TAXPAYERS saved about £3m after a string of top council management jobs were cut over a year, new figures show.
Research by The TaxPayers’ Alliance shows there were 274 managers across six local authorities in Oxfordshire in the 2011/12 financial year, down by 59 from 2010/11.
This cost taxpayers £18.1m, down from £21.1m the previous year.
The biggest drop was at Oxfordshire County Council, down from 255 to 203, a saving of £2.6m. The county council is the biggest authority in Oxfordshire.
Spokesman Owen Morton said: “The council has undergone significant structural changes which were necessary due to the economic climate and central government’s policy to reduce local government spending.
“This process involved a review of our management structures which has resulted in a reduction in the number of posts.”
Oxford City Council cut two managers to give it 33 senior posts, a saving of £90,000. Its final bill was about £2.4m.
Posts fell from 19 to 14 to Cherwell District Council, cutting £130,000 from its senior management bill, which was about £1m to 2011/12.
Spokesman Jemma Callow said: “The savings are a direct result of Cherwell District and South Northamptonshire Councils’ joint management team which was introduced during the 2011/ 2012 financial year.”
This is set to save Cherwell £3.4m over five years.
The figures showed South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils retained the same number of managers, costing £742,500.
West Oxfordshire District Council also kept 13 managers, costing £867,500.
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