Revealed: 67 town hall middle managers cost us over £4.5 million a year

67 town hall middle managers cost us over £4.5 million a year

New figures from The Taxpayers’ Alliance show 67 staff from Rochdale Council were paid in excess of £50,000 in 2011-12.

The total cost of remuneration packages of £50,000 or more in 2011-12 was £4,517,500.

The figures show a reduction on 2010-11 when 79 staff were paid in excess of £50,000 at a total cost of £5,080,000.

In comparison, neighbouring Rossendale Borough Council had just six staff paid in excess of £50,000 in 2011-12, at a cost of £407,500.

The Taxpayers’ Alliance report explains that in 1996-97, the average local authority employed 7 people earning more than £50,000. This number rose to 20 by 2001-02 and again to 66 in 2006-07. In 2011-12, the number of people earning more than £50,000 was 71 – more than before the financial crisis.

Reacting to the report, Matthew Sinclair, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers are still paying far too much for bloated bureaucracies that have been established in too many town halls over the last decade. It is incredible that some councils have even increased spending on high earning staff this year after a decade in which council tax doubled across the country and when every local authority needs to find savings and ease the burden. In those cases where it is the result of redundancy payments then we need to see the savings soon. Councillors need to insist that their local authority does more to find savings and cut back on staff costs that residents cannot afford.”