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Originally posted by Momodou

MeMe, I thought Snuggles posting had something to the public sector strike yesterday. We will soon start a UK forum if the trend goes on like this.

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Originally posted by snuggels

Councils offer 'bizarre non-jobs' including roller disco coach and toothbrush adviser for infants

A roller disco coach, a part-time toothbrush adviser for infants and a ceremonial sword bearer are just some of the 'non-jobs' offered by councils across Britain.
Other roles which have come under criticism from the Taxpayer's Alliance include trampoline coaches, skate park attendants, flower arrangers, a 'befriending co-ordinator'; and a 'street football co-ordinator', which pays £19,000-a-year.
The audit of local government positions, obtained by a freedom of information request, have been criticised as 'bizarre non-jobs' aimed at satisfying a culture of health and safety and political correctness.
'There has been a huge boom in the number of unnecessary and bizarre jobs in local government in recent years,' said Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, a pressure group.
'Many of the posts are laughable, but they have a serious financial impact for taxpayers. The last thing we need in the middle of a recession is to have hundreds of ‘non-jobs’ on the public payroll soaking up taxpayers’ money.'
The Sunday Times, which submitted the freedom of information request, received responses from 118 councils, and estimated that 'non-jobs' cost the taxpayer around £800,000-a-year. Applied across all 442 local authorities, such posts would cost about £3m a year.
Newcastle upon Tyne was highlighted as one of the worst offenders. It employs a dedicated 'breastfeeding peer support co-ordinator' and a 'composting supervisor', attracting a salary of up to £23,470 to run a facility that turns garden waste into compost.
One of the council's most diverse employee is a part-time sword bearer and mace bearer to help mayor David Wood on ceremonial occasions.
The mayor, who is government chief whip Nick Brown's political agent, also enjoys the services of four chauffeur-butlers, who collectively earn more than £60,000 a year.
A spokesman for the council, which will cut 500 jobs this year, told The Sunday Times the jobs were 'necessary and sensible roles'.

'Step one: Brush': One council offers a part-time job teaching infants how to clean their teeth
Other 'non-job' positions include a falls prevention fitness adviser to help the elderly of Tewkesbury and a £13,000-a-year 'bouncy castle attendant' in Angus, Scotland.
Falkirk's part-time 'toothbrush assistant' earns £3,032 teaching nursery children how to clean their teeth and the council also employs a 'cheerleading development officer'.
Glasgow taxpayers fund a £17,000-a-year 'street mediator' to deal with teens hanging around on street corners and a 'chewing gum removal labourer'. The council also funds a £17,800 florist.
Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, employs several part-time pianists for council events and Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire employs a 'roller disco coach' every Saturday night.
Moray Council in the Highlands pays £19,887 a year for a street football co-ordinator.
The Local Government Association told the paper councils provided vital services despite falling income.
A spokesman said: 'From lollipop ladies to street cleaners and librarians, town halls employ people that provide more than 800 vital services that many local residents rely on to get through the day.'

Local authorities have taken on an extra 180,000 workers since 1997, with the total number not employed in traditional front-line roles now standing at almost 750,000, according to ministers.
The Coalition is highlighting the figures at a time when councils are threatening to cut basic services and increase charges because of cuts in central government funding.
Ministers want councils to cut middle-management waste instead.
Bob Neill, the local government minister, said: “These figures reveal the explosion in town hall jobs and bureaucracy under Labour and reinforce the need for some councils to start cutting out middle management.
“Crazy non-jobs like cheerleading development officers and press officers tasked with spinning propaganda on bin collections provide no value to the public.

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“Getting rid of the bloated bureaucracy that has grown in some elements of local government will ensure local authorities can protect front-line services.”
According to the data, the number of people employed by local authorities in Britain stood at 2,728,000 in 1997 when Labour came to power. Last year the figure was 2,907,000.
There were 741,702 people on council payrolls who were not in traditional “front- line” jobs such as those in education, social services, recreation, libraries, planning, environmental health, culture, heritage or trading standards.
Ministers said that, even if trade union predictions that Coalition cuts would lead to 162,000 job losses in local government were correct, it still meant that the number of town hall workers would be higher than when Labour came to office. The local government sector is bigger than central government, according to the figures.
Among the jobs that have been spawned by the boom in “non-jobs” were a “bouncy castle attendant” on a salary of £13,000 at Angus council in Scotland and a “cheerleading development officer” in Falkirk.
Yesterday, ministers seized on Liverpool city council’s decision to advertise three highly paid “non-jobs” on a day when it was announcing job cuts in other areas.
They were for a director of regeneration and employment on a salary of “up to £140,000”; an assistant director of adult services on £90,000 a year; and an assistant director for supporting communities, also on £90,000 a year. The council said it would be making cuts of £91#8201;million, resulting in closures of libraries, leisure centres and youth projects and hundreds of job losses.
David Cameron has accused councils of politically-motivated attempts to undermine the Coalition’s plans. Today’s figures are the latest sign of how acrimonious the split between councils and ministers has become.
Ministers are stepping up the pressure on local authorities to cut salaries to executives in particular.
Eric Pickles, the Communities and Local Government Secretary, is demanding that councils “put their own house in order” before considering cuts to the front line.
He wants chief executives to take pay cuts, claiming that those on a salary of £150,000 can afford to take a five per cent cut, and those on £200,000 can afford a 10 per cent reduction.
This week it was disclosed that 220 town hall executives received a higher salary than the Prime Minister’s £142,500 a year.
At least 26 chief executives earned more than £200,000 last year and 1,000 council officials more than £100,000.
Mr Pickles has also seized on figures showing that more than 15,000 council workers earn more than £58,000 a year. He is about to force local authorities to publish a list of the staff earning that level and above.
The Communities Secretary has published a new code of local government transparency to ensure that taxpayers can “look under the bonnet of their council” and see where town hall chiefs are spending their money. There are 433 local authorities in England.
Ministers point out that public sector productivity fell under Labour while private sector productivity rose. Public sector
salaries are now higher than those in the private sector.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance has highlighted a series of “non-jobs” advertised by local authorities.
They included North East Lincolnshire council advertising for a “future shape programme manager” on £70,189 per annum.
The campaign group published research which showed that last year councils spent £5 million on 141 jobs for political advisers, £6#8201;million on 183 European officer posts, and £10#8201;million on 350 climate change officer roles.
This week Mr Cameron singled out Manchester city council for what he said were “politically-driven” cuts.
He said that, rather than closing help centres, libraries and swimming pools to save £110 million, the council should look closer to home at the chief executive’s pay, for example.

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