Lambeth Council is contesting a People’s Audit report that claims Lambeth’s senior salaries have soared in the last ten years.
The report states that between 2006/2007 and 2016/2017 the number of senior managers employed by Lambeth has increased by 377 and that Lambeth spends an additional £19 million a year (after adjusting for inflation) compared to 2006/2007.
However, the council believe the report is misleading because it includes school staff pay levels.
In a statement, a council spokesman said: “The figures quoted by the ‘People’s Audit’ are incorrect.
“The number of Lambeth Council staff earning over £50,000 since 2016 has stayed virtually the same, going from 212 in 2007 to around 220 today.
“The figures quoted in their report are made up of pay increases for schools staff, who the council provides the administration for, but does not control their pay levels.
“The council was not asked for a comment before the publication and has offered this simple clarification since, with a request for a correction. The ‘People’s Audit’ have refused to correct the figures.”
Moreover, the report says that there is a diminishing workforce due to the redundancies and the reliance on agency staff to fill the gaps.
People’s Audit found that between 2010/2011 and 2016/2017 Lambeth council have made close to 2,200 employees redundant, at a cost of over £33 million in redundancy packages.
In 2016/2017, four employees shared out £485,620 in redundancy payments, while another employee received a payment of £238,081.
In a January 2017, Lambeth council decided to extend the contract for one of their largest agency suppliers, Matrix SCM.
Lambeth stated: “To continue providing a service to citizens whilst minimising redundancies, it has been necessary to fill vacancies with temporary labour. Additionally, we have been forced to temporarily engage specialists to deliver several change programmes across the council, where internal expertise is not available.”
Between 2012/2013 and 2016/2017 the number of people employed by Lambeth through Matrix SCM has increased by 25%.
The council did not provide a comment on the redundancies and temporary labour.
