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Kent council boss made redundant after 16 months gets £420,000 payout - The Guardian
The former boss of a Conservative-run council received a £420,000 payout when she left the authority after just 16 months in the job, it has emerged.
Katherine Kerswell was made redundant from Kent county council last December just over a year after introducing a £340m cuts plan that will see 1,500 staff leave the council in the next four years.
Kent council initially refused to divulge the terms of her redundancy package but was forced to publish the payout this week under recently introduced local government transparency rules.
Kerswell, who joined the authority as managing director on a £200,000 annual salary in March 2010, received £589,000 in total remuneration last year, after her pay and pension contributions were taken into account.
She was the architect of a controversial savings programme known as the Change to Keep Succeeding plan, which will see 1,500 staff leave the council by 2015.
Kent said it had decided to abolish the position of council chief executive, and said Kerswell's role would not be filled. It decided instead to place the management role in the hands of the council leader and a senior team of directors. "Removing chief executive posts is what more and more councils should be doing," Carter said.
But trade unions asked why the council had hired Kerswell on such extravagant terms if they knew she would only be in place for a short term.
David Lloyd, secretary of the Kent local government branch of Unison, said: "When the previous chief executive left why didn't they do a feasibility study then of whether another CEO was needed? It's bad planning by the politicians."
He added: "Feelings are running high locally. The anger I'm picking up is with the council, not Katherine Kerswell.
"So many people here have lost their jobs. It's frontline staff and low-paid women workers who have taken a hit, and it doesn't seem fair."
The redundancy payout was defended by the council leader Paul Carter, who said employment law and contractual obligations dictated the size of the payout. Carter, who appointed Kerswell, said her departure "would save a fortune in the long term".
It is understood that soon after Kerswell's appointment relations soured with senior Tory group councillors who were said to be unhappy at being excluded from top-level decisions. "She had contrived to upset a lot of councillors. They felt she tried to bypass them a lot of the time," one local source said.
Unison said it had concerns that in the absence of a chief executive the council would now become a "politically run" council with no separation of political leaders and officials.
But Carter said: "Our council is now being guided by officers who have worked their way up and know what life is like from a Kent taxpayers' perspective."
The council said it had saved £1m in senior staff salaries over the past year, as a result of the reorganisation. But its draft annual accounts reveal that it paid out over £10m in severance payments in 2011-12 as nearly 1,000 staff left the authority. The council's former finance director Lynda McMullan received a £179,000 payout.
The government has consistently attacked high salaries paid to local government chief executives. The communities secretary, Eric Pickles, has called for authorities to abolish the chief executive role as a cost-saving measure.
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Kent’s new healthcare model praised by health secretary Andrew Lansley - Kent News
(l-r) Dr Chee Mah, chairman of South Kent Coast Clinical Commissioning Group; Dr Joe Chaudhuri; health secretary Andrew Lansley; KCC leader Paul Carter; Dover MP Charlie Elphicke; and leader of Dover District Council Paul Watkins
By Marijke Cox, Reporter
Friday, June 15, 2012
8:00 AM
Kent Health Commission model could become leading example for the rest of the country
A pioneering new health and social care model which promises patient power and bespoke services could become the national beacon for a new type of healthcare.
Health secretary Andrew Lansley paid a special visit to Dover to launch the Kent Health Commission’s first report, a radical document looking to transform the way people are cared for in the county.
It looks to combine health and social care budgets to commission new services based on patients’ needs.
Among the recommendations is a major shift to community healthcare, where people receive support in their own homes or community.
This would be through the development of community hospital facilities and services in local areas meaning patients can avoid unnecessary long journeys to acute centres.
It could also lead to more district nurses, more occupational therapists, physiotherapists and intermediary care beds, and a whole range of services to support patients in their own home.
The document recommends shifting power to patients, enabling them to make informed choices about what is best for them, when and where to be treated and what treatment to receive under the principle “no decision about me without me”.
Self-management, such as telehealth where people can manage long-term illnesses themselves at home while still being monitored by professionals, is also at the heart of the recommendations.
Kent Health Commission said the leading principle should be that services are centred on the needs of patients rather than the organisations that deliver them.
During his visit, Mr Lansley said he welcomed the “bold move”.
“I welcome this report and the work underway to make sure the new health reforms provide the very best health and social care services for the people of Kent.
“I have asked for further updates on how these recommendations will be put into practice and the improved services that will be offered to local people with a view to using the health commission as a model for other areas to follow.”
Leader of Kent County Council Cllr Paul Carter established the commission, bringing together GPs, Dover MP Charlie Elphicke and Dover council leader Paul Watkins.
The report focuses on Dover and Shepway as templates for the proposed shake-up, which could release more than £59m a year in Kent – an average of £5m per district.
Cllr Carter said the commission supported radical and bold changes in the way primary health care is delivered.
The Tory leader, who admitted there were currently massive pressures on the system, said: “We want to cut bureaucracy and combine health and social care budgets to commission new services based around patient needs.
“Working together, we will commission new community health support that will transform the way people are cared for.
“In meeting local need, new local commissioning arrangements will make sure that ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’.
“Using a whole raft of services to support patients in their own homes, we are looking to avoid unnecessary hospitalisation, particularly for patients with long term illnesses.”
This first report looks to support GPs, who have been given power over commissioning under the new national health reforms.
Kent Health Commission says it wants to help give GPs freedom and flexibility in their new role and for an exciting new market in health provision to be developed.
It also wants pooled commissioning between health and social care to speed up.
Chairman of south Kent coast clinical commissioning group Dr Chee Mah said those involved believe the collaboration will have a great impact, providing the best possible health and social care services.
Dr Joe Chaudhuri called it an “ambitious and exciting” initiative.
He added: “Strong, trusting relationships among different agencies are key and the fact that we have a shared vision gives me real confidence that we can achieve our collective ambitions.”
Source: www.kentnews.co.uk
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