The 1 2m bill for Norfolk s council chief executives

Post on: 2011-08-28 By: admin

Chief executives of councils across Norfolk were collectively paid more than £1.2m in the past financial year, new figures have revealed.
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Norfolk County Council’s chief executive David White was the biggest earner, with his basic salary of £205.400 increasing to £256,900 once a £12,300 performance bonus and contributions to his pension were added on.According to the council’s statmement of accounts, which have yet to be audited, that saw Mr White, who joined the county council in 2006, £6,800 worse off than the previous year - a 12-month period which has seen his authority agree £155m worth of cuts and the shedding of 750 full-time equivalent jobs.Derrick Murphy, leader of Norfolk County Council, said Mr White was worth his pay packet, which is higher than Prime Minister David Cameron’s £142,500 annual salary.He said: “I think, apart from Derbyshire, David has more chief officers who report to him than any other council in the country.“He is working very hard and at a time when there is massive change at the council. It’s all well and good for us as councillors to say we want to save £60m this year, but it’s up to David and his staff to do the work to make that happen.“We have had to make some very tough decisions and I understand why the issue of pay comes up. But he is having to work hard and has also had a pay drop.”Mr Murphy added Mr White’s experience as former chief executive of Suffolk Health Authority would prove invaluable when the county council takes on the public health role of care trusts once those trusts are phased out by 2013.In May, county councillors in Norfolk scrutinised the role of their chief executive in the light of calls from communities secretary for more councils to save cash by sharing top officer posts.Some district authorities including Breckland and South Holland are already sharing chief executives, while Great Yarmouth and South Norfolk had been exploring the idea before pulling the plug last month.But the county council’s corporate resources overview and scrutiny panel gave the thumbs down to such an idea at County Hall, although they acknowlegded work needs to be done to raise public awareness of the role played by the chief executive in providing high quality, value for money services.Elsewhere, examinations of 2010/11 accounts at other local councils reveal that Norwich City Council chief executive Laura McGilivray saw her total remuneration, including employer pension contributions, increase from £156,626 to £158,360, while Broadland District Council’s departing top officer Colin Bland’s total fell from £135,371 to £130,264.Sandra Dinneen, chief executive at South Norfolk Council enjoyed an increase, with her total remuneration, including basic salary, expenses and employer pension contributions up from £133,469 to £146,498.Philip Burton, chief executive at North Norfolk District Council, saw a slight increase in his total, from £136,386 to £136,600.While the statement of accounts for Great Yarmouth Borough Council and West Norfolk Council are not yet available on-line, most recently published figures show Yarmouth’s managing director Richard Packham (received a total of £134,700 in 2009/10 and West Norfolk’s chief executive Ray Harding received a basic salary of £114,183.Terry Huggins, who is chief executive of Breckland District Council and South Holland District Council in Lincolnshire, has half his £124,000 basic salary paid for by Breckland.The new interim chief executive at Suffolk County Council, Lucy Robinson, has been appointed on a six month period on a salary of £150,000 pro rata - considerably less than the controversial £218,000-a-year her predecessor Andrea Hill earned before she resigned from the authority last month.dan.grimmer@archant.co.uk
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Ah let's be honest NRG. Politicians aren't realistically accountable. They only become forced out if they tarnish the party's image. We only have elections and even then many of those involved in the expenses scandal were voted back in.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
And to keep their jobs they want to cut frontline jobs in public services. £12,300 bonus.. We have'nt had a payrise in 2yrs and told another 2yr freeze!!!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Politicians are accountable, we have the power to boot them out.This lot of tax payers wasters we can't. So IMO they are far more corruptible and unaccoutable to the public they serve.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
It won't compare to Messrs Cameron, Clegg, Osborne or even Fred the Shred.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
anglia_squared, Tee hee..don't you think these top officers are also set up for life with their ring fenced pension pot.
Do you know I'm not a councillor
Friday, August 26, 2011
Let's be honest, these executives aren't really getting a better deal than the PM. The PM is set up for life and is already on his 5th holiday this year. If you look at what the PM gets in pensions, security and over the long term it does not really compare to the Chief of Norfolk County Council!
Friday, August 26, 2011
At least I know why I am losing bus services and the use of the excellent and safety of the waiting room at Norwich bus station. I use the National Express service which runs through the night. Now, in the early hours I and fellow passengers are exposed to the weather and drunks. And how can a council leader be paid a great deal more than the Prime Minister. And a performance bonus? What does this man produce ? Unfortunately , this country is run by a shiny bottomed paper shuffling army of civil servants and much as the politicians huff and puff nothing will change.
