Former council boss banks £69,000 payment

A COUNCIL chief executive who abruptly stepped down from his post after apparently “losing the support” of leading councillors has been paid £69,000 in pension contributions under a deal with the authority.

The Yorkshire Post revealed in March that Phil Coppard, who was in charge of Barnsley Council, was paid almost £33,000 to leave with immediate effect last January, rather than work out his three-month notice.

Following his departure, the council also said that it would pay his pension contributions up until March 2013, and the authority’s annual accounts reveal that this will cost the taxpayer £69,000.

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The agreement takes the total paid to Mr Coppard, who had worked for the council for 36 years including more than a decade in charge, to £204,000 in the last financial year. The previous year he received a total of £167,000.

It is believed that Mr Coppard was forced from his post following a dispute with the ruling Labour group about how the authority should make £24m of cuts.

The former chief executive had claimed labour leader Stephen Houghton told him he no longer had the backing of the ruling group.

He said they agreed he would work a three-month notice period, but this agreement was then changed without explanation and he was offered three months salary in lieu of notice in return for leaving immediately.

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The independent group on Barnsley Council has expressed surprise at the payments made to Mr Coppard, and said the reasons for his departure had not been properly explained.

His replacement, Diana Terris, started work at the authority on July 11, and a council spokesman said yesterday she was “meeting as many council employees as possible during her first few weeks”.

Ms Terris, who has a background in social work and was previously in charge at Warrington Council in Cheshire, has been appointed at Barnsley Council on a salary of £148,500 .