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Council Pay & Pensions
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Communities Secretary Eric Pickles says:
“Councils must slim down pay packets” Go
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Hugh Dunnachie, LBH’s Chief Executives is currently paid £184,459 pa
What people are saying about senior council pay and pensions Go
Audit Commission report on payments to Chief Executives Go
New Remuneration Disclosure Regulations Go
LBH Pension Scheme £50 million in the red Go
Council’s rich list revealed Go
The salaries paid to Councillors and Cabinet Members 08/09 Go
Salaries of Senior LBH Council Officers at Feb 2010 Go
Audit Commission report July 2010 - “,,investments have failed to deliver the anticipated returns and the funds currently cover only about three-quarters of the scheme’s future liabilities”. Go
What people are saying about senior council pay and pensions
Gordon Brown has described the increasingly generous remuneration of council executives as “unacceptable”. He said money that should be spent on public services was “going on excessive salaries and unjustified bonuses”. (The Daily Telegraph of 18th Feb 2010)
Local authorities are fat-cat fiefdoms .... more of their officers earn gold-plated salaries that they are desperate to keep secret. Details
Council chiefs pension pots to stay secret Details
“The (pension) schemes are elitist: the biggest gainers are not the cleaners but the chief executives” says Professor Philip Booth of the Institute of Economic Affairs He urges reform to defuse this time bomb! Details
“Local government needs to take an axe to its own final salary pension scheme before change is forced on the sector from outside” says the new president of the Public Sector People Managers’ Association Details
Council’s rich list revealed Details
Audit Commission report on payments to Chief Executives
Severance payements are often paid to Council Chief Excecutives to get them to go quietly. In March 2010 the Audit Commission publised a report on “Severance payments to council chief executives “. It looked at council chief executives’ job moves over 33 months, and found that:
Agreed severance packages for 37 council chief executives totalled £9.5 million, 40 per cent of which was in pension benefits.
This is an average of £257,000
Three in every ten outgoing council chief executives received a pay-off
This rate seems to be growing
The average cost to councils of each severance package was almost double the annual basic salary, but in four cases was more than triple.
Not all such deals are justified.
A way should also be found of recouping some of a pay-off where an executive moves quickly into another top council job.
The Commission wants all deals to be more transparent. They should be reviewed by scrutiny or remuneration committees, with details published shortly after they are agreed. And councils should consider whether to include so-called ‘pre-nuptial’ clauses in contracts, specifying the grounds and payment for severance.
Mathew Ball has made an Freedom Of Information request for details of the severence payments made to Dorian Leatham, the previous LBH Chief Executive. He has also asked if there any terms in the contract of the current Chief Executive that prescribe an exit payment? To see his request go to
www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/chief_executive_payoffs
New Remuneration Disclosure Regulations
Under the Account & Audit Regulations 2009 Councils will have to disclose in their annual accounts the following remuneration details:
For Senior employees ie. those earning £150,000 pa or more and certain departmental heads earning over £50,000 pa : job title (not name except if salary is over £150,000 pa) salary, fees and allowances, bonuses, expenses allowance, compensation for loss of employemnt, employers pension contribution, and any other emoluments.
For other employees earning £50,000 pa or more: number of employees in each £5,000 pa band
Government’s explanatory memorandum
LBH Pension Scheme £50 million in the red
The LBH pension scheme is a final salary scheme providing guaranteed benefits regardless of the performance of the underlying investments. Any shortfalls have to be met by Council in other words by you and me. In the private sector such schemes have largely been abandoned on cost grounds.
The last actuarial review was based on valuations at 31/03/07. The fund then had a deficit of £50 million. The next review will be based on the position at 31/03/10.
Council’s £100,000 rich list revealed
by Dan Coombs, Uxbridge Gazette
May 13 2009
A NUMBER of staff at Hillingdon Council raked in salaries of over £100,000- with one even receiving a 84.5 per cent pay rise. Figures uncovered by pressure group the Taxpayer's Alliance under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal which staff are members of the privileged £100,000 club.
The town hall rich list shows that Hillingdon's Chief Executive, Hugh Dunnachie, earned £184,459 upon taking up the job, during the financial year from 2007-08, an increase from £100,000 the year before.
In the time period of 2007-08 there were a total of eight staff who still work at the council earning in excess of £100,000, an increase on the previous year. Despite the astronomical salaries of the senior officers, the council was only awarded a lowly two stars by the audit commission.
Peter Silverman, who runs Hillingdon Watch, a website set up to scrutinise the council, said: "Its horrendous, an absolute disgrace, there is no way that anybody needs to earn that amount of money.
Over the past year I have taken up a number of issues with the higher officers and the response has been lacking in quality.
One can only conclude that we are being exploited by a huge gravy train, including officers, cabinet members, councillors, and it is time it was brought to a halt.
We need a proper mayor who is an independent businessman. It is quite likely that all of these people have substantial pensions too."
Prime Minister Gordon Brown earns a £194,250 salary, only £10,000 more than Hillingdon Council's chief executive. Maria Fort, Policy Analyst at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:
“The size of council executives’ pay and perks is staggering, and every year the cost continues to rise. With bills rising and services stagnating, in too many town halls there is a culture of rewarding failure.
Councils must start tightening their belts, we’re in a recession and many of these rewards are financially unsustainable and morally indefensible."
A spokesperson for Hillingdon Council said:
"Of the 3,500 staff that work for Hillingdon Council, less than 0.5 per cent earn over £100,000 per year. These staff are responsible for managing the delivery of around 800 different services, a turnover of more than £1 billion a year, numerous facilities such as parks, libraries, schools and leisure centres and 3,500 staff.
As well as delivering improving services, through strong and efficient management, the council has delivered more than £30m in savings in the last three years, making us one of the most efficient councils in the country and providing good value for money for our residents.”
Hillingdon was one of the few councils not to provide exact salaries for individuals and gave the information in bands.
What do you think? Do the senior officers represent good value for money?
E-mail dancoombs@trinitysouth.co.uk to have your say.
The salaries paid to Councillors and Cabinet Members 08/09
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Responsibility
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Special Responsibility Allowance
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With Councillor’s Allowance
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Councillor
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£10,100
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Mayor
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£20,513
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£30,613
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Deputy Mayor
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£ 8,000
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£18,100
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Leader
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£50,753
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£60,853
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Dep Leader
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£42,753
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£52,753
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Chief Whip
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£20,513
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£30,613
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Leader of 2nd Party
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£20,513
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£30,613
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Dep Leader 2nd party
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£ 5,275
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£15,375
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Chief Whip 2nd Party
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£ 5,275
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£15,375
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Cabinet Member
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£35,753
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£45,853
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Chairman Scrutiny and Policy Overview Committee
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£20,513
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£30,613
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2nd Party Leader On Scrutiny and Policy Overview Committee
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£ 5,275
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£15,375
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Chairman Of Planning Committee
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£20,513
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£30,613
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Party Lead on Planning Committee
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£ 5,275
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£15,375
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Chairman of Licensing Committee
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£ 7,500
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£17,600
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Chairman of Standards Committee
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£ 2,750
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Non elected council appointee
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Vice Chairman of Standards Committee
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£ 1,000
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Non elected council appointee
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Chairman Of Audit Committee
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£ 2,750
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£12,850
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Champion
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£ 5,275
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£15,375
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Cabinet Assistant
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£ 8,000
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£18,100
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