Council leader provides 'wait and see' update on promise to slash £1m from wage bill

Cllr Glen Sanderson made the pledge back in April, after figures obtained by the Taxpayer’s Alliance showed the council was paying 20 high-up employees more than £100,000 a year – the highest of any council in the North East.

The Conservative leader reiterated his commitment to the cut in September, despite the fact that a long-awaited review into senior management structure at the council failed to deliver significant savings.

The latest comments came at a meeting of the council’s staff and appointments committee when the process to appoint a new team of permanent executive directors, replacing the current interim arrangements, was presented to members.

Cllr Sanderson said: “This is the start of a new beginning for the council.

“We will be enjoying the tenure of the new chief executive, who I think everybody will like.

“The press will want to know if the leader will keep his promise of making £1m savings and the answer is wait and see! But, probably.”

Dr Helen Paterson was announced as the council’s new chief executive in October, and will take up the role in February.

Outgoing interim chief executive Rick O’Farrell said: “We had a significant number of applications for all the roles. At the moment the executive team is staffed by interim directors from across the council on temporary promotions.”

The report also sought to continue some of these interim arrangements until the new appointments are in place. The process and continuation of those arrangements were approved unanimously.