IPSWICH/SUFFOLK: An astonishing �400,000-plus figure has been spent on “gagging” agreements by the county council...in just the first three months of the year, The Evening Star can reveal today.
A total of 13 compromise agreements were approved – more than one a week – between mid January and the beginning of April, according to our Freedom of Information request.
The huge amount spent as 13 individuals left the under-pressure authority could have kept the subsidy for meals on wheels across Suffolk – or saved full-time fire cover in Felixstowe for another year.
Today the council refused to say who was covered by these agreements, how much the individual deals were for, or even who had authorised the payments.
Suffolk Council has recently done an about-turn on many of the policies of its New Strategic Direction – and chief executive Andrea Hill has been on extended leave since May 5 while a whistle blowing enquiry is undertaken.
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