A review of unlawful payments made to top council officers totalling more than £1 million has concluded the threshold for a criminal investigation has not been met. 

It follows a review of a file handed to Northumbria Police in February by the county council’s top lawyer, Stephen Gerrard. The file related to six payments made between 2017 and 2022 totalling more than £1 million.

Earlier this year, Mr Gerrard explained that the payments did not have the correct authorisation from councillors. It was suggested that an error in the council’s pay policies between 2019 and 2022 could have been the reason behind the error.

READ MORE: Error in council's pay policy may have led to 'unlawful' exit payments

Speaking at the latest meeting of the council’s audit committee, the monitoring officer read out a statement from Northumbria Police following a review of the evidence.

He said: “I have a letter from Northumbria Police in relation to matters referred to them in relation to possible criminal conduct by Northumberland County Council officers in regards to the severance payments issue. I will not take questions on this because, in a sense, this is a letter from the police for them to account for their actions, not myself.”

The letter revealed that officers had spoken to former council leader Peter Jackson and ex-cabinet member Nick Oliver as part of the review.

In October 2023, Councillor Jackson called for an investigation into the payments, claiming there had been “quite a lot of illegal activity” at the council. At the same meeting, Cllr Oliver also called for the matter to be referred to the police.

Both men were asked if they held “material relevant to the review” – but following the review, police have decided to take no further action.

The letter read: “I am writing to update you on the outcome of a review by Northumbria Police into material passed to us by monitoring officer Stephen Gerrard in February 2024.

“Under the oversight of a trained and accredited senior investigating officer, officers have considered whether the documentary evidence is suggestive of fraud, misconduct in a public office or a breach of the Localism Act 2011.

The team have worked with Mr Gerrard, Kevin McDonald (the council’s head of internal audit) and also approached councillors Nick Oliver and Peter Jackson to ascertain if they held material relevant to the review.

“The outcome of this review is that the threshold for recording and commencing a criminal investigation is not met. This concludes the involvement of Northumbria Police in this matter.”

Both Cllr Jackson and Coun Oliver sit on the audit committee and were present at the meeting, but did not comment on the letter.