OXFORD’S council tax payers see more of their money spent on the salaries of senior council officers than other districts in the county.
A pay increase of 11.6 per cent that saw Oxford City Council’s chief executive’s salary rise to £141,031 was labelled “obscene” last week, with the local Green Party to submit a motion calling for a reversal in the pay of senior officers.
In an online poll by The Oxford Times, 93 per cent of readers said the city salary rises should be reversed.
And it has emerged Oxford’s taxpayers pay £81,839 more for their chief executive than council tax payers in West Oxfordshire, and almost £40,000 more than those in Cherwell.
As reported last week, the number of senior officers on the city council paid between £50,000 and £150,000 increased by more than 50 per cent, from 20 to 31, with rises agreed in April 2009.
But the case of the city council’s critics will be strengthened by comparisons with neighbouring district councils, where chief executives are paid up to 40 per cent less.
The other districts also pay less to people doing comparable jobs to the city council’s services director Tim Sadler and regeneration director Mel Barrett, who are paid £109,000, after rises of 28 per cent and 15.45 per cent respectively.
While Oxford chief executive Peter Sloman’s pay rose from £126,361 in 2008/9 to £141,031 in 2009/10, an 11.6 per cent increase, Cherwell’s chief executive’s pay rose in the same period from £99,729 to £102,720. Cherwell’s two strategic directors’ pay rose from £74,160 to £76,386.
The cost of senior officers is less for West Oxfordshire council tax payers, where the chief executive is currently paid £118,384. But West Oxfordshire District Council only pays £58,192 towards the post, with the rest made up by Cotswold District Council.
At West Oxfordshire managers’ salaries increased by between 6.2 per cent and 9.8 per cent in 2009, and the council said this was due to posts becoming shared with Cotswold District Council.The arrangement means WODC only pays £58,593 towards the salaries of its three strategic directors.
Council tax payers at the Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire also now share a chief executive, David Buckle. He now earns £129,092, but he is responsible for running two district councils, who share the cost. Similarly, the cost of the strategic director, on £98,544, and head of services, on £73,824 is shared.
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