Does George's offer not attract them?

"They" here is Bournemouth Council, and yes, we must admit it, Conservative-run.

This morning the Sun newspaper included an article to announce that Bournemouth are recruiting a Director of Transformation at a salary of £101,000, who will lead in the fight against saving money for the council. Recently the council apparently spent £70,000 on two granite dominoes.

Leaving aside the question of what the whole package will cost when the new officer is in place, - office, pension, national insurance, travel, etc., which could be well on the way to doubling that figure, the question is whether he or she will make a significant reduction in the expected budgetary shortage this year of £2.4 million. Presumably the Director will need staff to undertake work and report back, to arrange meetings and so on. If these are transferred from elsewhere in the bureaucracy, then it suggests that they were redundant in their previous posts, and represents waste in the past. If they are being recruited, then the bill will be even higher.

An even more worrying aspect is that the present Chief Executive, on an even higher salary presumably, was reported as saying, "In reviewing the management structure of the council I have concluded that we need to fill the post of the executive director to deliver business transformation and change....." Did the council make a decision on this?

Where is the leader of the council, or any of his elected colleagues? The only note of protest seems to have come from a Labour member of the council who suggested a major extravagance.

For a long time many have become alarmed at the growth of six figure salaries in local Government, and the apparent lack of concern on the part of councillors. This seems to be another example to annoy thousands of poorer people who are struggling to pay their ever-rising council tax bills.

George Osborne promised, when chancellor, to pay money to councils which reduce their rate bills by 2.5%. Somehow, it doesn't look as if Bournemouth will be in receipt!