A senior council officer who took an unexpected and sudden leave of absence last year walked away with a £116,000 pay off.

Zena Cooke, who had been the Corporate Director of Finance at Kent County Council (KCC), left the authority with a package totalling £202,730.

KCC documents show that in the financial year 2024-25, Mrs Cooke was paid £116,529 in “compensation for loss of office”, £65,000 in salary payments, £13,873 for an undetailed “other”, an unspecified allowance of £1,333 and £5,492 in employer pension contributions.

Mrs Cooke went on leave in January 2024, although an internal briefing stated she was still working for the authority.

Then, in June, it was announced that she was leaving the authority.

Her £152,000-per-year role at financially-constrained KCC was important as she also acted as the section 151 officer, who can declare the authority bankrupt if it is unable to meet its statutory obligations.

By law, the holder of that title is able to issue a section 114 notice, which effectively admits a council is unable to pay for the services it is required to by law and is essentially bankrupt.

John Betts then took on the role in an interim capacity on an annual salary of £157,000.

Mrs Cooke was in post for five years at a time when the then Conservative-led KCC had been under huge pressure due to soaring demand for services, such as adult social care, but with insufficient funding from the government to pay for them.

Conservative group leader at KCC, Cllr Harry Rayner, has been pressing for an explanation for Mrs Cooke’s departure for more than a year.

He said: “I have asked on more than one occasion and I have yet to have a satisfactory response.

“Her departure has cost the Kent tax-payer £200,000 and the cost of an interim replacement was £50,000 and I will argue that the tax-payer is owed an explanation.”

At the time of Mrs Cooke’s departure, a KCC statement said: “During her time at KCC, Zena was a key member of the council’s corporate management team and has been instrumental in helping to deliver the changes and improvements Kent has made to address the challenges it faces, both during at after Covid.

“KCC would like to take the opportunity to thank Zena for her contribution, hard work and commitment and to wish her all the very best in her next role.”

According to her LinkedIn profile, Mrs Cooke left KCC in May 2024 and immediately took on a three-month role as financial adviser to the London Borough of Croydon.

She then spent five months as Corporate Director Resources at Redbridge council before landing a Corporate Director Finance job at the London Borough of Lambeth in December last year.

The papers, seen by members of the governance and audit committee, also show that the cost of redundancies and agreed departures in the KCC earners up to £120,000 a year rose sharply.

Exit packages cost the tax-payer £1.38m in 2024-25, up from £850,000 the previous year.

KCC has been approached for comment.