Council salaries to be made public

Published by Hannah Wooderson for 24dash.com in Local Government

Salaries and perks enjoyed by the top-paid local government officials in England must be published under new rules to be brought in before the end of this year, a minister announced today.

Local government minister Rosie Winterton said that the measure would affect the 2,500 best-paid council officials and would force authorities to show voters they are delivering "a fair deal on pay".

The move follows controversy over six-figure pay deals for council bosses and statistics showing that chief executives' pay has risen by an average £40,000 over the past seven years, compared to £6,000 for the average local government worker.

Ministers have voiced concern over football transfer-style moves by chief executives, who bump up their salaries by moving from one authority to another.

Communities Secretary John Denham has also asked the Audit Commission to look into so-called 'boomerang bosses' who take up new public sector jobs shortly after walking away from their previous post with a large payout. He also recently said he wanted to look at ways to limit the pension entitlements of the very highest earners.

Speaking to the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives today, Ms Winterton said: "In the current climate, the public rightly expect greater value for money from local services. We are setting some pretty clear mood music about making sure every taxpayer's pound is worked as hard as possible.

"Councils must be able to show they are providing a fair deal on pay in an open and transparent way - the public have the right to see the full picture.

"These new disclosure standards will simply bring councils up to the same high standards that are already required of civil servants, members of government and private sector organisations."

The new requirements, which can be introduced without a parliamentary vote by amending existing regulations, will affect 475 bodies in England, including county and district councils, London boroughs, the Greater London Authority and Transport for London, police, fire and waste authorities and the National Parks.

They will be obliged to publish in their annual statements of account not only the salary of top executives, but also bonuses, pensions, benefits in kind and compensation pay-offs when they leave their posts.

Shadow local government secretary Caroline Spelman said: "We welcome that the Government is belatedly introducing measures that we have long been calling for. But these changes do not go far enough and there needs to be far more openness and transparency in the public sector.

"All town hall spending on goods and services over £500 should be published online to give the press and public the power to scrutinise and stop wasteful spending."

Ms Winterton also announced £31 million for regional "efficiency crack squads" to help authorities tackle waste.