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The role of chief executive at Redcar and Cleveland Council has been scrapped - in a decision branded “reckless and amateurish”.

Elected members voted to approve the independent/Liberal Democrat leadership’s plans to scrap the £150,000-a-year role following the departure of Amanda Skelton CBE after 11 years at the helm.

But the decision - which is claimed will save £220,000 a year - was met with strong criticism from the Labour benches.

Mrs Skelton is taking voluntary redundancy , which will trigger early retirement as she is over 55.

She will be entitled to a redundancy payment of £105,328.56 - equivalent to just over 35 weeks’ pay.

At Wednesday’s special full council meeting, independent council leader, Cllr Mary Lanigan, said: “Members will know that the current administration has stated its commitment to streamlining management.

“This report has come to you quite quickly and it’s come as an opportunity had arisen to make savings on a short time-scale.

“I, and this administration, didn’t feel this could wait until the summer recess.”

She continued: “I have spoken with the Local Government Association - this isn’t a snap decision made by this administration.”

She added that there would not be in any increased salaries for other senior managers and that removing chief executive role would save the council £220,000 a year or almost £900,000 over the length of her administration.

But Labour group leader, Cllr Carl Quartermain, said he was “deeply concerned” that councillors had not been consulted.

“This is a major decision on which all 59 councillors should have had a say and which, with a little more thought, could have saved the council taxpayer from having to stump up for a very expensive redundancy package,” he said.

“This is effectively a rushed, un-thought through decision over the future leadership arrangement that appears as a large cash saving to appeal to the public.

“It fails to make any assessment of the payments cap legislation, which had this decision been debated and decided over the months ahead, could have big implications for how much this deal will cost council taxpayers in our borough.

“Instead we have a large redundancy payout of £105,000 plus the extra £230,000 being paid into the pension pot and no indication of when real-time savings will kick in.”

Cllr Quartermain added that the previous Labour administration had made more than £600,000 worth of savings a year from reductions in senior management.

“The difference between then and the new independent/Liberal Democrat leadership is that we planned these changes carefully, consulted with all councillors and came to a joint agreement about how the new arrangements should work.

“Cllr Lanigan and the Lib Dem/independent group abandoned this process in favour of making a reckless, unchallenged and un-thought through decision that will, at best, cost people more and at worst seriously damage our council and services.”

(Image: Redcar and Cleveland Council)

Former council leader and current Labour member South Bank, Cllr Sue Jeffrey, described the policy as “very probably the most ill-thought through, amateurish proposal that I have ever seen presented to a full council meeting in all my time as a councillor”.

She said: “In the rush to make this happen, the leader has ignored new legislation that could have capped this retirement pot at £95,000.

“That legislation has just finished consultation and is currently going through Parliament - a bit more time and we do not know where that legislation will be.”

Cllr Jeffrey added: “Do you know why I think this report has been brought now? I think it’s being brought now because there is a personal wish by the new leader of this council to change the chief executive.”

But Cllr Steve Kay, independent councillor for Lockwood, accused Labour members of “sour grapes”.

He said: “I’ve been listening to the other speakers and I am a little disappointed in some of the things the Labour Party in particular have articulated.

“Suggesting for example there is some sort of vendetta against the present chief executive - that is categorically not the case.

“I think Amanda Skelton has been an excellent chief executive.”

Conservative group leader, Cllr Philip Thomson said there was no way of knowing how long it would take for the pay cap legislation to come through Parliament and added that he would be voting to approve the motion.

The motion went to a vote and the council approved Mrs Skelton’s early retirement and the abolition of the role with 39 votes for, and just one against.

All Labour members abstained from voting.

Following the meeting, Cllr Quartermain said Labour members had abstained because they were being asked to vote without the information needed to make a rational decision.

Cllr Lanigan said she was pleased the vote had gone through and thanked Amanda Skelton for her 11 years service to the council.