A letter from the leader of the county council due to go out to staff today will reveal that three of the authority’s bosses have volunteered to leave.
Coun Grant Davey’s note says that chief executive Steve Stewart and Paul Moffat, corporate director of children’s services, will both leave Northumberland County Council at the end of the month, while deputy chief executive, Kate Roe, will follow at the end of December.
It comes during a period of consultation following the announcement of the Labour administration’s plans to scrap the chief executive role and reduce five directorates to three.
The responsibilities of the chief executive would pass to one of the three directors, who would become executive leads. There would be further job losses in middle management.
The county council’s figures from October this year show that the chief executive was on a salary of £170,000 to £174,999. The pay for the deputy chief executive and corporate directors ranged from £125,000 to £139,999.
A county council spokesman couldn’t confirm or deny the departures, but said that during the ongoing period of consulation on the number of directors, people can take voluntary redundancy.