By Councillor Richard Hilton, Merton Council (Conservative, Lower Morden)
Regarding your article about the Council's decision not to publish the Job titles and salaries of the 137 senior staff earning over £58,200, I think residents will be rightly shocked at this decision.
While the Borough's Head of Legal Services is entitled to recommend that only the salaries of chief officers and their deputies be published, this is ultimately a decision for the Labour Cabinet member responsible, Councillor Mark Allison.
He is well aware that it is also within the guidance that all salaries can be published and I fail to understand why the minority Labour administration here in Merton do not want to be transparent with local residents.
In difficult financial times, the public paying the salaries have the right to know what the money is going on.
Without seeing the list how can we possibly know if we are getting value for money?
On behalf of the residents of Merton I ask Councillor Allison 'what have you got to hide?'.
Send your letter to: letters@wimbledonguardian.co.uk
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