On The Audit Trail
Here's an article from the Evening Times dated 3rd September 2016 announcing Lynn Brown's departure as Glasgow City Council's director of finance.
So Lynn was Annemarie O'Donnell's rival for the top job at Glasgow City Council though the newspaper emphasises that she left her post voluntarily and for personal reasons.
No mention is made of Lynn's £120,000 'golden goodbye', but great play is made of Lynn's former role at National Audit and her OBE for 'services to local government and charity".
All the more surpassing then that the City Council appears to have no records on what was agreed, by whom - and how the decision to spend £120,000 on a 'golden goodbye' payment was justified.
If Lynn was already 55 years of age, or more, the Council says she could have applied for early retirement at any time - though presumably the Council did not have to grant this request or pay an additional £120,000 into Lynn's pension pot.
Curiouser and curiouser, as they say.
The Evening Times article was written by Gerry Braiden, by the way, who now works as the press spokesperson for the leader of the Council, Cllr. Susan Aitken.
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/14721236.Blow_as_Scottish_local_government__39_s_top_finance_chief_quits_post/
Blow as Scottish local government's top finance chief quits post
By Gerry Braiden @BraidenHT - Evening Times 3rd September 2016
Lynn Brown, the highly respected head of finance at Glasgow City Council, is to quit
SCOTLAND'S biggest council has been dealt a major blow as it emerges the official who has succeeded in balancing its books despite unprecedented cash pressures is to quit.
Lynn Brown, the finance director at Glasgow City Council, made the surprise announcement that she will leave the authority at the end of the month after 13 years in her post.
Considered one of the most able officials in Scottish local government, her departure has been described as "an enormous loss" and will cause a major headache for the council's Labour administration, with further significant cuts and pressures running into tens of millions expected later this year.
Mrs Brown also leaves 18 months after she failed to secure the chief executive's role at the authority. Although understood to be largely unaffected by it, she also leaves amid continuing claims of low morale and deep divisions between senior members of the administration and top officers.
Following a recent family bereavement she is also expected to spend more time back home in Northern Ireland.
The council said: "Lynn has played a fundamental role in planning and delivering service reform and investment in infrastructure and services over a period when the council has had to deliver unprecedented levels of savings."
Mrs Brown said: “The city has faced many challenges, financial and otherwise, during that time but it has always risen to them through the hard work of so many dedicated elected members and council staff, and it has been a pleasure to have been part of that team.”
In charge of a £2.3bn budget, Mrs Brown has been in her post since 2003 and was considered the front runner to succeed former chief executive George Black. The mother-of-two, who is in her mid 50s, has a reputation as a plain-speaker and straight-batter, and has been well liked and respected by other officers and politicians.
She has worked in the public sector for 34 years, starting her career with National Audit, before moving to City of Edinburgh Council in 1987 and Glasgow City Council in 2003. She was awarded an OBE in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to local government and charity.
Council leader Frank McAveety said: “Lynn is without doubt the best financial officer in the best financial team in the country and has seen Glasgow through the toughest times we have ever had to deal with. Her advice and support to members of the council have been invaluable.
“I know that Glasgow means a lot to Lynn and the city will always be in her thoughts when she returns home to Belfast. I wish her a long and happy retirement.”
Leader of the opposition SNP group, Susan Aitken, said: "Lynn Brown is a superb local government officer who will be an enormous loss to Glasgow City Council.
"The Council as a whole will miss her incisive financial brain, her leadership and her dedication to the city and its people. On a personal level, I will very much miss her advice, kindness and sense of fun, and I wish her all the very best for the future."
Morag Johnston, the current number two within finance, will take interim control and is a favourite to takeover the role. Martin Booth, director of finance at the council's culture and leisure spin-off Glasgow Life is another likely candidate.
