Sandwell Council axeman plans cuts to top brass (From Halesowen News)

Sandwell Council axeman plans cuts to top brass

11:03am Tuesday 10th July 2012 in Local

THE axe is being wielded at the top of Sandwell Council after a troubleshooter pointed out how much tax-payers money was been wasted due to a bad management structure.

Chief executive Jan Britton is recommending three top management position are scrapped which will save the council £291,000.

The News have discovered the council paid a management troubleshooter £25,000 to find inefficiencies in the management structure and he produced a damning report.

The cabinet are set to approve the scrapping of two corporate director posts and a service director replacing them with a single deputy chief executive. However, the resignations of corporate directors Barbara Peacock and commissioning director Martin Samuels, will reduce the need for redundancies.

Council leader Councillor Darren Cooper said, “Cash for Sandwell from central Government has been slashed by millions and will carry on going down in the future.

“It’s vital we vet spending so we earmark as much as possible for the priority services ordinary people rely on.”

He said: “That means keeping a continual eye on what our top management costs us.

“The two resignations give us a chance to ‘fine tune’ our structure, make sure it’s still meeting the council’s needs and save cash for investing in our top priorities.”

Mr Britton is recommending that the council appoint a team of outside experts on a 30 month contract to mastermind the council’s continuing drive to make children’s services better.

Councillor Cooper said, “The savings made on top management posts will free up cash so we can invest in our children and their future, the council’s top priority.

“We are grateful to Barbara Peacock for the leadership she has shown in kickstarting our improvements and we wish her well in her future career.

“Martin, too, has done a great job for us, and he leaves with our best wishes for the future.

The existing Corporate Director – Place, John Garrett, will be appointed as deputy chief executive, on a salary range of £115,873 to £128,783 a year.