Payouts to departing staff at South Kesteven District Council are exceeding £300,000 a year.

The figure maybe even higher as they do not include payments made to people leaving InvestSK, it's council-owned economic regeneration company.

Last year, the council announced a corporate restructure and in August, Steve Bowyer, the chief executive of InvestSK left the company, as previously reported by Nub News.

The payouts are revealed in council accounts, which were discussed at a meeting of governance and audit committee on Wednesday.

At the meeting, Coun Ashley Baxter 9Ind- Market and West Deeping) quizzed officials about former officers who he said "left in a hurry."

Coun Baxter noted four payments in the £40,000-£60,000 bracket, totalling £173,000 and suggested they were getting 6-12 months salary.

He also noted such payments totalled £307,000 last year and £390,000 the year before.

Chief finance officer Richard Wyles said the payments would vary depending on the circumstances.

Coun Baxter then asked: "Where will I find the exit packages who left InvestSK over that period?"

Mr Wyles said departures from InvestSK would not feature in the council's accounts as they were covered by the funding allocation to InvestSK from the council.

Coun Baxter further asked: "Are you saying if a member of staff leaves InvestSK and gets an exit package, the public can't find out what it was?"

Mr Wyles then said employees of InvestSK would be dealt with by InvestSK not the council. InvestSK would meet the requirements set out by Companies House requirements.

Coun Mark Whittington (Con- Barrowby Gate), an accountant by trade, confirmed that InvestSK is classed by central government as a small company, so it only needs to provide 'brief accounts.'