Liberal Democrats are calling for plans to increase the salaries of top council officers to be scrapped.

The proposals to introduce ‘market supplements’ in order to raise pay for specific senior officer posts were pushed through by Labour in August, but still need to be formally approved at tomorrow’s Full Council. The Lib Dems will oppose Labour’s recommendation and call for the supplements to be scrapped.

Currently, officers in City of York Council’s Management Team receive between £88,080 and £149,710 a year, but the pay for these posts could rocket if plans for the special payments are approved. Supplements are expected to be worth around £10-15,000 per post.

Councillor Keith Aspden, Liberal Democrat Group Leader on City of York Council, commented:

“In the current economic climate we believe it would be inappropriate for chief officer pay to increase. At a time when services are being cut for residents and satisfaction with the council’s performance is falling, we should not be giving senior staff pay rises. It shows just how out-of-touch the current Labour administration is that these proposals have come this far.

“The Labour Cabinet recently agreed to a review of senior management and as part of this other options to recruit and retain staff, such as a greater use of performance related pay, should be considered.”

NB. City of York’s Full Council meeting will take place tomorrow (Thursday) at the Guildhall at 6:30pm.

Details of the market supplement proposals can be found under Item 11 here: