Kate Josephs: Sheffield Council chief executive will donate part of her £200,000 salary to local causes following partygate

A cross-party committee decided to allow Ms Josephs to return to work today following nearly half a year on paid leave while secretive council deliberations and investigations took place.

It came after she posted a statement on Twitter in January admitting to having rule-breaking leaving drinks in the Cabinet Office which marked the end of her time as director general of the Covid taskforce before taking the job in Sheffield.

In a statement released today Ms Josephs confirmed she was given a written warning over an “error of judgement” in not informing colleagues sooner about her direct involvement in partygate, which ultimately resulted in her being fined by police.

She has been on paid leave from her £200,000 per year position while senior officer Eugene Walker, who is usually paid around £150,000 per year, has been covering for her on extra pay.

The full cost of everything relating to the scandal on the council – which is facing extreme financial pressure – has not yet been revealed.

Ms Josephs said she would try to make amends as she broke her silence in one of the first interviews since she left.

“I completely understand why people are frustrated about the fact that I have been off and have been paid,” she said.

“I emphasise with that as a public servant for all of my life. I’m really glad to be able to be back at work. I have tried really hard during my time off to make sure I’m doing something useful. I’ve been volunteering in the city with grassroots organisations and I would have returned to work in a heartbeat if I could have done.

“The committee felt that it was the right thing for me to be on discretionary leave and I have to respect that decision.”

It is this volunteering that has driven her to make a donation as a proportion of her salary from now for the rest of her time as chief executive which she says will be at least as much as she has been paid while she was off.

Apology

Ms Josephs said the hurt caused by her actions is something that will stay with her forever and she will always feel sorry for it.

When asked whether she believed it was “one rule for them and another for her” she said her colleagues and her believed the event was permissible within the regulations, despite the government’s own guidance stating parties were against the rules at the time.

She now recognises this was a mistake and that “no version of it should have happened”.

When asked if she considered resigning, Ms Josephs said she "all sorts of things” were going through her head but she decided to allow the council committee to make the decision.

Speaking about how she will rebuild trust with the people of Sheffield, she said she will start by making time for conversations with people about how this affected them.

“I think it is important, really important as I come back to work that I am not naive about the fact that there are some people, but most importantly staff, who will need me to hear how this has made them feel how disappointed they are in me, or what this is brought up for them,” she said.

“I’m very clear I’m going to make time to do that. I’m not going to brush those difficult conversations under the carpet. Those conversations can and will happen and must happen without fear or favour. People need to feel they can say what they need to say to me because that means to happen so we can move on. And that is the most important thing. That is what I believe the council wants and needs. I believe that’s what the organisation wants. That’s what the city wants that we that we that we move on together.”

She added: “I need to acknowledge that hurt as I am doing and I will continue to do but most importantly you rebuild trust through your actions, through your work and what you do. Now I’m back at work alongside the brilliant team which have done such great work and continue to move things forward. I hope that people will over time judge me by the work we do in Sheffield.”