I’ve always wondered how much you get paid if you worked as a councillor for local government, and after someone I was working with the other day was ranting about ‘they’re all on over £100,000 a year and that’s why we pay such high taxes’ I thought I’d try and find out. It varies, but its generally around £13,000 a year. What’s that, about half the national average?

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Were they getting councillors confused with the unelected council chief executives who do earn large sums ?

Ahh, maybe. What are they? I haven’t heard if them before…

Yes, you are confusing councillors who also generally have another full time job and council executive officers who are full time employees of the council. In all likelihood the head of your borough council is making well over £100k with a state pension linked to final salary

Its a nominally voluntary roll, so its an allowance rather than salary. They’re getting expenses for giving up their time for pubic duty – like doing jury service all the time. Theres a basic allowance but the cost of a councillor will be greater than their allowance and its not improbable that councillors could cost £100k each in terms of travel, events, administrative support and so on, even if they are pocketing far less. But most people who are salaried have no idea of how much they cost.

Thats why councillors are sometimes referred to as ‘The unemployed and the unemployable’.

Surely as someone running a huge multi million pound business, employing hundreds / thousands of people should get paid accordingly?

I mean, they would be if it were private sector.

So unless you want the council run by someone who will work for £30k… it’s probably money well invested?

Nice. Sounds like executive councillor is the one for me then!! 😉

And don’t forget the latest gravy train for failed politicians, that nobody other than failed politicians wanted – elected police commissioners. On between £70 – 100,000 too, with a nice big fat pension, and god only knows how much in expenses

So long as they are actually any good at their job!
Perhaps they could also sort their own pension and leave the funding to those who need it.

Yes m0rk, the person having the rant was annoying. It’s good to have the facts cleared up though….

[*]No not an executive councillor .We elect councillors .The executives are the non political senior management who are employees of the borough /district

It’s good to have the facts cleared up though….

You’ve come to the wrong place for that.

What are these ‘facts’ of which you speak? The options available are vapid conjecture, spurious and ill-informed opinion, or out-and-out ranting. Whats it to be?

What are these ‘facts’ of which you speak? The options available are vapid conjecture, spurious and ill-informed opinion, or out-and-out ranting. Whats it to be?

The only exception being the background details on any ‘bike in a garden’ photo when the horticulture experts have a field day.

Alf Roberts loved his time as councillor in Weatherfield, he eventually became Mayor you know !

But it’s not really comparable with a huge multi-million pound business when most of the revenue to be spent comes from a block grant or local taxes is it? There’s a big difference between running an organisation in which the main challenge is spending money and one where in order to spend you need to generate income.

In all likelihood the head of your borough council is making well over £100k …

The chief executive of the L.B. of Croydon can expect well over double that figure.

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Surely as someone running a huge multi million pound business, employing hundreds / thousands of people should get paid accordingly?

According to what ?

Most of the CEOs I’ve worked with are primarily interested in lining their own pockets and don’t give a monkey’s about the company they run. I’d rather the Council Execs were more interested in doing the best for the community than feathering their nests…..

Fair point. People generally tend to go into politics for purely altruistic reasons. And nothing to do with getting someone else to pay for them having their moat cleaned 😉

There’s a big difference between running an organisation in which the main challenge is spending money ……

Actually the ‘main challenge’ for LA’s at the present is finding ways of not spending money.

Indeed chief executives often attempt to justify their obscene salaries by claiming they have “saved” the local council large amounts of money.

Indeed chief executives often attempt to justify their obscene salaries by claiming they have “saved” the local council large amounts of money.

Ah yes the ability to save hundreds of thousands by replacing the solid gold doors that were in the plans for the new toilets with wooden ones. I’d assume by not buying a fleet of Ferraris the budget has been will trimmed down.

friend of mine was an elected local councilor and on about 13K + exp. For them it was pretty much a full time job, but you could do it as a part time thing if you did less. The trouble is that it is a pittance and therefor the only people who go for it are people who don’t need a proper job, which skews the population towards a certain type of person.

as for the ‘big cats’ on 100k (or whatever) I have no problem with it as it is in line with similar positions elsewhere SO LONG AS they work for it and are accountable.

The options available are vapid conjecture, spurious and ill-informed opinion, or out-and-out ranting. Whats it to be?

don’t forget malevolent sarcasm wrapped in bitter, bitter irony

therefor the only people who go for it are people who can’t get a proper job

ftfy

Run for county councillor and district and sit on a few committees and you can ‘earn’ a reasonable salary.

as for the ‘big cats’ on 100k (or whatever) I have no problem with it as it is in line with similar positions elsewhere SO LONG AS they work for it and are accountable.

So the chief executive of Croydon, who is on over £200,000 per year, including allowances, is doing 4 times more work than a council officer earning £50,000 ?

How do you measure that ? Is chief executive working 4 times the hours, ie, 160 hrs per week ?

Ernie, you’re forgetting that he has to actually work in Croydon. That’s got to be worth a fair bit extra.

yeah, it’s danger-money 😆