TOWN hall chiefs are still refusing to reveal whether former chief executive Paul Najsarek received a pay off after quitting his job.

Despite receiving a Freedom of Information request from The Bolton News, Bolton Council has maintained its wall of silence over the departure of Mr Najsarek.

Our request asked if any payments — additional to contractual salary and holiday pay — were received by Mr Najsarek on leaving his post last month.

The official response from the council’s Corporate Information Unit was due to arrive on Wednesday but the authority said there had been an “unavoidable delay".

However, an official response, received on Thursday, stated that the information requested would remain confidential.

The response said: “The council considers the information you have requested to be confidential and on this basis it is exempt by virtue of Section 41 of the Freedom of Information Act.”

According to the Information Commissioner’s Office, under Section 41 information is exempt if “it was obtained by the public authority from any other person” and if the disclosure to the public would “constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person”.

Following the response, The Bolton News will ask for an internal review of the decision.

The Information Commissioner’s Office states that there is a legal requirement that internal reviews must be carried out as soon as possible and within 40 working days.

If The Bolton News is not content with the outcome of any internal review, we have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.

Mr Najsarek walked out of his £160,000 job, just five months after succeeding Sean Harriss as the council’s top officer.

Since that point, The Bolton News has been joined by opposition councillors in trying to find out whether any public money was handed to Mr Najsarek in the form of a severance payment.

Council leader Cliff Morris refused to be drawn on the subject after questions from councillors at last week’s full council meeting.

Conservative councillor Andy Morgan said: “I just think it is an absolute disgrace.

“If the leader is trying to hide something, he should know that it will eventually come out.

“He should either deny it or admit it and then it will be done with — this is becoming a major distraction for the public and the staff at the council, everyone is talking about it.”

He added: “I would urge The Bolton News not to give up the fight, appeal the decision and get this information for the people of Bolton.”