'Paying too much for too little!' The Star's view on councils in financial difficulty paying officers so much
A report today reveals the high pay for council officers in organisations that are often in severe financial difficulties.
Anyone receiving increased council tax bills, or being forced to pay for green bins for the first time, will be interested to hear how many council officers are receiving more than £100,000 in salaries and benefits.
While we would not deny that a chief executive of a big council deserves to be well paid, it is bewildering that there are so many roles on the list – many of them paid at a similar level to the Prime Minister.
Councils must attract the best people to ensure they run smoothly. Those in charge have a large dose of responsibility to take on.
But when councils generally are in so much debt, there must be a better and more efficient way to manage services.
At the very least, it shouldn’t take an investigation from the Taxpayers Alliance to uncover these salaries. Councils should be forced to publish how they dish out taxpayers’ money and also to justify the high rates of pay.
There are good people in positions of responsibility who are working very hard and are making tough decisions.
They are ensuring compliance with a variety of laws, or managing large teams and they deserve adequate renumeration.
But there are also roles that are no longer affordable as councils feel the pinch and their coffers are emptied.
Leaner, more efficient service providers are required. There are those who are not deserving of such largesse at a time when council tax bills are high, when the general tax rate is very high, and when services are poor.
We are all paying too much for too little
