Hold-up for Cannock Chase Council plan to cut salaries

Cuts to senior officers' salaries at Cannock Chase Council which could save the authority £90,000 a year have been delayed, it emerged today.

Members of the authority's cabinet were due to rule on the recommendations of a committee set up to see through the cuts in January.

However the pay adjustment and staff structure review committee which was due to agree its proposals this month has been postponed until January 16, meaning a decision is still two months away.

The committee has been considering several options since Labour took control in June.

Council leader George Adamson said today a dozen officers were facing a pay cut when the review, which is being led by deputy leader Janos Toth, concludes.

The authority's only six-figure salary could be brought below £100,000 under plans being considered by the committee. Chief executive Stephen Brown currently commands a basic salary of £113,473. A further 11 officers receive a "high five-figure sum", Councillor Adamson said today.

Proposals which include a flat rate cut of between five and 10 per cent for 12 officers, would save an estimated £90,000 a year.

Councillor Adamson said today: "One of our election commitments last May was that we would review the salaries of senior officers. It has taken several months because they were told to do it thoroughly and properly."

Councillor Adamson's Labour group took control of the council last May. When he announced the pay review in June he took a 10 per cent cut in his £20,000 allowance.

The council made eight compulsory redundancies as a result of Government grant cuts earlier this year.

The then Liberal Democrat leader Neil Stanley said jobs could have been saved had employees supported plans to save money.

The old cabinet had hoped to freeze pay rises or cut salaries to plug a hole in funding in the 2011/2012 budget. The council received little support for the steps from trade unions.