Council chief executives on 'best of all gravy trains'

Chief executive jobs in local authorities were today described as the "best of all gravy trains" after new research found six-figure salaries across the country.

The GMB said a study of published accounts for 151 county councils, London and metropolitan authorities in England showed that 129 chief executives were paid more than £150,000 a year.

The report said that two chief executives earned over £300,000, 14 earned between £250,000 and £300,000, 62 earned between £200,000 and £250,000 and 51 earned between £150,000 and £200,000.

GMB national officer Brian Strutton said: "Council workers will be sickened to learn how much their bosses are creaming off and the levels of their bosses pay.

"This is at a time when councils say they are hard up and are slashing jobs and services while telling staff to put up with a pay freeze. These same chief executives have had the gall to say their lowest paid workers will not get any pay rise this year.

"I can't believe that the council chief executives salaries have got so high with no obvious logic to explain this. You have to ask what our elected councillors are doing, voting through such obscene remuneration packages.

"Maybe the reported 20% increases in councillors' pay in recent years has got something to do with it. It could be a case of all snouts in the trough together."

The GMB also claimed there were a growing number of council chief executives being made expensively redundant one day and "popping up in another job" weeks later.

Mr Strutton added: "There has to be restraint at the top combined with fairness at the bottom and there is no point having one without the other."

Local Government Minister Bob Neill said: "Councils need to be leading from the front and exercising prudence in these difficult times.

"Too often salaries have not been matched by performance, with chief executives looking to cash in by moving from council to council like premiership football players.

"We need to stamp out a culture of duplication, which is why, in many cases, councils should be looking towards sharing chief executives.

"We hope, by requiring all local authorities to publish online information about the pay and perks of senior staff, we will cut out a culture of excess."

John Ransford, chief executive of the Local Government Association, said: "Chief executives are responsible for multi-million pound budgets in highly complex organisations, and councils are determined to attract the best and brightest people to deliver not only value for money, but the highest standards of public services.

"It is right that chief executive pay is subject to public scrutiny.

"Councils need talented people in top management positions and in deciding salary levels they have to balance this with other policy objectives, including the need, in a tight financial situation, for all salaries to be demonstrably reasonable."

Emma Boon, campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Taxpayers will be furious that town hall fat cats are trousering six-figure sums, whilst many families are struggling with the rising costs of living.

"In the last ten years council tax has more than doubled, but instead of this money going on better services for households, it's being paid out to senior officers in over-generous salaries.

"Chief executives and those at the top must take a pay cut if they are to retain any credibility or respect when they have to cut their own council's spending."