Saturday 4 October 2014

Severance


Some further thoughts on the voluntary severance scheme approved by the executive board in September 2013 which seems to be Mr James' preferred departure route and which could mean a very hefty pay off.

At the meeting last September, the Board also granted the chief executive the delegated power to extend the scheme for another year, if it was required...clearly it was.

Incidentally, Mr James and other senior officers declared an interest as they could potentially gain financially from the decision...no 'schoolboy error' this time.

A business case will have to be put forward for the deletion of the post of chief executive (perhaps). Mr James has already said in public that he is in the process of carrying out a senior management restructuring review, maybe he has already paved the golden path himself...

A decision to delete the post of chief executive, to be replaced by, for example, a corporate director, (on a far lower salary) would, I believe, have to be taken by full council. The problem being that the desired result - the exit of Mr James - may also sanction the golden handshake.

Plaid AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas has already said that the unlawful payments scandal "has left public trust in the county council at an all-time low" and that Mr James should not receive any more public money; it will be interesting to see how this will be done. Tax avoidance, libel indemnity...just two examples, over the years, where Mr James has played senior colleagues and executive board puppets like a fiddle.

Anyway, I'm sure further information will become apparent in due course.

No comments: