WAVERLEY Borough Council paid out more than £200,000 in ‘settlement agreements’ with council workers between 2010 and 2015, it has been revealed.

Responding to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by The Herald, the council confirmed that five ex-staff members received pay-outs during this period receiving a total of £202,605.87 from the public purse.

It added each of these settlement agreements included a confidentiality clause, but denied this is the same as a ‘gagging’ clause.

So-called gagging clauses have recently been criticised by watchdog the Public Accounts Committee for seeking to stifle whistleblowing.

However, a Waverley spokesman defended the council’s use of confidentiality clauses, which it said were merely an extension of the clause already contained in existing staff’s contracts to protect the council’s “legitimate business interests”.

The spokesman said: “A ‘confidentiality clause’ generally imposes a duty to protect an employer’s trade secrets or confidential information, as is the case for the duration of the contract and which is extended following termination of employment.

“This is in place in order to protect an employer’s legitimate business interests, which may include confidential information in this case belonging to the council, its customers, residents, agents, suppliers etc.

“However, this does not restrict any disclosures permitted by law (eg ‘whistleblowing’ provisions). Even without an express contractual confidentiality clause, an implied duty of confidentiality is owed to a former employer.

“Whereas a ‘gagging clause’ in colloquial language, and which is understood but not recognised by this council, is interpreted as being part of an employment agreement which prevents a former employee from providing information about their employer or work to the public.”

The most notable of Waverley’s settlement agreements between 2010 and 2015 was paid to its former chief executive Mary Pett on her departure from the council in October 2013, for reasons still undisclosed in public.

Mrs Pett, who earned around £130,000 a year, was given her ‘golden handshake’ by the Tory-led council after presiding over the council’s last failed attempt at an up-to-date Local Plan.

Announcing Mrs Pett’s departure just one hour before councillors agreed to withdraw the ill-fated planning blueprint, Waverley leader Robert Knowles said it would “save a senior post and a significant amount of money” while allowing Mrs Pett to “concentrate on developing her career".

Following this news, the day-to-day running of the council passed on to Waverley’s then-deputy chief executive Paul Wenham and strategic director Damien Roberts, who was himself given a £50,000 pay-out from his previous job at Croydon Council in 2012.

Waverley’s revelation comes on the back of a BBC Radio 5Live investigation which found that ‘gagging orders’ have been issued to thousands of UK council workers as part of their pay-off agreements.

Figures obtained by the BBC showed 17,571 settlement deals had been signed between 2010 and 2015, many including confidentiality clauses. These deals resulted in pay-outs totalling £226.7 million.

Government guidance makes it clear that confidentiality clauses should only “extreme circumstances” - and not to hide the value or nature of any severance payments.

However, this guidance is not binding with no legal restriction preventing local authorities from using them, and the Public Accounts Committee has expressed concern they are being used indiscriminately by some councils.