Cumbria County Council paid out nearly £150,000 for two bosses to leave

Corporate directors Brenda Smith and Dominic Donnini received £74,731 on termination of their employment, new figures show.

Mrs Smith, the former corporate director for adults, left in April 2018 after her post was made redundant in a restructure.

Mr Donnini, the executive director for economy and infrastructure, survived the restructure but suddenly departed his post in October 2018.

Mrs Smith received a total payout of £362,300. It involved a lump sum of £74,731 and then £38,481 for the part of the year she worked plus a one-off pension payment of £248,941. Mr Donnini was paid a total of £169,887. It included £83,851 for the part of the year he worked, £74,731 upon the termination of his employment and £11,000 in pension.

The “incomprehensible” pay-offs earned a strong rebuke from Cllr James Airey, who leads the Conservative opposition on the Lab-Lib council.

Cllr Airey said: “These are huge amounts of money that most Cumbrians can only dream of. I wouldn’t decry either of these officers but Brenda Smith had only been with the council for a couple of years and leaves with over £300,000.

“It could have filled 3,000 potholes and delivered 9,000 hours of home care. Yet all we hear from the administration are continual moans about Government cuts when top directors are leaving with astronomical sums.”

A Freedom of Information request last year asking the council how much it cost both officers to go was turned down on the grounds it would disclose “personal data”.

But the figures have been made public in the council’s annual report for 2018-19, which sets out pay at the council.

The total value of exit packages agreed for county council staff in 2018/19 was £2.92m for 139 employees. The council said its management restructure would save more than £300,000 a year.

Of Mr Donnini’s payout, it said the figure included a final settlement and any other payments due as part of his terms and conditions, such as outstanding holiday pay.

Of Mrs Smith’s payout, it said she left the authority following the reshaping of the extended leadership team, which resulted in a reduction in overall head count cutting the number of director posts from four to three.

“The final figure shown in the accounts also includes all of the final pension contributions, which makes up the majority of the figure presented, together with any final settlement and any other payments due as part of her terms and conditions, such as any outstanding holiday pay. These payments were all in line with the council’s voluntary redundancy policy and procedures.”