THE Bolton News has officially requested that Bolton Council carries out an internal review into its decision not to reveal details of any severance payments received by its former chief executive.

We submitted a Freedom of Information Request to find out if taxpayers’ money had been used as part of a pay-off to Paul Najsarek after he quit his £160,000 job following just five months in the role.

Last week a delayed response from the council’s Corporate Information Unit informed us that our request for information had been turned down under Section 41 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We have now asked the authority’s borough solicitor, Helen Gorman, to carry out an internal review into the handling of our request.

The Information Commissioner’s Office states that there is a legal requirement that internal reviews must be carried out as soon as possible and within 40 working days.

If The Bolton News is not content with the outcome of any internal review, we have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.