The Managing Director of the Isle of Wight council, Dave Burbage, has resigned, giving three months notice, sources within County Hall tell OnTheWight.
The news is not unexpected following Isel of Wight councillor’s decision to move ahead with a recruitment campaign for a new Isle of Wight Chief Executive (for a minimum salary of £125,000) earlier this month.
Mr Burbage had favoured an internal appointment and warned that if councillors went to the open market to find a replacement, he’d resign at Christmas rather than the previously planned date of March 2016.
Controversial employment arrangements
Although commanding great respect amongst many at the council and indeed on the administration, Dave Burbage’s time at the Isle of Wight council has not been without controversy.
Back in 2012, prior to being in the role of Managing Director, Mr Burbage was Director of Resources and Head of Finance. The then-CEO Steve Beynon felt the need to write a 1,700 word essay justifying Dave Burbage’s employment arrangements.
Consulting fees rather than PAYE
The unusual arrangements had been unearthed by an OnTheWight reader on the launch of OnTheWight’s Armchair Auditor site of spending data at the council. They’d noticed that a ‘Dave Burbage Consulting Ltd‘ was being paid significant amounts of money.
A tug on the comment thread led to the unravelling of a huge story that then passed through OnTheWight across the other Island media, local politics and nationally into Private Eye’s Rotten Boroughs column.
By June 2013, the first stage of Dave Burbage’s role shifting to PAYE was approved. His salary went down to around £125,000 and more recently, £99,606, a significant drop from the consulting fees of £150,000.
The Chief Executive role has been advertised nationally and preliminary interviews take place between 12th-23rd October.
Burbage: “Merely a formality”
Following publication of the OnTheWight report, David Burbage, Managing Director of the Isle of Wight Council, said:
“It has been known for some time that I planned to retire from my role as Managing Director. Last month, Members agreed to advertise the post of Chief Executive, with a view to recruiting to the position in November 2015.
“My resignation today allows for a three month period to be implemented, as per the terms of my contract, for me to leave at the end of the year, in readiness for my successor to take over the reins.
“I am happy to work flexibly, as required, to ensure that the council, its staff and services, is passed smoothly across to the new Chief Executive. This resignation is merely a formality to ensure the process of recruiting my successor can take place.”
Article edit
13.41 comment from Dave Burbage added. Number of words Steve Beynon wrote changed from 2,500 to 1,700.
