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Nearly £200k for county council chief executive
THE outgoing chief executive of East Sussex County Council is getting a six-figure pension windfall.
Mrs Miller is taking early retirement from her 181,098-a-year job after 16 years at the helm.
News of Cheryl Miller's 197,000 payout comes just weeks after the Herald revealed that Eastbourne's hospital boss, Kim Hodgson, is getting 175,000 of tax payers' money for stepping down.
The latest public sector payout will no doubt anger Eastbourne residents, with people living in an average Band D property paying 1,158 a year towards the running of the county council.
The decision to allow Mrs Miller to take early retirement was taken by the county council's governance committee on December 8 which described the decision as 'management efficiency' and noted Mrs Miller's health problems. The committee said it could cost the council more if she needed to retire on grounds of ill-health.
The Herald had asked for the payout figure using the Freedom of Information Act but while waiting for a response, the details were uncovered by Norman Baker, Lib Dem MP for Lewes, who received an email from the county council which said,
"The county council faces considerable challenges over the next few years, when it will be necessary to deliver financial savings of nearly 60 million. Against that background, it was agreed that, in the interests of business efficiency, there should be a change of managerial leadership, to ensure the council is in the best possible position to address the challenges ahead.
"In accordance with county council policies, applying to all employees, Cheryl Miller was awarded three additional years pension at a one-off cost of 197,000. Mrs Miller will not receive any severance payment.
The pension strain (unavoidably arising in the case of any early retirement before the age of 60 on the grounds of efficiency or redundancy) in this case is equivalent to approximately 270,000, but this is covered by the county wide contribution for pension strain that the County Council continuously makes as part of its contributions to the pension fund."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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