Editor – In your recent article ‘ Stop the largesse ‘ former councillor Michael Breslin was reported to have said it was within the power of councillors to halt the proposed £22K increase in salary agreed for the chief executive of the council, which would take their remuneration to in excess of £177K.
He highlighted the additional consequential costs arising from other senior posts, where salaries are linked to the chief executive’s and speculated that the full cost, including pensions etc, would exceed £200K per annum, concluding that such expenditure was difficult to justify in the current economic climate.
In the same article, an Argyll and Bute spokesperson is reported as saying ‘ the Council is legally bound to Implement the salary increase(s).’
These views clearly conflict but it is the democratically elected councillors who make key decisions for which they are held accountable; whereas the role of the chief executive and other senior officers is to implement what the council decides.
To put the subject of ‘ largesse ‘ into perspective, the UK Prime Minister’s salary is around £167K per annum.
To quote a respected political commentator ‘ Public services no longer serve the public but the employees who work in them and then only those in the managerial and higher echelons.
Perhaps they have a point.
Lindsay Walker
Strachur
