Do we pay a Council Leader? If you do the job, surely you do ot out of civic pride? I realise it may involve the payment of reasonable expenses, but see no reason why the role requires payment.
Quote from: Inspector Knacker on October 23, 2018, 06: PM
Do we pay a Council Leader? If you do the job, surely you do ot out of civic pride? I realise it may involve the payment of reasonable expenses, but see no reason why the role requires payment.
We pay him nearly £28,000pa, as the Council Leader is automatically chair of Finance & Policy which attracts 3 x SRA
You must remember his hubby is only a volunteer at a non charitable organisation so he is working for two !!
So, if the largest grouping was lead by an intellectually challenged chimp, would we pay it such a large remuneration for simply just 'being there' ? The role is there because they are the leader of a troupe of political wannabe's it would appear that qualifications and and experience are an irrelevance.
Like I said, the role should be an honour plus necessary expenses only.
I have always said the same thing. There should be minimum education requirements which are relevant to the role. If they don't have any formal qualifications they should do a foundation course on socall skills,ego management, risk managment, public perception and cost control
Quote from: Disgruntled voter on October 24, 2018, 07: AM
I have always said the same thing. There should be minimum education requirements which are relevant to the role. If they don't have any formal qualifications they should do a foundation course on socall skills,ego management, risk managment, public perception and cost control
An 'Anger Management' course should be mandatory....Oh and a a Polygraph Test would be useful for certain labmob councillors.
Can you imagine the scenario where any organisation with a multi million pound budget employing thousands is in the control of people (who may not have a even collective swimming certificate between them as the sum total of their educational achievement) totally unqualified to ' take the wheel' and have the ability to run the town efficiently.
On election, it may be a good idea to assess the successful candidates ability to establish their comprehension of the role for by doing a weeks induction for their first week 'in office' by a neutral body.
We need 'thinkers' with the town's interest at heart, not party puppets who can only count past ten if they take their shoes off.
Quote from: jeffh on October 23, 2018, 06: PM
Quote from: Inspector Knacker on October 23, 2018, 06: PM
Do we pay a Council Leader? If you do the job, surely you do ot out of civic pride? I realise it may involve the payment of reasonable expenses, but see no reason why the role requires payment.
We pay him nearly £28,000pa, as the Council Leader is automatically chair of Finance & Policy which attracts 3 x SRA
Sorry my mistake - it's nearly £32,000pa
32 k for a poor imitation of a north Korean dictator
It's the 'Visions' that worry me. Build it and they will come, the man said . Well, they've rebuilt it several times and still no one's come!!
The annoying thing is, we pay a CEO between £150k & £160k plus a substantial pension to manage the running of The Business, in this she has numerous highly paid subordinates to make decisions and carry them through to completion.
Where it falls down is having a number of Egomaniacs suffering from NPD attempting to do the managements job and making a complete James Hunt of it.
Only in Hartlepool and only under the LabTor Mob.
At least 251 councils out of 351 in England and Wales spent more paying their CEO's paypackets compared to the year before.
Authorities defend their pay packets, but almost all of them will be hiking taxes, claiming they need the extra funds.
(https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/dk-comp-graphic-council.jpg)
This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion in this forum but;
As far as Local Authority Chiefs and higher level execs go, I think Hartlepool Borough Council pays at the lower end of the salaries you'd expect for the same roles and accountabilities in the private sector. In short, I think you'd be hard pressed to recruit somebody competent for that money from the private sector for less.
The sort of applicants you would get, if you advertised senior roles in Local Authority for lower salaries, would be people who had little or no experience or those who already have some sort of cloud or black mark hanging over their career. Essentially, the old adage of pay peanuts, get monkeys applies.
That is not to say that Mrs Alexander and those around her performing well enough in their roles, that's a different matter entirely.
As for elected officials and whatever remuneration they receive, I believe that elected office had the potential to be the best paid unskilled work in the world. All you have to do, is win an election and kiss the right backsides in some cases.
However, I do think elected officials deserve some sort of financial compensation for the amount of time they spend undertaking the role of their elected office and in line with the responsibilites of that office (and any additional portfolios they look after).
In theory, performance managing elected officials should be easy, the opposition, press and public should be challenging them and holding them to account for their performance, ultimately at the ballot box if necessary. However, we all know the reality is very different.
In this case, I don't think the game is at fault, merely the players.
