MP is right to call for council fat cat change

I have to agree with the honourable member for Peterborough. Fat cat salaries in local government are now beyond acceptable levels.

Even way back when I worked as a journalist and covered local and central government issues daily, I didn’t have many occasions to agree with an MP.

But with over 2,750 local government employees on £100,000 and more, and hundreds on huge packages that include severance guarantees and generous pensions, there is an increasing number of councils pleading absolute poverty and seeking bankruptcy.

However, I haven’t seen too many headlines around council chiefs losing their jobs because they failed to lead and manage effectively. It seems there’s an undercurrent of ‘It’s not my fault guv - they just didn’t give us enough’.

Well, whether they did or whether they didn’t, a budget is a budget. Wipe the smug looks off your faces and try capping your salaries – even take a cut. Trying doing things we can admire rather than ridicule.

Add to this the fact that over 70 councils have approved staff requests to work from abroad and you wonder if the council tax payer is being taken seriously.

Council workforces up and down the country are worried they’ll lose their jobs, either immediately or next financial year. If this was the private sector, and bosses continued to take large salaries when their workforce faced losing jobs, there would be hell to pay. If it was the private sector asking for a handout so they could continue to earn their big money, people would be vehement in their outrage. And quite right too.

I have often wondered why, if there are several senior officers all managing their departments effectively and there’s strong elected political leadership providing direction, do we need highly paid chief executives? What do they bring to the table? They may promote their role in the community, but they’re silent when their council balls it up by involving itself in poor investments or in commercial sector enterprises.

Surely, it’s not unreasonable (as MP Paul Bristow suggests) for large salaries of over £100,000 to need the consent of the councillors? After all, these are the people who must explain cuts in service provision and standards to voters. These are the people who, week after week, decide on major issues for their senior officers, who merely make recommendations and then seek approval.

There seems to be a lack of focus. Councils should work for the benefit of their communities, providing statutory services ahead of non-statutory services, and do it effectively.

Families are struggling. If they don't have enough money this year, they have to make do: they have to cut back and change their lifestyle. In the main, they must manage. They can't just opt out of paying the bills and caring for their children.

Fat Cats should watch and learn.