DCLG presses ahead with disclosure of senior pay in local government
The government this week set out how it plans to force local authorities to disclose the pay and perks of their top employees and name those earning more than £150,000.
The new rules affect 475 local authority bodies – apart from councils, they apply to joint authorities, the Greater London Authority, national park authorities, waste authorities, Transport for London, police and fire authorities.
Under the regime, councils will have to name individuals earning more than £150,000 in £5,000 bands. Pay information covering salary, bonuses, pensions, perks and severance pay outs will now be included in councils’ annual statement of accounts.
The move comes a week after the Department for Communities and Local Government confirmed that local government will be included in the senior public sector pay review, which is being led by Bill Cockburn and is due to report before next year’s Budget. The review is expected to include recommendations on pay and bonus caps.
Communities Secretary John Denham said: “The average pay of a local government worker has gone up by £6,000 in seven years while the average for a chief executive has gone up by £40,000. I know most of these people have given a lifetime of public service. But in some cases this has gone too far.”
The new regulations amend the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 and make it a requirement for ‘remuneration disclosure’ to include salary, bonuses, additional payments, compensation or ex gratia payments, benefits in kind and pensions. The DCLG said the disclosure proposals were in line with recommendations from the Information Commissioner's Office.
In addition to naming individual officers earning more than £150,000, the accounts will provide details of other ‘senior employees’ by post title. The latter covers those individuals earning £50,000 per year and who hold ‘senior’ positions. In local government, that will cover chief executive officers and their direct senior reports “and can be considered equivalent to ‘board’ level”.
Earlier this month the Director-General of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives warned that an increasing number of local authority chief executives are considering quitting over the relentless attacks on their pay.
David Clark said the political attacks were “sound bite politics trying to score cheap points”. He pointed out that the average unitary chief can expect a salary of about £145,000, compared to £380,000 for a similar role in a private sector healthcare or £274,000 in higher education.
