Liverpool City Council workers paid £2.5m for acting up
Sep 14 2009 by Marc Waddington, Liverpool Daily Post
The payments were made to staff “acting up” because senior staff are either on long-term sick or have quit their posts without a replacement being found.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal one council manager took home an extra £40,000 on top of their normal salary last year.
And the amount being paid out in “honoraria” has risen steeply year on year with £593,853 spent in 2006/07 and £885,609 in 2007/08.
Last year, the figure soared to more than £1,053,829.
The news has raised concerns staff without the relevant experience are being expected to fulfil the requirements of specialised roles – and they are being over-stretched.
It is also claimed taxpayers could effectively be “paying twice” for council staff, with some off sick while others receive extra cash for carrying out their duties.
But city bosses said in cases where posts are vacant, paying an existing member of staff extra saves money.
Liberal group leader and personnel manager Cllr Steve Radford said the fact so much was being paid out in honoraria suggested either sickness absence was being abused or that, if other senior managers were filling in for missing colleagues yet still managing to run the council smoothly, there were too many senior posts in the first place.
The average number of sick days per council employee is 11.4 a year – more than double the private sector average.
Cllr Radford said: “In some cases, we are paying twice for services. If we are paying honoraria to people who are covering for others, then we shouldn’t be paying for those absent as well.
“We need to clamp down on sickness. But you also have to ask, if we can manage with that many people either off sick or absent, do we need their positions at all?”
A spokesman for the Local Government Association said absence rates were often to do with staff working in “high pressure” areas, but that efforts to “keep them to a minimum were on-going”.
A council spokesman said: “Honoraria are paid to members of staff who ‘act up’ and take on additional responsibilities of a more senior member of staff.
“This is usually for a limited period of time and can be to cover a vacant post while it is being filled, or while a member of staff is absent through illness.
“They can also be paid when members of staff take on additional responsibilities or project work. In many cases, the honoraria payment does not involve an extra cost to the council if cover is being provided for a vacant post.”
NB: Once again its left to The Liberal Party to speak out for tax payers whilst the feeble Labour opposition remain mute
