Somerset councillors have called for an independent inquiry into a six-figure settlement which was paid to a former employee.

In the 2020/21 financial year, South Somerset District Council entered into a settlement agreement with one of its senior officers, paying them £109,000 as they left the local authority in 2021/22.

In auditing the council’s accounts, Grant Thornton found that this sum had been approved by then-chief executive Alex Parmley without informing either the chief financial officer, the monitoring officer or council leader Val Keitch.

Councillors have now called for a full inquiry into the settlement, with opposition members branding it a “scandal” which “cannot be swept under the carpet”.

Members of the Conservative opposition group were scathing in their criticism when the full council convened in Yeovil on Thursday evening (September 22) to discuss the auditors’ findings.

Councillor Sue Osborne, vice-chair of the council’s scrutiny committee, said it was a pity that Mr Parmley had emigrated to New Zealand and therefore could not address their concerns in person.

She said: “I do have some sympathy for our current chief executive Jane Portman, who came to us shortly before August [2021] little knowing that she would be left to clean up one hell of a mess from the previous chief executive, who really is the person who should be here answering to us for what has happened.

“It is clear that despite us having processes in place, he just overrode those and authorised our payroll team to pay them directly.

“There was a non-disclosure agreement. Somebody must have done that – correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think they’re the sort of thing you can just download from Google.”

Councillor Nick Colbert submitted a series of questions before the meeting, calling on the council to break the non-disclosure agreement and name the individual concerned, believing this was in the wider public interest.

He said: “The auditors uncovered a ‘mysterious’ payment of £109,000 to an unnamed officer for reasons that seem to have been kept secret. Who was that officer, why was so much public money given to them, and was there a confidentiality clause imposed on that officer?”

Councillor Martin Wale, who leads the Conservative group, said there should be a full inquiry to see whether criminal proceedings against Mr Parmley needed to be set in motion.

Mr Wale – a former police officer – said: “Has the law been broken? No-one knows.

“I understand that our chief executive arrived here and was made aware shortly thereafter. Now the auditors seem to imply that they found this information when they started doing the audit – did we not tell them about it as part of our duty?

“Frankly, we have here a scandal – £109,000 of public money has been paid apparently without any audit trail, without any records, and no-one in the organisation will own up to knowing anything about it.

“Something’s gone on here which needs investigation – it can’t be swept under the carpet. You won’t be able to open the door to the leader’s office on April 1, because the carpet would be too high.

“This affects public money – it’s nothing to do with politics. This should be put to an independent inquiry.”

Council leader Val Keitch said that she had not been informed of the settlement payment by Mr Parmley or any other officer within the council.

She said: “Let me make this very, very clear: I was not made aware of this arrangement.

“To suggest that the carpet in my office will be so full because there’s so much swept under there – I find your comments insulting, rude and disrespectful. Nobody was angrier than me when I found out what happened.

“The procedures were not followed, I was not involved, I was not told what had happened, and until this came to light through the audit report, I was not aware. I am not in the habit of sitting here telling lies, contrary to what some other people might think.”

Jane Portman, the council’s current chief executive, said the figure of £109,000 had first been published within council reports in June 2021, and had come before both the scrutiny committee and district executive committee at public meetings.

She said: “This is not covered up in any way – it’s completely transparent, it’s in our accounts.

“The transaction in question was in relation to a settlement agreement… it’s normal that the terms of settlement agreements will be kept confidential.”

Councillor Peter Seib added: “What we are now doing is that we are taking the actions recommended by the auditor to prevent this from happening again.”

Following his resignation from the council in April 2021, Mr Parmley emigrated to take up a new post as chief executive of Waitaki District Council, where he has worked since July 2021.

The Otago Daily Times reported on Monday (September 19) that Mr Parmley “did not recognise” the £109,000 and “did not believe it was accurate”.

He told the Kiwi news outlet: “The issues raised in the report result from full documentation of those processes not being completed, which I also acknowledge.

“The council, like many, was under severe pressure, including a third of staff being deployed to the [coronavirus] vaccination programme and many other staff being redeployed to support grants to businesses, hardship payments and other new services.

“I have a track record of hard work, innovation and delivering high standards for the communities I have worked for. I intend to do the same for Waitaki.”