Three Rivers District Council defends decision to allow chief executive Steven Halls a four-day week
6:00pm Friday 24th October 2008
Comments (7)
THE much maligned decision to allow its chief executive to work a four-day week has been defended by Three Rivers District Council.
Councillors sparked fury last week when they voted to allow Dr Steven Halls to cut his working week from five to four days yet keep his £116,000 salary unchanged.
The decision, made by majority vote at a private meeting, was castigated by furious councillors, taxpayers, pressure groups and in many of the national newspapers.
Mark Wallace, from The Taxpayers Alliance, said: “This is absolutely crazy and clearly a bad deal for taxpayers. The principle should be simple – if you do less work, your pay goes down. No one in the private sector would get away with this kind of arrangement.”
Council leader Ann Shaw, claimed the decision was about “work-life balance”.
She said: “He has other outside interests that he wants to indulge in, such as music and his work as a magistrate.
“Women are allowed more flexible working hours, so why not men? I think it’s important for the top men to be well-rounded and not just glued to spreadsheets.
“I actually feel we should be paying him more at the moment. Most chief executives earn around £140,000 so his wages are at the lower end of the scale and we are getting a good deal.”
The council also claimed that his workload has been substantially reduced, with some responsibilities, such as council housing stock, being taken from his and the council’s hands.
Furious opposition councillors, however, claimed the deal, and the subsequent media coverage, had exposed the council to ridicule. Conservative councillor Chris Hayward, said: “They tried to keep it quiet by discussing in private but the public have a right to know, especially at a time when they are struggling to pay their mortgages.”
Dr Halls currently lives in Rickmansworth during the week but commutes back to his family home near Nottingham at the weekends.
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Reader (R), Radlett says...
9:24am Sat 25 Oct 08
Yes women are allowed a more flexible approach to work but that is because they have to juggle running a home and raising a family as well as the job. I like music and have other hobbies but they are all undertaken in MY time not the taxpayers!
Speedydog, Aquadrome says...
1:16pm Sat 25 Oct 08
Roy Stockdill, says...
6:30pm Sat 25 Oct 08
The fact that other council CEOs get paid more is irrelevant. One must ask: is Three Rivers exactly a major local authority? Surely it can only be compared with others of a comparable size.
karmacameleon, watford says...
5:21am Sun 26 Oct 08
Speedydog wrote:Look,this fella is getting paid a salary as opposed to an hourly rate,which most people work for.A salary as far as im concerned is a wage for a job,irrespective of how long it takes.If matey has less work to do,it would only be a council that would conclude to cut hours rather than wages.Less work,less responsibility....le
Roy, get off your high horse. Other Council CEO's get paid much more. So for less responsibility it seems logical to me he either takes a cut in salary or a cut in work time. This way it doesn't cost any more and saves the expense of advertising for a new and untested one.
ss money.In the paralell universe of local government,less work,less responsibility=less work,same money.
You say its logical to you to either pay less money(logical to me also)or less hours?????what.
Why cant matey do the same hours IE what hes contracted to do but spend it doing other duties,im sure they are quite busy down the council.
Spencer Agneau, Sarratt says...
10:40am Mon 27 Oct 08
God help us when people start to believe what they read in newspapers is a consensus of the majority. Its a bit like these comments, there are only a few of us saddo's who bother to comment. Have you ever listened to radio phone in's? They are even worse.
Karma,yes a salary as far as i'm concerned also is a wage for a job. He was due for a salary review, which would have meant a probable raise, he has worked well in his role, full Charter Marks for ALL departments. A lot of us think he's a good CEO. Its a bit like changing the manager of a football team when they are doing well, it tends not to happen. You might not like the fact that he is a Magistrate, but he now does it in his own time. It seem a reasonable deal to me.
Mr Carnegie, Torquay says...
1:45pm Tue 28 Oct 08
Three Rivers District Council chief executive Dr Steven Halls
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Roy Stockdill, says...
10:39pm Fri 24 Oct 08
Could I also point out that, according to the above story, this decision has been defended by TRDC -but the only person quoted is the council leader Ann Shaw. Did she consult the rest of the council when making this statement?
I wonder whether Dr Halls and Ms Shaw share any other interests, apart from music and taking the mickey out of Three Rivers taxpayers? Still, I'm glad to hear that Ms Shaw likes her men "well rounded". It indicates something, though I'm not sure what.