Nia Griffith MP has welcomed the announcement by Carmarthenshire’s ruling Labour Group that they will not be offering a golden handshake severance payment to the Chief Executive.
Commenting on the news, Nia Griffith MP said,
“I am very pleased that the Labour Group on Carmarthenshire County Council has taken the initiative and made it quite clear that there can be no golden handshake severance payout to the Chief Executive. I know that Labour Councillors want to be fair to all staff and to safeguard the public purse, which is why they have taken this decision. In order to try and minimise compulsory redundancies in times of cutbacks, councils do ask staff to indicate if they would be interested in a voluntary redundancy package, but that certainly does not mean they will all get one. There are clear rules, which broadly speaking mean that the business case must stack up in respect of future savings, and the council must genuinely be getting rid of that role, and cannot appoint a new person to do the same job as someone who has left on a voluntary severance package. With a large number of staff indicating an interest in a redundancy package, many will be disappointed not to get one, and it would be grossly unfair and contrary to the rules to give the Chief Executive one, when the Council would need to reappoint someone to the role.”