Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

Jane Scott's cabinet seems to be in the mood to kiss £20k goodbye.

Wiltshire Council leader Jane Scott has stated that the council may not pursue claims against ex-Kennet District Council (KDC) officers who were wrongly paid at the time of the move to the unitary council.

In an answer to one of my questions for today's council meeting ('What progress is being made to recover the 'non-pensionable honoraria' awarded either for doing additional work or 'acting up' at KDC? Has any money actually been recovered yet?'), Scott has replied 'The Council is pursuing two claims amounting to a total sum of approximately £20,000. Both cases are being contested and one of the individuals has instructed a solicitor. The Council is considering its position in the light of the points raised in defence.'

The obvious implication is that the overpayments will be forgotten about and, hopefully, pain-in-the-backside councillors will stop asking questions about them.

Last May, she was forced to field the first salvo of questions from councillors following leaked revelations about the pay-offs in Private Eye's Rotten Boroughs column.

A confidential report to the WC Audit Committee on December 9th 2009 referred to pay-offs given to senior staff members at KDC in the run-up to the council's abolition and an update (again confidential) went to the meeting of the Audit Committee in March 2010.

The council is hiding behind the Data Protection Act to protect the names of the individuals that have received the payments. However, one can presume that, if solicitors are getting involved, then the recipients must be getting nervous about having to hand the cash back.

It is not known if either person now works for WC but the ex-leader of KDC now sits on Scott's Cabinet.

Click here for an earlier post on this sorry tale.