Title

The Welsh Local Government Association has called for ‘fair' scrutiny across all senior public sector salaries, following criticism of council pay. It defended the wages of senior local government figures following intense scrutiny of salaries, after a Freedom of Information request from BBC Wales and the publication of a so-called ‘rich list' by the Taxpayers' Alliance. WLGA chief executive, Steve Thomas, said chief executives held the most senior posts in local government, were responsible for critical daily services depended on by communities, and dealt with budgets in excess of £200m. ‘The recent study by the Institute of Fiscal Studies berated the fact that at all levels, Wales as a nation is the poorest paid in the UK,' he said. ‘If we are to attract top professionals in from the UK and beyond, then this debate, based on crude relativism without reference to responsibilities, is hugely damaging.' He explained senior local authority managers in Wales were collectively responsible for a budget in excess of £5bn, and a workforce of at least 160,000 people. The WLGA has called for similar scrutiny across all parts of the Welsh public sector in terms of salaries for post holders in the NHS, Welsh civil services, and the publicly-funded Welsh media, particularly BBC senior executives. The average salary of a local authority CE in Wales is below their English counterparts at a similar structural level. For example £117,000 in Wales, and £150,000 in English metropolitan authorities In north-east Wales, the average CE salary in 2006 was approximately £106,000, compared with neighbouring Chester at £161,000 Cardiff CE Byron Davies is reportedly Wales' highest earner on £151,000 This week, the following salaries were advertised for CE positions in England: £165,000 for Isle of Wight, £180,000 for Northumberland, £200,000 for Durham.

Title

FINANCE

Welsh chiefs' pay 'lags behind England'

SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING