QUESTIONS are continuing to be asked about the severance payment made to five-month chief executive Paul Najsarek - as published accounts reveal the total amount he received during his time in Bolton.

In June, a seven-month battle for information by The Bolton News led to the revelation that Mr Najsarek had pocketed a severance package of £90,000 after dramatically quitting his job in November, following just five months in charge.

Council leader Cliff Morris revealed that Mr Najsarek’s reign as Bolton’s top officer came to an end after it became clear that his family would not be moving to the borough from their London home.

He explained that he was handed a negotiated severance payment of £55,192, as well as a payment in lieu of notice of £34,808 from council coffers.

Now Lib Dem leader Cllr Roger Hayes has asked the council to detail whether the lieu payment received by Mr Najsarek was tax-free, as he believes this could offer more insight into what led to his departure.

He said: “It is my understanding that if an employee is asked to leave an organisation, then he can receive the payment in lieu of notice, free of any tax.

“But if it is the employee who asks to go, then he is not entitled to receive the lieu payment free of tax — in fact he may not be entitled to a lieu payment at all.”

He added: “I think this needs to be explained, but I doubt that we will get a more satisfactory explanation than we already have.”

In a bid to get such an answer, The Bolton News asked the same question but was told that any detail of the tax, or lack thereof, on Mr Najsarek’s payment was confidential and could not be released.

A council spokesman did say, however, that “all necessary reductions” had been made.

Meanwhile, the full extent of the amount of money earned by Mr Najsarek during — and after — his brief stay in Bolton has been published.

The council’s annual accounts indicate that as well as the £90,000 pay-off, he also took home just more than £90,000 for the five months he was in the job.

That figure is made up of the £76,259 he was paid in salary by the council, including fees and allowances, along with the £14,286 he received in pension contributions,.

This means the man who now heads up Ealing Council in London pocketed a total of £180,562 for his five months of work in Bolton.