Days after Cllr Russell Goodway, the Cabinet Member for Finance on Labour-run Cardiff Council warned that local government cuts could lead to councils going ‘bust’, Welsh Conservatives have learnt that the authority is splashing out on a new tier of senior management.

Cardiff Council is currently advertising for five assistant directors, with salaries of £80,000 each.

These new posts follow Cardiff Council’s recruitment of 11 directors with annual salaries of up to £130,000 earlier this year.

Janet Finch-Saunders AM, Shadow Minister for Local Government, said, “Last week, Russell Goodway, the power behind the throne in Cardiff Council,  warned that his and other local authorities may go bust, at the same time as the authority is recruiting a new tier of £80,000 a year bureaucrats.

“Hard-pressed taxpayers will be astonished to see Cardiff’s Labour-run council creating even more senior posts as its Cabinet Member for Finance warns of severe austerity and the prospect of bankruptcy.

“Local authorities need sound leadership to guide them through tough economic times, but Cardiff’s Labour councillors must recognise that their duty is to deliver value for money for hard-pressed taxpayers.

“With a tight financial settlement, local authorities should be looking to streamline their top-heavy hierarchies of executives, many of whom earn almost as much as the Prime Minister.

“While senior executive pay in Cardiff and other local authorities has been on the rise, many of the lowest paid council workers have seen their pay frozen.

“Instead of responding to funding cuts with Council Tax rises and services cuts, councils would do well to look at their own management structures and consider how they can work more efficiently, root out wasteful spending and deliver services more efficiently.”