Stoke-on-Trent City Council defends £300k manager jobs spend

Councillor Jane Ashworth became the leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council in May

The leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council has defended the creation of four new strategic manager posts while council finances are under pressure.

The new jobs come with a total wage bill of about £300,000 per year and replace six existing roles.

Leader Jane Ashworth, Labour and Co-operative, said the switch would save the council £182,000 per year.

However, she conceded it was difficult to predict whether the new arrangement would boost outcomes.

She said: "You always hope that a restructure will have found efficiencies but I think anyone who says reducing the number of staff will make something better, you've either found something like the magic money tree or you're not quite telling the truth."

There have been fears the authority could declare itself effectively bankrupt as it struggles to balance its books.

Ms Ashworth told BBC Radio Stoke she was hopeful the posts would attract talented staff to the council to address important issues in Stoke-on-Trent.

One of the new posts, she explained, involved economic development and bringing new businesses into the city.

She added her administration did not want staff to attend foreign investment summits.

The previous Conservative administration came under fire for attending events such as MIPIM in Cannes.

The trips were previously funded by sponsorship from private businesses.