Brighton and Hove City Council has issued a statement spelling out the cost of its recent senior management shake-up.
The council said that the restructure cost £586,000 – a figure it reached after deducting savings of £138,000.
A statement said that the savings came because the salary payments to managers who were acting up cost the council less than the salaries of the departing directors.
The statement said: “Brighton and Hove City Council would like to set the record straight regarding the cost of severance payments to its outgoing directors.
“The simple fact is that the net cost of the payments after deducting savings was £586,394.
“This is some £138,606 less than the gross figure of £725,000 previously released and significantly lower than the amounts recently quoted in the press.
“There will also be an indefinite annual saving of around £100,000 in salaries due to the reduction in numbers at the top tier of the council.
“The new strategic directors will have a key role in delivering £50 million of efficiency savings over the next three years.
“When seen in the proper context, there is no doubt that the medium to longer term advantages of the restructure far outweigh any one-off temporary costs incurred in implementing the new structure.
“The revised figure of £586,394 includes a £138,606 saving from the interim ‘acting up’ arrangements, which cost less than the full director salaries.
“While these ‘acting up’ posts meant a total extra payment spread between those assistant directors acting up of £51,328 for their extra responsibilities, the saving came because the council was not paying salaries to directors who had been made redundant during this period.
“This saved the council £189,934.”
The council also spelt out the severance packages paid to the outgoing directors.
Di Smith, director of children’s services, received £299,303
Scott Marshall, director of culture, enterprise and housing, received £101,296
Jenny Rowlands, director of environment, received £199,257
Alex Bailey, director of strategy and governance, received £125,144
