A clause that permitted Kent County Council’s chief executive to sell almost £12,000 of untaken holiday back to the taxpayer is not available to lower-paid employees, it has been alleged.
While the sum paid to Peter Gilroy for 2007-08 was for untaken holiday allowed to build up over several years, the contracts for other workers say that only a maximum of 10 days’ untaken leave can be sold per year.
And while for most of KCC’s 44,000 staff up to 10 days’ holiday can be carried over to the next leave year, it cannot be accrued year-on-year – as Mr Gilroy has done.
Kent opposition Labour leader Cllr Mike Eddy said: “I’m surprised by that. One would have thought that this particular rule would apply to everybody, whether it is the chief executive or lower-paid workers who are on the Kent Scheme.
“Certainly I have never been asked to approve such expenditure or been consulted on those details.
“I think most people will be surprised to find that Mr Gilroy can sell off his leave entitlement and pick up more than some KCC workers earn in an entire year in the process.”
Mr Gilroy’s total earnings, which rose from £222,199 in 2005-06 to £250,081 in 2007-08, were discussed at a County Hall scrutiny committee meeting on Wednesday.
The issue of his untaken holidays was first raised by Labour’s Cllr Clive Hart, who said afterwards that he was amazed at the figures being discussed.
He said: “This practice may be permitted but it doesn’t look good at all, especially in today’s financial climate.
“Leading officers at KCC are on salaries that most can only dream of, and then when they have so much holiday they can’t fit them all in, they can apparently take some extra cash instead.
“As a councillor for one of the poorest areas in Kent (Margate and Cliftonville), I have to say I find this whole matter shocking.”
A KCC spokesman said: “This is a non-story. Peter Gilroy is an outstanding public servant who spent 28 years in social care before becoming chief executive at KCC.
“He is currently covering two roles within the county council. As acting director of children's services as well as chief executive, Peter is conducting a review into child protection in Kent alongside his other duties.
“He is being paid no additional salary for these added duties. Peter is never off-duty and is rarely able to take his full leave entitlement.
“It is important to understand that the remuneration of the chief executive is determined by elected politicians of all three parties.
“More and more demands are being made on council services at this time.
“Peter Gilroy will continue to focus on what matters and we will not comment further on this personal attack on the chief executive.”
Meanwhile, KCC leader Cllr Paul Carter hinted at Wednesday’s meeting that the pay of other chief officers could start to come down in the near future.
The current basic pay range is between £135,000 and £171,600, excluding performance-related bonuses.
Cllr Carter said: “Obviously we have to recruit in a competitive market for good-quality staff and officers.
“That market will move and I suspect the general trend of senior officers’ pay will now plateau and even come down.
“When the world is in a pickle, the public sector should respond accordingly.
“We’ve actually halved the number of senior officers working here over the last 12 years, but we’re doing more now than we ever have before despite being leaner.”
On the issue of performance-related pay, which for 2007-08 was between £15,548 and £25,110 for chief officers, Cllr Carter added that KCC should “not be ashamed to reward workers for a job well done” considering the council had performed strongly over the last several years.
POSTED: 03/05/2009 12:00:00
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