Top jobs should be the ones to be axed
IF 100 Town Hall jobs are to go before next May's local elections (Gazette, November 26) the question is, whose jobs should be cut?
Certainly not those at the bottom - i.e. those doing the practical work of the borough.
Staff in the top departmental jobs, however, should be pruned drastically. Islington Council is top-heavy with administrators and bureaucratic staff.
All the present procedures should be streamlined so that only the barest minimum is required.
A lot of current reports can be condensed instead of the many pages written in obscure council jargon.
Where extra staff are needed, though, is when they are dealing with the public. Nothing is more frustrating than to walk into a large office full of people waiting to be dealt with and not enough council employees behind the counter. Also, more Trading Standards officers are needed to check on bad practices throughout Islington.
Above all, the top salaries, particularly of the chief executive with his £4,000 salary per week, must be reduced to a much lower amount. It is nonsense to say the Council won't get good top employees if they don't pay these excessive salaries.
This applies to the councillors as well. - P. Wagland, Brecknock Road, N19.
|
|
|
|
|
|