A senior executive at Arts Council England has continued to take a six figure salary while being on leave and will pocket a £100,000 redundancy package despite already having a new job since October.
In her role as Executive Director of Arts Council East and South East, Andrea Stark is being paid a six figure salary but took annual leave from October until Christmas before taking a six month paid sabbatical until the end of June. However, throughout this period she has been the Chief Executive of High House Production Park (HHPP), a charity which receives a large amount of taxpayers’ money and has links to the Arts Council and the Royal Opera House.
On top of this she is now due a £100,000 redundancy package from Arts Council England. In total she will have collected over £150,000 more of taxpayers’ money than she would have done if she had simply resigned in October. She has enjoyed numerous foreign trips at taxpayers’ expense, including one recent excursion to Brazil.
Miss Stark has shown herself to be very capable of doing very well for herself. But these cushy arrangements are just the kind of profligacy for which the Arts Council has become notorious. Taxpayers will rightly want to know why such a large golden goodbye should be paid when the lucky beneficiary has simply hopped from one largely taxpayer-funded job to another.