Action on excessive senior pay overdue

Commenting on the publication of the Welsh Labour Government’s white paper on reforming local government, Janet Finch-Saunders AM, Shadow Minister for Local Government, said:

“Pay levels for the most senior officers in Welsh councils have been raging out of control for years, at taxpayers’ expense and without any intervention from the Welsh Government to exercise restraint.

“Several Welsh councils have been dogged by scandals of senior executives seen to feather their own nests at public expense while authorities have been cutting services and putting up council tax.

“There is an urgent need for fresh blood and greater diversity in local government, but a ban on some candidates standing again may not be the fairest or most effective way to introduce younger candidates.

“It is ironic that a Labour Government with some of the world’s longest serving ministers is proposing a limit on cabinet tenure of 10 years.

“A change in Labour’s local government culture is well-overdue and we will scrutinise the proposals in this white paper very carefully.”