Manchester Council Wastes £95,000 a Year Posting Payslips to Staff

8.28.31am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 13th Aug 2007

Manchester Labour Pour Local Taxpayers' Money Down the Drain

Manchester City Council has been criticized for wasting £95,000 a year by deciding to start posting payslips to staff at home instead of using internal Council mail.

As part of an efficiency programme designed to save money, monthly payslips are now posted externally to the homes of 24,500 Council employees at an annual extra cost of £95,000.

Council bosses claimed that too much working time was lost by staff reading their payslips at work.

Manchester Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Councillor Paul Shannon said:

"What a waste of money! I simply do not accept that sending payslips through the Royal Mail at £95,000 a year saves money compared to sending them through the internal mail."

He continued:

"Many large employers, including for example Manchester University, continue to distribute payslips to staff using the internal mail. I cannot understand why this barmy Labour Council thinks it's cheaper to post payslips via external Royal Mail instead of using the existing internal post."

End

Councillor Paul Shannon is Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Opposition on Manchester City Council.

The City Council's "Manchester Improvement Programme" (MIP) is an IT-driven Council efficiency drive that aims to save £15.4million in 2007/2008. "SAP" is a back-office system brought in as part of MIP to help achieve the savings. The new payslip distribution arrangements are part of SAP.