"In this case, I don't think the game is at fault, merely the players"
I don't think the comment will prove to be unpopular with forumites, most of us came to the same conclusion years ago.
The fact the electorate were in the majority of cases oblivious to the way the town was managed is a major reason, but the fact we had a labour / tory coalition council in all but name didn't help matters, difficult to formulate any political opposition when both major parties are in cahoots.
However, at long last voters in lots of wards have cottoned on to the inability of labtor councillors to be fiscally prudent and voted for Independent Candidates and to be honest could they do any worse.
I have not seen the salary of Ben Houchen questioned to any noticeable degree compared to HBC exec and councillors.
Is that because he appears to be delivering ?
I wouldn't mind if all wages at HBC were doubled if those on the receiving end looked like they were worth it.
The best way to describe it is a gravy train I am not saying all Cllrs are not worth their allowances but I suppose they are grateful performance related pay isn't an issue - Yes I do work in a performance related industry
I don' t business experienced of focused individuals would stand as Councillors as change in a place like HBC would face opposition through lack of knowledge skills or understanding or the worst attribute not my idea or political unacceptable so must be c**P idea.
Sort point would town be any worse off if Cllrs were scrapped and town managed by professional officers most of them seem more committed to the town that its elected "elite"
Regarding Ben Houchen's remuneration not being questioned, that's probably because it is comparatively modest for the scope of the role; a FOI request made by the Post last year gives the following info.
'In accordance with the provisions of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) its Independent Remuneration Panel, the Combined Authority has approved the payment of an allowance of £36,058.78 to the Tees Valley Mayor for the period (8th May 2017 to 7th May 2018).'
Obviously the 2018 to 2019 figure may have changed but any alterations are unlikely to be dramatic.
In the role of CEO, is the salary for what you do or what you have to put up with? Herding deaf cats with an attitude comes to mind.
I saw a piece just after Houchen's election ripping apart the salary of one of his staff.
It turned out upon investigation, the person in question was highly qualified for the role with a track record of results despite his young age.
Usually, critics of public sector management and exec level salaries have had no experience of the vastly superior pay and benefits that the equivalent roles attract in the private sector.
The other critique I often hear and hate is that "they earn more than the PM" without any acknowledgement that the PM's salary has a cap.
I'd be happy if HBC advertised the Chief Exec position with a salary of £250k if they then were able to fill the post with someone from the private sector who has a long record of transforming failing organisations.
It's just bloody infuriating when the post goes to someone internal who changes nothing and is not performance managed effectively because the elected representatives responsible for that wouldn't know good performance if it hit them, can't manage their own behaviour and don't have a clue how to properly manage those under their remit.
Quote from: PKelly on October 25, 2018, 12: PM
I saw a piece just after Houchen's election ripping apart the salary of one of his staff.
It turned out upon investigation, the person in question was highly qualified for the role with a track record of results despite his young age.
Usually, critics of public sector management and exec level salaries have had no experience of the vastly superior pay and benefits that the equivalent roles attract in the private sector.
The other critique I often hear and hate is that "they earn more than the PM" without any acknowledgement that the PM's salary has a cap.
I'd be happy if HBC advertised the Chief Exec position with a salary of £250k if they then were able to fill the post with someone from the private sector who has a long record of transforming failing organisations.
It's just bloody infuriating when the post goes to someone internal who changes nothing and is not performance managed effectively because the elected representatives responsible for that wouldn't know good performance if it hit them, can't manage their own behaviour and don't have a clue how to properly manage those under their remit.
Nailed in one.
The Boy in a Mans Body was the Chair of the appointments panel when it appointed the present CEO......
I suspect deciding on what to choose in the Pick n Mix would have been pushing the boundaries in that role. ::)
Is it true the interview process involved throwing a stick for the candidates followed by a shout of " FETCH! " ?
Quote from: Inspector Knacker on October 25, 2018, 04: PM
Is it true the interview process involved throwing a stick for the candidates followed by a shout of " FETCH!
Some people have an innate gift of being able to 'read' people. They can tell if you are man or mouse after a brief conversation. I suspect the incumbent god-botherer was picked because it was evident she had no spine and could be easily controlled. In Hartlepool its not your talent that matters but your obsequiousness. If a Uriah Heep Convention was held at Hartlepool the Council would set up an employment stall at the event and recruit most of the attendees.