Politically correct 'non jobs' cost the taxpayer £600million a year

Last updated at 08:59 28 December 2007


Politically correct 'non-jobs' costing

the taxpayer almost £600million have

been advertised in the past year, it

emerged last night.

The 15,700 posts were offered by local councils

and quangos in the Guardian newspaper's

controversial 'Jobzilla' Society section.

They paid an average salary of £38,000 – a

fifth more than in the private sector.

They included a raft of politically correct

jobs, according to the TaxPayers' Alliance

pressure group.

Examples ranged from a community

empowerment network programme manager

at Thurrock Council in Essex – paying almost

£30,000 – to assistant chief executive (value

for money) at Charnwood Borough Council

in Leicestershire.

The latter post – supposed to save the taxpayer

money – pays £55,000 a year.

In November alone, Hackney Council and

the East London NHS Foundation Trust

each offered three separate equality and

diversity jobs paying £39,030 each – a total

salary bill of more than £225,000.

The phenomenon, which has continued

despite a promise by Gordon Brown three

years ago to cut non-essential posts, was

branded Jobzilla after the all-devouring

screen monster Godzilla.

Peter Cuthbertson, research fellow for the

TPA, said: 'The public sector is clogged with

these ridiculous jobs, draining huge amounts

of resources away from essential activities.

"It's insulting to expect taxpayers who

struggle to meet the taxman's demands to

foot the bill for unnecessary roles."

Every Wednesday, the Guardian's Society

supplement fills its 40 to 50 pages with

adverts for public sector jobs.

The TPA said that, over the past 12 months, 15,678 jobs have

been offered by councils and Government

bodies, with a total salary bill of £585million.

The final cost to the taxpayer will be even

higher when the cost of advertising the posts

is factored in.

Each council spends an average of £394,000

a year on job adverts. Across the country, the

total spend would be £185million.

The salaries paid for the 'non-jobs' are

described as 'staggering' by the TPA.

The average full-time position on offer in the

Guardian's pages is £38,508, which is £7,606

more than in the private sector.

The benefits listed range from a '£3,053

location allowance' to a '£1,000 essential car

user allowance' and a £675 environmental

allowance.

Some of the job descriptions are vague or

meaningless, according to the TPA.

The advert for Charnwood's assistant chief

executive (value for money) says: "We

emphatically don't want a one-off, cost-cutting

approach; instead, you'll create a mainstream

culture of asking the right questions,

persuading people to embrace the issue of

VfM rather than avoiding it."

The TPA's annual non-jobs report said: "We

would have thought a cost-cutting approach

was exactly what was needed!"

TPA spokesman Tim Aker said: "It's now

inexcusable for anyone to say tax cuts mean

fewer frontline services.

"Each non-job representing bureaucratic,

politically correct council over-staffing is

taxpayers' money diverted from essential

services.

"Taxpayers should demand lower tax bills

and an end to these non-jobs."

Earlier this year, the TPA revealed the

number of council 'fat cats' earning salaries

of more than £100,000 has risen by a third,

up to 578 in 2005-2006, from 429 in the previous

year.

No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now