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Former West Midlands crime office chief executive gets pay-off of £350,000

A top West Midlands crime boss received more than £350,000 as part of a bumper pay-off after she left her job, it has been revealed.

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Jacky Courtney, who was chief executive of the Office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), quit her role on April 30 last year as part of a shake-up following the election of Labour Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson in a by-election several months earlier.

Mrs Courtney, who served as chief executive to the old West Midlands Police Authority for seven years, received a £74,600 'loss of office' payment as well as a massive £278,900 contribution to her pension pot.

Additionally she was paid £11,500 in salary and fees for approximately one month's work and received £500 worth of benefits to total just over £365,000.

The huge pension payment was made as part of the generous Local Government Pension Scheme that means public sector employers must make all the contributions that would have been paid into the pension fund up to the individual's normal retirement date if that employee is forced to leave their job.

As chief executive she was paid £109,300 and had an Audi company car.

The PCC's publicly available accounts state Mrs Courtney 'retired' but it is understood she took voluntary redundancy as part of a restructure by Mr Jamieson who became commissioner in 2014 following the death of incumbent Bob Jones, a former Wolverhampton councillor.

Jonathan Jardine replaced Mrs Courtney as chief executive on a salary of £79,200 and no company car.

A West Midlands PCC spokesman said: "The office the PCC inherited was from the bloated and unaccountable days of the police authority, where some members of staff were paid very high salaries and everyone got first class travel.

"But since the election of the police and crime commissioner in 2014, things have changed.

"The office has been reorganised and we now work in a more streamlined, accountable and effective way, even though the commissioner has more responsibilities than the old police authority.

"For example, the chief executive the PCC inherited from the police authority was paid as much as some chief constables and had a company Audi, whereas the current chief executive receives nearly a third less with no car.

"It is worth remembering that most of the amount was pension allocation.

"In addition, thanks to the changes we've already made, we are making savings of £300,000 a year on those old police authority days and should have paid for these costs within two years.

"The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner is now a modern, representative and effective workplace."

Mrs Courtney, a former chief executive of the Birmingham-based Criminal Cases Review Commission and a former head of regulation for The Law Society of England and Wales, could not be contacted directly for comment.

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