A senior Newcastle City Council finance boss was given a payout of more than £400,000 when his role was axed in 2022.
The figure was mostly made up of a £419,184 compensation package after his £148,000-a-year post was scrapped in July 2022. It was the biggest pay-off for loss of office recorded by any council that year. But Colin Ferguson, leader of the council’s Lib Dem opposition, called the payout "beyond shocking" on Monday 8 April and questioned whether it was "good value for money" at a time when the council is facing tens of millions of pounds worth of budget cuts.
"Put into context, the payout is larger than roughly two thirds of the individual savings proposals put forward by Labour in their budget in March. The authorty indicated that the cost of the compensation was so high because, on top of a lump sum amounting to four months of his salary as severance pay, the figure also includes additional pension benefits that Mr Kirkham was entitled early access to upon being made redundant to as he was over the age of 55.