A KEY officer will be leaving Somerset’s newest council as soon as it formed – costing the taxpayer more than £100,000.

Fiona Kirkham has served as ICT and information manager for Taunton Deane Borough Council and West Somerset Council since July 2014, according to her LinkedIn profile.

The two councils will be replaced in April 2019 by Somerset West and Taunton Council, with staff being asked to reapply for new positions or take redundancy in a bid to streamline and modernise the delivery of services.

Ms Kirkham’s services will be retained during the first few weeks after the new council takes charge – but she will leave by the end of April.

The level of severance pay she can expect is more than £100,000 – meaning that it must be approved by the Taunton Deane's full council on Tuesday evening (December 11).

The council’s pay policy states that full council approval must be sought for any staff severance package which exceeds £100,000 – a package which could include redundancy compensation, pension entitlements, holiday pay and any applicable bonuses.

The precise breakdown of Ms Kirkham’s severance package has not been published and will be debated within confidential session.

Martin Griffin, the council’s human resources manager, said in his written report that the cost of this package was already allocated within the transformation budget for the new council.

He said: “Although the new structure created through transformation will come into effect at the end of February 2019, there is a requirement to retain the services of this employee until April 30, 2019 to ensure that the significant risks associated with the IT service can be managed appropriately.

“The total cost for this post is within the revised budget estimates.”

In November the new council asked for just over £3m in additional funds to meet additional redundancies and pay its running costs, after chief executive Penny James admitted the original estimates were “off-target” and “too conservative”.

The new council’s shadow scrutiny committee voted on November 26 to provide an additional £2.37m for redundancies and £685,000 for running costs – with the amount being drawn from the reserves of the two existing councils.

Mr Griffin added that if Taunton Deane councillors voted against the severance package, it would reduce the amount of savings which could be generated in the years ahead.

He said: “Should this redundancy not be approved, the annual cost of retaining the post is shown… would reduce the ongoing savings proposed within the new council’s business case.

“There could also be further costs incurred if the decision is challenged by the post holder.

“The savings target in the business case is already incorporated into the medium term financial plans for the two councils; therefore any shortfall will increase the budget gap that would need to be addressed in other way.”

The full council will meet at Shire Hall in Taunton on Tuesday evening (December 11) from 6:30pm to discuss the matter.