KIRKLEES Council has admitted five of its senior managers have been given pay rises.

The news comes amid its ‘Innovation and Efficiency’ programme – a drive to cut its budget by 20% over the next five years.

But while the council fights to find cash for vital services, The Examiner has discovered that five assistant directors have received pay boosts of up to £20,000.

The exact pay rises are not known, but a spokesman for Kirklees Council confirmed its management re-structuring scheme had seen some roles moved up a pay grade.

The revamp, a bid to save cash on salaries, has seen 29 head of services roles axed and replaced with 22 assistant director jobs.

The assistant directors sit below the council’s six-strong director team and chief executive Rob Vincent.

The money-saving operation has also seen three of the council’s former directors leave their posts.

They are Caroline Gruen, who was head of learning, Dick Hewitson, head of finance, and Cliff Stewart, of human resources.

All were included in a list revealed by the Examiner earlier this week of 10 top executives paid more than £100,000.

Their previous work has been re-allocated to other directors.

Heads of service used to take home a grade 20 salary – between £63,275 and £72,844 per year. But a council source told The Examiner that many of the new assistant director roles had been bumped up to grade 21, commanding a salary of between £72,526 and £83,489.

It is not known which roles received the pay boost but Kirklees Council confirmed the information was true.

A spokesman said: “The council structure is being streamlined to include 19 assistant directors, reduced from 29.

“There are currently three further posts at this level of management, but these are transitional rather than permanent.

“The council is going through a period of major change and the three transitional roles are important in supporting the change process.

“Our Innovation and Efficiency programme is preparing for the challenges which will be faced across all local authorities when Government funding is cut and in Kirklees we are planning well ahead.

“Of the assistant director posts, only five have gone up and these are all by a single grade from 20 to 21. All the other grades, ranging from 22 to 20, remain unchanged.

“The grades of the chief executive and directors are also unchanged.

“Our structured approach will lead to significant savings without the need for crisis cuts and we are confident frontline services will be improved.

“The changes are being made in a carefully planned way because we have to balance the need to make savings with the need to maintain a high standard of services.”