The leader of Northumberland County Council is hoping his administration can move forward after a payout deal with the chief executive was reached.
The council will pay Daljit Lally £209,000 to end her employment following a drawn-out row between her and the administration going back almost two years.
It comes after the Max Caller report claimed "effective working relationships do not exist between the CEO and the cabinet," and that it was "common ground between the Chief Executive herself and the leaders of the political parties that the improvement journey is not one she can lead on".
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Last week, Coun Glen Sanderson led a cross-party delegation of councillors to thrash out a deal with Mrs Lally at a crunch meeting in York. Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Coun Sanderson said he felt the payout was the best way for all parties to move on.
Coun Sanderson, who did not attend yesterday's meeting after taking part in negotiations, said: "I asked for the governance review because I felt things weren't right at certain levels of the council. Mr Caller saw exactly what I thought he might.
"He saw Mrs Lally was not the one to lead the council forward. We have continued to talk to her about a settlement figure and we have come up with a figure which I consider a reasonable one.
"I will make sure we make the financial savings. Taxpayers do not need to worry. I have done this for the people of Northumberland, for the council and the staff.
"I just have to get this done and move on, and build on everything that we are doing well. I think this offers the best way forward."
At Wednesday's meeting, councillors were told that other options for ending Mrs Lally's employment had the potential to take considerably longer and could end up costing the taxpayer far more. Members also heard that the chief executive had previously been offered a payout of more than £1.1m in October 2021, and in February this year of between £625,000 and £650,000.
Coun Sanderson continued: "I didn't want to have another six or nine months of arguments and more expense to the taxpayer. I wanted to draw a line under it, full stop."
However, the move has been criticised by pressure group The Taxpayers Alliance, who branded the decision "a kick in the teeth for taxpayers". It comes after a section 114 report was issued due to alleged unlawful expenditure by the council.
Part of this concerned a £40,000 annual payment made to Mrs Lally, described as an "international allowance" in connection with the council's health consultancy business, Northumbria International Alliance. NIA was also branded "unlawful" in the report as it had not been incorporated as a separate business despite trading.
As part of the settlement agreement, the council waived its claim to the £179,000 paid to Mrs Lally under the allowance. The council will seek to recover £79,000 from contributions to pensions and HMRC.
Commenting on the settlement, Harry Fone grassroots campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance said: "This golden goodbye is a kick in the teeth for hard-pressed local taxpayers.
"Many ratepayers will question why the council is not trying to recover alleged unlawful payments and is awarding a bumper payout instead. The council must get its act together and ensure such a disgraceful situation never happens again."
Mrs Lally has not responded to requests for comment.
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