Town Hall fat-cat pay is out of order

MORE than 800 council officials are paid over £150,000 a year (Mail) and thousands more are paid over £100,000. When all perks (pensions, bonuses, etc) are taken into account, the bill is probably doubled.

The excuse for this largesse is always the same: councils have to pay such inflated salaries to get the best people. If that is true, why do these executives spend many millions of taxpayers’ money on consultants to tell them what to do? Why do we not have the best, cheapest and most efficient public services possible? When things go wrong, though, no one ever accepts responsibility. Procedures are held to be at fault and a review will be carried out. after decades of reviews, the procedures should by now be infallible.

The truth is, public sector executive pay is out of control.

GeRRY lesTeR, stone, staffs. THE amply rewarded local government officers nowadays control far fewer services.

When I was young, they were responsible for buses and housing, water and sewerage, for instance, among many other things. The town clerk bore ultimate responsibility and was kept informed by the various heads of departments.

BOB BANNIsTeR, Coventry, W. Mids. IF 829 local authority employees are receiving pay packages of £150,000 plus, why do they need consultants? On those salaries they should know the answers. Perhaps they like to be reassured that if something goes wrong, they can pass the buck. RICHARD BARCOCK,

seaford, e. sussex. aFTER 14 years as a local councillor, l was pleased to read the Mail’s report.

These ‘fat cats’ are career opportunists, prepared to move anywhere and waste millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money, then move on before their incompetence becomes apparent.

It is shameful that the Government allows such disgraceful management of local councils, which suck the blood out of communities by consistently raising fees, charges and their own salaries. The local Government association is a disgrace.