Kingston Council is supposedly facing a ‘Bankruptcy Battle’, according to the Liberal Democrat administration’s latest borough-wide leaflet. This comes despite news that the Council intends on spending an estimated cumulative £462,000 on paying off senior staff that have clashed with the new Liberal Democrat leader, Liz Green.
In August, the Liberal Democrat administration removed Charlie Adan, the Chief Executive, at a cost of £312,000, and now intend on making the Deputy Chief Executive, Roy Thompson, redundant at a cost estimated by insiders to be around £150,000. On top of this, whilst Mr Thompson was off over the summer on sick leave, they spent £950 per day on an interim consultant.
The Kingston Independent Residents Group say enough is enough. Council funds should be spent on resident services, as paying senior staff off does not give value for money in our council tax.
As such, we demand an urgent review of ex gratia and other payoffs, and condemn the haphazard way in which the council has ignored its own advice in paying off these staff, which leave us with a greater risk of becoming ‘bankrupt’ as an authority.
Please sign our motion, which will be debated at Full Council when 500 signatures are reached, to demand better for your Council Tax.