After a six-month wrangle with the Observer, Stirling Council has finally revealed the amount of severance money paid last year to its departing chief executive Stewart Carruth.
And the figure for Mr Carruth’s ‘golden handshake’ turns out to be ... zero. Mr Carruth was, however, not required to work his notice period but paid as if he had. He received three months' pay in lieu of notice.
Council annual accounts for 2017-18 show Mr Carruth's had a total remuneration of £115,001. Accounts for 2018-19, to be published later this year, will show he was paid more than £93,000 for just five months’ work.
Mr Carruth tendered his resignation on August 31 last year after a summit meeting with senior councillors.
Sources within the council claimed the ruling SNP-Labour administration had lost confidence in Mr Carruth and following the imposition of a confidentiality clause, he cleared his desk.
In a statement, the council spoke of Mr Carruth’s successful four-year term at the council’s helm and the senior official said it had been an “enormous privilege” to work for the authority.
The Observer asked at that time if Mr Carruth had left with a golden handshake and was told: “Remuneration for all senior staff will continue to be published in the normal way through our annual accounts.”
This information was not immediately available as the council’s next set of annual accounts are not due to be published until June.
On September 6 last year, we lodged a freedom of information request seeking data on any severance payments made to Mr Carruth.
Council officials refused to disclose the information on grounds it was personal data relating to another individual.
After the council determined not to overturn the decision following a request from the Observer that it be reviewed, the Observer lodged an appeal with Scotland’s Freedom of Information commissioner Daren Fitzhenry.
However, last Thursday the council issued the following statement in response to the Observer’s request: ‘Mr Carruth signed a confidential settlement agreement. The agreement included a statement detailing there was no requirement to work any notice period and the payment made was equivalent to working the notice period. There was no severance payment made.
‘The salary for Mr Carruth will be detailed in the (council’s) 2018-2019 annual accounts a draft of which will be published in June.
‘We are now in a position to share the information which will appear in the accounts ... detailing salary for 2018-2019 totalling £93,652.24 and expenses of £352.92.’
Mr Carruth was appointed Stirling Council’s depute chief executive in May 2013 and took over the chief executive’s post 12 months later.
During his time in the post the council’s management structure has been streamlined, with many long-serving senior officers taking early retirement.
It was argued the shake-up was necessary if the council was to meet tough budget targets but some councillors were dismayed to see many experienced officers quitting.
Depute chief executive Carol Beattie, who served as interim chief executive following Mr Carruth’s departure, last month had her appointment made permanent.
