Exit package for Sport Aberdeen boss worth more than £100,000

The former managing director of Sport Aberdeen received an exit package worth more than £100,000 after proposing that his own post be removed on grounds of "financial efficiency", BBC Scotland News has learned.

The charity - which operates more than 30 leisure and sports venues - receives millions of pounds of public funding from Aberdeen City Council each year.

Alistair Robertson left the organisation in March 2024, and his position was replaced with a chief executive role.

It is understood the proposal to make Robertson's role redundant - including the severance package - was never discussed or scrutinised by the full board. He has been approached for comment.

Sport Aberdeen said the payment was fully and transparently disclosed.

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) said earlier this year there was concern about Sport Aberdeen, and it was then placed under formal investigation.

At Sport Aberdeen's annual general meeting in 2024, chairman Tony Dawson told members that Robertson had "retired".

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation show that discussions about his departure and severance package took place at a meeting of the special business committee, and not the full board.

Sport Aberdeen said the payment was fully and transparently disclosed within the organisations 2023/24 audited accounts.

A number of sources close to members of the board claim that once members started asking questions about the payments, they ended up being investigated themselves.

A number of board members have now left the organisation.

BBC Scotland News has seen extracts of minutes documenting Robertson's exit process, following the FOI request.

Minutes show that Sport Aberdeen's special business committee was informed on 20 June 2023 that Robertson intended to stand down and had proposed being released from his position on grounds of "financial efficiency".

At a meeting on 21 July 2023, attended by senior figures including the chairman and head of HR, committee members were told the managing director had offered to step down on a mutually agreed date and suggested that the post could be removed from the management structure.

They were told by deleting the post of managing director, a saving of £130,000 a year would be achieved.

According to the minutes, the proposal was made against a backdrop of projected "significant funding challenges" facing the organisation that were expected to continue for the "foreseeable future".

The committee was presented with papers setting out a range of options for ending Robertson's employment.

The documents had been prepared following consultation with advisers from the North East Scotland Pension Fund and outlined the financial implications of different approaches.

The papers considered the immediate cost of an exit package, including pension-related liabilities, against the longer-term savings that could be achieved by removing the post.

Sport Aberdeen's audited accounts for 2023-24 show that a termination payment of £55,000 was made to a member of staff.

A further £50,492.19 was paid to its pension provider in June 2024 to cover a "strain on fund" cost.

This type of payment is made by an employer to a pension scheme when an employee is permitted to access pension benefits earlier than normal retirement age or on enhanced terms.

Together, the termination payment and pension strain cost amounted to more than £105,000.

When asked whether the payment had been passed, agreed or discussed by the full board, Sport Aberdeen said "relevant matters were considered and determined" by its special business committee, a longstanding sub-committee of the board.

The organisation said the committee, made up of committee chairs and other non-executive members, was used to consider "time-critical or sensitive matters such as senior leadership pay" under established governance arrangements.

Minutes from the July 2023 meeting show that Robertson's proposal to leave was treated as confidential.

The committee agreed that the chair and vice-chair, in consultation with the head of HR, should conclude arrangements relating to the managing director's severance.

Sport Aberdeen said the committee had been in place since 2014 and that the composition of all board committees and sub-committees was approved annually by the board.

A spokesperson for Sport Aberdeen said: "The payment referenced was a termination payment made to the former managing director and is fully and transparently disclosed within the organisation's 2023/24 audited accounts.

"Those accounts, including the relevant disclosures on remuneration and termination payments, were independently audited and approved by the board at its meeting on 24 June 2024 in line with standard governance and reporting requirements."

Sport Aberdeen chairman Tony Dawson declined an interview request.