Anger at National Trust staff pay rise after fee hike

THE National Trust has been criticised by a former charities minister for handing its staff an inflation-busting pay rise – weeks after justifying a large hike in membership fees for millions of members by saying the extra money would be spent on conservation.

Yesterday National Trust workers voted to accept a pay rise of up to 4.5 per cent, described by Prospect, their union, as a “ground-breaking” deal. The news came just weeks after the Trust announced that it would increase fees for its six million members from March 1 by as much as 6.5 per cent.

Last night Rob Wilson, a former Tory charities minister from 2014 to 2017, said the Trust should have been upfront about the salary talks. He told The Daily Telegraph: “The reputation of charities is going through a pretty torrid time at the moment, so it is essential they are as transparent as possible to maintain the trust of the public. When making increases in membership fees, it would be sensible … to declare all significant new costs relevant to the rise.”

The Trust said the pay award would cost £7.8 million, “entirely covered through productivity gains as well as commercial operations and retail”. A spokesman said the £12million raised by the fees increase would be “directed towards conservation and visitor experience, in which we will be spending an additional £22million this year”.

The pay rise was divided into a 2.5 per cent performance-related award and a 2 per cent statutory increase.