SALFORD FAT CATS PART SIX - HOUSING SPECIAL
To see Salford Fat Cats Part One – click here
To see Salford Fat Cats Part Two – click here
To see Salford Fat Cats Part Three – click here
To see Salford Fat Cats Part Four – click here
To see Salford Fat Cats Part Five – click here
Austerity and public sector cutbacks haven't stopped some Chief Execs, Directors and top earners lapping up the cream of public money. In Part Six we look at the `non-profit' companies providing social housing in Salford…
SALIX HOMES
The Salford Council-connected social house provider is currently looking at its future options. But its top earners will have loads of options with their bumper pay packets!
For the financial year 2010- 2011, five Executive Officers shared a bowl of cream worth £462,000, compared to £368,000 the previous year. The Salix accounts don't specify who got what, but a Freedom of Information request has revealed that in 2010-11 the Chief Exec got a salary and pension package of £105,411 – plus a car allowance of £925, and eligibility for a performance bonus of up to 10% of his annual salary!
Meanwhile, not far behind, was the Director of Services in the Neighbourhood with a salary and pension package of £86,877 plus £925 car allowance and eligibility for a performance bonus. This Director was actually `seconded to other work streams', so Salix coughed up for an interim Director on a salary of £67,374, plus that £925 car allowance and the performance bonus deal.
The Director of Finance and IT, and the Director of Improvement and Customer Services didn't miss out, with both trousering a salary and pension package of £80,608 plus £925 car allowance each and eligibility for the performance bonus.
Perhaps Salix should get its tenants to vote on whether its directors should get a `performance bonus' on top of such huge pay packets…
CITY WEST
The `not for profit' housing trust which manages over 14,500 former council homes in West Salford, actually managed to make a `surplus' of over £11million during the last financial year…as its Fat Cats got fatter!
The highest paid Director at City West got an `emoluments' package of £152,153, excluding pension, in the year to March 2012 – a rise of almost £23,000 on the previous year.
Altogether five City West Directors got paid over £100,000 in the 2012 financial year, compared to four the previous year.
Also earning from being on the Board in 2012 were Salford City Councillors Robin Garrido (£1,310), James Dawson (£1,896), Joe Kean (£1,686) and Adrian Brocklehurst (£1,613).
Councillor Brocklehurst left the board in June 2012, to be replaced by Councillor Michael Wheeler. Altogether, over £22,000 was paid in remunerations and expenses to councillors and tenants/leaseholders who sit on the City West Board.
City West, which made a surplus during the 2011-12 financial year of £11.278million, describes itself as having `charitable objectives'. But during that year made charitable donations of just £3,005. Meanwhile, its employees made donations of £3,901.
CONTOUR
Contour Housing Group merged with Vicinity Housing Group to become Symphony Housing Group in April 2011. It gets loads of social housing grants for Salford and beyond.
Contour, a "charitable company", managed to make an operating surplus of £7.4million in the year to March 2012, while the Symphony Group made a surplus of £25.6million. Which is all good news for the Fat Cats.
While the former Chief Exec of Contour got a pay off in 2011 of £213,000, the current Chief Exec of Symphony pocketed £191,000 in emoluments and pension in the 2012 financial year, a rise of £12,000 on the previous year!
Symphony now describes itself as a `non charitable housing association', which isn't surprising - because during 2012 it gave nothing to charity, despite its £25.6m surplus.
GREAT PLACES
Great Places Housing Group Ltd has two subsidiaries – Great Places Housing Association, which has charitable status, and Plumlife Homes Ltd, which doesn't.
All the Group's activities are to do with social, supported and affordable housing in Salford and beyond, with Plumlife arranging shared ownership and equity deals, and operating the Homebuy scheme on behalf of the Government's Homes and Communities Agency.
In the financial year to March 2012 the Group made a surplus of almost £7.3million, up by over £4million on the previous year.
The Chief Exec of Great Places trousered emoluments during 2012 of £155,000, excluding pension payments; while the Association's five Executive Directors troughed £622,000 between them in emoluments and pensions. They are entitled to health insurance and the provision of a car or a car allowance. Non Executive Board sitters also got £39,000 between them.
IRWELL VALLEY
"Another fantastic year at Irwell Valley" states its Chair in her Annual Report for the year 2011-12, announcing a £3.4million surplus. Well it was certainly a `fantastic year for Irwell Valley's Chief Executive. He pocketed £200,000 in emoluments, excluding pension contributions – a £27,000 rise on the previous year!
Meanwhile eight members (excluding a few resignations) of Irwell Valley's Board of Management shared £65,000 in emoluments, and the Directors shared £431,000, although it doesn't say how many of them there actually are…
The Chief Exec also extended a loan of £35,000 taken out in 2005 to buy a car (!) and, with a £10,820 extension agreed this year, he still owes, er, £34,920. Hard times indeed!
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