Bonus payment questions for Hampshire council leader Ken Thornber (From Daily Echo)

Bonus payment questions for Hampshire council leader Ken Thornber

6:30am Thursday 22nd July 2010 in

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HAMPSHIRE County Council boss Ken Thornber faces questions today from a powerful committee over secret bonus payments to senior staff.

Councillor Thornber faced calls for him to quit after the Daily Echo revealed that he had agreed bonuses of up to £15,000 on top of their six-figure salaries. Opposition demands for a debate were quashed at a council meeting last week.

And in a statement, the veteran leader defended the decision to pay £87,000 between 2008 and 2010 to seven chief officers.

He repeated his assertion that the payments were “special recognition awards” and not “bonuses”. He told the Daily Echo no bonuses were paid.

Today he will appear before the council’s policy and resources select committee after Lib Dem councillor Bruce Tennent requested it instigate an inquiry into an “apparent misdirection”

by Cllr Thornber on whether bonuses were paid, whether non-financial rewards were considered, and for the policy to be reviewed.

Tory committee chairman Councillor Keith Chapman said he would remain “impartial” and it was for the committee to decide whether an inquiry was necessary. Cllr Thornber said he would accept if the council wanted to strip the leader of responsibility for chief executive pay.