Good news from the Department for Communities and Local Government today:
New rules to compel local authorities to fully disclose the pay and
perks of top posts and name those earning more than £150,000 were set
in law today announced Communities Secretary John Denham.
Around
475 local authority bodies will now legally be required publish pay
information covering salary, bonuses, pensions, perks and severance pay
outs in their next annual statement of accounts.
The
rules now include a requirement for councils to publish named
individuals earning more than £150,000 in £5,000 bands bringing them in
line with the Prime Minister's public sector pay commitment in Putting the Frontline First.
John
Denham sees the 2010 changes as the first step towards making council
wage bills fairer to meet the legitimate expectations of taxpayers.
The
new regulations, laid in Parliament today, puts councils at the high
standards that are to be required of civil servants and members of
government. It also extends them to senior police officers.
Last
week John Denham confirmed that local government would be included in
the senior public sector pay review. It will report ahead of Budget
2010 and include recommendations on pay and bonus caps. Councils are
already expected to deliver the agreed public sector pay cap of 1 per
cent.
John Denham has also asked the Audit Commission
to carry out an urgent probe into so called 'Boomerang Bosses' - Chief
Executives who walk off with big severance pay-outs after fall outs
with the council's political leaders - to see if practices are robust
and value for money. It is expected in the New Year.
John Denham, Secretary of State of DCLG, said:
"As
we bear down on the national debt we must protect frontline services
the public need like support for the elderly and vulnerable, social
housing and rubbish collection without breaking family budgets.
"The
average pay of a local government worker has only 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 just gone too far.
"Next
year councils will have to publish the pay bill for their top people in
an open and transparent way. The taxpayer - the real pay boss - has a
legitimate right to see this information and decide whether or not it
is fair."
(From the DCLG website)