Interim council managers on 100k

A TEMPORARY manager is earning more than £100,000 a year at Oldham Council. Others are paid up to £785 per day on temporary contracts.

And more senior jobs are being filled at a cost of £90,000 a year by staff seconded from other departments or authorities.

Now opposition leader and Labour councillor Jim McMahon says the use of interim managers has gone on long enough.

He has seen papers showing 20 of the council’s most senior staff are either seconded, temporary or interims, earning from £101,000 a year to £250 per day. The majority earn £500-£600 per day.

He said: “It must be demoralising for permanent staff, the fact that people are getting paid £600 per day, and must lead to a two-tier workforce.

“The Liberal Democrat administration will say that they have been doing a restructuring and these people in different places are just filling in the gaps.

“But this has been going on for nearly two years. We already face a budget deficit of £10 million”

He also pointed to the use of KPMG as the council’s efficiency partner, which was expected to make substantial savings in 2009-10. The management consultants were called in to look at the council’s finances, efficiency and productivity opportunities, and its regeneration plans.

Councillor McMahon added: “They didn’t make the £2 million savings they were supposed to. This started out with the best intentions but you wonder whether or not the energy has been taken out of this?

“That is why we have got so many agency staff. We need to be clear what the intentions are pending restructure. This has taken long enough.”


This month the Chronicle revealed that the council is on track to pay more than £6 million in total for all agency and temporary staff this year.