FINANCIALLY crippled West Somerset Council has had to stump up almost £400,000 to make its top two officers -chief executive Tim Howes and former finance chief Rod Latham - redundant. The Free Press has learned that Mr Howes received around £140,000 plus almost £400 to cover the cost of a computer loan and around £7,000 for "training purposes". Mr Latham's combined voluntary redundancy and early retirement package is believed to be around the £245,000 mark, together with a £25,000 a year pension. Some - but not all - of the financial details revealed in today's Free Press were leaked by Independent councillor for West Quantock, Cllr Mitch Wicking. He knows he is likely to face a harsh penalty for speaking out against the settlements given to Mr Howes and Mr Latham but, talking exclusively to the Free Press, Cllr Wicking said he was prepared to face the consequences. Details of the pay-offs have been a closely guarded secret with the information handed out at meetings then collected again by senior officers to prevent written reports being leaked. While Mr Howes' package was discussed at a full council meeting, Mr Latham's departure was sealed solely by cabinet members. The details of the scale of the pay-offs come just weeks after the council was forced to admit its financial difficulties were such that it could not afford to put a penny into the New Horizons 'healthplex' scheme in Minehead. Its revenue account had been bled dry, its capital programme was £6.5 million adrift and Vulcan Road car park would have to be sold simply to bail the authority out. The size of the pay-outs will be a bitter pill for the council's remaining staff to swallow. Eight people who had sought voluntary redundancy have been told the authority cannot afford to let them leave, while others have been banned from completing their own professional training on cost grounds. Cllr Wicking said he was disillusioned with the way the council was operating and said he had no choice but to become truly independent and leave the Independent Coalition of councillors. He claimed many of his colleagues had "hidden agendas" and said he was simply "fed up with all the secrecy". Cllr Wicking said: "I realise the consequences of distancing myself, but I really want to get back to honouring the reasons I was elected in the first place and that means going back to what I was fighting for during the election. "That means reviewing the fight for better and improved democratic practice within this council. "That means changing the constitution and working for an end to the cabinet system." He claimed Mr Howes' settlement was "bulldozed through" with councillors advised it would be the cheapest way to seek his departure. He said: "All of this will probably be the end of me as the elected representative for Bicknoller, Sampford Brett, East and West Quantoxhead when I'm hauled before the Standards Board for England. "So why am I putting by head on the block? Because I believe people should know that once again, like so many people in top positions in public life, you can only get rid of them by paying them off. "Mr Howes and Mr Latham should have resigned." He said the council was facing "an horrendous managerial and financial mess" and was appalled Mr Howes had been given an additional £7,000 on top of his pay-off to allow him to further his local government career by receiving extra training. Cllr Wicking said he had no doubt that the cabinet system of local government was to blame for the majority of the council's problems and called for it to be "disbanded forthwith". He was also aghast at the news that only a handful of councillors had been involved in discussions to select an interim manager for the council and that two of those had been the council's former leader Cllr Christine Lawrence and former finance portfolio holder Cllr Roger Webber. "Aren't they the ones from the previous administration who are partly to blame for this mess? "Don't any of these people feel a little guilty at what has happened? Apparently not. They haven't resigned. "And now we have the new guard mixing with the old guard, it doesn't smell good to me," Cllr Wicking said. "Given the terrible financial and managerial situation this council now finds itself in I believe all councillors should have been involved with the ongoing processes to sort things out and keep people better informed. "I feel ignored, left out in the cold and, therefore, redundant," he said. He said he felt unable to properly represent the people who elected him and was prepared to take the likely consequences of being reported to the local government watchdog the Standards Board of England and, ultimately, to receive a lengthy ban from office. Cllr Wicking said: "I now find myself in a position where I have to compromise myself and be punished for simply telling people what has really happened and how things are and how angry I am. "When I was elected by the 301 people from the parishes of Bicknoller, Sampford Brett, West and East Quantoxhead at May's district council elections I was full of hope for a better, more accountable West Somerset Council. "Seven months into our new administration and I am sorry to declare that hope has quickly evaporated. "All those not on the cabinet have had to survive on scraps of information, rumour and often items that appear first in the Free Press. "It has made me feel like a cardboard cut-out, trundled out for show at public meetings to wave and smile and nod accordingly. "I have no voice, no knowledge, no influence. It's an insult to me and the people who elected me."
