Mayor James Palmer confirmed today that the interim finance director of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Karl Fenlon has left with immediate effect.

Confirming overnight speculation, Mayor Palmer said that Mr Fenlon’s contract was “being terminated” following a report he had presented to the overview and scrutiny committee on Monday, which challenged some of the spending proposals of the authority.

Mayor Palmer said that report had been issued without consultation with any of the two acting executives and that in fact all of the schemes in the combined authority pipeline had been costed and funding arrangements put in place.

In a statement issued by Mayor Palmer this morning, further to Mr Fenlon’s presetation to scrutiny on Monday, he said: “Fenlon acted without prior notification to the CEO’s and gave misleading information to scrutiny, failing to take note of timelines for schemes and of the full review of the authority currently being carried out by John Hill.

“He then refused to read out a clarification statement on Wednesday.It has been confirmed by senior finance officers that our top schemes are all financed at the present time and will not be affected. The budget is fully balanced.

“Karl Fenlon’s contract with the authority is being terminated.”

The crunch came to a head on Wednesday when Mayor Palmer ‘instructed’ Mr Fenlon to issue a statement of clarification to the full board meeting of the combined authority.

Mr Fenlon did not attend the meeting.

Mayor Palmer was in buoyant mood today as he prepared for a meeting of the audit committee in Ely.