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Rumours of golden handcuff deals for officers in district councils facing reorganisation have been dismissed as a ‘cheap political stunt'. LGA Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Richard Kemp claimed some officers are asking for a 20% bonus to stay in place until the new unitaries take over in 2009. Cllr Kemp told the MJ that he heard reports some senior management teams at unnamed district councils who were asking their political leaders about ‘handcuff deals'. ‘We are moving in unchartered waters,' he added. Cllr Kemp said a lot of financial figures were already ‘iffy' and could become ‘even iffier'. In a letter to Liberal Democrat councillors, he wrote: ‘I would urge you to resist this disgraceful attempt by a small minority of officers to pick the pickets of council tax payers.' But Unison's head of local government, Heather Wakefield, said: ‘The move to amalgamate councils and create single unitary authorities does undoubtedly create the prospect of job losses for council workers if the process is not handled fairly and properly. ‘Far from exploiting them for a cheap political stunt, councillors and employers should realise that the prospect of losing one's job is a deeply distressing time for staff and their families. The leader of Macclesfield BC, Wesley Fitzgerald, has called for warring local authorities in Cheshire to bury the hatchet. ‘The minister has made a decision, said Cllr Fitzgerald. ‘The time has come for all elected members to represent the taxpayers of Cheshire and to work with officers and councillors across the county to implement the two-unitary proposal.' But Cheshire CC's communications and community executive member, Cllr Nora Dolphin, said the local authority had a ‘duty' to speak out against the plans ‘in the strongest possible terms'.

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Golden handcuff deals for district staff come under fire

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