Liverpool Daily Post: Wirral Council attacks 'flawed report' over £50k managers

WIRRAL Council has hit back at what it describes as a “wholly inaccurate and misleading” report which places it at the top of Merseyside authorities for middle managers earning more than £50,000 a year.

The Tax Payers Alliance carried out the research into local authorities around the UK and say the increase in the number of council employees being paid more than £50,000 per annum has been “phenomenal, far outstripping the rate of increase in the economy as a whole”.

They say data in the local authority accounts over the past decade implies that councils have hired a new class of middle and senior management and then increased their pay and benefits packages faster than the economy-wide average.

Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “With council tax doubling in the past decade, it’s extremely disappointing that town halls have chosen to hire a new class of
middle managers, many of whom are being paid more than MPs.

“Local authorities should study these findings carefully to see where savings can be made, instead of using their half billion pound PR machine to obscure their finances from taxpayers.”

According to their research Wirral saw an increase from 16 people in 1996-7 to 199 in 2006-7 earning more than £50,000 a year, with the cost to the authority rising from £980,000 to £12,295,000 over that period.

In comparison, Sefton Council had 65 people earning over that threshold (at a cost of £4,375,000), Liverpool spent £4,375,000 on 109 people earning more than £50,000 a year and Knowsley had 104 earning more than £50,000 at a cost to the council of £6,810,000.

But Wirral Council’s Director of Finance, Ian Coleman said the Taxpayers Alliance had used flawed data which misrepresented the true situation.

Mr Coleman said: “The figures for staff paid in excess of £50 000 referred to in the Tax Payers’ Alliance press release include teaching staff.

“The Tax Payers’ Alliance in their own release state that teachers should not be included as part of local authority middle management.

“They sourced their information from our most recent statement of accounts. Some other Local Authorities do not include teaching staff making comparisons meaningless and the report wholly inaccurate and misleading.

“The figure cited for Wirral included teachers and was stated to be 199. We have informed the Tax Payers Alliance that the true figure not including teachers is 57. This is not a small error.

“Of course, had the Tax Payers’ Alliance wanted the correct figures, all they would have had to do was ask; Wirral Council provides information of this nature readily and on a regular basis.

“Researchers from the Tax Payers Alliance are perfectly aware that they could have obtained accurate information by submitting a request under the Freedom of Information procedures.”