Salford City Council has published its draft accounts for the financial year 2018/19 which show obscene pay hikes for senior officers...
The Council's Chief Executive, Jim Taylor, picked up a total package of £243,707 compared to £198,290 during 2017/18. His basic pay rose from £168,662 to £204,290, with employer pension contributions rising from £29,628 to £39,417.
Between July 2018 and February 2019, Taylor also worked for Trafford Council in a "shared leadership arrangement" for which Trafford paid Salford £121,514, so the Council could argue that overall there was a saving – but there was still a huge pay hike for the Chief Exec.
Meanwhile, the Director of Place trousered over £20,000 more than the previous year, picking up a total package of £160,936 in 2018/19, compared to £141,341 in 2017/18. The rise is partly attributed in the accounts to the officer filling in for the Chief Exec while he worked at Trafford, and Trafford paid Salford £18,359 in reimbursement.
The Chief Finance Officer, who has overseen budget cuts to front line services, also got a hefty pay rise, with a total package up from £75,698 in 2017/18 to £89,127 during 2018/19.
The Director of Public Health was paid a total of £118,718 during 2017/18 (not including pension) during which there was another 'shared leadership' arrangement in place with Bolton, for which the Council received a £36,388 reimbursement. He left in September last year, having picked up £50,510 and was replaced by Salford's Consultant in Public Health who added the role to their existing work. This Interim Director of Public Health pulled in a package, including pension, of £92,670 for the seven months work.
The Strategic Director for People (total package £142,711) and the Director of Public Service Reform (total package £125,484) got relatively 'meagre' pay increases of over £2,000 each.
While Salford Council will argue, justifiably, that there has been an overall saving in the costs of senior officers - the number of non-school staff earning over £100,000 has reduced from six during 2017/18 to four during 2018/19 – there are still senior management members picking up obscene fat cat salaries as a result of management shifts that financially benefit those at the very top.
The numbers of non-school staff at the Council earning over £50,000 has increased from 75 in 2017/18 to 88 in 2018/19; and during 2018/19, 71 non-school staff left the Council via voluntary redundancy or early retirement, the majority in the £20,000 or under wage bracket.
*Any resident of Salford has the right to inspect the Council's draft accounts and ask questions until 12th July. To see the accounts – click here - and to arrange an inspection phone 0161 793 2016.
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