Northumberland CC has defended its decision to give ‘golden handcuffs' to its senior staff, to stop them leaving before unitary reorganisation. The council was criticised by local MPs after it was revealed that chief executive, Mark Henderson; deputy chief executive, Jill Dixon; and director of finance, Steven Mason, had been given extra money to ensure they stayed until the authority was abolished in April 2009. A council spokesman said the three senior managers were receiving a total of £6,200 extra a month. The search for the new authority's chief executive is likely to start in May or June. ‘All organisations going through major change face a challenge in terms of keeping staff, and its common practice to offer incentives for people to stay to make sure that changes happen as effectively and smoothly as possible,' said council leader, Peter Hillman. ‘Losing people in critical posts can not only damage or delay the transition process, but it can also be very expensive in terms of costs of recruitment to replace people in senior posts, which run into tens of thousands of pounds.'