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Scie's chief executive Ray Jones is leaving the organisation just seven months after joining the new body following a dispute over his contract, writes Rachel Downey.

Jones is returning to his post as head of adult and community services at Wiltshire council because Scie cannot afford to guarantee him an early retirement deal if his current four-year contract is not renewed.

Jones told Community Care: "I feel sad that I'm in a position where I was being left, and I could have been left with no income or employment."

He added that he had enjoyed his time at Scie. "It's an important organisation, I have enjoyed working with the people at Scie, and it's been an exciting job. The only reason I left was that I had a contract which left me with no security at the end of four years."

Jones was looking for the same deal he had when working for Wiltshire, whereby if his contract was not renewed and he was aged 57, the local authority would have added the years to his pension so he could retire then.

But after taking legal and financial advice, the board of Scie decided it could not afford the additional cost of guaranteeing to make up Jones’s pension if his contract was not renewed. Scie receives around £3 million a year from the department of health, and a small sum from the Welsh Assembly.

Jones says he suggested the board extend his contract to six years, which would have left him with just one year before he could take his pension. This proposal was rejected as the job was advertised as a four-year fixed term contract, rather than a six-year one, and this could have deterred potential applicants.

Since his departure from Wiltshire in November, the post of director remained unfilled. It was re-advertised in March; Jones applied and was appointed.

Scie chairperson Jane Campbell said: "We are sorry to lose Ray Jones as chief executive. Using his extensive experience in the management and delivery of social services, he has made a tremendous contribution to the creation and early development of Scie."

Jones will leave the organisation at the end of August.