Today, Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, has been making great play about pay cuts for himself and deputies, and pay freezes for others in the 14 strong Mayoral Team...
"My two deputies will...be taking a £2,000 pay cut each" he told the media "...In a time of austerity the Labour Party in Salford do not think it is appropriate for political leaders to be increasing their salaries."
However if anyone cares to check the actual figures, available in a report on `remuneration' going to a full meeting of Salford City Council next week, they tell a completely different story.
According to the report, the two Deputy City Mayors, John Merry and Paula Boshell, are currently earning £30,000, and will in future pick up £32,000 for the same role. This is a pay rise of £2,000, rather than a pay cut. It's also a huge hike for the two councillors who, as mere Assistant Mayors in 2015/16, were paid £23,835.
John Merry told the Salford Star this morning that the £30,000 the deputies are currently receiving was an "interim and wasn't intended to be a final figure"...
The wage hike is revealed in a report relating to the Independent Remuneration Panel* on Mayoral Team allowances. The Panel originally recommended huge unacceptable pay rises for the City Mayor, his two Deputies, seven Lead Members and four Executive Support members, even though it was "acutely aware of the difficult economic climate and budget pressures facing the City Council".
The Panel recommended a rise for the City Mayor from the current £69,000 to a whopping £73,562; for the two Deputy Mayors a rise from the current £30,000 to £36,781; for the seven Lead Members a rise from the current £23,834 to £26,272; and for the four Executive Support members a rise from the current £20,476 to £21,017.
In the event, it was all a bit of a waste of time. The report notes that "The City Mayor also understood the Panel's concerns that the recommendation would result in an increase in the cost of the Mayoral Team which he agreed would place a further financial burden on the City Council"...
Instead, City Mayor, Paul Dennett, has recommended a decrease in his own pay from the current £69,000 to £63,000; the £32,000 for the two Deputy Mayors, and pay freezes for the seven Lead Members (£23,834 each) and four Executive Support members (£20,476 each).
There are still 14 members of the Mayoral Team, costing a total of £375,742; a reduction of £10,684 on previous years. The cut comes from £6,000 less for the Mayor and £4,684 less than the total of the previous wages for the Deputy Mayor (£44,850) and the previous Lead Member position (£23,834) which has now moved to the two Deputy Mayor roles costing £64,000.
"You are entitled to say it is a £2,000 pay rise but they fixed the level for the deputies at £36,000 and I'm not prepared to accept that" says John Merry "Is it £2,000 more than I'm getting at the moment? Yes, you can say that but it was only a temporary measure until they came up with their recommendation. It's a £4,000 cut below what they were suggesting."
If the amount suggested by the Panel has never been implemented, it can hardly be called a pay `cut', while £2,000 on top of £30,000 current pay can definitely be called a pay `rise'...
Meanwhile, the door is open for pay increases in the future... "The City Mayor supported the position of the Independent Remuneration Panel in that allowances should benefit from any cost of living increase applied through the NJC [Local Government] Pay Awards" states the report.
*The Independent Remuneration Panel was made up of Alison Page, Chief Executive, Salford CVS; Julie Charge, Director of Finance, Salford University; Phil Cusack, Chairman, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce; Neil McInroy, Chief Executive, CLES, and Liz McQue, Chief Executive, North West Employers. No fee was paid to any member of the Panel.
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