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Cable wages a war on salaries as Town Hall pay soars
WHAT kind of a mess have the Lib Dems in Camden got themselves into?
Their own financial guru Vince Cable – who is probably the most popular politician in Britain – would surely frown if he scanned the pay scales for Camden Council’s chief executive and department chiefs.
This week, along with a variety of politicos and economists, Mr Cable has signalled there should be some kind of ceiling of pay in the banking industry – and the public sector.
He is not against bonuses, per se, but feels public sector pay is now a bit anarchic.
Would he be in favour of a pay differential at the Town Hall of twenty to one?
Whereas the chief executive Moira Gibb draws the highest salary of around £180,000, – more than £3,000 a week – the lowest-paid cleaners draw, in basic salary, less than £200 a week!
Somehow, pay for senior managers and departmental chiefs at town halls have gone through the roof in the past decade.
In the 1990s the head of, say, housing would draw around £60,000 a year.
Since then, the pay scale has gone up threefold!
Inflation cannot be used as a rationale for such increases.
To defend such pay scales, public sector mandarins dust down the argument bankers use: High salaries are needed to attract the best brains.
Failure to pay them will drive them into the private market, they say.
This is an untested argument and one that leads nowhere.
Once you accept it, the sky will become the limit at the Town Hall.
On that argument, we could soon find departmental chiefs drawing £200,000 a year. Or more. Indeed why stop there?
The only word that explains what’s happening is greed.
As for the Lib Dems and Tories, this is happening on their watch – and they are asleep.
Dangerous game
SOCIAL factors, such as cultural poverty, unemployment and poor youth facilities can be used to explain the situation on estates where patrol officers are being stoned by youths.
Sensible social engineering would probably alleviate matters.
But the fact that the patrols are now provided by a private company puts the council at arms length from the problem. We have always argued that lack of accountability is the worm that eats away at privatisation.
The political leaders appear to be turning a blind eye as if it is not their concern. Theirs is a dangerous game.
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