Opinion: Transparency needed on Town Hall salaries

The TaxPayers Alliance analysis of councils last year shows that 2,759 council officials were on £100,000 or more and 721 on £150,000 or more. As 47 councils didn’t disclose their accounts it is likely to be many more.

In parts of the country – including in Peterborough – they are likely to be some of the most highly paid people living there. These salaries are often accompanied by generous pensions and flexible working arrangements, such as working from home. I am not suggesting that the people who do these jobs do not work hard, or that these are easy jobs. But these packages are certainly very generous.

Nor am I arguing that, in many cases, these salaries are undeserved. However, they are funded from taxpayers’ money. Transparency and accountability is needed. The number of people paid these salaries for Town Hall jobs has ballooned. I am taking forward a Private Members Bill (PMB) that would give us this transparency.

A (PMB) is a type of public bill that can be introduced by either members of the House of Commons or House of Lords who are not Ministers.

The Local Government (Pay Accountability) Bill will mean councillors will have to vote and approve on new positions where Town Hall officers will be paid more than £100k a year. Some Councils do this in one form or another, but it is not mandatory. My Bill would make this mandatory and if done transparently the public will see what positions are approved or not.

With the public asked to pay an ever increasing level of council tax year after year, it is only right that they can make sure they are getting value for money from local leadership.

Sadly, this is not always the case.

We have a Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough. Awareness of this politician both in and outside of our county is shockingly low. But it is still expensive.

The current Labour Mayor has lost two highly paid Chief Executives, including on who left her £200,000 role after just 10 months. The reasons for this are shrouded in mystery over an inquiry into the Mayor’s conduct and a report that will now remain private. It is unarguable that the explanation behind this colossal waste of public money on salaries and compensation packages needs to be revealed. I am told the current compensation and associated investigation cost stands at an estimated £1.1 million.

We need transparency and accountability.

This is the same Mayor who is now increasing his share of Council Tax across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough by 200% from £12 to £36 a year for a Band D property. It might only seem like a small amount, but this on top of a 5% increase from the ‘Independent ran’ Peterborough City Council. Furthermore, this is a ‘precept’ that need not exist and was only introduced last year when he ran out of money!

It is time to think of hard-pressed council taxpayers. It is time to think of those on fixed incomes such as pensioners. It is time to tackle the ballooning cost of Town Hall salaries.

Transparency leads to better decision making. It means that the public can challenge and suggest alternatives. Last year saw a significant reduction in the number of councils publishing their accounts. 47 local authorities failed to disclose their bosses’ salaries compared to 25 the previous year in 2022.

When Peterborough City Council are preferring to axe lollipop ladies than tackle excessive salaries, we have an issue. This will be a pattern repeated across the country and it is time to do something about it.