Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent representations he has received on levels of remuneration for local government executives.

The Government regularly receives representations from concerned taxpayers on the levels of remuneration offered to senior local government officers. Whilst councils are independent employers we have taken steps to increase transparency and accountability on these local decisions.

Under the Localism Act, councils are required to publish an annual pay policy statement setting out their approach to pay, in particularly senior pay. In guidance to which all councils must have regard when preparing their policy statements, we have said that full council should to vote on senior salaries and exit packages of £100,000 or more.

Through the Transparency Code councils are required to publish on-line a range of workforce information including details of senior salaries for employees earning £50,000 or more and detailed organisation charts.This will further open up senior pay to greater public scrutiny. We also published “50 ways to save” a practical guide on how councils can make sensible savings in their budgets. This includes either cutting senior pay or looking at sharing chief executives and senior management teams. I would note that Ministers in this Government cut their salaries in 2010 and then froze them for the rest of this Parliament.