TWO senior officers from Wirral Council have been suspended following claims of financial abuse.
The Globe exclusively revealed on Wednesday that a “whistleblower” had tried to alert the council to the claims – but had allegedly been given a £45,000 pay off to leave his job and “keep quiet”.
Last night, a hastily-called meeting of senior executives and group leaders agreed to suspend the pair pending further inquiries.
A report by the Audit Commission addresses the whistleblower’s concerns that there was a “special charging policy” which cost vulnerable people extra money dating back as far as 1999 that had not been approved by the council and was “excessive and unlawful”.
Conservative councillor Simon Mountney had told the Globe he believes there has been “institutional financial abuse” that the Audit Commission report indicated had been “covered up”.
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