REGARDING the letter criticising the number of Darlington council staff who earn more than £50,000 (HAS, Feb 27).
The letter suggests the number of such staff has been increasing. This isn’t the case.
The quoted figures include some people who were made redundant, and the addition of their redundancy pay to their basic salary meant they have “earned” more than £50,000 in that one year. Subtracting those made redundant shows that in those three years the number of staff earning more than £50,000 was actually falling: 2008-09 32 staff, 2009-10 31 staff, and 2010-11 30 staff. This year will see further redundancies leaving 24 staff in that salary range.
With the cuts that the council is having to make, staff are being made redundant, and so the total number of staff is reducing – across all salary levels.
In addition, all staff have had their pay frozen for two years, with the top earners frozen for three years, and it is looking increasingly likely they will be frozen again this year.
Coun Steve Harker, Cabinet Member for Resources, Darlington Borough Council.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel