the top officer’s position at Stevenage Borough Council until April this year, was £169,713 the council’s end of year accounts revealed this week. The figure, previously kept secret by the council, included £111,732 compensation, pension contributions of £45,031, and £12,950 in salary, fees, allowances and expenses.
Leader of the council Sharon Taylor said Mr Ollis left his post after what she described as major differences.
“It was a policy issue and a mutual agreement between ourselves and Peter. It was a major difference in policy,” she said.
She added that savings had been made at the council to absorb the settlement costs.
“We have made changes to the senior management so there’s no cost to the council taxpayer,” she said. “In the planning area, the activity has fallen down because of the recession – we haven’t filled the head of planning role for that time. We have done a restructure – that’s where we have had the economies.
“I thought that was the best way of dealing with it so Stevenage taxpayers didn’t have to pay for Peter’s departure.”
But leader of the Lib Dem group at the council, Robin Parker, said the situation had lost the council an “excellent” officer who had been ousted “because of the whims of the Labour party”, leaving the bill with the taxpayer.
“Peter worker at SBC for only 24 days in 2009/2010 – that works out at £7,071 a day. I wish I got that much for upsetting Stevenage Labour Party!
“Labour claim that SBC made savings to pay for this waste of talent. This claim is nonsense. Any savings could and should have been made anyway.”
More News
- Stevenage hamster killer on ITV1’s Jeremy Kyle Show
- Appeal for witnesses after Hitchin teen assaulted and robbed
- Paramedic struck off in child porn investigation
- Eyewitness account of Stotfold car theft
- Housing plan to be submitted for Stevenage school site
- Stevenage Leisure Centre shut as fire investigation carried out
- National charity founder speaks about life with MS
- Hitchin police officer, 38, to make professional boxing debut
- Evacuation after fire at Stevenage leisure centre
- Stevenage man killed by train
2 comments
In answer to riceuten: 1. The ruling Labour group are doing so many poorly thought out things at the moment - do not blame me and the Liberal Democrats for pointing them out! Most of these things are not in the "council papers" - that is the whole point! 2. Yes, I would have done things differently in many ways. I would not have given £169,000 of local council taxpayers' money to get rid of an excellent Chief Executive, just because he upset Labour, for a start! 3. Having been on Stevenage Borough Council for over 26 years, I am fully aware of what being an opposition councillor entails. 4. I do not follow your strange reference to Conservatives or a wonderland. Perhaps you have missed our clear statement that in local councils the Liberal Democrats are not in coalition - that is for Westminster only. And we are only in that coalition because that is how people voted - someone has to clear up Labour's debts, so a wonderland is (thanks to Labour) some way off yet! 5. I've made many policy suggestions over the years - see our regular leaflets and election leaflets. I've even had some agreed, like Fairtrade and ATM Privacy Boxes. Other policies we have locally: all party (not all Labour) Mayors; full opposition involvement in scrutiny; more devolution of decisions and money to local neighbourhood committees; re-direction of funds to highways and pavements from county council self publicity; reduction from 10,000 to 1,000 signatures for petitions to be accepted for debate by county council. I could go on.....
Report this comment
Robin
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Yet again Robin Parker extracts from the Council papers anything - anything at all - he thinks will embarass the ruling party. No doubt our staunch defender of borough rights would have done things completely differently. Being an opposition Councillor does not actually solely comprise letting the Comet know of the Majority Party's shortcomings, it does OCCASIONALLY require you to outline how life in a Liberal DemocratConservative wonderland with 3 million plus on the dole and crumbling public services will be. Come on, Robin, the OCCASIONAL policy suggestion wouldn't go amiss.
Report this comment
riceuten
Friday, July 2, 2010