LIVERPOOL Council’s chief executive was handed a £25,000 “golden hello” while the authority was in the process of making hundreds of workers redundant.
Ged Fitzgerald joined the council in February while it was in the process of cutting £91m from its budget.
Despite his relatively short-distance move from Lancashire County Council, he was handed a £25,000 “relocation and retention” package.
He was also paid £14,800 for 19-and-a-half days work he did for the city before officially taking over as chief executive.
Interim chief executive David McElhinney was paid £102,679 for eight months work.
Last night Liverpool council defended the payments, saying Mr Fitzgerald’s annual £197,000 salary was £38,000 less than his predecessor, Colin Hilton, who departed in May last year.
Mr Hilton’s departure cost taxpayers £350,000 – a combination of future pension contributions and a payoff.
