Public Money Wasted at WECA While Dan Norris Led Animal Charity in Crisis
Dan Norris’s troubled record as Metro Mayor of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) is coming into sharp focus, with auditors and councillors branding his final year in office a “public scandal” of financial mismanagement. The revelations come against the backdrop of his simultaneous role as Chair of the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS), the embattled animal charity already mired in controversy during his leadership.
According to reports from BBC News and Somerset Live, WECA spent almost £476,000 in 2024/25 on “substantial” exit packages for departing senior staff, as well as other settlements to resolve grievances. Auditors Grant Thornton concluded the payments may have been “reasonable in context” but warned they were “not reflective of good value for money in general terms.”
The payouts, which included the departures of three directors, came after years of bitter disputes between Norris and both council leaders and senior officers. A previous audit had already found a “damaged relationship” at the top of WECA, with government inspectors issuing a best value notice in 2024 that placed the authority under effective special measures.
One councillor, Jonathan Hucker, described the nearly half a million pounds spent on exit packages in a single year as “a completely shocking waste of public money,” calculating it to be equivalent to the annual tax contributions of 110 average earners. Fellow councillor Stephen Williams said it was “pretty extraordinary” that an authority in existence for nearly a decade was still receiving a red rating for governance.
The BBC further revealed that during Norris’s tenure almost £900,000 of public money was spent either on staff pay-offs or settling employment tribunals. Senior officers were also able to create additional management roles in breach of WECA’s constitution.
Norris, who served as WECA Mayor from 2021 until May 2025, has defended his record in the past by describing the authority as “dysfunctional” when he arrived. But the scale of the pay-offs and the revolving door of senior departures under his watch have left his legacy in tatters.
The audit reports cover the same period Norris was also leading the League Against Cruel Sports, where his chairmanship coincided with internal disputes, cancelled events, and a collapse in donor confidence. While no direct link has been drawn between his handling of WECA and LACS, the overlap will raise eyebrows for supporters and critics alike: two organisations, both plagued by poor governance, under the same hand.
Norris was elected MP for North East Somerset and Hanham in July 2024, but weeks later was arrested on suspicion of rape, child abduction, sexual offences against a girl, and misconduct in public office. He resigned as Chair of the League in March 2025 following his arrest. He remains on police bail and has not been charged.
