Tell us the pay level

Published: 25th March 2010

• CONTINUING complaints that Camden Council is an officer- rather than elected politician- led council are never more apt than when it comes to the disclosure of pay levels of the most senior and lowest paid staff.
Camden council operates one of the most stringent non-disclosure policies on senior pay and remuneration in the country.
To describe this as “old school” would be an understatement.
As opposition chair of the resources committee I have repeatedly asked for sums to be disclosed to me and the closest we have got is to identify performance bonuses for senior staff to total £180,000 and only ballpark figures on their salaries. 
We do know that the chief executive earns more than the Prime Minister, but not by how much.
This is not a transparent process for Camden taxpayers. 
The ability of members to argue to senior management efficiency savings, like merging £100,000 plus senior posts between the primary care trust and the Town Hall, is limited. As is any assessment about fair wages. 
The same can be said about the lowest paid care workers, cleaners and school caterers.  Over the last four years I have worked hard, with the help of colleagues from the Green Party, to audit the council’s pay for the lowest paid to ensure that contracted-out workers are not paid less than the London living wage.
However, the council and the Liberal Democrat finance member Ralph Scott was insistent that it was “beyond their means”’ to carry out a low-pay audit, even though he – supported by the Tories – also continued to assert, in relation to senior pay, that there is a clear link between performance and remuneration.
New government rules coming into place next month will force disclosure, so taxpayers in Camden and across the country have a greater idea about how much our senior public servants are actually paid.
It’s a pity Camden, supported by the Lib Dem-Tory coalition, continues to resist disclosure right up to the last minute, and will be forced to do the right thing.
CLLR THEO BLACKWELL
Labour Opposition Finance Spokesperson