Council staff who face redundancy as the new unitary councils are created could receive quadruple the usual redundancy pay-outs, it has been revealed.
Top executives at Wiltshire CC could face the massive severance deals after the council set aside £7m to pay for the packages.
Unions have claimed it would be senior staff on large salaries who would be the first to benefit from the pay out. Elsewhere, the new-look unitary, Shropshire Council, has got its first director in the shape of Val Beint, who will be the community service director.
In Northumberland, the uncertainty of switching to a unitary authority is taking its toll on staff morale. A survey of the unhappy revealed:
Rows have continued over Boundary Committee recommendations for unitaries, released this month. The suggestion for a Devon-wide unitary was met with anger in Exeter, and in Norfolk, politicians and officers accused the committee of failing to justify its plans.
