HAMPSHIRE'S police and crime commissioner has denied claims that a £220,000 payout to a high-ranking official was not properly scrutinised.

Jenni Douglas-Todd was controversially handed the sum in 2014 at the end of her 15 months as chief executive of Hampshire Police Authority and later the commissioner's office.

But a fresh row has broken out over how the “exorbitant” deal was inspected and what could have been done to block it.

Commissioner Simon Hayes said the package was scrutinised by councillors on Hampshire's police and crime panel in 2014, but the TaxPayers' Alliance pressure group has this week called for more transparency and stricter regulations.

Ms Douglas-Todd's entitlement included £35,948 in “compensation for loss of employment” and add-ons to her £90,000 salary.

It was reported that a response to a Freedom of Information request had confirmed the payout was not scrutinised by the panel.

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) denies this, saying it was referred to alongside an annual financial report.

But it has been revealed that the panel does not have the “statutory responsibility” to scrutinise such payments, although the issue was said to have been raised at the meeting.

The response to the request, issued in February by panel chairman Cllr David Stewart, said: “We have a regular, open and transparent engagement process with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. While the panel has no statutory responsibility to scrutinise specific salary packages or entitlements, the payment information was shared with the panel in the context of the Year End Outturn report, and presented to the panel in July 2014. We were satisfied that no further action was required.”

The Chronicle has now learnt that the payment was not included in any report or presented to the panel in writing. Mr Hayes' office said it was raised verbally, while a panel spokeswoman said councillors were "satisfied" with the information presented.

She added: "Had the panel felt otherwise, the panel could have made recommendations to the commissioner on the Outturn report. However, this was not the case, as the panel was satisfied that no further action was required."

Minutes of the meeting refer to an extra £57,000 of spending from staff restructuring, understood to be due to Ms Douglas-Todd's departure.

The £220,411 deal included a £35,948 "compensation for loss of employment", £9,825 in pension contributions and £174,638 in "salary, fees and allowances". Her basic salary was £90,000.

The TaxPayers' Alliance has called on Mr Hayes to toughen up the scrutiny process.

Harry Davis, campaign manager, said: "£220,000 is a huge amount of taxpayers' money, equivalent to hundreds of families' council tax for an entire year, and every penny ought to be spent well.

"Taxpayers expect there to be strong checks and balances to safeguard against excessive pay in the public sector, so it is concerning that there was not more scrutiny of the process surrounding this exorbitant pay deal, even if there was no statutory duty to do so.

"In future there should be more thorough processes to scrutinise decisions about this level of remuneration and far more detail provided to taxpayers footing the bills so that it is explicitly clear where their money is going."

In the wake of the revelations Mr Hayes called on David Cameron to review employment law and scale down payments for departing officials.

He said in November: "I know the public find it difficult to accept that employment law says these sums of money have to be paid, right across the public sector, when people leave employment.

"I call upon the Prime Minister to examine levels of severance and redundancy payment to put some realism into UK employment legislation."

Mr Hayes declined further comment.

The Chronicle tried to reach Ms Douglas-Todd yesterday through University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, where she recently became a non-executive director, but did not receive a response.

She had worked in the Probation Service, central government and the Independent Police Complaints Commission before joining the Police Authority in 2009.

She worked there until November 2012, when it was replaced with the OPCC and her role was transferred to the new chief executive's position.

Her online business profile says she is managing director of consultancy firm Diversa and an investigating committee chair at the General Dental Council.