Row over salary band for new chief executive

Labour’s attempt to set the starting point for the salary of the council’s new chief executive at £160k was thwarted by the Tories and Independents who voted through £170k.

Cheshire East is on the hunt for a new permanent top boss after Lorraine O’Donnell left last week.

The appointments committee last month agreed to hike up the lowest starting point for the new boss from £160k to £170k, so the salary band would be between £170k and £190k.

But when it came to rubber-stamping this at full council on Wednesday, Cllr Joy Bratherton (Crewe, Lab) put forward an amendment that the lower range should be £160k.

“The council is in a dire financial state and whilst we hear a lot about ‘we have to attract the right person to come to the job’, how many chief executives are we going to get through before we find one who will stay?” she said.

“By reducing this pay scale by a mere £10,000 it would give us more flexibility to reward staff at the lower end of the pay scale at the council.”

Council leader Sam Corcoran (Lab) told the meeting: “I would rather see increased wages going to those on the lower end of the pay scales.”

He said £160k would still be 7.3 times the lowest paid salary at the council.

He added: “If we can save £10,000 then we should – and the amendment gives the flexibility to the appointment process. By voting against the amendment you are closing the door to that possible saving.”

Several Conservative and Independent councillors spoke against the amendment.

Conservative group leader Janet Clowes said she was ‘gobsmacked’ and it was not in the right spirit of what the council was trying to do.

“I think we have to remember the chief executive role is one that is responsibility heavy, and for a unitary authority the size of Cheshire East with a population of 400,000, we need to be able to offer a remuneration that will attract high quality candidates who are capable of doing the job and have the experience necessary to really help us as a council achieve our goals and ambitions for the future,” she said.

She added: “And for those potential chief executives out there looking at Cheshire East as a place to work, this discussion today would probably not put us in a good light.”

Sandbach councillor Nicola Cook (Ind) said: “I find this discussion genuinely embarrassing… To submit an amendment after applicants have applied is genuinely unfair. I believe this will genuinely cause people to question does this council know what it’s doing, and may cause applicants to question the reputation of this council.”

Wilmslow councillor Mark Goldsmith (Ind) said: “The bottom line is Cheshire East needs an experienced CEO and we need to pay for it.”

Deputy council leader Craig Browne (Ind) said Cheshire East already paid among the lowest of all councils for the chief executive role and that £160k ‘was simply too low a starting point for the chief executive’s position’.

With regard to the amendment, he said: “I’m deeply concerned about the message this amendment sends. Applications to the position have formally closed.

“There is a certain irony in the fact the Labour Party, which has historically upheld the principle of fair pay, now appears to be arguing for unfair pay for this position.”

The amendment to start the salary band at £160,000 was lost with 27 councillors voting for, 40 against and two abstaining, so the salary band will be between £170k and £190k.