£50,000 town hall salaries soar as staff cut

With front-line services facing the axe, a Yorkshire Post investigation can reveal the number of staff earning £50,000 a year or more shot up by 35 per cent from 1,272 in 2007 to 1,712 last year – with some of the biggest increases occurring in the last 18 months.

Of the 22 councils in our region, only the small authorities of Hambleton and Richmondshire actually cut the number of high-earning officers during the period, with major councils such as Leeds, Sheffield, North Yorkshire, Hull and Bradford all overseeing big percentage increases while in York the figure more than doubled from 30 to 62.

Not all councils were prepared to reveal what their current figures are. Some have made cutbacks but others have seen the trend continue to rise, despite the Government slashing local authority grants.

The news comes as council budgets this week revealed cuts to services across the region of more than £1bn, with 14,500 job losses confirmed.

The authorities defended the increase, with some blaming additional redundancy payments while others said they had taken on additional responsibilities.

However, the wage rises were condemned by the Government, which called for salaries to be cut by up to 10 per cent.

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: “We have delivered a tough but fair financial settlement for councils but they will only be able to protect front-line services if they rein in staff costs and cut back on waste. Local people will not tolerate service cutbacks whilst senior council staff pocket pay increases.”

The spokesman said Secretary of State Eric Pickles has called on high-earning local government employees to take a voluntary pay cut of between five and 10 per cent.

Tory MP Philip Davies warned councils need to “get their house in order” after enjoying years of “largesse”.

Mr Davies, the MP for Shipley, said: “Local government has basically enjoyed huge largesse over recent years, employing people that do the sorts of jobs that if they weren’t there, ratepayers wouldn’t notice the difference.

“I’m talking about political correctness jobs, climate change jobs, jobs that have nothing to do with the key services people pay their council tax for.

“Most Yorkshire Post readers would be able to put their heads together and work out ways that local authorities could cut their spending without hitting front-line services.

“These services were running effectively in 2007 when this investigation shows a lot fewer people were earning these sums – the local authorities should be able to get their houses in order and run them effectively now.”

Leeds City Council saw an increase from 263 three years ago to 316 last year, although the authority said that will be cut to 285 this year.

In North Yorkshire, where 23 libraries are earmarked for closure as part of a £37m package of cuts, the county council increased high- earning officers from 79 to 109, and then to 111 this year.

A spokeswoman for the authority said: “Any increase is due to the fact the county council has had to take on some external services.”

Bradford Council also saw an increase this year, from 65 in 2007 to 81. A spokeswoman said: “Our strict vacancy control policy and senior management restructure has so far saved £4.6m and we expect to save a further £5m.”