News from Local Labour

Tory plans to publish local government pay challenged

Sir Jeremy Beecham challenges LGA Conservatives on Cameron’s proposals to identify individual local government pay packages.

David Cameron has announced a raft of requirements for local councils to follow, including the publication of all individual items of public expenditure over £500, publish every procurement contract they sign and publish online the details of all local government staff pay packages over a threshold of around £60,000.

Responding to the proposals, Sir Jeremy Beecham, Labour’s Leader in Local Government, said “These proposals from David Cameron, the self-proclaimed champion of localism, are an unnecessary bureaucratic burden and an infringement of the privacy of thousands of public servants. Is he singling out local government as an easy political target? It’s surprising he’s not suggesting that every public body from schools to hospitals, colleges to universities should do the same, so that the details of every head teacher, GP or senior academic is also online, together with vast numbers of contracts, large and small.

“There’s nothing wrong with publishing details of the numbers of people in particular pay bands, but identifying individuals in this way is wrong. Cameron says it’s all about transparency. This is a bit rich coming from the Party Leader who’s been at pains to ignore the complete lack of transparency in relation to Lord Ashcroft’s status for years. Do the LGA Conservatives agree with these ridiculous proposals?”

Other news from Local Labour

• Where is the Chancellor's ambition for our communities? - 23 March 2011
• The most dire financial settlement ever witnessed for local government - 14 December 2010
• Eric Pickles gives with one hand and takes away with another - 14 December 2010