Herts County Council paid former staff member ‘exit package’ of over £200,000

A former member of staff left Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) with an ‘exit package’ of more than £200,000, according to newly published accounts.

The council officer, who left in the 2023-24 financial year, was not made compulsorily redundant, but their departure was ‘agreed’ with their line manager.

According to HCC’s statement of accounts for that year, which were presented to a meeting of the council’s audit committee, the person received £203,216.

According to a spokesperson for HCC, the exit package was “necessary in the circumstances” and was approved by a cross-party group of councillors.

Overall, 130 employees’ contracts were terminated in 2023-24 and exit packages totalled £1,544,233 – an average of £11,878.71 each.

The council has no upper limit for exit payments, which are made on a case by case basis. They are made only where there is a “robust business case” showing there will be a net financial saving to the council.

“While we can’t discuss the details of individual exit packages, we aim to strike a balance that ensures we support staff who are leaving our employment while providing good value for taxpayers,” said the spokesperson.

“Some of the payments in 2023-24 relate to the early stages of our organisational resourcing programme and the associated management restructures.

“We are confident that the short-term costs of exit payments made as part of this programme will leave us in a better financial position in the medium term and help us deliver services more efficiently.”

Of the 130 employees whose contracts were terminated in 2023-24, 53 were made compulsorily redundant and 77 had their departures agreed with their line management.

The exit packages included one of £145,343 to a staff member who agreed their departure and £87,605 to one who was made compulsorily redundant.

The majority of packages – which are reported in the accounts in cost bands – were significantly smaller.

Forty-nine of those made compulsorily redundant and 64 whose departures were agreed received exit packages in the band between £0 and £20,000. These 113 totalled £655,184 – an average payment of £5,798.

A further 11 members of staff – two who were made compulsorily redundant and nine who agreed their departure – received exit packages in the £20,000-£40,000 cost band. Theirs totalled £295,029 – an average payment of £26,820.

Two more employees received packages between £40,000 and £60,000, totalling £91,369 – an average payout of £45,684. And one whose departure was agreed qualified for a package of £66,477.

The £1,544,233 in exit packages in 2023-24 is getting on for double the £862,578 paid out in 87 packages in 2022-23, when there were 33 compulsory redundancies and 54 agreed departures.

An exit package includes additional costs of ‘early termination’, but does not include any amounts paid to employees under the standard terms of their pension schemes.