Pickles in a stew over  top council officers’ pay and tax  arrangements!

There have been further developments in the row over the way Boston Borough Council’s Chief Executive Richard Harbord is paid - with a call by the council’s Deputy Leader of the Labour Group for the Audit Commission to carry out an investigation.
The request comes in a letter  from Councillor Paul Gleeson, who -  in a BBC radio interview last week  - observed that Mr Harbord’s payment of around £108,000 a year for working just 15 days a month  meant that “he can earn in 23 days what the average family in Boston have to live on for a year.”
The row is over the fact that Mr Harbord, whose contract with Boston Borough Council runs until May next year, is not directly employed by Boston Borough Council – but as a consultant via a private company, MRF UK - which means that he isn’t charged tax or national insurance as a council employee.
In his letter, Councillor Gleeson says that this method of payment “would appear to be similar to that which has been criticised by Ministers of the Crown as being an inappropriate way for a public servant to be paid.”
He adds: “I would be grateful if you could look into this matter, address the issue in the annual audit letter, and consider taking into account the Government’s position on this kind of payment, issuing a public interest report.”
In reply, the Audit Commission – motto “Protecting the public purse” – says an auditor will be in touch “shortly."
Meanwhile, The Guardian newspaper reports that Communities Secretary Eric Pickles – who earns less in a year than Mr Harbord is paid by Boston Borough Council for half that time - has ordered all councils to disclose whether any employees are using special arrangements to reduce tax on their earnings.
The newspaper says that the Communities Department guidance makes clear that, under the Localism Act, authorities in England and Wales should review senior executives' pay packages, particularly where arrangements could be perceived as being designed to minimise tax payments.
Mr Pickles is quoted as saying: "Local people have a right to know whether town hall tax-dodgers are short-changing the public purse; whether bumper bonuses are being awarded to poorly performing workers; or whether pay is being hiked up for execs who've boomeranged from post to post.
"The door to council pay practices is being unlocked by the Localism Act. Local authorities must now publicly endorse their pay practices by next month.
“Doing this will reassure residents that local pay is fair, fit for purpose and fully 'democracy proofed.'"
Councillor Paul Kenny, Leader of the Labour Group on Boston Borough Council, said: “Boston Labour Party support George Osborne, Danny Alexander and Andrew Lansley in their condemnation of this method of paying CEO salaries.
“It obviously proves that the local Tories are out of tune with their national party, and we await any comment from Mark Simmonds, MP.
“Which side of the fence will he sit on – will he support local or national policy?”
In terms of scale, Monday’s Boston Eye report pointed out that Mr Harbord’s payment of around £108,000 a year equates to a full time equivalent of £216,000.
It seems disproportionately high when you consider that Boston is one of the smallest local authorities in the country – ranked 331st out of 354 English local councils.
The full time equivalent payment to our current Chief Executive is greater than that of the London Borough of Brent - which at 35th on the list is almost 300 places higher.
On top of that, Mr Harbord - whose company address is based in an avenue of £400,000 homes in the village of Windlesham in Surrey - receives around £1,500 a month in travelling expenses and the cost of overnight stays.

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