THE salary of Islington’s top officer is to be slashed by around �50,000 a year in a bid to cut costs.

Islington Council is advertising for a new chief executive to replace John Foster CBE when he retires in May.

But while Mr Foster is being paid �210,000 a year, his replacement will only get around �160,000 a year.

And instead of using an outside recruitment agency, Mr Foster’s successor is being sought by Islington Council’s own human resources and communications teams in a bid to save an additional �50,000.

Because of Government cutbacks, Labour-run Islington Council needs to make around �100million in savings between 2011 and 2015.

But, as previously revealed in the Gazette, ambitious plans for Islington Council to share a chief executive with Camden Council have been dropped – even though sharing a single chief executive and senior management team could have saved up to �1million a year.

Mr Foster is retiring after 40 years’ service to the public sector – three as Islington Council’s chief executive.

He said: “Islington is the fourth most deprived borough in London – eighth in England. We have made significant progress with newly-refurbished schools, improvements in exam results, reductions in youth crime, and the completion of our first new council homes in 25 years.

“But, like the rest of the public sector, we are now having to make really tough decisions about service delivery. Islington’s new chief executive must be ready to continue our commitment to protect our most vulnerable residents in our bid to make Islington a fairer place.”

Councillor Catherine West, leader of the council, added: “This is going to be a crucial role for the council and its residents over the next few years, and especially so during a period of deep financial cuts.”