Councillor hits back at report over executive pay

Cllr Abdul Jabbar

FOUR staff members at Oldham Council currently earn more than £100,000 a year, new figures have shown.

The information, released by the local authority, follows an investigation by the TaxPayers' Alliance, which discovered that 2,314 council staff earned a six-figure sum in the UK in 2015-2016, a rise of 89 from the previous year. The organisation criticised local authorities for failing to scale back pay for those in top jobs at a time when council tax bills for residents increased.

Their research found that eight members of staff at Oldham Council earned over £100,000, a rise of two on the previous year, however the local authority has hit back to say the figures are now out of date.

Councillor Abdul Jabbar, deputy leader of Oldham Council, said: "These figures are now out of date. The report by The Taxpayers' Alliance criticises councils which have not reduced executive pay at a time when council tax bills are rising. However, we have done exactly that. In fact, we've cut the number of posts earning salaries more than £100,000 to just four.

"All those posts have financial responsibilities of tens of millions of pounds, therefore we must attract high calibre applicants and to do so we must pay the market rate.

"For an organisation with more than 2,600 staff to have just four staff earning in six figures is extremely low and among the lowest in the country."

Councillor Jabbar added that shrinking the executive structure had resulted in some high upfront costs due to redundancy and pension payments. This included a £358,000 remuneration - including £257,000 for loss of office compensation and £16,000 pension contribution- when the Director of Policy and Governance role was declared redundant in March 2016.

A further £261,000 remuneration - including £98,000 loss of office compensation and £25,000 pension contribution - was paid when the Executive Director of Economy and Skills role was declared redundant in March 2016.

Councillor Jabbar continued. "However, doing so will save us almost £500,000 per year going forwards. Our position on executive pay is that we believe we must strike a balance between paying competitive market rates and minimising costs. We believe we have done this effectively."

The Executive team consists of: Dr Carolyn Wilkins OBE (Chief Executive); Ray Ward (Executive Director Corporate and Commercial Services); Helen Lockwood (Executive Director Economy, Skills and Neighbourhoods); and Maggie Kufeldt (Executive Director Health and Wellbeing).

John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "The average council tax bill has gone up by more than £900 over the last 20 years and spending has gone through the roof. Disappointingly, many local authorities are now responding through further tax rises and reducing services rather than scaling back top pay."