No pay cut for council chief

AS you were . . . Mr Parker

Council won’t budge on £213,000 wages

OLDHAM Council chief executive Charlie Parker will not be taking a pay cut in light of the council’s cash crisis.

The authority has announced that 800 jobs could be axed — one in 12 of all posts — to help save £45 million.

The bombshell followed calls by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles for town hall bosses to take a wage cut.

The Tory Government Minister said he wanted council bosses earning more than £150,000 to take a 5 per cent cut and those earning £200,000 to lose 10 per cent to help save money.

With the council investigating how it can save money to stave off redundancies, there have been calls from Chronicle readers for management to take pay cuts.

But when questioned by the Chronicle, the council would only say its position on the chief executive’s salary had not changed.

Last month, the GMB Union claimed that Mr Parker was among the country’s highest-paid council bosses.

It calculated his annual package at £213,000, making him the ninth-highest paid council chief executive in the North-West.

They said that Mr Parker was paid £184,000 salary including fees and allowances, an expenses allowance of £2,000, and a pension contribution of £27,000. The council says his salary is £163,920 plus £6,837 for being the elections returning officer and an allowance of £12,294 for being clerk to Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority.

Council leader Howard Sykes said: “This is the figure that the position was advertised at in October, 2008, and is comparable to that of neighbouring local authorities.”

Manchester City Council boss Sir Howard Bernstein, who took home more than £230,000 last year for council work and other responsibilities, has also resisted calls to lower his pay.

In response to Mr Pickles’ plea he said it wasn’t a matter for central government as his salary is decided by the council and elected leaders.

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk has called on Rochdale Council chief executive Roger Ellis to take a 5 per cent pay cut as the authority launches a £50 million savings drive.

But Rochdale Council says he is the lowest paid of any chief executive in the North-West on £140,508 — though with pension contributions and additional payments the GMB puts his wage at £174,000.