Southwark Labour Vote to Keep Golden Goodbyes for Second Time

Southwark Labour voted to keep its ‘golden goodbyes’ for a second time in a row at a council assembly on Wednesday evening.

The Southwark Liberal Democrats proposed an amendment that would have scrapped loss-of-office payments for outgoing cabinet members.

These loss-of-office payments, or ‘golden goodbyes’, were introduced in 2016 in a year when the Labour-run council cut youth services finances by 50%.

The administration controversially, last year, paid out around £5,000 in a golden goodbye to Cllr Leo Pollak who was later found to have broken the council code of conduct.

Southwark Labour, composed of new councillors since the last vote, unanimously chose to reject the Liberal Democrat amendment on Wednesday.

Commenting, Cllr Graham Neale, the Southwark Liberal Democrat who proposed the amendment said:

“It is disgraceful that during a cost-of-living emergency we could be using taxpayer money to give out golden goodbyes, while our residents choose between eating and heating. It has always been a deep embarrassment to us that these payments exist and it is particularly hurtful that cabinet members who break the code of conduct can get such financial rewards too.”