9 June 2021
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: RLC organisational realignment
Enquiry
As a reference I'll share with the council a council response to a LGOIMA about the release of salary information (this was regarding a 2020 story on various BOP LG orgs' spending on communications):
"...The release of public sector salary information involves a fine balance between an individual(s) right to privacy and any public interest considerations favouring release. Both aspects are recognised under sections 7(1) and 7(2)(a) respectively of the Act.
Whilst requests for information under LGOIMA must be determined on their merits, in providing a response we would take into consideration various decisions of the Ombudsman in reviewing responses to requests for public sector salary information over a period of time, and the guidance provided by the Office of the Ombudsman in this respect. The commonly accepted approach is:
The salaries of chief executives should be released.
Salaries of second tier management should be disclosed in financial bands (subject to the consideration of individual factors involved)."
With this in mind, could the council please advise me how much the salaries were previously and how much they rose by.
If that is not possible, please advise either:
a) the band the person was in and the band they are now in or:
b) the amount the person shifted within the salary band, and what that salary band is
I would also argue - and I realise the council may disagree as is its right - the high public interest in reporting which senior exec roles in a public organisation have received salary increases, how much they are, and exactly why, considering it is public money.
Response
Information provided:
There was an error in the information provided yesterday – there was salary movement for one employee, not two.
The response to your query is as follows:
The band the person was in was $140,000 - $159,999 and they moved to band $200,000 - $279,999.