Council to hire new £130k directors as cuts loom

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The Labour-run council is trying to find savings to offset rising costs



A council facing a £10m budget gap is offering to pay more than £130,000 a year each to two new directors.

In an email seen by the BBC, Coventry City Council's chief executive, Julie Nugent, told staff the new director roles were "essential for us to get that tighter grip on corporate performance and spend".

She said the jobs, which focus on communications and cutting spending, were being funded by the departure of previous members of the leadership team.

Opposition councillors said tax-paying residents might reasonably ask if funding two new director roles was the best use of money.

To make savings in its last budget, the Labour-run council hiked council tax, switched off street lights overnight and started charging for garden waste collection.

In the email, Ms Nugent highlighted the council’s financial challenges in stark terms, telling staff "we have to address this".

She said recruiting two new directors "might seem counter-intuitive given the financial context, but these roles are essential to our long-term efficiency and corporate control".

“Importantly, they will not place any additional pressure on our budgets as they are funded through the departure of previous members of the leadership team," she said.

The leadership team was "exploring wider actions to address our challenging budget position”, she added, and asked staff to consider “everyday spend across all areas".

“Even the smallest saving will contribute to the bottom line," she said.

Gary Ridley, the Conservative opposition leader in Coventry, said the new director roles would not necessarily solve old problems.

"The people in this city being asked to put up with more service cuts mights reasonably ask if this is executive extravagance," he said.

"What we need is a practical way forward that saves money while protecting services and investing in communities, and not luxury leadership."

Richard Brown, the Labour councillor in charge of finance in the city, said the changes to the leadership team would be "cost neutral".

The new director roles would strengthen the council's value for money and improve communications so residents understood what the council was doing, he said.

Job adverts for the new roles show the salary paid for both could be between £121,541 and £131,522.

In comparison, the prime minister earns £166,786 a year, and only the most senior officials working with the UK government receive salaries above £130,000 a year.

Coventry City Council’s latest accounts, external show all of the senior officers listed were paid six-figure salaries in 2022/23.

The council’s deputy chief executive Gail Quinton - who left her role in 2021 - received a total pay package of £648,294 for 2021/22.

The council said the post was scrapped to "create a smaller senior management structure that generated a significant saving".

No redundancy payment was made and £454,069 of the cost for loss of office enabled Ms Quinton to access her pension early, the council said.

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Street cleaning and parks could be hit as Coventry Council plans huge cuts



Huge cuts to public services in Coventry could be brought in by the council next year. Street cleaning, parks and events could all lose funding.

Council jobs, free parking at a popular park and even portacabins at elections may be axed to save cash. The authority is set to put forward options to save £8.8 million per year in its 2025/26 budget, and £12 million the two years after.

Plans show the council could axe £690,000 from its "streetpride" service, meaning streets in the city centre and "priority neighbourhoods" would be cleaned less often. It means the council would take longer to do emergency clearing and remove graffiti, and fly-tipping could increase, papers say.

The council is considering cutting free or subsidised waste removal for charities and other groups that qualify for this, saving £340,000 per year. It's considering slashing £150,000 from its yearly parks budget, leading to fewer staff and activities and a potential focus on bringing in more income here.

Other moves on the table include ones that were put forward last year but did not go ahead after a backlash. The council is looking at scrapping free parking at War Memorial Park, which would save £150,000 per year, and lowering the maximum council tax discount to 75% - saving £850,000 annually.

The council is considering saving £100,000 per year across elections with fewer portacabins, polling stations and a different count location. Smaller changes could see it scale back council-funded city events, reducing capacity in its cultural services and climate change teams, and axing council news magazine Citivision.

But the biggest savings would affect other areas. The council could save £2-3 million per year in adult social care, and up to £4 million per year in children's social care, which are areas of highest pressure on the council's budget.

It is also considering a restructure of its senior management, which would save £1-2 million per year. Outside of public services other "technical savings" of £5 to £3 million per year, mostly from manager actions and efficiencies, are being considered.

Councillors will discuss the proposals at a meeting next week, 10 December. People in the city will then be asked for their views, before a final plan goes to the council for a vote in late February.

If all the savings go ahead it will be the second year in a row that the council cuts £8 million from its public services. The council is also planning to raise tax by the maximum 5%, including a 2% adult social care precept.

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Fly-tipping clean-up cuts 'should be dumped



Coventry City Council is being urged to drop proposals to cut funding from fly-tipping cleaning in the city.

The Labour-run council is considering reducing its clean-up service to save more than £2m over the next three years.

It is part of a savings plan that includes scaling back events and hiking council tax by 5%, to plug a budget gap of £14m next year.

The council has ruled out declaring itself effectively bankrupt in the next few years, but said more cuts were necessary to balance the books.

The Conservative opposition in Coventry called for the fly-tipping proposal to be dropped.

Gary Ridley, the Tory group leader, said cutting money from fly-tipping cleaning was "something people are going to notice".

"You won’t be able to sweep that under the carpet," he said. "It will trash Coventry’s reputation.

"Clean streets are a basic necessity, not a luxury. When litter and waste starts to pile up, it becomes a health hazard.

"So my message would be, we really need to dump these proposals."

In its savings plan, the council said reducing the fly-tipping cleaning service "could lead to an increase in overall fly-tipping".

"Response times for graffiti removal and emergency cleaning would also increase," the proposals say.

When asked if this would mean more fly-tipping in the city centre, council leader George Duggins said the measures were not something the council wanted to do.

"But we have to be honest with people - and say they’re the kind of proposals we have to share with you," he said.

In a report ahead of its next budget, the council has pencilled in cuts of about £44m over the next three financial years.

No decisions have been made and the council will consult residents on its proposals to cut services by almost £9m in the 2025-26 financial year.

The budget is expected to be finalised in the coming months, before councillors vote on it in February.

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Coventry will become 'dumping ground' campaigners fear amid planned cuts



Coventry will be turned into 'dumping ground' say campaigners amid planned council cuts to its clean-up service. Among the proposals to help save funds, the city council is contemplating reducing its cleaning service.

This, it says, will save more than £2m over the next three years. But campaigners say that this will do more harm than good.

They are so concerned that they have set-up a petition to urge the council to reconsider its proposal. So far, more than 150 locals have signed the petition, which is on the council's website.

The petition urges the council to cut fly-tipping, not the service itself. It reads: "We petition the council to abandon its reckless and short-sighted proposal to cut funding for fly-tipping clean-ups in our city. Clean streets are not a privilege - they are a fundamental right for every resident.

"By cutting this vital service, the council risks turning our cherished city into a dumping ground. We call on the council to cut fly-tipping, not the budget because Coventry deserves better."

It goes on to say that fly-tipped waste is not only 'unsightly, it's hazardous'. The petition adds: "The council might save money now, but the long-term costs of environmental damage, public health and declining property values will be far greater. A clean city attracts businesses, boosts tourism and enhances our quality of life. Don't let Coventry become a dumping ground."

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It's already happened where I live. I'm not entirely blaming the council though. There's a lack of coordination between the council and the housing association clean-up crews. Also we are plagued by fly-tippers who see our communal bin as an easy target.