Westminster Tories spend £186,000 a year on “campaigns team” while axing frontline services

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Westminster Tories spend £186,000 a year on “campaigns team” while axing frontline services

By Westminster Labour ⋅ August 1, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment
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Westminster Conservatives are spending a staggering £186,000 a year on a 6-person ‘Campaigns Team’, while at the same time they say that they do not have enough money to afford £4,100 a year to give 50 partially sighted people free access to the RNIB Talking Book. The 50 partially sighted residents had their free access to the RNIB Talking Book axed as part of the Council’s cuts.

In addition, the Council, which is making £60 million of cuts over the next two years, is closing the St James’s Library in Victoria and has axed services to 3,000 elderly and disabled residents who are assessed to have ‘moderate’ or ‘low’ needs.

The Council’s ‘Campaigns Team’ comprises:

* 2 Senior Campaigns Officers (£38k each);
* 2 Campaigns Officers (£31k each);
* 2 Campaigns Executives (£22-24k each).

According to the Job Description of the Senior Campaigns Officers, their job is to “lead on the development and delivery of a programme of integrated, multi media communications campaigns (external or internal) to meet agreed service outcomes, working with other members of the Campaigns team and specialists across the communications & strategy team”.

The Council is also recruiting a new Senior Media Officer “to promote the City Council” at a salary of £34,000 a year.

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said; “It is beyond belief that, at a time when the Council is making huge cuts to front-line services to the elderly, children and other vulnerable residents, the Conservatives are spending over £200,000 a year of public money on these ‘non-jobs’, paid for by hard-working Tax Payers. I think the vast majority of Westminster residents would agree that the money could be better spent on residents who are in real need of a helping hand. According to Westminster Conservative running ‘integrated, multi media communications campaigns’ is more important than providing the RNIB Talking Book to 50 partially sighted residents.”

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