A SUGGESTION that a senior council officer at Warrington who won a top regional award should be paid a bonus has been dismissed by the council’s personnel chief.
The proposal that chief finance officer Lynton Green should receive a bonus after winning the prestigious sub-regional finance “director of the year” award for not-for-profit organisations came from Cllr Bob Barr, leader of the council’s Liberal Democrat group.
But Cllr Hitesh Patel (pictured), lead member for personnel and communications, dismissed the idea as “insensitive.”
He said: “”When the Lib Dem and Tory coalition ran the Town Hall the numbers of directors and senior managers ballooned and there were instances where unjustifiable bonuses were being paid.
“Since Labour came to power we have worked hard to safeguard frontline council services by significantly reducing the numbers of senior managers by over 20 per cent, which will save the Warrington taxpayer well over £2 million.
“The insensitive suggestion to pay a bonus to a senior manager for doing his job well was astonishing, given that there were members of the public in the audience as well as council employees and union officials.
“There are council employees at all levels of the organisation doing fantastic work under very difficult budget pressures and politicians should not flippantly suggest paying bonuses to a chosen few.
“When the Lib Dems were in coalition with the Tory government they slashed £93 million from our budget and now Government policies are making us find another £22million of cuts to vital services next year.
“I am sure the people of Warrington would rather we spend our scare resources on frontline services rather than accept a Lib Dem request to pay bonuses to senior managers’ pay.”
But Cllr Barr (pictured right) responded: “Cllr Patel needs to listen more carefully in Council meetings and recognise a light hearted remark, as other members of the Council did, when he hears one. I did, indeed, suggest that “as the Council’s banker, perhaps a bonus for Lynton would be more appropriate”. This comment was made in response to an equally light hearted congratulation to Lynton Green from the Executive Board Member for Finance Cllr Russ Bowden, who had congratulated Lynton for his award, but regretted that it wouldn’t mean any more pay.
“Of course many a true word is said in jest. I agree that bonuses are not appropriate for those doing a well-paid job in the public sector, however well they do it. But Lynton Green is being employed by the Council to carry out duties more akin to a banker than a local government civil servant. The Labour administration has chosen, controversially, to exploit the Council’s high credit rating and low borrowing cost, to borrow money in order to relend it. It is offered to organisations judged to be able to repay the loan at a higher rate thus making a profit which can be used to support Council services. In that sense Lynton Green is our ‘banker’.
“Of course such banking activities are risky, not all borrowers are guaranteed to repay and some may use the money for purposes that do not accord with Council policies. Labour has been reluctant to justify the risk it is taking, or the impact that loans may have on other organizations in the town. Nevertheless, as Cllr Patel well knows, this was not a ‘call to pay a bonus’ merely an opportunity to make a light hearted reference to a more serious issue.”
