Top Shropshire Council managers take pay cut

Senior managers at Shropshire Council have agreed to take a 5% pay cut.

A council spokesman said the money saved would be used to set up a charitable trust to help young people.

He said details were in the early stages but the trust would be funded in part from a contribution from the council's eight most senior officers.

The initial endowment for the trust will be about £30,000, with plans for it to grow with further donations in the future.

The announcement comes as Shropshire Council's 7,000 staff were told this month they face reduced working hours and pay, to save 400 jobs.

Chief executive Kim Ryley said staff could benefit from more flexible conditions.

The council said the plans, which include reducing sickness leave and cutting overtime, would save £7m over three years.

The Conservative-led authority officially set and ratified its budget for the next three years last week - and is looking to save £76m between now and 2014.

The council said it was not confirmed how much the senior managers were giving and denied the initiative was a gimmick.

Council leader Keith Barrow said: "Five per cent sounds like a lot of money but in monetary terms it would just disappear into our budget.

'Phenomenal amount'

"So what we're doing is we're putting the money into a charity which will help provide an education for young people in Shropshire in care to help them develop and give them a future."

But Labour Councillor Jon Tandy said he did not think a 5% pay cut was big enough.

He said: "These people are on hundreds of thousands of pounds and then they take a 5% pay cut.

"That's not going to mean a lot to the general public. They'll still be on a phenomenal amount of money."