Giving evidence to the Public Accounts Committee about the £546,337.50 ‘golden handshake’ paid to Mr Ogley when he quit in 2011 – citing a fall-out with Senator Ozouf as the reason – former Senator Le Sueur said there were ‘differences of opinion’ between the two men for a number of years. However, he put it down to ‘perfectly normal’ behaviour.
Mr Le Sueur said that he had spoken to the two men and did not realise the extent of the problem until January 2011 when it was already too late. By then, he explained, Mr Ogley had invoked a clause in his amended contact that meant he would be paid two-and-a-half times his annual salary when he left.
Mr Le Sueur – who was also part of a committee that approved that amendment contract in 2005 – said that in hindsight he could have sought independent advice to help mediate between the two men.
