Central Beds Budget Meeting
Wednesday 23rd February
INSTEAD OF MORE CUTS GMB TELLS CENTRAL BEDS COUNCILLORS
TO REDUCE COST OF MANAGING COUNCIL FROM £2M A
YEAR
At the Council meeting on 24th February,
instead of going ahead with its proposals for cuts in jobs and
services councillors should look instead at cutting the cost of
managing the council
GMB has called upon the councillors in Central Bedfordshire
Council to actively set about reducing the costs of senior managers
in the council instead of going ahead with a series of cuts to jobs
and services.
At the meeting of the Council on 24th February 2011
the GMB is proposing that the Council cuts the cost of management
rather than going forward with the proposals for cuts for the
Council below:
- The closure of waste and recycling centres for 2 days per week
(estimated savings £60,000 per year).
- Cuts to street cleansing and waste services (estimated £400,000
savings).
- Reduction in the service at the Biggleswade Recreation Centre
(estimated £65,000 savings).
- Cuts to housing support and new affordable housing provision
(estimated £67,000 savings).
- Cuts in the number of posts in the Community Safety Team
(estimated £90,000 savings).
- The closure of LuDun sheltered workshop (estimated £300,000
savings)
- Cuts in residential care support (estimated £1.050m
savings)
- A complete closure of Houghton Regis Leisure Centre (estimated
savings of £172,000)
GMB calls to cut the costs of managing the council arises from a
new study by GMB of the Council accounts for Central Bedfordshire
Council shows that the salary costs of 21 Council Directors and
Assistant Directors amounts to between a minimum of £1,720,000 and
a maximum of £1,809,982 per year. This is before the cost of
pension contributions and expenses are taken into account. For six
directors these costs amounted to £171,505 in 2009/10. The interim
Chief Executive Jaki Salisbury cost the Council no less than
£368,788 including compensation of £258,000 for loss of office.
The table below shows the details for the top 21 senior managers
at the Council.
|
Last name
|
First name
|
Job title
|
FTE pay floor
|
FTE Pay Ceiling
|
Expenses and pension contributions where known 2009/10
|
|
Carr
|
Richard
|
Chief Executive
|
£185,000
|
£189,999
|
£18,747
|
|
Grant
|
Edwina
|
Director of Children's Services
|
£140,000
|
£144,999
|
£39,178
|
|
Ogley
|
Julie
|
Director of Social Care,Health & Housing
|
£140,000
|
£144,999
|
£32,581
|
|
Ellis
|
Richard
|
Director of Customer & Shared Services
|
£125,000
|
£129,999
|
£30,061
|
|
Alderson
|
Gary
|
Director of Sustainable Communities
|
£125,000
|
£129,999
|
£29,306
|
|
Bowmer
|
Matt
|
AD Finance & S151 Officer
|
£90,000
|
£94,999
|
£21,632
|
|
Fleming
|
Alan
|
BEAR Project Director
|
£90,000
|
£94,999
|
|
|
Thompson
|
Edward
|
AD Adult Social Care
|
£85,000
|
£89,999
|
|
|
Porter
|
Ian
|
AD Strategy & Performance
|
£80,000
|
£84,999
|
|
|
Wade
|
Elizabeth
|
AD Economic Growth & Regeneration
|
£80,000
|
£84,999
|
|
|
Keaveney
|
Anthony
|
AD Housing Services
|
£80,000
|
£84,999
|
|
|
Jones
|
Clive
|
AD Customer & Systems
|
£80,000
|
£84,999
|
|
|
McFarlane
|
Gordon
|
AD People
|
£80,000
|
£84,999
|
|
|
Moakes
|
Jane
|
AD Community Safety & Public Protection
|
£75,000
|
£79,999
|
|
|
Jackson
|
Basil
|
AD Highways & Transportation
|
£75,000
|
£79,999
|
|
|
Saunders
|
Trevor
|
AD Planning
|
£70,000
|
£74,999
|
|
|
Stanton
|
Georgina
|
AD Communications
|
£60,000
|
£64,999
|
|
|
Atkinson
|
John
|
Monitoring Officer
|
£60,000
|
£64,999
|
|
|
Brown
|
Ian
|
AD Assets**
|
|
Veredus
|
|
|
Gibson
|
Sylvia
|
AD Learning & Strategic Commissioning**
|
|
*information redacted
|
|
Wheeler
|
Mark
|
AD Children's Service Operations**
|
|
Carlisle Managed Solutions
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
See notes below
|
|
|
£1,720,000
|
£1,809,982
|
£171,505
|
Warren Kenny, GMB Senior Organiser said, “At the Council
meeting on 24th February, instead of going ahead with
its proposals for cuts in jobs and services Central Bedfordshire
Councillors should look instead at cutting the cost of managing the
council.
Central Bedfordshire Council is spending well over £2
million a year on directors and assistant directors at the Council.
Last year for some reason the interim chief executive cost the
Council £368,788 which was more than was needed to keep all 24
disable workers in work at LuDun.
Councillors need to look carefully at cutting the amount
of money that it is costing to manage the council as the priority
in these times of austerity has to be frontline
services.
At the forthcoming election in May GMB will seek to make
an election issue out of the fact that the Council seems to put a
higher priority on maintaining 21 directors and assistant directors
than it does in maintaining sheltered workshops for disabled
workers.”
Ends
Contact: Warren Kenny, GMB on 07843 632 394 or 01462 499650 or
Richard O’Leary, GMB Organiser on 07710 631347 or GMB Press Office:
Rose Conroy on 07974 251823 or Steve Pryle on 07921 289880.
Notes to Editors:
11 Source:
Transparency, spending and council directorates (http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/Council_departments/default.aspx)
2 Notes
for the salary table above.
* Information relating to one of these posts has been redacted
as it is sensitive in nature.
** These posts are currently covered by interim consultants not
directly employed by CBC. The consultancy that supplies these posts
is contained in the table above.
*** Richard Carr started in post at the end of October 2009
The code value shows which of the service areas the post is
located in. FTE stands for full-time Equivalent and depicts that
each of these roles are full time posts.
The salary of each of the Directors and Assistant Directors
(ADs) is shown in bands of £5,000 between the pay floor (bottom of
the £5,000 band) and the pay ceiling (top of the £5,000 band). The
salary of each of the Directors and Assistant Directors is within
this salary band.
3 LuDun
works is a sheltered workshop based in Dunstable where 24 adults
with disabilities are employed in picture framing and mounts, Wood
Machining and milling activities, Packing, Mail shots and Light
Assembly. This service was originally established in 1956 to
provide training, accommodation and other services and facilities
for people with disability or learning disabilities who were
incapable in obtaining normal employment. It is jointly funded with
Luton Borough Council and receives support from DWP.