A Labour MP has responded to the latest “Town Hall Rich List”, which showed that Croydon Council has at least 15 executives being paid more than £100,000 per year, by saying that such high salaries are “rewarding mediocrity”.
Danczuk also sits on parliament’s communities and local government select committee which is investigating chief officers’ pay.
As Inside Croydon reported yesterday, executive salaries at Croydon Council appear to have fallen by £1million in the last year for which records are available, but high-level golden handshakes for some officials who are made redundant continue to be made at public expense, while the borough’s chief executive, Nathan Elvery, was appointed to the £180,000 per year job without it ever being publicly advertised.
“Senior council officers have got to show restraint,” Danczuk told the Press Association.
“I’m of the view that some of these officers should take a dramatic cut in their salary. Between the best and least-paid workers on some councils the gap is growing too far and this is not acceptable.
“Working for local authorities is about public service and these figures suggest that some are there just for the money.
“We all know there are some great officers in local government – Sir Howard Bernstein at Manchester Council is one example. But there are too many cases where salaries do not match performance and we’re rewarding mediocrity.”
Croydon North’s Labour MP, Steve Reed OBE, who until late 2012 was the leader of Lambeth Council, has made no comment on local authority pay levels. Croydon South’s Tory MP, Sir Tricky Dicky Ottaway, may have said, “Where’s Croydon?” Gaffe-prone Gavin Barwell, the Conservative MP for Croydon Central, may have said, “Can they work for nothing?”
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Coming to Croydon
- Elm Tree Cottage garden open day, Aug 10
- Mythical Maze stories, Crystal Palace Maze, Aug 13
- David Lean Cinema: The Wind Rises, Aug 14
- Mind-Loosing Workshop, Aug 16
- David Lean Cinema: The Love Punch, Aug 16
- Cinema Ruskin film show, Aug 16
- Mythical Maze stories, Crystal Palace Maze, Aug 20
- David Lean Cinema: Stop The Pounding Heart, Aug 21
- Mythical Maze stories, Crystal Palace Maze, Aug 27
- David Lean Cinema: Frank, Aug 28
- Upper Norwood Library well-being groups, Aug 30
- Warlingham rugby dinner with international Richard Hill, Sep 12
- Norwood Society Talk: War Memorials, Sep 18
- Cinema Ruskin film show, Sep 20
- Streatham Common 6M race, Sep 27
- Norwood Society Talk: From Fire Station to Theatre, Oct 16
- Cinema Ruskin film show, Oct 18
- Norwood Society Talk: Lambeth’s Archives, Nov 20
Inside Croydon: Croydon’s only independent news source, based in the heart of the borough: 407,847 page views (Jan-Jun 2014) If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, a residents’ or business association or local event, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com