Waltham Forest Town Hall fat cats block information about… Waltham Forest Town Hall fat cats
Every March LBWF has a legal obligation under the Local Government Transparency Code (LGTC) 2015 and various other statutes to publish a Pay Policy Statement.
Amongst other things, this must include:
(a) a list of senior staff whose salary is £50,000 and upwards, with details of exactly what they earn; their job title; their responsibilities; and their bonuses and ‘benefits-in-kind’; and
(b) for senior staff whose salaries are £150,000 or more, their names.
In past years, LBWF has by and large complied, appending the required information in a comprehensive appendix to the main document.
But in this year’s appendix, all that LBWF has published is the pay details of the very top earners, here:
The pay and other details of the hundreds of Town Hall senior staff who earn between £50,000 and £105,000 has slid from view.
Perhaps this is an innocent oversight, but if so, it’s a strange one.
The author of this year’s Pay Policy Statement, Corporate Director of Culture, Workforce and Development Lee Witham, is clearly aware of the LGTC 2015, as he refers to it in his opening paragraph.
Nor is it likely that he has been confused about presentational matters, since all previous Pay Policy Statements have used exactly the same format.
Finally, according to CEO Linzi Roberts-Egan, LBWF carries out ‘regular internal and external audits’ to ensure it is always legally compliant, so why Mr. Witham’s error wasn’t picked up by his colleagues further adds to the mystery.
But what’s for sure is that the Pay Policy Statement’s omissions work in the LBWF hierarchy’s favour, because without up-to-date figures, it is impossible for residents and councillors to tell whether the controversial previous policy of employing more and more high earners in the Town Hall, thereby massively inflating wage costs, continues or not.
In short, no figures mean no possibility of public criticism, and no embarrassing stories in organs like Private Eye.
Handy that.
