Salary of Bradford Council chief executive Tony Reeves draws criticism (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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Salary of Bradford Council chief executive Tony Reeves draws criticism
6:00am Wednesday 20th March 2013 in News
Council chief executive Tony Reeves
The main opposition groups on Bradford Council have pledged to vote against the salaries given to the authority’s high-earners, including the chief executive who earns more than the Prime Minister.
Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have criticised the wage packet handed to Tony Reeves, the Council’s highest-paid employee, who earns £178,476 a year.
In comparison, David Cameron is on a wage of £142,500.
The figures have been released as the full Council prepares to vote on the salary levels of its top directors.
They reveal Mr Reeves earns nine times more than the average council worker, who gets £19,126.
The Council’s lowest-paid workers are on £12,145 a year, or £6.29 per hour – only 10p over the hourly minimum wage.
The salary levels of the chief executive and his top directors now have to be approved each year by the full Council, under new Government rules for local authorities.
The figures then have to be published on the Council’s website.
Councillor Glen Miller, leader of the Council’s Conservative group, welcomed the new accountability rules.
He said the figures showed the “vast disparity” between the highest and lowest-paid workers and said the post of chief executive was unnecessary.
He said: “I struggle when someone running the country is paid ‘x’ and our chief executive is paid ‘y’, and ‘y’ is bigger than ‘x’. In our budget last year if we had taken control, we would have removed the post of chief executive.
“We don’t believe you need a chief executive and a Council leader.”
Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said her party also objected to the salary levels of the chief executive and other Council directors, and would be voting against them.
She said: “People are having to cut back, people are having their services cut and I think it’s time we changed that level of pay as well.
“It’s nothing personal, it’s a point of principle. They do have big responsibilities.”
Mr Reeves became chief executive in September 2006 on a salary of about £170,000. The accountability rules in the new Localism Act also state that in future, the full Council must be given an opportunity to vote on salary packages of more than £100,000 when new appointments are made, and also when severance packages of £100,000 or more are considered. Council officers have recommended that the full Council approve the salary levels at their next meeting, on Tuesday.
Comments(21)
Apollo
says...
7:15am Wed 20 Mar 13
Thee Voice of Reason
says...
7:49am Wed 20 Mar 13
A City which is a complete disaster, thats what.
In the private sector he would have been shown the door years ago.
Thee Voice of Reason
says...
8:14am Wed 20 Mar 13
mad matt
says...
8:17am Wed 20 Mar 13
Thee Voice of Reason wrote:you forgot to add - dismissed for gross negligence and NOT given a 'golden handshake'
What do we have to show for this massive salary since 2006?
A City which is a complete disaster, thats what.
In the private sector he would have been shown the door years ago.
Avro
says...
8:22am Wed 20 Mar 13
The current state of Bradford lies firmly at your door Mr Reeves!
Pay by measurable results, or show the guy the door along with a boot up the aras!
Thee Voice of Reason
says...
9:08am Wed 20 Mar 13
At least with an elected council leader they can be voted out if they do not deliver, like Greenwood. These lot are untouchables.
Joedavid
says...
9:22am Wed 20 Mar 13
If this were a Tesco or similar he would have been out years ago.
Rambo
says...
10:01am Wed 20 Mar 13
room111124
says...
10:20am Wed 20 Mar 13
Thee Voice of Reason
says...
10:37am Wed 20 Mar 13
Why do we need a Council Leader and a Council Executive?
Surely the Council Leader is enough as he is the one who is elected into position and therefore can be removed by the public just like Greenwood was.
Why do we need a £170k+ executive on top, who is accountable to no one and appears can't be voted out.
angry bradfordian
says...
10:50am Wed 20 Mar 13
Joedavid wrote:Fully agree.
Obscene money level giving poor results as well.
If this were a Tesco or similar he would have been out years ago.
The council's website say they employ 11,000 full time people. £178k wouldn't be too unusual for the CEO of a private company of that size.
The big difference is that a CEO who doesn't produce the results wouldn't last more than a year and wouldn't find another similar job afterwards (banking excepted it would seem!)
BILLTILL
says...
12:40pm Wed 20 Mar 13
They sit there on their fat salaries for years until it is time for them to collect their fat pensions or pay offs and answer to no one but each other !
The whole set needs to be looked at and real professional people with good business experience should be employed in these positions not these no hopers like Stubbs and the many of his cronies that have gone before him .
The Hoffster
says...
12:50pm Wed 20 Mar 13
Albion.
says...
2:58pm Wed 20 Mar 13
The Hoffster wrote:http://www.bradford.
I'd like to ask what you need to do to become a chief executive at the Council?
ac.uk/management/abo
ut-the-school/our-pe
ople/profile/?name=t
reeves
Joedavid
says...
3:00pm Wed 20 Mar 13
The Hoffster wrote:A nice smile for the T&A photo?
I'd like to ask what you need to do to become a chief executive at the Council?
Yorkshire Lass
says...
3:41pm Wed 20 Mar 13
ANSWERS ON THE BACK OF A STAMP PLEASE! WHO IS ALLOWING THIS TO HAPPEN AND CAN WE HAVE PROOF OF WHAT HE HAS ACHIEVED IN THE LAST FEW YEARS PLEASE?
BaildonGuy
says...
4:33pm Wed 20 Mar 13
However Bradford Council are demonstrably incapable of producing results. (Anybody like to bet if we’ll get a showing in the next edition of ‘Crap Towns’?)
The culture at City Hall, which is down to Reeve’s leadership and management style, is all about avoiding responsibility. And it isn’t just the top management. On the Buck Lane project the planners refused to identify quantified deliverables and refused to say who was in charge. If it all goes wrong (which it will) nobody carries the can. With these attitudes Bradford can never succeed. Time for a clean sweep and a fresh start.
thruth9211
says...
6:12pm Wed 20 Mar 13
Why shuffle the NHS, when you can reduce payments made to monkeys in high position for doing nothing for bradford
Not so simple
says...
8:01pm Wed 20 Mar 13
The answer is failure and more failure.
Sack the lot of them.
spinnekop
says...
5:45am Thu 21 Mar 13
Albion. says...
6:32am Wed 20 Mar 13