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08
Dec 2022
Councillors give backing to Harrogate council chief executive’s £101,000 redundancy pay-out
Councillors have backed a package worth £101,274 for outgoing Harrogate Borough Council chief executive Wallace Sampson.
The five councillors on the authority's chief officer’s employment committee, which includes four Conservatives and one Liberal Democrat, met yesterday to discuss a report written by HBC’s head of legal & governance Jennifer Norton.
The report recommends Mr Sampson is paid a settlement due to the impending abolition of HBC.
HBC will cease to exist along with six other district councils and North Yorkshire County Council from April 1, 2023. A new unitary authority called North Yorkshire Council will replace them to run services across the county.
Mr Sampson’s settlement is made up of a contractual £71,633 redundancy payment and £29,641 for a 12 week notice period that he will not have to work as his job will end on March 31.
He is paid a salary of £118,447.
After HBC is abolished, his employment would automatically transfer to North Yorkshire Council.
However, the report says because the new council is “likely to refuse to recognise” Mr Sampson as an employee he would be “effectively stranded” and it could lead to an unfair dismissal claim.
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A redundancy package offered now would therefore reduce the “risk of the risk of costly legal proceedings that will be picked up by the public purse".
Ms Norton summarised the report and described the settlement as a “practical and pragmatic” solution.
Conservative deputy council leader Graham Swift chaired the meeting in place of council leader Richard Cooper, who was absent.
Cllr Swift said HBC had been “disciplined” in preparing the settlement for Mr Sampson.
Hambleton District Council has faced criticism after offering a £225,000 pay-off for outgoing chief executive Justin Ives.
Cllr Swift praised Mr Sampson for his commitment to the role as staff prepare to move to the new council.
He said:
A full meeting of the council will take next Wednesday where councillors will have a final vote on Mr Sampson’s redundancy package.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, leader of the Liberal Democrats on the council, Pat Marsh, said she will be asking her colleagues to approve the package next week.
Cllr Marsh said:
Current North Yorkshire County Council chief executive Richard Flinton has already been announced as the chief executive of North Yorkshire Council.
He will earn a salary of up to £197,000 a year with responsibility for an annual budget of £1.4 billion and a workforce of 10,500 staff.
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