Town hall fat cats urged to cut own salaries

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles is heaping pressure on bosses, including some in Yorkshire, by calling for any chief executive earning more than 150,000 to cut their own pay by five per cent, with those on 200,000 taking a 10 per cent cut.

The move follows David Cameron's decision to cut Ministerial pay by five per cent when he moved into No 10, and Mr Pickles said chief executives should follow suit to show leadership as they are forced to make sweeping cuts.

Local authorities – who are braced for budget cuts of at least 25 per cent over the next four years – are also being warned the Government sees no case for offering salaries higher than the Prime Minister's 142,500 when appointing senior managers.

In an interview ahead of his speech to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Mr Pickles also suggested councils should consider a single chief executive operating across the whole of West Yorkshire to save money, and appealed to councils to share more services such as planning and legal advice.

"Their salaries have got completely out of kilter with reality and their responsibility," said Mr Pickles. "I'm not going to set a national pay scale, but I expect local authorities to do something about it.

"I think it would not be unreasonable for chief executives on 150,000 to take a five per cent pay cut, and if it's above 200,000 to take a 10 per cent pay cut.

"I took a pay cut, they should take a pay cut. How can they put through the reforms, the changes in public services that are going to be necessary, and be sat on these ludicrously high salaries?"

The move will pile pressure on a string of chief executives across Yorkshire who earn more than 150,000 including Wakefield's Joanne Roney who earns 184,410 a year, Tom Riordan who is on 180,000 at Leeds City Council, though less than his predecessor, and Tony Reeves, who is paid 178,476 in Bradford.

With mounting concern over levels of "fat cat" pay in the public sector in recent years, several authorities have cut chief executive salaries when there is a changeover.

Nicola Yates is paid 160,000 at Hull City Council, significantly lower than her predecessor, and North Yorkshire also reduced the salary it was offering to 155,000 when Richard Flinton took the job.

But Mr Pickles will have former Wakefield chief executive John Foster firmly in his sights. He earns 210,000 at Islington Council, a job he took up just after securing a pay-off worth 545,000 for leaving his West Yorkshire job.

Although the Government cannot interfere in existing terms and conditions – and is reluctant to avoid Whitehall diktats – Mr Pickles hopes to persuade chief executives to take the initiative.

One of Mr Cameron's first acts as Prime Minister was to announce the cut in ministerial pay in an attempt to show they were also making sacrifices in order to cut the budget deficit.

Ministers want councils to consider the Prime Minister's salary as a "benchmark" when they appoint chief executives.

Meanwhile, the former leader of Bradford Council has also called for councils to hurry up and meet Government demands to put details of all spending over 500 on their websites.

Councils have until January to do so, but so far only 60 have done so – including only Hambleton and Richmondshire in Yorkshire.

Mr Pickles said: "I've called for a new era of transparency where all councils publish their spending over 500 online. I commend those councils that have been brave enough to face public scrutiny so far."