Cost of ministers' special advisers hits £8.4m.
Discussion
So much for Cameron's pre election promise to 'get the cost of politics down'.
bbc said:
The cost of ministers' special advisers has risen to £8.4m following a rise of more than £1m in the past year.
There are now 103 "spads" employed to give advice over and above the work carried out by civil servants, up from 98 last year, official figures show.
They include a total of 26 working for David Cameron in Downing Street and 20 working for Nick Clegg.
The government said it reflected the "nature of coalition" and that their average pay was higher under Labour.
Labour said the figures showed that the overall numbers of special advisers had risen inexorably under the coalition.
According to the Cabinet Office, the total salary bill was £8.4m in 2013-14, compared with £7.2m in 2012-13.
Six advisers are being paid £100,000 or more, with the list topped by David Cameron's chief-of-staff Ed Llewellyn and his director of communications, Craig Oliver, who each received £140,000.
Mr Clegg's director of communications, Steve Lotinga, earned £105,000.
Shadow leader of the House Angela Eagle said: "David Cameron promised to get the cost of politics down but under him the number of special advisers spirals ever upwards.
"The Lib Dems used to say that special advisers shouldn't be paid for by the public but as soon as Nick Clegg got his feet under the Cabinet table, he broke his word."
'Less spin doctors'
The Coalition Agreement said the government would "put a limit on the number on special advisers" but the pay bill and numbers have increased over the past few years.
The rising cost of special advisers was also criticised by UKIP. The party's economic spokesman Patrick O'Flynn said: "What we really need are more real doctors and less government spin doctors."
A Cabinet Office official said: "Workforce reductions and pension reforms saved £4.7bn last year, compared to a 2009/10 baseline.
"Special advisers perform an important function and their average salary cost is 8% lower now than under the previous government."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30541478There are now 103 "spads" employed to give advice over and above the work carried out by civil servants, up from 98 last year, official figures show.
They include a total of 26 working for David Cameron in Downing Street and 20 working for Nick Clegg.
The government said it reflected the "nature of coalition" and that their average pay was higher under Labour.
Labour said the figures showed that the overall numbers of special advisers had risen inexorably under the coalition.
According to the Cabinet Office, the total salary bill was £8.4m in 2013-14, compared with £7.2m in 2012-13.
Six advisers are being paid £100,000 or more, with the list topped by David Cameron's chief-of-staff Ed Llewellyn and his director of communications, Craig Oliver, who each received £140,000.
Mr Clegg's director of communications, Steve Lotinga, earned £105,000.
Shadow leader of the House Angela Eagle said: "David Cameron promised to get the cost of politics down but under him the number of special advisers spirals ever upwards.
"The Lib Dems used to say that special advisers shouldn't be paid for by the public but as soon as Nick Clegg got his feet under the Cabinet table, he broke his word."
'Less spin doctors'
The Coalition Agreement said the government would "put a limit on the number on special advisers" but the pay bill and numbers have increased over the past few years.
The rising cost of special advisers was also criticised by UKIP. The party's economic spokesman Patrick O'Flynn said: "What we really need are more real doctors and less government spin doctors."
A Cabinet Office official said: "Workforce reductions and pension reforms saved £4.7bn last year, compared to a 2009/10 baseline.
"Special advisers perform an important function and their average salary cost is 8% lower now than under the previous government."
BlackLabel said:
"Special advisers perform an important function and their average salary cost is 8% lower now than under the previous government."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30541478IF there were two of them averaging £100,000 each and there are now ten of them earning an average of £92,000 each it costs rather more now than it did then, IYSWIM.
Axionknight said:
You mean, Cameron broke a promise to the electorate?
Nah, I'm not having that.
I think it was that and the total lack of engagement or understanding of small businesses (much better to spend time helping Pater-in-law sell windymills) that totally sealed my dislike of him and the coalition as a whole.Nah, I'm not having that.
Nick Clegg has 20 SpAds. If Clegg disappeared overnight and took his SpAds with him would anyone (other than the SpAds) notice a difference in the quality of their life?
One of the few things that Gordon Brown got right was scrapping the deputy PM post. Cameron should have done the same
One of the few things that Gordon Brown got right was scrapping the deputy PM post. Cameron should have done the same
Digga said:
I think it was that and the total lack of engagement or understanding of small businesses (much better to spend time helping Pater-in-law sell windymills) that totally sealed my dislike of him and the coalition as a whole.
