WILTSHIRE Council has refused to confirm how much taxpayers’ money is being spent on making chief executive Andrew Kerr redundant.

The figure will become public in June, when the council’s accounts are published but in the meantime, a spokesman said, this is “personal information, and due to data protection cannot be published at this time without the consent of Mr Kerr”.

Councillors meeting at the City Hall in Salisbury on Tuesday agreed to get rid of the post of chief executive, which pays a salary of £183,000 per year, and Mr Kerr’s application for voluntary redundancy was accepted.

They agreed to appoint the service director for human resources, Barry Pirie, as the head of paid service and corporate director Carlton Brand as returning officer.

The council is also making its neighbourhood and planning director Mark Boden, who earns between £118,000 and £130,000 per year, redundant.

The three remaining corporate directors, Sue Redmond, Carolyn Godfrey and Mr Brand, will jointly lead the council staff.

The council claims the job losses will save £400,000 a year. Leader Jane Scott said: “Our aim is to protect our front line services.”