£110,000-a-year council post attacked

A decision to appoint an £110,000-a-year improvement director to oversee the budget cuts at Nottinghamshire County Council has been labelled a disgrace.

Former DHL managing director Mr Greg Michael will begin a three-year contract at County Hall on September 1.

Public service union Unison have expressed outrage at the cost of the new post at a time when council staff are facing pay freezes and redundancies.

The union's Nottinghamshire joint branch secretary, Mr Martin Sleath, said: "Unison believes the salary for this new post is a disgrace and shows total insensitivity on the part of Nottinghamshire County Council, particularly in the light of a tranche of budget constraints announced only last week."

Nottinghamshire County Council's chief executive, Mr Mick Burrows, said: "There are three factors that are relevant here. Firstly, the scale of the challenge is unprecedented. As improvement director, Greg Michael will report directly to me.

"He will be responsible for driving the changes we need to make the £150m worth of savings required and ensure we are a more effective and efficient council offering excellent value for money.

"He will be on a fixed three-year contract with delivery targets attached.

"Secondly, Greg brings considerable commercial and business acumen which will help us to deliver considerable savings by buying goods and services more efficiently.

"Finally, every £1m that Greg helps us to save will allow us to protect both jobs and front-line services."