Reductions to senior management costs in LG Group announced

The political leadership of the Local Government Association has confirmed its strategy for the executive leadership of the Local Government Group for the coming months.

Baroness Eaton, Chairman of the LGA, said: “Over the past few days there has been widespread comment in the media about senior management costs at the LGA. We have decided to make public our plans for transforming and substantially reducing our costs.

“The political leadership of the LGA has every confidence in John Ransford in his role as chief executive. Over the past two years he has worked tirelessly to make the whole Group more effective and efficient. John had always intended to retire when his contract came to an end on 31 December 2010. We expressly asked John to stay on to create an integrated organisation, take 30 per cent out of our overall staffing costs and substantially reduce senior management costs through a smaller executive team.

“A new senior team will be appointed next summer by the leading members appointed at the Group’s General Assembly in June. Terms and conditions will be completely revised after advice from our independent remuneration committee, in the light of the sector’s financial position and expectations.
“In the interim, John Ransford will lead the organisation for significantly reduced pay. We have re-negotiated his contract terms so his salary will be less than £100,000 and there will be no employer pension contribution. He will leave when the new executive team is in place.

“We are delighted that John will continue to lead the Group for the time being to see through a programme of major transformation for a greatly reduced cost. We are determined to represent our sector robustly, effectively and at a reasonable cost to councils at a time of immense financial pressures.”