Friday, August 26, 2011
To merrydancer, it is you who is not living in the real world.Council employees work in what is effectively a closed shop and it is a fact they are paid more than private sector employees for equivalent jobs.If senior council staff are so good, why are they not poached by the private sector?They should not be paid a bonus for doing what they are paid to do.As regards the £30m, that was Irresponsible and if it is not recovered heads should roll as it would have done in the private sector.And no generous leaving packages either please.
Friday, August 26, 2011
I have been a constant critic of David White’s remuneration package for over two years now, but the NCC Cabinet equally constantly trots out the same old excuses for awarding it when I ask questions. He leads a team that is responsible only for spending – not raising – a large pot of money. Many members of that team are also overpaid. (Do we need a head of “customer services and communications” on £110k a year?) Are they there because of their own outstanding expertise? If they are, then why does NCC pay out millions each year on buying in help from external consultants? (In relation to the waste incinerator project alone it has on board Sharpe Pritchard and Ernst & Young – national law and accountancy firms respectively – planning consultants Mott MacDonald and technical consultants Enviros.) And what happens when disaster occurs? Does anyone resign? The answer is no. At his level, David White should have accepted responsibility when the Icelandic banks debacle occurred and stood down. Only three authorities in the country had more invested than NCC. It is still chasing over £30 million three years on. Suffolk County Council has at last seen sense and set its chief executive’s pay at a generous £150k a year. Does this not tell NCC that for no other reason it should not be paying David White £100k more than that?
Friday, August 26, 2011
Since when is "working very hard" a reason for excessive and obscene payout amounts. Is Mr Murphy implying that everyone under this "King" is not "working very hard". If they "work very hard", why are they not receiving bonus pay also.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Oh here we go again....those who probably earn at best £25k a year, whinging that someone who is probably much better educated and talented than they are, is getting paid "too much". Some people really need to get into the real world and see what is earned in the private sector...believe me, a £150k a year salary is relatively modest in comparison to what is possible in the private sector. The old adage is true - pay peanuts and get monkeys at the end of the day....clearly there may be monkeys involved on £150k a year in local government (and this is of course a side issue that needs addressing), however these type of people are needed and are paid the going rate for the role. If you don't like it, then perhaps you should have studied harder at schoolgone to a better university etc etc so that YOU could be the one with the big pay packet instead. But whatever you do, don't fall into the trap of thinking that these roles are "easy", they are not...and challenging jobs deserve a premium salary.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Even with all this high pay and bonus payments, Norwich and Norfolk slips further into a quagmire a decline.
Friday, August 26, 2011
How can Mr White's Performance related pay bonus be £12,300 - This bonus is more than the average pensioner gets to live on each year?What performance was so good that it deserved this kind of bonus? This is OUR TAX PAYERS MONEY being given away to these Rich People, whilst we suffer the cut backs!
Friday, August 26, 2011
There can be no justification for those levels of salary for anyone.
Friday, August 26, 2011
It seems so wrong that public sector employees are being forced out and services are taking a battering while those at the top are failing to take the pain. The gap between rich and poor is growing. I mean Mr Cameron's on his 5th holiday this year, I'm only now going on my first in 2 years!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Why do these people need to have "Performance related bonuses". Surely as professionals, and well paid at that, they should be taking a pride in the work that they do and not need to be paid extra if they actually do the job that they are paid to do.
Friday, August 26, 2011
£252K....Its a wonder how Mr White remained in his job after the Icelandic banking debacle.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Mr Murphy appears to think that having a lot of Chief Officers reporting to the Chief Executive is a good thing.An alternative view is that it shows a council that is top heavy is senior management.If there are more chief officers how does their pay compare to othere councils?It should be less because they have fewer responsibilties. For every chief officer there will be lots of senior support staff, also well paid but this inevitably means greater costs to tax payers.No problem in staff being paid an appropriate rate for a job well done but it is an established fact that public sector employees are better paid than in the private sector for an equivalent job.There is still plenty of fat to be pruned back to give tax payers better value without cutting services any more.
Friday, August 26, 2011
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Article original from: http://www.edp24.co.uk/the_1_2m_bill_for_norfolk_s_council_chief_executives_1_1005029