£12 million council payouts branded ‘fat cat feeding frenzy’

Almost £12 million worth of golden handshakes were paid out by Fife Council last year.

In all, 34 high earners got deals of more than £100,000 each.

The total sum spent on early retirement packages for 235 departing employees was higher than in any other local authority area in Scotland. It dwarfed the money spent on exit deals in the same period by councils in Dundee, (£1.38m), Perth and Kinross (£1.56m) and Angus (£3.5m).

Fife Council insisted the packages were subject to strict controls to ensure future savings.

However, Conservative councillor Linda Holt claimed the figures, set against a background of cuts to services, suggested a “fat cat feeding frenzy”.

Mrs Holt, councillor for East Neuk and Landward, said: “The council’s largesse sticks in the craw of many Fifers not only because it is extremely selective.

“Lower ranking Fife Council workers are denied such lucrative deals while their workload, stress levels and job satisfaction all suffer as they have to cover the work previously done by the escapees.

“Splurging almost £12m in one year on six-figure payouts for their own also looks like a fat cat feeding frenzy on the backs of everyone in Fife, who face increased council tax bills and cuts in everything the council does.”

Eileen Rowand, the council’s finance and corporate services executive director, said the workforce had been reduced by around 12% since 2010.

She said: “Exit package costs are incurred through retirements as well as redundancy. They’re subject to scrutiny and strict controls to make sure we reduce workforce costs and generate future savings.

“Although the costs are significant it should be noted that not all of this is payable to the employee.

“A proportion is used to offset any impact on the pension fund in line with early retirement policy.”