Auditors condemn handling of council chief’s departure

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS have released a damning report into York Council’s handling of the former chief executive’s departure.

They say councillors deciding to award the £400,000 payout to Mary Weastell did not have all the information needed to make an informed decision, and safeguards to stop conflicts of interest were not in place.

Former council chief executive Ms Weastell was awarded a £400,000 payout at a secret meeting and had taken early retirement, after going off on longterm sick leave in May 2019.

Ms Weastell had also lodged an employment tribunal against the council and council leader Keith

Aspden, which was withdrawn after the payout was agreed. Coun Aspden did not declare a prejudicial interest when he chaired the secret meeting to agree the payout, despite being named on the employment tribunal papers.

Independent auditors Mazars revealed issues with the payout in a report, including lack of safeguards to stop conflicts of interest.

The report said: “These matters are evidence of weaknesses in proper arrangements for taking informed decisions.”

Independent auditors examine how the council is spending public money by examining its accounts each year.

They say they are satisfied the council has “put in place proper arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources” in all areas – except for the payout to the former chief executive.

The council said that further work is being done on the audit and extra information has been given by the council ahead of a meeting of its Audit and Governance committee.

Debbie Mitchell, the council’s finance officer, said: “We welcome the feedback from the external auditor and fully recognise that there are areas for improvement. We look forward working with Mazars to develop an appropriate action plan once this outstanding matter is published.”