Kate Josephs: full cost of partygate scandal revealed as Sheffield Council faces financial cliff edge

The full costs of the Kate Josephs’ scandal were brought to light through a Freedom of Information request by the local democracy reporting service.

The council boss admitted in January to hosting a rule-breaking leaving party in the Cabinet Office to mark the end of her time as head of the government’s Covid taskforce before joining the local authority.

It took the council nearly six months of secretive deliberations after learning this to reach its decision to give her a written warning for not informing colleagues sooner and allow her to return to work.

During this time, Ms Josephs was on paid leave.

In total, the affair cost the council £150,567.

This included £21,682.78 on legal fees, £16,136.85 on an independent investigation (the full report on which is being kept secret), £94,627.05 given to Ms Josephs while she was on paid leave and £18,120.32 of extra pay to senior officer Eugene Walker (on top of his £150,000 salary) for covering Ms Josephs’ duties.

The council said there were no other associated costs.

Councillor Terry Fox, leader of the council, said: “Kate has now returned to her role. This was following a thorough process that was set by the Joint Negotiating Committee including an independent investigation.

“As with any situation such as this, costs were incurred, however it was vitally important that we followed the national guidelines to ensure fair process and ultimately respect the decision made.

“Kate has apologised and the council have accepted her apology. Kate has also committed to donating a proportion of her salary to local charities and community groups in Sheffield.”

Ms Josephs said she would donate a proportion of her salary to local causes for the rest of her time in the role. She said this would at least cover the amount she was paid on leave.

When asked by the local democracy reporting service if it was concerning to her how much council time, money and resources were spent on this when the council is under such serious financial pressure, Ms Josephs said: “I think it was important the council followed the process that is prescribed for these sorts of circumstances and they have done that in a very thorough and fair way.

“That matters in order that we can move on and in order for people to feel confident in the process. I completely understand why people are frustrated about the fact I have been off and have been paid. I empathise with that as a public servant for all my life.

“I have tried really hard during my time off to make sure I’m doing something useful. I’ve been volunteering in the city with grassroots organisations and I would have returned to work in a heartbeat if I could have done.

“The committee felt that it was the right thing for me to be on discretionary leave and I have to respect that decision.”

Financial cliff edge

It comes as the local authority is on the brink of financial collapse with all reserves spoken for and big service cuts on the table.

MORE PARTYGATE: Kate Josephs: inside story of Sheffield Council’s chief executive decision following partygate

The council is already estimating an overspend of £21.7 million this year – a figure that has been increasing every month.

Ryan Keyworth, director of finance, said: “To have [reserves] spoken for at this relatively early stage in the year is not an ideal place to be to put it mildly.”