Expanding JLC hikes spending to over £3m

THE JEWISH Leadership Council’s spending has rocketed by around 400 per cent in three years as it continues to expand its role within the community.

Its expenditure leapt from £654,000 in 2011 to £3,270,000 in 2014, breaking the £3 million barrier for the first time.

Spending was up by nearly £500,000 from £2,782,000 in 2013, according to the organisation’s newly published accounts.

The JLC’s budget is around £2 million more than the Board of Deputies’, whose spending rose from £1,205,000 in 2013 to £1,365,000 in 2014.

The number of JLC employees rose from 13 in 2013 to 17 last year, while the Board’s dropped from 15 to 14.

The highest earning JLC employee was in the £140,000-£149,999 pay bracket last year, compared with £80,000£89,999 in 2013. The Board paid its most expensive official between £100,000 to £110,000 in 2014.

Whereas the JLC had just six employees three years ago, its staff has risen through the creation of its sub-divisions, its Partnerships for Jewish Schools body, and its leadership training initiative, Lead.

The JLC’s staff bill rose from £675,000 in 2013 to £835,000 in 2014, while over the same period the Board’s fell from £591,000 to £581,000.

Last year the council dished out £1,487,000 in grants including £684,000 for “cultural education” to Israel advocacy group Bicom and £650,000 towards the redevelopment of the King Solomon High School campus in Essex.

It also gave £41,500 to the Board of Deputies, £45,000 for “Friends of Israel” activities and £30,000 to the London Jewish Forum.

It has also amassed a fighting fund of more than £200,000 for its new “Delegit Project”, which is intended to “counter the threat of delegitimisation of the state of Israel in civil society”.

WhiletheJLC’sincomewas£3,284,000 in 2014, that was eclipsed by the Board lastyear,whichenjoyedincomingfunds of £4,820,000 last year.

But the Board’s funding bonanza was largely the result of the sale of its central London headquarters for £5.8 million. Once the cost of the move, renting premises and staff redundancies are taken into account, the Board was left with a net gain from the sale of £3,924,000.

If the proceeds from the sale are excluded, the Board’s income fell to £895,000 in 2014 from £1,167,000 the previous year and from £1,255,000 in 2011.