Labour’s group leader in council, Councillor Pete Kilbane, has criticised the leadership over the creation of a new senior management position. The Lib-Dem/Green leadership is advertising for a new senior manager on a salary of up to £67k, to help a Director earning almost £100k deliver ‘governance’ services.

The new post-holder will slot in between the Director and another officer managing day to day governance services, adding an extra new tier of senior management.  This has left Labour questioning the recent elevation of a number of senior officers to become ‘Directors’ in the council’s workforce.

“This new council officer position has come out of nowhere,”Cllr Kilbane said, “and will add almost £70k to the council’s annual wage bill.  The Lib-Dems claimed they were cutting back on top officer costs, but moving from 6 to 9 directors posts suggests quite the opposite. 

“While there’s no shortage of resource for top officer pay, frontline services are on their knees, with not enough staff to deliver even basic services like waste collections. Last week, residents in Fishergate, Hull Road, Micklegate, Poppleton and Copmanthorpe joined a long and growing list of areas being told they won’t be getting their green bins emptied ‘due to lack of resources’.  It’s amazing how money can be found when it’s a political priority, but sadly waste collection doesn’t seem to be one of them”.

The Lib-Dem/Green Coalition council approved a new top management structure as recently as December, but has also committed up to another £75k for a temporary additional assistant director, citing a ‘gap in leadership’. Cllr. Kilbane says the review of senior staffing is not saving what it could, and that the administration has lost focus.

“It’s clear that this is little more than moving the top management deckchairs around as frontline services deteriorate.

“This Lib Dem-Green Coalition should be concentrating on providing the services residents pay for. When their solution to failure is to employ another senior manager, it speaks volumes about misguided priorities. How many drivers could we employ for that money? Enough for the Council to go a whole week without missing a waste collection perhaps?”