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Crown Prosecution Service spends £1.1 million on two 'golden goodbyes'

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spent £1.1 million in the past four years on golden goodbyes for two departing employees.

The CPS confirmed it awarded its former CEO, Mike Kennedy, a package worth at least £515,000, and an unidentified "senior employee" £620,000.

The payments were uncovered by investigative website Exaro.

The news comes after the BBC came under fire for paying out more than £25 million to 150 outgoing executives between 2009 and 2012.

Kennedy, who had an annual salary of around £150,000, was awarded a pay-out of around four times this, 18 months before he was eligible for retirement.

His package was made up of several payments worth between £45,000 and £170,000 each.

CPS accounts for the last financial year show that Kennedy was given between £45,000 and £60,000 to compensate him for not having a notice period, a lump sum of between £160,000 and £170,000 when he started drawing his civil service pension, and an unexplained "compensation" payment of between £255,000 and £260,000.

Kennedy would also have become eligible for the first year of regular payments from his pension, which amount to between £55,000 and £60,000 per year.

A CPS spokesman confirmed when Kennedy returned from his secondment eight months ahead of schedule he took up the position of chief operating officer, which he was in until his departure.