Just exactly why?

Started by Inspector Knacker, October 23, 2018, 06: PM

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Inspector Knacker

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.
What can be asserted without proof,
can be dismissed without proof.

jeffh

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


Owen Jones

You must remember his hubby is only a volunteer at a non charitable organisation so he is working for two !!

Inspector Knacker

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.
What can be asserted without proof,
can be dismissed without proof.

Disgruntled voter

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

fred c

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.

Inspector Knacker

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.
What can be asserted without proof,
can be dismissed without proof.

jeffh

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

Disgruntled voter

32 k for a poor imitation of a north Korean dictator

Inspector Knacker

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!!
What can be asserted without proof,
can be dismissed without proof.

fred c

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.

UnknownUser

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.

When the law no longer protects you from the corrupt, but protects the corrupt from you, you know your nation is doomed.

Ayn Rand

PKelly

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.

fred c

"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.

Stig of the Seaton Dump

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.
I don't believe it.