Audit official's deal was stru

Byline: MARTIN SHIPTON

A DEAL triggering pension payments worth more than pounds 600,000 to a senior public official was struck on the very first day he qualified for early retirement, we can reveal.

Anthony Snow left his role as chief operating officer with the Wales Audit Office (WAO) on June 15, 2009. Two days earlier, on Saturday, June 13, he celebrated his 50th birthday. If Mr Snow's departure had taken place on Friday, June 12, when he was still 49, he would Tory burch not have been entitled under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme to future pension contributions amounting to pounds 618,654.

Last night politicians expressed extreme concern about the new revelation. Mr Snow's severance package, which altogether totalled more than pounds 750,000, was authorised personally by Jeremy Colman, the former Tory burch Auditor General.

Mr Colman, who resigned his post in February and is awaiting trial on a number of charges relating to the possession of indecent images on his computer, did not consult senior colleagues about the pay-off to Mr Snow, it has been confirmed.

Asked to confirm a suggestion made to the Western Mail that Mr Snow's severance package was finalised two days after his 50th birthday, a spokeswoman for the WAO said: "We have considered this issue as part of our ongoing Due Diligence Review looking into Jeremy Colman's conduct while in office.

"According to our records, Anthony Snow's birthday is June 13, 1959. The agreement is dated 15 June, 2009.

"We have found no evidence to date that Jeremy Colman delayed authorising Anthony Snow's severance package until his 50th birthday."

Less than two months after leaving the WAO, Mr Snow was appointed chief operating officer at the Financial Reporting Council in London.

Last night Conservative AM Jonathan Morgan, who chairs the National Assembly's public accounts committee, said: "The timing of the deal is a matter of concern and we shall be asking the new Auditor General questions about this when he appears before the committee on October 7."

Former Finance Minister Andrew Davies said: "I will be writing to the chair of the public accounts committee expressing my grave concern at what has happened and calling for a full investigation of the circumstances which led to Mr Snow's departure on such extremely generous terms. A further matter of great concern is that as air jordan the law stands the Auditor General is effectively answerable to no-one but himself. " Plaid Cymru AM Leanne Wood, whose Freedom of Information Act request first revealed the scale of Mr Snow's pay-off, said: "I would be interested to know if what happened with Mr Snow were to be replicated in any other public body in Wales, what would the WAO's verdict be? "Sorting out the governance and making sure this sort of thing cannot happen again has to be an Assembly priority."

An Assembly Government spokeswoman said: "We are unable to comment on the redundancy package of a former employee of the Wales Audit Office as this is not a matter for the Assembly Government.

"Early severance and early retirement exits for staff employed by the Welsh air jordan Assembly Government are handled in accordance with the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.

"Although the guide suggests that this only applies until March 31, this h