SENIOR managers at Wiltshire Council are set for a bumper pay rise of up to £19,975 but the move has been heavily criticised.
The announcement comes after Wiltshire Council accepted 220 voluntary redundancies in July and are continuing to keep other staff on a pay freeze which has lasted three years.
The decision follows a recent review of management pay which found the council’s senior and associate directors were being paid under the median national salary the council has committed to and last week its staffing committee agreed to increase top executive pay. Currently there is 21 service directors who will receive this pay increase. However, this is due to be cut to 18, with a chief executive and three corporate director positions cut. This cut will see the total spent on salaries for senior management fall but individuals that remain will receive more.
Terry Chivers, Melksham Without Parish councillor has blasted the decision. He said, “I am totally shocked. Jane Scott, leader of Wiltshire Council, is suggesting that present rates of pay are adrift of similar posts in other councils. This may be the case but she is forgetting we have lost hundreds of jobs at Wiltshire Council. It is the Wiltshire Council taxpayers that will pick up the bill for this. It is high time that councillor Jane Scott and her cabinet woke up to live in the real world.”
Independent councillor Jeff Osborn said: “This is a gross inequality, and all this will do is add to the greater loss of morale. Jane Scott tells us that unless these senior salaries are massively increased, then Wiltshire Council will not be able to fill vital senior positions. As far as I know the one such unfulfilled position is in social work. It could be said that the fact that Wiltshire Council’s Children’s Social Work department was officially graded “inadequate” is a major factor for the lack of takers. Again it is negligence and incompetence.”
Council leader Jane Scott explained the decision as to why the pay increase was needed. She said, “The biggest risk for me is that we can’t recruit new managers. We already have key posts that we can’t recruit to.
“Why would people come to Wiltshire at the very lowest of local government pay rates, and take the highest of responsibilities in local government services?”
