Council hands police file on £1m pay-outs

A file relating to allegedly unlawful exit payments to managers at Northumberland CC has been handed to police.

In July, six severance payments totalling more than £1m made by Northumberland to senior officers were declared ‘unlawful’ by the council’s section 151 officer.

Jan Willis found the payments, which were made between May 2017 and May 2022, were ‘not subject to scrutiny’ or approval by councillors.

On Wednesday, monitoring officer Stephen Gerrard informed the council’s audit committee he had provided the police with a ‘substantial file’ for consideration.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said it was currently reviewing the correspondence it had received from the council.