WHERE THE MONEY GOES

How many council employees earn over £100000? What % of school funding goes to management? How many Head Teachers earn over £100000. Arguments that private industries of similar size pay more are factually right but morally wrong. CEO’ os FTSE100 companies received a 34% pay increase this year. The gap between rich and the rest of us is widening.

Back to councils – when they out source activities that means less responsibility and work for management – do they take a pay cut? Parks, libraries, valuable assets are underfunded or sold off. Councils may have big budgets, but they are not competing with businesses so their salaries should not match them. All that is required is competence and maybe a little innovation on rare occasions.

The Rich List also revealed that 31 employees took home in excess of £250,000 in remuneration.

Here is what else you need to know:

Essex County Council had the greatest number of employees whose remuneration was in excess of £100,000, with 40 employees, five more than the previous year. Glasgow City Council had the highest number of employees receiving over £150,000 at 14, two more than the previous year. The deputy chief executive at Coventry City Council was the highest remunerated council employee in 2019-20, receiving £573,660 in total remuneration. This included a loss of office payment of £395,110, pension payment of £26,559, and salary of £151,991. The City of Edinburgh Council paid out the highest amount in terms of bonuses and performance related pay to a senior employee, with the general manager of Edinburgh Trams receiving a £48,895 bonus. Simon Baker the now former chief executive of High Peak Borough Council, claimed the most in expenses at £38,043.

What does the deputy chief executive of Coventry City Council do to deserve £573.660? How does Essex County Council justify 40 employees getting over £100000. They are not generating cash, just spending tax payers cash. And they claim expenses? Of up to £38043!

I am sure the same can be said for the NHS where board members pick up huge amounts for 1 or 2 days a month (Plus expenses and probably top notch lunch). The NHS is huge with a huge budget, but also a huge civil service to support it (but I suspect the Min of Health is occupied with things like Woke meetings to feed to the piranhas of the MSP. It probably needs reorganisation, but not for me or politicians to say how – leave this to the doctors and nurses, porters and paramedics.

Back to schools, whilst pay differentials are increasing, and non-teaching staff rocketing – at least it can be said that most gifted teachers remain teaching whilst the less able get promoted. A generalisation I know, but largely true. If a gifted teacher becomes a deputy head and therefore teaches for only 50% of the time – what abilities do they bring to the 50% of non teaching time? Could specifically trained people do the job better?