Livingstone aides earn £111,000

by Hugh Muir

Ken Livingstone’s closest lieutenants have been re-appointed to senior posts in his administration on salaries of £111,000 each.

A week after his re-election, Mr Livingstone has used the powers given to the mayor under the Greater London Authority Act to re-engage six of the advisers who were prominent in the first term. The deal, which has been independently evaluated, means each will earn more than the mayor of New York. Mr Livingstone’s salary is £108,000.

The pay range of permanent secretaries in the civil service is between £115,000 and £245,000.

The mayor is expected to argue that the people with the most serious responsibilities in his team were underpaid during his first term because no one envisaged how heavy their workloads would be.

After his election in 2000, when some were absorbed into his administration as policy advisers, most were paid around £40,000 and one was earning just under £30,000.

In 2002, they became "executive directors" and their salaries were raised to £75,000.

The appointments involve Neale Coleman, director of business planning and regeneration, John Ross, director of economic and business policy, John Duffy, director of environment, Lee Jasper, director of equalities and policing, Murziline Parchment, director of major projects and service delivery and Redmond O’Neill, director of transport and public affairs, and deputy chief of staff.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/gla/story/0,9061,1243595,00.html