Senior Council Staff Pay Rises Again!!!
The number of council employees earning six-figure salaries rose by 18% last year, figures today show.
Research by the Taxpayers’ Alliance suggested almost 2,300 council staff were earning over £100,000, while 500 were earning between £150,000 and £200,000. The number receiving in excess of £250,000 more than doubled from 19 to 48 over the same period. This is despite the urgent need to find savings and many councils claiming that they are being forced to cut services because they are getting less money from central government.
The ‘Town Hall Rich List’, a ‘who’s who’ of ‘local fat cats’, was seized upon by the government, which is doing all it can to clamp down on excessive spending by local authorities. In 2009/10 the pay bill for senior officers in local government reached nearly £600 million a year and hit £50 million for chief executives’ pay.
Top of the “rich list” was Phil Dolan, whose redundancy package on stepping down as South Somerset chief executive last March totalled £569,000. He received £157,000 in pay and allowances, another £6,000 in “benefits in kind”, £167,000 in compensation for loss of office, and £239,000 in contributions to his pension.
Local Government Minister, Grant Shapps, said: “Labour ministers failed to ensure proper transparency and local accountability to keep it in check,” He called on local authority leaders to follow the example of government ministers and take a pay cut, adding that “the new government is opening up the pay of middle and senior management to greater scrutiny, and will require any six-figure salaries to be approved – or vetoed – by elected councillors in the full public glare of the council chamber”.
To read the full report click here
Jason McGee-Abe
Project Support Officer