Ahh yes the grand appointment of celeb "high street guru" Mary Portas that turned out to be a token gesture as they failed to implement anything she recommended.Axionknight said:
Digga said:
Big government. There is no mainstream political party that is not wedded to it.
Bonfire of the quangos my arse.
You mean, Cameron broke a promise to the electorate?Bonfire of the quangos my arse.
Nah, I'm not having that.
[i]But the opposition leader shied away from setting a target for the numbers of bodies he aimed to axe or the savings he hoped to achieve. "It would be far too simplistic for me to stand here and announce some kind of 'Bonfire of the Quangos'," Mr Cameron told a London audience. Instead, he cited the Tory plans for three specific quangos to illustrate "the scale of change we envisage".
[/i]
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/74510aa4-6a8c-11de-ad04-...
Secondly spending on these bodies is down (from an otherwise very critical report):
[i]The latest published and audited figures show annual spending reductions under the Public Bodies Reform Programme were an estimated £723 million in 2012-13 compared to 2010-11[/]
And that is even allowing for creating more in other areas, notably the NHS
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/commi...
JustAnotherLogin said:
Firstly it was not Cameron who promised a "bonfire of the Quangos. That was Gorden Brown and Heseltine...
Just checked and the earliest quote I find is on the BBC and confirms what you say. Seems to have backfired badly on him though because all subsequent media quotes allude to this 'promise' being made by Dave.Still, he's a jowly, cronyist, so my dislike stands along with the fact that none of what he actually did promise with regard to the quangos appears to have been done.
The sheer waste in parts of the public sector, when other areas of it are delivering well but suffering the effects of austerity is utterly disgusting. I concede that the intractability of Whitehall plays no small part in this, whoever might happen to be in power.
article said:
George Osborne has given his image adviser a promotion and a pay rise of 42 per cent - while asking public-sector workers to accept a pay freeze.
The amount of money spent on government spin doctors has risen to £9.2m in 2014-15, from £8.4m in the preivous financial year.
Details of the cost of special advisers were released by the Cabinet Office on the day Parliament breaks for Christmas, which Labour derided as a "shockingly cynical move".
Tom Watson, Labour's deputy leader, told The Guardian: "David Cameron can’t bury the fact that he’s broken a direct promise he made to reduce the cost of politics and curb the number of special advisers in government."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/george-osborne-gave-his-image-adviser-a-42-pay-rise-while-asking-public-sector-workers-to-accept-pay-a6777781.htmlThe amount of money spent on government spin doctors has risen to £9.2m in 2014-15, from £8.4m in the preivous financial year.
Details of the cost of special advisers were released by the Cabinet Office on the day Parliament breaks for Christmas, which Labour derided as a "shockingly cynical move".
Tom Watson, Labour's deputy leader, told The Guardian: "David Cameron can’t bury the fact that he’s broken a direct promise he made to reduce the cost of politics and curb the number of special advisers in government."
BlackLabel said:
article said:
George Osborne has given his image adviser a promotion and a pay rise of 42 per cent - while asking public-sector workers to accept a pay freeze.
The amount of money spent on government spin doctors has risen to £9.2m in 2014-15, from £8.4m in the preivous financial year.
Details of the cost of special advisers were released by the Cabinet Office on the day Parliament breaks for Christmas, which Labour derided as a "shockingly cynical move".
Tom Watson, Labour's deputy leader, told The Guardian: "David Cameron can’t bury the fact that he’s broken a direct promise he made to reduce the cost of politics and curb the number of special advisers in government."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/george-osborne-gave-his-image-adviser-a-42-pay-rise-while-asking-public-sector-workers-to-accept-pay-a6777781.htmlThe amount of money spent on government spin doctors has risen to £9.2m in 2014-15, from £8.4m in the preivous financial year.
Details of the cost of special advisers were released by the Cabinet Office on the day Parliament breaks for Christmas, which Labour derided as a "shockingly cynical move".
Tom Watson, Labour's deputy leader, told The Guardian: "David Cameron can’t bury the fact that he’s broken a direct promise he made to reduce the cost of politics and curb the number of special advisers in government."
Digga said:
Yes, plus next year sees that huge dump of red-tape on small businesses forcing them to become pensions nannies to the masses. This government is staffed with clueless cretins from top to bottom.
we really are f
ked at the moment. this lot or the labour version of clueless cretins .Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff